OCEAN CITY — In 2019, Ocean City Police Lt. Charles Simonson approached Bill Elliott, chairman of the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign, with the idea of wrapping one of the department’s patrol cars with the campaign’s blue and gold logo and slogan, Be a HERO. Be a Designated Driver.
“It will make national news,” an enthusiastic Simonson said at the time.
During a boardwalk ceremony June 19 that year, Mayor Jay Gillian and then-Police Chief Jay Prettyman dedicated the country’s first HERO patrol car. The cost of the wrap was donated by Ocean City resident and HERO Campaign volunteer Jane French.
Each year, the HERO Campaign holds the John R. Elliott HERO Walk and Fun Run on the Ocean City boardwalk. Families and loved ones of those killed by drunken drivers gather at the Ocean City Sports & Civic Center at Sixth Street prior to the walk, where HERO patrol cars are unveiled and speakers talk about the effect of drunken driving on their lives.
This year’s event, set for Oct. 18, starts with registration at 9 a.m., the run at 10 a.m., an awards ceremony at 10:30 a.m. and the walk at 11 a.m.
Today, the number of HERO patrol vehicles has grown to 56, including a second one for Ocean City, and Simonson’s prediction may soon come true thanks to a $500,000 grant from the federal Department of Justice.
The 4-year grant, obtained by U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, will enable the campaign to add another 125 HERO police cruisers nationwide with its signature blue and gold insignia and logo.
The non-profit campaign, now in its 26th year, is dedicated to ending drunken and drugged driving by promoting the use of safe and sober designated drivers. It was established by the family of Navy Ensign John Elliott of Egg Harbor Township, who was killed in a collision with a drunken driver two months after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy.
“We are very grateful to Congressman Van Drew and the Department of Justice for this grant, which will help us grow our life-saving campaign across the country in memory of our son,” said John’s father Bill Elliott, founder of the campaign with his wife, Muriel, and daughter Jennifer Adamchak.
“John wanted to serve his nation,” Elliott added. “Now he is getting his chance.”
The grant funding is limited to reimbursing the costs of the HERO patrol car wraps. The campaign will continue to seek community and corporate contributions to support its normal operations and educational programs.
“We are proud and honored to help the Elliotts and the HERO Campaign to save lives in memory of their son and carry on his proud legacy of service to his country,” Van Drew stated. “We applaud their courage and dedication to preventing other families from experiencing the pain of losing loved ones to DUI crashes.”
The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety currently provides grants to the HERO Campaign for police car wraps within the Garden State, turning them into rolling billboards promoting the life-saving role of designated drivers.
On July 22, 2000, Ensign Elliott was driving home from Annapolis, Md., for his mother’s birthday when his car was hit head-on by a driver who had been arrested several hours earlier the same night, then released to a friend who enabled him to resume driving while still intoxicated.
The Elliotts learned of their son’s tragic death from police officers who knocked on their door at 4 a.m. with the news that changed their lives forever.
Since then, the HERO Campaign has grown into a nationally recognized program in partnership with schools and colleges, police and highway safety agencies, bar and tavern owners and even professional sports teams.
More than 200,000 drivers have taken the campaign’s online HERO Pledge not to drink and drive and become safe and sober designated drivers for their friends and family members.
County prosecutors also take HERO DUI prevention simulators to high school driver education programs for students to experience hands-on the dangers of drinking and driving.
In response to the circumstances of John Elliott’s death, New Jersey legislators enacted “John’s Law,” which requires police to impound the cars of motorists arrested for DUI for 12 hours to prevent them from resuming driving while still intoxicated. More than 700,000 cars have been impounded under John’s Law since 2001.
The HERO Campaign has received national commendations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Lieutenant Governors Association and, most recently, the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association. Highway safety agencies in six states have also adopted the campaign.
Visit herocampaign.org for more information on the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign.
