Friday, May 9th, 2008, Fords, NJ: Amidst a standing ovation of over 600 police officers and relatives, Albert Jasani was conferred the highest civilian award by Retired Sergeant Harry Phillips of West Orange and Patrick Montuore, Chief of Police, Florham Park who is also the founder and CEO of the annual Police Unity Tour. Both the officers presented a plaque to Jasani for his continued support to the police force and the tour. Last year, Jasani was presented with the Unity Tour ring, the only civilian to have been presented with it. Usually you have to be a police officer to receive this.

Jasani, a man of few words, spoke candidly about his reason for the support. According to him, it was probably an uncle or relative of someone present in the room who granted Jasani a visa when he stood in the line in Mumbai to come to the USA. It is in this country that he achieved his dreams and reached unattainable heights. By supporting the Police Unity Tour, it was his way of giving something back to the country and saying a big thank you.

Every year, Royal Albert’s Palace hosts a lavish dinner and a grand breakfast for all the riders heading out to Washington DC, a trip of about 300 miles. When questioned about Jasani’s additional involvement, Retired Sergeant Phillips said “He already does too much. We are very grateful.” The Police Unity Tour has plans to make Jasani a life time gold member next year.

The Police Unity Tour was started in 1997 with the purpose of raising awareness of all the police officers who had died while serving in the line of duty. Jasani has been affiliated with them for the last 7 years, donating generously. The riders of the tour come from all over the nation to participate in the 300 mile journey which starts from New Jersey, goes thru Delaware, Maryland and completes in Washington DC, right in front of the Nation Museum. The names of more then 18,000 police officers are inscribed in the museum with an addition of another 181 this year.

Officer Montuore stated that the money raised go to fund the national museum to honor these officers. This year $1.2 million is raised. The mission of the tour is that law enforcement officers will be remembered for their sacrifice to be killed in the line of duty. “We are going to make sure their memory is not forgotten.” said Officer Montuore. Thanks to people like Albert Jasani, the memory will always live.