The Montclair Police Department participated in the Law Enforcement Torch Run last week on Thursday, June 8.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run aims to raise awareness of the Special Olympics movement worldwide and to secure funding for this vital cause. In 1984, the first New Jersey Torch Run was conceived to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics.
The MPD involvement with the Special Olympics began in 1996 as part of Torch Run leg #5 that ran from West Caldwell to Newark. Shortly thereafter, a new Torch Run leg was created under the coordination of Deputy Chief Perry Mayers. This new leg, Leg # 18, runs from Verona to Bloomfield, running through Montclair, West Orange, Orange, and Glen Ridge. Today the Torch Run travels 950 miles, originating in 27 separate points statewide, and travels through 384 communities with some 2,700 officers from all branches of law enforcement participating.
The Run #18 coordinator is now Cpt. Kenneth V. Miscia, Jr. and includes officers from each of those jurisdictions plus agents from the F.B.I. and the Federal Air Marshals Service. The final leg runs into Lion’s Stadium at the College of New Jersey and lights the cauldron for the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games. Since their involvement in the Law Enforcement Torch Run, MPD has been able to raise over $150,000 for the Special Olympics.