LDII: Who Pays For Police Mourners?

29 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

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  LukeB on December 08 at 2:10 p.m.

  Yes. It would be an inappropriate use of taxpayer money.

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  redman on December 08 at 2:10 p.m.

  Great Point, a friend of mine was a victim of a major theft and has some good leads…guess what, CDAPD Blue wont respond until they get back from Tacoma (morning). It seems to me the best tribute and honor Police can bestow on their fallen comrades is to do their job.

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  Sisyphus on December 08 at 2:38 p.m.

  This is when a pseudonym comes in handy. Really no one wants to complain about folks paying respect for the dead but this massive showing is certainly over the top particularly when tax dollars are at a premium.

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  moscow_minidoka on December 08 at 2:44 p.m.

  “But I wouldn’t care if the various departments picked up the expense. Would you?”

  Actually, I *would* have a problem with that. Our taxes go to pay for police protection etc, not to attend big ceremonial funeral services IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STATE. Had the shooting occurred in CDA or Spokane I would probably feel differently, but really, where’s the line? If officers in Arizona are murdered, should CDA Blue get to fly down their on my dime to “honor the fallen.”

  As others have said, the best way to honor them is to continue doing your job. Unfortunately, cops and firefighters and soldiers die with some regularity. If we dropped everything every time an officer is killed, all hell would break loose.

  And there is CERTAINLY no justification for spending public money to pay for officers to attend the funeral of fellow officers that they didn’t even know. If someone in my profession is killed in Utah, can I get the state to pay for me to travel to his or her funeral? No. If a journalist in southern Oregon is beaten to death with an APA manual, will the city of CDA pick up the tab for DFO to go to the service? No.

  [And before you jump on me, I’m just answering the question - I realize that no public funds were used this time, but I would have a SERIOUS problem if that were the case].

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  lastdemoinidaho on December 08 at 3:41 p.m.

  Would appreciate a response from some CDA police reps regarding this issue…gasoline for vehicles, overtime needed, if any, motel rooms for overnight stays, etc. etc.

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  DFO on December 08 at 4:01 p.m.

  @ Lastdemoinidaho; it’s time to pick an avatar or have one assigned to you by the blogmeister.

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  Soaf on December 08 at 4:01 p.m.

  The responses on this thread just goes to show how thankless a job law enforcement is.

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  christiewood on December 08 at 4:09 p.m.

  I am curently watching the funeral services of these four fine officers. I am really not in the mood to respond to you. Maybe tomorrow.

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  bpoole on December 08 at 4:16 p.m.

  Absolutely not, the expenses are the last thing the cities or counties should be concerned about. It is our responsibility to those that have fallen in the line of duty, we as a city should be proud of our men and women in the support they have shown to the community that has lost 4 of their own. Stop nitpicking

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  DFO on December 08 at 4:30 p.m.

  I can’t see how anyone can say that they support their local police and then begrudge the fact that officers from the Inland Northwest are showing their respect to fallen comrades in Tacoma today. The local officers who are attending the funeral represent not only their department but the community as a whole. We all should be outraged re: the crime committed against the four fallen officers, their families, and law enforcement. We also should be willing to show our support through the local officers who are in Tacoma in our stead. The major crimes will be covered, as well as many minor ones. The little ones can wait until tomorrow.

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  Soaf on December 08 at 4:36 p.m.

  @DFO, Well said. Thankfully most people don’t look at L.E.O’s with blinders on. But on such a somber day, it amazes me how cold hearted some people can be.

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  TALKJOC on December 08 at 7:34 p.m.

  Watching the support for law enforcement in Tacoma today I was proud of law enforcement. Hell yes they should be there. To you who disagree, take a look around your office and remove 4 co-workers. How tough would that be? To C. Wood and my other friends in law enforcement, most people support your show of support by fellow officers. As the for the complainers…don’t waste a moment of your waking moments worrying about them today. But you know what….you’ll still risk your life for them tomorrow. Mourn your loss and be safe.

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  ejs on December 08 at 7:36 p.m.

