I’ve never been to a police memorial before–and I’m not sure this qualifies–but I got to attend the barbeque benefit for a fallen officer recently. It was an interesting experience and gave me a look into a world that I rarely step into.
Now that I work for the government. we get a lot more notices of what’s going on around “our fair city.” On Memorial Day, Officer Ginarro New of the Phoenix Police Department was hit by a driver running a red light at a high rate of speed. Bam. Dead at 27, after serving in the military, and two years as a police officer.
Not what I was expecting–certainly what you are expecting. The police union decided to host a fundraiser at their building, which as it turned out, was within walking distance of my workplace. First thing that struck me as unusual was that the fundraiser was being held from 10 am to 10 pm. It only struck me later was that was to be open to police officers whose shifts would overlap those times.
I got there around 2 pm (because my shift is set a little later so I can drop off my kids in the AM) to see a fire truck hanging a giant American flag and a digital billboard, and folks grilling away happily and collecting donations for the family. The place was packed. There were plenty of cops there–I was expecting that–a couple of firemen, but there was lots of families. Big kids, small kids, moms… even some folks I didn’t expect. Apparently I sat right behind the grieving family.
The actual food and drink was available in… what could have only been a garage originally, but was now a storage place / workout area / general storage area. Obviously it was a cooler place out of the sun. I walked right in and there were two lines of people waiting for food. Apparently the demand was so great that the grill couldn’t keep up with the number of burgers and franks the guests wanted!
However, eventually everyone got fed, it was a nice atmosphere. Everyone was friendly and glad to be helping out. It’s something I hadn’t seen in a while. However, I could just be out of touch–what do you think? Let me know in the comments below! Then check out one of my books. However, if $1.99 is too steep for your wallet, go ahead and download one of my stories for free. You’ll be glad you did.
Albigensia Press 
It is so nice to see that these type of events still happen. When I lived in Alabama, they occurred regularly as needed, but in California, I’ve never seen or attended anything like it. I think it could be the mentality of the people. Even though Phoenix is a big city, it still has country values. They probably, for the most part, still respect policemen and consider their work honorable and appreciate their service. It is always sad when a young man serves his country abroad and then dies differently and unexpectedly at home.
Shift work makes for things that look odd sometimes. I actually got my first job dispatching because I was working graveyards and a bunch of the local officers would stop in each night. Eventually I started hanging out with them after work. Some people look at you a little oddly when you are throwing a steak on the grill and popping open a beer at 0730.
Police officers, and fire fighters, in general are incredibly generous people. Most got into the profession because they wanted to help people (there are a few that like the power trip, but many of those end up washing out). Nearly all of the officers I’ve worked with have at one time or another bought a meal, groceries, bus ticket, hotel room, etc. I’ve even chipped in when they bought a single mom a new car seat so she could legally get her kids in the car. It’s something that doesn’t get much attention, especially with all the media coverage about non-existent racism and attempts to defund departments.