“Police in Pursuit” (PiP) is a fundraising event benefitting Special Olympics of Northern California (SONC). It is a car race Law Enforcement Officers (LEO’s) and takes place at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. LEO’s are the largest grassroots fundraisers for all of Special Olympics. LEO’s started the Law Enforcement Torch Run in 1981 and continues to raise money and awareness for those with intelle
ctual and developmental disabilities. PiP started in 2010 with Officers racing 4-banger race cars owned by Ocean Speedway. Nine (9) LEO’s from Santa Cruz County raised approximately 7K dollars for SONC. Prior to the 2012 season, the 4-bangers were sold and no longer available for our event. LEO’s had to find cars to race the 2012 season. Some retired patrol cars were purchased from city auctions, but most cars were donated by some very generous tow companies in Santa Cruz County. The premise of PiP is to have LEO’s racing cars that represent their department’s patrol car paint and decal scheme. Emergency lights add to the excitement. Each LEO driver raises a minimum of $750.00 as an entry fee. A web based tax deductible donation page is set up for each driver. The starting position for the race is based on who raises the most money and therefore most drivers try to raise more money than the other drivers. In 2015, there were fifteen (15) LEO drivers representing nine (9) LE agencies and the event raised more than 20K for SONC. The event is growing each year and is a crowd favorite. So much so that, the Ocean Speedway's promoter has given us five additional races for the year and our own point series. This year (2016) "Police in Pursuit" has raised over $38,000! The Santa Cruz County Deputy Sheriff's Association / the Stars of Justice, purchased 2 retired patrol vehicles and are participaing in the "Police in Pursuit" races. For a tax deductible donation of $250 or more to the "Stars of Justice, Inc.", Team SCSO will proudly display your business logo on our race cars as our sponsor. The cars are seen at the races, and various charity events throughout the community.
