Gary Stevens
2002, Leadership
In his 27-year career as a police officer with the Fort Wayne,
Indiana department, Gary L Stevens was deeply troubled by the large
number of motorcycle fatalities he investigated. He soon channeled
his love of riding motorcycles into a commitment to the safety and
education of bike riders everywhere.
Gary became a certified MSF instructor and in 1983, founded the
award-winning "Fort Wayne Motorcycle Safety School", training over
5000 riders in 13 years. He implemented a court referral program to
divert drivers with violations into the "Experienced Rider Course"
(ERC) and as Region D Safety Directors for Gold Wing Road Riders
Association, Gary and his wife, Kirsten, pioneered the Rider
Education Regional Workshop which was subsequently implemented
nationwide.
With firsthand knowledge of the extreme skills needed as a motorcycle
officer, Gary opened C.O.P.S. (Controlled Operation Performance
Skills), a Police One Motorcycle Training School. This 54-hour
program is so skill-intensive it challenges even the most
experienced riders. Patrol officers who have graduated from his
school later credited the course as saving their lives on the job.
Gary was well known for his gracious encouragement and support of
his students, his comic sense of humor, and his ability to marshal
very diverse groups and resources to implement his courses and
support educational causes.
Though Gary dedicated himself to saving the lives of others, he was
unable to save his own. He lost his long battle with cancer on
September 9, 2001. Gary had continued teaching until the end - often
seated in a chair on the training ground - despite pain and illness.
He is survived by his wife, Kirsten, and his son, Ricky Lynn - and the
thousands of riders who are alive today thanks to his dedication
to their education and safety.
"He was truly one of the few good men..."
Tom Falls, Ft. Wayne Police Dept. Detective
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