Walnut Creek Police Join Torch Run to Support Special Olympics

Walnut Creek police donned T-shirts and sneakers and ran to Pleasant Hill on Tuesday to show their support for Special Olympics.

Danville officers passed the torch to Walnut Creek police at Broadway Plaza around 9 a.m.

Nine Walnut Creek officers then carried the torch up North Broadway for the 4-mile run to Kohl’s.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run is the largest grass roots fundraising program and public awareness vehicle for Special Olympics.

“I’m really pleased that we’re involved in recognizing and bringing attention to the Special Olympics and everything that it does for the community of people with special needs,” said Mayor Bob Simmons, who came out to Broadway Plaza to support WCPD. “It’s wonderful that police departments throughout the nation do this every year.”

The year-round fundraiser, which includes more than 3,500 law enforcement personnel from federal, military, state, county and local agencies, culminates at the Special Olympics Northern California Summer Games, a three-day event in which more than 15,700 athletes compete in 154 competitions throughout the region.

This year’s Special Olympics will take place at U.C. Davis from June 22 to June 24.

Walnut Creek Police Detective Greg Leonard was one of the Torch Run participants Tuesday. He said WCPD has participated in the event for over a decade.

“As a member of the Walnut Creek Police Department, I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in such a great event today,” Leonard said, after returning from Pleasant Hill. “The Torch Run brings much needed publicity and raises funds for such a fantastic organization.”

Leonard and the other participants were escorted by a bomb team truck, CNT truck, a patrol vehicle, and a pair of police motorcycles as they made their way up a switchback route that included stretches of North Broadway, North Civic Drive, Oak Road and Buskirk Avenue.

According to the Special Olympics website, the Torch Run began in 1981, when Wichita, Kansas Police Chief Richard LaMunyon saw a need to raise awareness of and funds for Special Olympics. The program was a way to involve local law enforcement with their communities and Special Olympics by running the torch in intrastate relays that converge at their local Summer Games.

The Torch Run is now worldwide, with all 50 states and more than 35 foreign countries participating, generating over $34 million a year for Special Olympics Programs. It has raised more than $100 million worldwide.