Thousands Show Support For Fallen Officer City Of Boise Determined To Promote Intolerance For Those Who Break The Law

Police officers are still heroes, at least in Idaho.

The remarkable outpouring of emotion and support after the shooting death of officer Mark Stall shows that.

Even in a city divided by debate over an unprecedented string of fatal shootings by police, there was no controversy at Stall’s funeral. Thousands turned out to honor the fallen officer, perhaps the largest funeral gathering the state has ever seen.

Hundreds more lined the seven-mile route the funeral entourage took to the cemetery. Several hundred law enforcement vehicles spilled into a nearby farm field so officers could attend the grave-side services.

All around Boise, stores posted signs honoring Stall. Fund-raising drives were started for the officer’s wife, Cheryl, and the couple’s two young daughters.

Although there was no count, what appeared to be thousands of law enforcement officers attended the funeral. They ranged from the smallest cities of Idaho to the federal government and big and small communities in Utah, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington.

The speeches at Stall’s funeral urged a return to the respect for authority that seems to be slipping away in Boise, as witnessed by the seven fatal police shootings in the last 16 months.

Police Chief Larry Paulson asked those who were attending to promote an “intolerance for lawlessness” and support for authority and less for those who break the laws.

“I can’t believe we have any place for that in the city of Boise,” the chief said.

Besides the huge number of law enforcement officers and their families, there was a broad cross-section of the public at the funeral - from young students to business types in suits. Outside the Boise State University Pavilion, a couple of grade school classes waited to see the funeral procession.

At the spot where Stall was fatally wounded, on the parking lot of a biker bar in downtown Boise, a cross was embedded in concrete. Like the outpouring of sympathy when Princess Diana died, albeit on a much smaller scale, people stopped for candlelight vigils and to leave flowers, poems and messages to the family.

There was talk of some sort of memorial to Stall at the spot where he was shot - which probably would be the only memorial in the country to a police officer on a tavern parking lot. The mayor said a future park elsewhere will be named for him.

Even before last weekend’s police shootout with brothers Craig and Doug Brodrick after a routine traffic stop, there was a lot of community discussion about whether police officers were getting trigger-happy.

The city already faces lawsuits from two earlier incidents, both involving young men shot to death in struggles with police. And another is likely after the shooting deaths of the Brodricks, who once tried for jobs as Pennsylvania state troopers.

Investigation continues into exactly what happened on the lot of Rider’s Bar a week ago, and it may be months before it’s all sorted out.

Many want Batt’s job

You couldn’t reach Senate Majority Leader James Risch on the telephone last week after Gov. Phil Batt announced he wouldn’t seek a second term.

That’s because Risch was making telephone calls lining up support for a potential campaign for the Republican nomination for governor. As one political operative put it, Risch was “burning up the wires” looking for support among Republicans.

If GOP Sen. Dirk Kempthorne doesn’t decide to run for governor and opts to campaign for a second term, Risch will be in the race. But he will have company.

A couple of political figures already have declared: Lt. Gov. Butch Otter wants to get in, and House Speaker Michael Simpson is considered almost certain to run for the GOP nomination if Kempthorne doesn’t.

There could be others, leading to a crowded and potentially confusing Republican primary next May.

State GOP Chairman Ron McMurray was in Boise this past week, among other things meeting with some of the top prospects about avoiding a divided Republican primary that would boost the chances of the seriously weakened Democrats recapturing the governor’s chair.

But with no incumbent, and no clearcut favorite should Kempthorne and 2nd District Congressman Michael Crapo forego the race, look for a crowded field in the primary despite McMurray’s efforts.