PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A day after the death of one of their own, Philadelphia police officers joined firefighters in Center City to promote the annual show supporting the families of those killed in the line of duty.
The police department's highway patrol motorcycle drill team looped along Market Street at 18th Street on Wednesday to promote the Hero Thrill Show on Sept. 21 in the Wells Fargo Center parking lot. The Thrill Show raises money for the education of children of police and fire department members killed in the line of duty.
Thrill Show president Jimmy Binns said it was poignant that this year's promotion fell on the day after the death of Officer Jaime Roman, who was shot in the line of duty in June.
“It's a terribly sad day for the families of all of those affected. We have Jaime Roman [who] died yesterday. As a family, we'll put those kids through college,” Binns told KYW Newsradio. “Since I took this over 20 years ago, I've put 30 children through college. That's why this is such a worthwhile project.”
It's the 69th year for the show, which features motorcycle drills and fire truck rides.
“The motorcycle drill team is a major part of it,” Binns said. “The firefighters are a major part of it. The K9 is a major part of it. All of the static displays that you'll see down there on Sept. 21 are a part of it.”
“It's a very thought-provoking event,” Binns said, “and today with the coincidence — we always go ten days out from the Thrill Show and it just happened that ten days is 9/11.”