  Hey wait a minute, thankless job? Support local police? Listen, I support local police in two key ways, first I don’t break the law and second I pay my taxes. And as to a thankless job, give me a break. When a person desires to be a police officer they are fully aware of what the job duties are and guess what, they also know what the job pays. Last time I checked none of them are volunteers. Certainly some would say the job doesn’t pay enough and I might agree but again people are aware of all the facts PRIOR to taking the job including things like being killed. So now they take the job and get killed and I’m supposed to feel bad if I don’t do more? Being a Mom is one of the most thankless jobs around I wonder if our good sergeant goes to good fine Mom funerals or sends a few officers to attend. I’m certain to be attacked on this and that’s fine I respect policemen and I respect Moms too.
  Sanctimony strikes again

• 

  Soaf on December 08 at 7:42 p.m.

  Big talk from a keyboard commando who doesn’t have the stones to pin on the badge, strap on the belt and walk a mile in their shoes………….. Pathetic…

• 

  sue on December 08 at 7:43 p.m.

  I’m sure they wanted to be there, maybe needed to be. Sometimes we all nitpick too much over inconsequential things. It would be logical to send a representative from surrounding communities, even to North Idaho. I’m sure they considered costs as they have to do with everything they do. Leave them alone.

• 

  NWA330 on December 08 at 8:24 p.m.

  @ejs: Ever heard of a reserve deputy/officer? Last time I checked, they are considered volunteers and put their lives on the line just like the full-time folks, but without pay.

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  ejs on December 08 at 8:54 p.m.

  NW no I haven’t heard of that. What does “considered volunteers” mean?
  In any case, if they work in the full capacity of a regular officer then their hearts I expect are in the right place.

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  florined on December 08 at 9:55 p.m.

  Thankless job?? I’m wondering which jobs come with automatic thanks? I am grateful for those who are willing to accept the risk of physical danger in order to make our social group (re: society) safer. But I question the use of tax monies to send representatives to Lakeside. The two positions are not conflicting.

• 

  hhuseland on December 08 at 11:17 p.m.

  I was proud that our beat cop for Athol/Bayview went to Tacoma along with some city guys and gals. That this is begrudged just shows how shallow some people are. Is it a given then that our fallen in Afghanistan and Iraq should have to pay their own way home? Or are the parades and ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery a waste of taxpayers money? I’d really like some of you to re-examine your positions. It’s all about respect. respect for the fallen officers, and respect for you … Or not.

• 

  LukeB on December 09 at 7:02 a.m.

  “To you who disagree, take a look around your office and remove 4 co-workers. How tough would that be?”

  I wouldn’t expect anyone else to pay my way to their funeral. This is what this discussion is about.

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  moscow_minidoka on December 09 at 7:22 a.m.

  “I wouldn’t expect anyone else to pay my way to their funeral. This is what this discussion is about.”

  Thank you, Luke - I don’t understand how questioning spending public money (which is what the question was about!) to attend funerals is somehow some sort of cop-bashing, which is basically what Luke, ejs, and I have been accused of here.

  Did we ever say we don’t support police? Did we ever say we oppose officers driving to Tacoma on their own dime to pay their respects? NO! We were just trying to point out that in no other profession would there be ANY expectation that if a colleague was killed on the *other* side of the *neighboring* state that the public should for some reason pick up the expense to “honor the fallen.”

  “To you who disagree, take a look around your office and remove 4 co-workers.”

  That’s a ridiculous argument. The officers killed weren’t the co-workers of the CDA police, they were in Lakewood, Washington.A better analogy would be: “Take a look around your office. Everybody is ok. Then read in the news about 4 people in Salt Lake City who work in the same profession as you and were murdered.”

  I think ejs’ accusation of “sanctimony” is right on. NONE of us were saying that we don’t support the police, and none of us are heartless or dismissing this horrible crime. We were, in fact, answering a question posted by our own DFO, and answering it honestly.

  Supporting our police and wanting to keep our resources local are not mutually exclusive things. Get off your high horses.

