Army specialist Ryan Jones uses leave from Hunter Army Airfield to join a 250-mile ride honoring officers killed in the line of duty. The Team Pinellas Police Unity Tour travels from Norfolk, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., and raises money to help fallen officers’ families.
Team Pinellas’ fundraising provides financial assistance and services for family members. Jones also takes leave to support the group at events in Florida; he said he thought the Washington ride required 10 days.
Jones is a geospatial intelligence specialist with the 224th Military Intelligence Battalion. He analyzes imagery from satellites, drones and other sources to provide information to the military.
His commitment to honoring law enforcement officers is connected to his time in Florida. Before joining the Army, Jones worked for two years at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, where his father is a lieutenant.
Jones said his father taught two Pinellas County deputies who later died in the line of duty. Michael Magli was killed in February 2021, and Michael Hartwick was killed in September 2022. His father taught one of the deputies in the academy and knew the other personally, Jones said.
Jones says he wants the ride to remind people that police officers are human beings, too.
Yolonda Harris
News Now Georgia
