National Police Week, Washington D.C. 2008
May 12 – 15, 2008
By: Sgt. Kevin Haight

When each of us chooses to stand on the right side of the thin blue line, we are recipients of a certain amount of public esteem.  In some cases, perhaps even some fame and glory, but to most of us service and honor is our true motivator.  

What is honor?  It has many definitions: credit or distinction, high respect, merit, high public esteem, fame, glory. The simple fact we choose to wear the badge, wear a ballistic vest, and kiss our families’ goodbye every day, makes us noble and honorable.  When one of us makes the ultimate sacrifice, we inherit from many, the deepest respect and devotion.  The fact our nation has designated one week each year as Police Week, developed the memorial wall, and the Capitol City rolls out the red carpet for the thousands of officers and surviving families, speaks to the great admiration and respect our nation affords our fallen brothers and sisters behind the badge.

This trip was a fantastic privilege, but bittersweet.  With over 18,000 names already etched into the wall, there were 181 additional officers killed in 2007, the second worst year since 1995.  Idaho contributed to the wall with our fallen hero Moscow Police Officer Lee Newbill.  Corporal Chuck Robnett and his wife, Nina, Master Corporal Craig Boll, and my wife, Anita, and I had the awesome privilege of meeting and spending one evening with Officer Newbill’s wife, Becky, his daughter, Lisa, and his sister, Judy.  They were being escorted by Moscow Police Lieutenant Mike Kwiatkowski, who I considered it a privilege to get to know and to associate with. 

Officer Newbill’s family shared with us some of their thoughts and emotions associated with the Memorial Week’s events, and the devastating events of May 20, 2007.  They are a strong family, struck with grief, but filled with enthusiasm when reflecting on Lee’s life and his sense of humor.  Becky shared her feelings of anxiety at some of the week’s events, due to memories re-discovered and / or the crowds of people.  She also said Lt. Kwiatkowski was a tremendous help and source of comfort for her and she felt at home when she met us ISP Officers.  They received us as family! 

I learned all participating survivor families are accompanied by liaison officers from their loved one’s agency, or from a local Washington D.C. Metro agency.  They stay at beautiful hotels in the Alexandria, Virginia area, and transportation is provided by local law enforcement agencies to any dinner or leisure events the family may want to enjoy.  Charter buses are provided for transportation of the families to all of the public events, such as the candlelight vigil and memorial service. 

Attending the candlelight vigil and memorial service were highlights for me.  If I had been an escorting officer, I would have been seated with or near the family in the interior portion of both events.  Still, the experience of hearing the names called off, watching the candles lighted and passed through the crowd, seeing the blue laser light beam piercing the darkness, which represented the thin blue line, and watching spouses, children, mothers, and fathers, pour over the wall, weeping, leaving memories, or tracing the names, are scenes I shall never forget.  In downtown Washington D.C., the silence and serenity of the event was astounding.  Standing in the officer cordon with hundreds of officers from all over the world, at attention, while the survivor families filed onto the capital lawn for the memorial service is also a sight I shall never forget.  Single mothers with babies, small children, middle-aged spouses, and seniors were among them.  It brought home the reality of my profession and the price our families may pay.  I trust my family feels the tremendous amount of love I have for them every day!

Escorting the family of a fallen officer to the week’s events would be a sobering duty.  I have observed the organization and structure that the Concerns Of Police Survivors (COPS) Conference consists of.  They do not permit access to any of the seminars, unless you are a survivor family member.  Survivors can choose what and if they want to attend.  Some families gain much from the various seminars, while others find the memorial and candlelight vigil events to be more meaningful to them.  As an escorting officer, it would be my duty to facilitate whatever needs my assigned family had.  The week’s events and assignment would be about them. 

I hope we never have to fulfill this assignment, but the reality is we will.  Thank you to the Idaho State Police Association for the honor and privilege of attending.  I believe I have a good understanding of where to go, what to do, and how to get around. 

I also now realize I did not have to spend my $40 for the Washington D.C. Metrorail during this week.  They do not require payment from any police officer that displays his or her badge during National Police Week.  Another way our Capitol City shows its admiration and respect to warriors against crime, protectors of peace, and defenders of civil rights.