ORDERVILLE, Utah - In the string of tiny towns laced together by Highway 89 through Long Valley, just about everyone either knew Brian Harris or was a relative. I lost count of the number of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cousins I ran into Orderville alone. (I have only ten fingers and ten toes.)
To say this was a tight knit community is to acknowledge both friendships and relationships.
So it is little wonder that on the day of Deputy Harris’ funeral, among all the striking displays, words and gestures, the one that sticks out in my mind most is the 4-mile procession from Valley High School to the Glendale Cemetery.
We drew our vehicle into the procession amid the dozens of police vehicles representing departments from across Utah as well as Arizona and Nevada. We were perhaps two miles behind the cars that carried the family.
Scattering along the 4-mile stretch of 89 were people. Some carried flags. Some had their hands over their hearts. A few saluted. Some stood as families. Others stood alone.
As we slowly passed by these people standing along the highway, I tried to imagine what this meant to the people in the other cars ahead of us – primarily family and police officers.
Here’s what I believe it meant to them: “You are not alone.”
These people were saying, “We know your sacrifice. We feel your loss. We are with you.”
It must have been comforting for family, but also reassuring for police officers who typically must deal with people who are less than appreciative.
The one officer who came from Chicago for the funeral probably knows better than most how “unappreciated” cops can be.
Few of us encounter officers on happy occasions. Even fewer express thanks for the job they are doing. We may not like the results of their efforts at a given moment (i.e. a traffic stop), but they are fulfilling a larger mandate of society to maintain the peace.
And that is not an easy job.
I believe the officers who traveled that road that day came away with a renewed sense of the support they have from the people with whom they seldom, if ever, have direct contact.
