The Jarid Taylor Memorial 5K and Fun Run joined the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce last week and a ribbon cutting was held at the chamber office.
Deputy Taylor was en route to a 911 call on Jan. 14, 2020, on Old Highway 70 when his patrol car slid off the highway during the rain and crashed. Taylor died at the scene.
In 2021, Taylor’s family started the 5K and fun run in his memory and it is held the last Saturday in July because Taylor’s birthday was July 28.
Taylor Shipp, cousin of Deputy Taylor, said proceeds are contributed to the Oklahoma chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) and the Jarid Taylor Memorial Fund.
COPS is an organization that supports families of fallen law enforcement officers.
“They also support fellow law enforcement officers and departments that have had an officer die in the line of duty,” Shipp said. “They’ve been really helpful to our family.”
Shipp said proceeds totaling a little more than $10,000 has been donated to COPS.
“We do that every year and with the Jarid Taylor Memorial Fund, we’ve part- nered with CLEET in Ada and also the KTC Police Academy that’s in Poteau and we have started to award the Jarid Taylor Heart of a Hero Award at every police academy graduation that they have,” Shipp said. “The way that works is, the fellow cadets, they all vote. We as family sat down and we came up with qualities that we felt Jarid possessed and the fellow cadets of the academy that are graduating, they vote on someone they also feels has those same qualities.”
The cadet is presented a plaque and a $500 check to help them began their law enforcement career.
This year’s run will be July 27 in downtown Durant. Before the run, the family has a celebration of Taylor’s birthday.
“It’s really sweet,” Shipp said. “His kids, they’re 10 and 9 this year, and they lead everybody before the run begins in singing Jarid happy birthday. That’s a tradition that we’ve started and we really love.”
