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Chief Tom Wibert, