Page 34 - sept oct 16 II

2016 Annual Cops On Top Summit For Heroes
By Casey Kinard – Lodge 23 Secretary & NC S4H Team Leader

On June 25 Cops on Top along The annual S4H memorial expe- Mount Mitchell is located in the

with members of Morganton- dition is fairly simple (as long as Mount Mitchell State Park at

Burke Lodge 23 held the 2016 you are not trying to climb Mount 2388 NC 128 in Burnsville. From

Annual Cops On Top Summit For McKinley in Alaska). Some state the parking area there is a 980 foot

Heroes Me- trail leading to

morial Expe- the observation

dition. The deck on the

S4H (Summit peak of the

for Heroes) is mountain. The

a nationwide trail is not very

expedition strenuous but it

where teams is a bit of a hill

from across climb on the

the country way up.

set out to Since 1791,

summit their there have been
state’s high- 22,525 known

est point in line of duty

honor of the law enforcement of- high points require a more tech- deaths in America, 582 were in

ficers who have been killed in the nical approach while others can North Carolina. As of June 25, for

line of duty in their state. You do be simply driven or walked. Ei- 2016, there have been 49 line of

not have to be a law enforcement ther way, knowing that you are duty deaths in the country. This is

officer to participate in any Cops standing on your states highest down 22% from this time last

on Top function. All we ask is point, along with hundreds of oth- year. Of those 49, 20 were from

participants share the same re- ers from around the country, is an gunfire, up 25% and 22 were auto

spect and desire to never forget emotional experience. related, down 15%. Since last
those who gave all. This event is North Carolina’s high point is year’s Summit for Heroes there

for all law enforcement officers Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet. have been no Officers killed in the

and their families, friends, sup- Mount Mitchell is also the highest line of duty in North Carolina.

porters, and police survivors. point east of the Mississippi. The Lieutenant Aaron
Gerome Tise
Cops on Top is a team of vol- goal is for the entire team to walk Winston-Salem
Police Depart-
unteers from the law enforcement united to the summit. Once there, ment, NC

and public service community, first and foremost, we remember

who undertake mountain climb- the sacrifice that was made by the

ing expeditions to honor the mem- law enforcement officers of North

ories of those heroes who have Carolina. We remember their life EOW: Friday,

lost their lives in the line of duty and memory as they paid the ulti- June 26, 1992
protecting others. These folks are mate sacrifice protecting their Cause of Death:
serious mountain climbers. communities. We also document Vehicular assault
Among others they have reached our journey with photographs, in-

the peaks of Aconcagua and De- cluding a group photo on the sum-

nali in memory of fallen officers. mit with the official Cops on Top

summit flag.

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