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  Sisyphus on December 09 at 8:44 a.m.

  The Ada County Sheriff alone sent four officers with pay for three days to the event. No OT but I gotta wonder who picks up from the backlog for missing manpower during those three days. Its not like crime stops for a funeral. And that’s not counting all the city officers and other law enforcement from the area participating in the funeral. But twenty thousand most of whom were law enforcement? That just strikes me as a significant impact on their ability to fulfill their obligation to protect and to serve their communities. And I can’t help it if this seems counter-intuitive to what they are doing there in the first place and perhaps slightly self indulgent. And maybe that’s too cynical. I certainly can see sending representatives from departments especially when they need to rely on each other in the line of duty. That’s a perfectly legitimate expenditure. I’m just thinking it was excessive given the economic climate where departments are already decimated. Its not from lack of appreciation or ‘stones’.

  My heart goes to the officers and their families for this tragic event. It is a tough job and no one signs up for what happened to them. And I apologize personally to Christie, idawa or others if this discussion are words that hurt. That wasn’t the intent and I will certainly take any reply you may have to heart. I appreciate the dialogue cause I think there’s entirely too much silence surrounding matters of death.

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  factchecker on December 09 at 9:53 a.m.

  I think these were unusal circumstances, four officers gunned down at one time. I am proud that our community was represented whoever paid for it. These men and women put their lives on the line everyday for our safety.

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  idawa on December 09 at 10:19 a.m.

  I’ve been a little hesitant chiming in on this topic given that I work with law enforcement community in Washington and had met one of the officers who was shot - and it has been a little raw to see it discussed so flippantly, by some, on this blog.

  However, I don’t think anyone has ill-will and I can understand the position of some that resent the notion of tax dollars spent on what seems to be a ‘nonessential’. However, I think that sometimes, we as a society need to spend on items like these memorials. Pomp and circumstance is important in many contexts, it has persisted in many area of our lives for as long as men and women have gathered in communities, so I think it must have some value?

  Our society, our civilization, sometimes requires more than just a paycheck to keep it going. It requires that people possibly risk life itself so that the majority of us are safe, our property secure. In exchange, we, collectively often “reward” that sacrifice with a symbol of gratitude, a memorial to show the living, as well as dead, that we understand what they gave for us all.

  True, there are cheaper ways we could honor the dead. We could cease military funerals. We could not send officers to honor their fallen brothers. But, we would loose something in exchange for these savings? No?

  This type of thing happens, luckily, so infrequently, that I think the spending on these types of ceremonies is justified. I think we gain something as a society from these displays greater than the real, but rather inconsequential in context, tax dollars we would save.

• 

  hmoffsuite on December 09 at 10:26 a.m.

  well said, idawa

• 

  Eyes & Ears on December 09 at 10:29 a.m.

  There are many volunteers that assist in law enforcement around our area. I know CDA PD, PFPD, Spirit Lake PD, Kootenai County Sheriff, Spokane PD and Sheriff, even Tribal Police all have Reserve Officers/ Reserve Deputies. They go through a 240 hour academy, uniform up and patrol just like full-time officers. A reserve normally has to put in a minimum of 20 hours a month, but recieves no pay. Looking at a reserve and a full-time patrolman you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two.

  As far as honoring these fallen plice officers go, many of the officers that attended went on their own time or used their vacation time to attend. I’m not big on the “Brotherhood” thing. I feel that if an officer infractions the law, however slight it might be, he needs to be held accountable. Those officers that died, weren’t even on duty when they were gunned down. I was proud to see so many officers attend the service.

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  Sisyphus on December 09 at 10:32 a.m.

  Agreed hmoff. I do think the timing of this discussion is way off.

• 

  Digger on December 09 at 11:19 a.m.

  idwa - I tip my hat to you sir. You have said what needed to be said.

• 

  ldii on December 11 at 10:02 p.m.

  I am wondering what LDII stands for. In my country LDII means Lembaga Dakwah Islam Indonesia (Indonesia Islamic Proselytism Society)

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