Veterans walk to honor, support police
Sister of fallen officer calls Vets 4 Cops event ‘heartwarming’
Army veteran Chantelle MacKenzie, pushing a stroller with her two children, rounded out a procession of police supporters who walked recently from the VA Palo Alto Health Care Services campus to the Alta Mesa Cemetery and Funeral Home.
As she navigated the carriage over cracks on the sidewalk about 1.5 miles each way, MacKenzie struggled to answer her toddlers’ questions about death and funerals.
But having served tours in Afghanistan, she said it was important to share with her children a different narrative about police officers than what they see on TV.
Police across the country have received increased scrutiny and criticism, from Black Lives Matter protesters to nonactivists alike, in the wake of several cases where officers used excessive force or killed unarmed black men from Ferguson, Missouri, to Cleveland and elsewhere.
Early last month, five police officers were killed by a sniper in Dallas during a protest march and three officers were killed days later in Baton Rouge as they responded to a call about a suspicious person with an assault rifle.
Police have said the officers were targeted by people upset over the police shootings.
The killings and continued protests nationwide led the Palo Alto Police Department to temporarily alter its procedures so officers respond to calls in pairs instead of alone.
In response to the police killings, local Peninsula veterans organized a Vets 4 Cops walk to show there is community support for police officers and to honor those who have fallen.
MacKenzie was overjoyed when she learned about the walk, but she and her husband had to do a “risk assessment,” in Army terms, before deciding whether it would be safe to bring their children along.
“We’re just here to say thanks to them, but nowadays police officers are targets,” MacKenzie said. “It breaks my heart. I don’t know how they get up every day and put on their uniform knowing there are people out there who want to harm them.”
Marine veteran James Brown, who organized the walk, said he has seen the fear and worry grow in his police officer friends.
Brown said he hopes the event shows police officers there is a larger community that recognizes the dangers they face every day in protecting residents.
“We see their morale suffering; we see them hurting,” Brown said. “We want them to know: We value you, we respect you and we appreciate what you do.”
Brown, who works on advocacy issues for veterans, said he was struck by how there are more police officers killed in the line of duty on U.S. soil — 77 so far this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page — than there are American military combat casualties overseas — seven, according to email notifications Brown said he gets as a veteran.
Police and military share an understanding of what it’s like to put life on the line for community, Brown said.
“There is a brotherhood here. We wear green, but they wear blue and it’s the same thin line,” Brown said. “When you’re overseas, you want to know your family is safe and the police are there for them.”
Brown, Air Force veteran Mark Zappa and a local TV personality who Brown said wishes to remain anonymous pooled their money and got contributions for shirts, flags and other items for the Vets 4 Cops event.
Any donations received will go to C.O.P.S., a foundation that supports families of police officers killed in the line of duty, Brown said.
Brown thought it was appropriate to walk from the flag pole at the VA to the grave of fallen police officer Joel Davis, who worked for the East Palo Alto Police Department.
Davis, 26, was shot and killed in 1988 while chasing a suspected drug dealer who apparently brandished a gun at a liquor store.
Tami McMillan walked with Vets 4 Cops on Sunday and placed a rose on Davis’ grave.
McMillan’s brother, Rich May, also died in the line of duty. May, also an East Palo Alto officer, was shot in 2006 after responding to a fight at a restaurant.
May’s death is particularly relevant in today’s context, when there is a growing public voice for police not to shoot first, McMillan said.
“Rich did what everybody today wants him to do, and he’s dead,” McMillan said. “He used his voice and his ASP (expandable baton).”
McMillan called Sunday’s event “heartwarming” and said the veterans’ support means more than they know.
“You never want your loved one forgotten,” McMillan said. “Whether it’s the green line or blue line or red, for firefighters: They do the same job, just in different places.”