Her husband would’ve hated the attention, but Candace Beasley and the rest of her late husband’s family felt honored by a July 11 visit from End of Watch Ride to Remember.
Officer Dustin Beasley was a member of the North Augusta Department of Public Safety.
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On Aug. 30, 2021, he lost his nearly three-week battle with COVID-19, leaving behind his wife and young son, Carter.
“This was a great honor for Dustin and for our family, just for them to remember him. I had no idea what this organization was and it was an honor for all of us,” Candace Beasley said. “It was overwhelming, that’s for sure.”
EOW Ride to Remember, based in Washington State, began in 2019. It crisscrosses the United States, a group of motorcycle riders escorting a 40-foot trailer with the faces of every officer lost in the previous year.
“Seeing all these officers that lost their lives this year. It was overwhelming to see my husband’s face on it, especially walking with my child,” Beasley said. “His brother was here, his grandma, his parents. So, it was great that we could all be together and honor him together.”
End of Watch Ride Chairman Jagrut “JC” Shah was in law enforcement for 21 years before starting the organization.
He said the number of faces has climbed every year. From 147 officers in 2019, it climbed to 358 in 2020. In 2021, the number jumped to 608. The trailer and riders will visit 268 department this year, traveling more than 23,000 miles in 79 days.
“I think it’s very important to make sure that we don’t, number one, forget all these beautiful men and women,” he said. “My goal was to make sure that the departments knew that their loss within a city or a county or a state was being recognized not only within their states and counties, but nationwide. And my deep goal was to let the survivors know that their loved ones were being remembered across the nation.”
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Shah said there is a second goal, one that’s for the families who lost a loved one. Connecting those survivors with each other.
“This is a club that you don’t really want to be part of, he said. “I’m talking about a mother that has a young child that now is left alone, without the ability to have somebody to even just talk to. Those moments are gone forever. So, if we can introduce her to other survivors that are in the same spot and find that support system for her son, because her son’s going to grow up next year and ask, ‘Where’s dad?’ and eventually the stories will come out what happened.
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Candance Beasley is a teacher with the Aiken County School district. She said one thing that has sustained her is the support, the feeling of family she has had from the district and NADPS.
“All of North Augusta was here, the chief everyone. So, it was great that they came out and took time from their busy schedules to be here for him,” she said.
Among the other faces, officers and deputies being remembered during this ride, are Cpl. Gregory Campbell of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and Officer Stephen Jones of the Barnwell Police Department. They, like Beasley, were among members of law enforcement nationwide who died of complications from COVID-19.
More information about the organization and this year’s ride is at: https://endofwatchride.com/
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
