CHARITY MOTORCYCLE RUN TO ASSIST FAMILIES OF FALLEN PEACE OFFICERS.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

It has been a dangerous year for Southern California law enforcement officers. Several have been killed or, in the case of CHP Officer Rafael ``Ralph'' Casillas, wounded in the line of duty.

Children lost their fathers, wives buried their husbands. Once the emotionally charged funerals are over and fellow officers remove the black memorial bands from their badges, survivors are left to put their lives back together without that vital missing piece.

On Aug. 25, a charity motorcycle ride organized by a Newhall merchant and a Los Angeles County Sheriff's sergeant will raise money for a support group that helps the fallen officers' survivors.

The Downed Peace Officers Support Ride will start at Accessories Unlimited, a motorcycle shop at 24508 W. Lyons Ave. Riders can register from 8 to 10 a.m. the day of the event, pay the $9 per person entry fee, and then begin the 77-mile ride, known as a ``poker run,'' said Sgt. Bob Norlemann of the sheriff's Santa Clarita Valley station.

Staggered along the route will be stops manned by volunteers. ``You have a total of five checkpoints,'' Norlemann said. ``At each one, (riders) get a set of instructions about where to go next. And at each checkpoint, they pick a card out of a deck.''

At the end of the ride, participants compare hands to see whether anybody has a full house, a straight flush, treys, pairs or maybe zilch, Norlemann said.

``There's a prize for the high hand and a prize for the low hand,'' the sergeant said.

For everybody else, there will be coffee and bagels at the starting line and hot dogs and chili at the finish line.

Proceeds will benefit the Family Support Group, begun in 1983 by then-Los Angeles Police Department Chief Daryl Gates and the widow of an LAPD officer.

Norlemann said he wanted to help that organization because it assists other law enforcement agencies as well as the LAPD with peer counseling and emergency funds.

``After the funeral is over, the widows and families kind of get forgotten,'' Norlemann said. ``These people stay with them. They support them, get them through the trying times.''

One of those widows helped by the group, and now an active member of its ranks, is Andria Pratt.

Nearly eight years ago, Pratt's husband, Daniel, was killed by a gunshot blast. The 30-year-old officer, who worked at the LAPD's 77th Street station, left behind a daughter, two sons and a pregnant wife in September 1988.

Pratt, whose children are now 13, 11 and 7, credited the Family Support Group with getting her through that rough period and others that followed, including the death of her son, Nicholas, a few years later.

``I started attending their meetings about a month after my husband died,'' Pratt recalled. ``I had people helping me with anything from taking the kids to school to cleaning the house,'' she said.

``When my son died, they were here. They were a tremendous help. He was hit by a car in a school parking lot on his way to kindergarten,'' Pratt added. ``The best healing for someone who's grieving is to talk it out.''

The mourning has been widespread in 1996.

Pomona police Officer Daniel Fraembs, 37, was found shot to death near his patrol car in the early-morning hours of May 11. California Highway Patrol Officer Don Burns, 25, was shot six times at close range July 13 by an assailant who then stood over him and fired a bullet into the lawman's left eye. Newhall CHP Officer Casillas, 31, was critically wounded July 24 after following a speeding motorist to a home in Granada Hills. The gunman shot Casillas and then killed himself. Casillas remains hospitalized.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department Deputy Peter Aguirre, 26, was shot to death July 17 while answering a domestic violence call in Meiners Oaks.

In other peace officer deaths, Brea Police Department Detective Terry Lee Fincher, 48, was hit by a speeding freight train May 22 while he searched along the railroad tracks for a gun used in an assault. During a drug raid in March, Oxnard police Officer James Rex Jensen Jr. was accidentally shot to death by his own sergeant. This summer, LAPD Officer Guillermo De la Cruz allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend before taking his own life.

When officers die, shattered loved ones are left behind, and that's where an organization like the Family Support Group fills a niche with its monthly meetings and outreach efforts, said LAPD Detective Deborah Gonzales, liaison between the group and the department.

``They give one another peer support. We bring in guest speakers to discuss the grieving process,'' Gonzales said. ``These women are very close. They're completely different in personalities, but they have that one thing in common.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (color) Count them in: from left, Dena Ogden, Bob No rlemann, Jack Ogden, Dennis Carroll and Amanda Ree, for the motorcycle/poker ride Aug. 25 for families of officers who have died.

Terri Thuente/Daily News