Police ride in honor of fallen officer

BOILING SPRING LAKES, NC (WWAY) — Honor the fallen, remember the survivors.

That is the saying of Law Enforcement United, a nonprofit group who ride bicycles to raise funds and honor those officers killed in the line of duty.

30 cyclists rode into Boiling Spring Lakes police department and joined in a memorial service for Ofc. James Mitchell Prince, who was shot and killed at a traffic stop in 2005.

“What Ofc. Prince did was doing his job as many officers do, day in and day out. We were here in 2005 and again in 2012 to pay tribute to officer prince and at that time we had told the family we would not forget that we would be back,” Rich Gallo, ride director, said.

As officers gathered together at the memorial, it served as a reminder of the real risk officers deal with.

“We all know that it could’ve been us that had stopped the suspect like Officer Prince did, here on NC-87 back in 2005 and made the ultimate sacrifice,” Gallo said.

Officer Prince’s parents were present for the ceremony and said that they are shocked by the impact their son made.

“Mitch touched a lot of lives. I never knew how many lives he touched until teenagers would come up to me and tell me ‘Ms. Prince I knew your son and if it had not been for him, I would’ve went to jail,” Daphine Prince, Ofc. Prince’s mother, said.

Prince’s mother said he joined the force to help others and prevent hate in the world.

Law Enforcement United started may first and will arrive in Washington, DC, on May 12 at the start of National Police Week.