Funeral For A Policeman

Cop killings always expose a city's rawest nerves.

If the killer or killers remain at large, whatever community that thinks it's the city's "usual suspects" finds itself on the wrong end of a lot of suspicion - usually unwarranted.

Since the Police and the Fire Department are the city's most visible manifestations, it's a whack at the city's identity; if a city's cops aren't safe, how can anyone else be?

And when the funeral comes around, you can learn a lot about the city by the policeman's funeral.

Since I've lived in the Twin Cities, this is the fifth funeral (that I can remember) of a policeman killed in the line of duty. The execution of Jerry Haaf at a pizza joint on Lake Street in Minneapolis in the late eighties set about a five-year-long ordeal of civic bloodletting and chest-pounding that in many ways seems still to be playing out. The killing of officer Melissa Schmidt in 2002 unleashed a storm of recrimination from community activists. I lived in Minneapolis a couple of times - and while there are a lot of good cops in Minneapolis, the department was run for many years with a very Darrel Gates-like philosophy; it's "us versus them" for too many in the MPD. So the city and their cops don't identify with each other to nearly the extent they seem to here in Saint Paul.

"Community policing" remains the big fad - or development, if you prefer - in law enforcement; as far as I recall (which means "20 years") that's the way it's always been done in Saint Paul (which hasn't always a good thing). The department and the citizens in Saint Paul tend to get along very well.

So today is the visitation, and tomorrow is the funeral for Sergeant Jerry Vick. For the first time in 11 years, the bagpipes will lead the cortege and the masses of patrol cars, lights blazing, through the streets of the East Side. Thousands will turn out to view the procession - hopefully including me. The whole city will slow down, sit back, and take a deep, mournful breath before moving on.

Here are the vitals:

• Today: A public visitation for Sgt. Gerald Vick will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at Bradshaw Funeral Home, 1078 Rice St., St. Paul.

• Wednesday: Funeral services at noon at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, 1669 N. Arcade St., at Hwy. 61 and Larpenteur Avenue in St. Paul

• A college fund has been established for Vick's children. Donations to the Sgt. Jerry Vick Memorial Fund are being accepted at City and County Credit Union, 144 E. 11th St., St. Paul, MN 55101.

• A limited number of posters displaying Sgt. Vick's badge are available for pickup at 367 Grove St., St. Paul.

• E-mail condolences are being accepted at SPPD-Memorial@ci.stpaul.mn.us.

Please help out with the memorial fund for the kids; Vick left two of them, as well as his wife.

Posted by Mitch at May 10, 2005 07:34 AM | TrackBack