I had thought the story had run its course. Most stories do.
But I was wrong.
The story in question here is how much it cost us locally to send law enforcement officers to a memorial service in Tacoma. It was for four slain Lakewood officers.
We reported the number. More than $40,000. The bulk of that came from the Vancouver Police Department. That was $20,000 alone.
Many of those who went up from our police department were SWAT team members and they provided security.
The story generated the expected support of the cost from the police chief, the city manager and the mayor. There also were many comments on our Web site in support of the expense.
Still, there were many who voiced opposition to the expense in comments on our Web site. Some wondered why so many SWAT team members were needed. Weren’t there thousands of police officers there?
An unscientific poll we ran showed the majority of voters were against spending so much money. Especially during this difficult economic time.
It was one of our largest responses, all things considered. Still — as mentioned — stories run their course.
This “running its course” is both a blessing and a curse on how life works in our society. A blessing because we all have the ability to move along. A curse because nothing much changes in our society for that very same reason.
So this story — I figured — was over. Then Tuesday came.
A letter to the editor was on our opinion page from Marshall Henderson. Henderson is a corporal with the Vancouver Police Department. And he defended the decision to send the SWAT team.
He wrote in the letter that the additional security was in response to specific threats.
“The threats became real,” he said, “when one of our team members detained a subject attempting to infiltrate security while wearing a military uniform.”
He went on. “This … may have prevented a disaster.”
As I read this letter I was a bit aghast. I had followed the memorial service both on TV and in print. Did I miss a huge story? Did everyone miss a huge story? Was there some heavily armed nut case out there vowing to take out all the police officers he could at this memorial?
It certainly would have — in the eyes of those who felt we spent too much — justified that expense.
So we asked a reporter here to check it out. She called Henderson to get some details. But no return call. We asked her to keep trying. She tried for three days. No return call.
We figured we had to get the answer elsewhere. So we called Tacoma law enforcement.
So was this a “real threat” as Cpl. Henderson described? Did Vancouver officers possibly “prevent a disaster,” as he said?
Well, the short answer is no.
The “real threat” in question was just a homeless person, looking to sneak a little food. He made no threats and was never arrested.
Potential ‘disaster’ was man seeking food
I’m not sure what to make of all of this because Henderson never called us back.
It could have been an honest mistake, maybe a little hype. Who knows.
Regardless, my view is that law enforcement should be honored here, should be respected here.
They do a job I would never be able to do and I am grateful for their service.
But no one should get a pass in our society. We need to keep asking questions. As our reporter did on this story.
Lou Brancaccio is The Columbian’s editor. Reach him at 360-735-4505 or lou.brancaccio@columbian.com.
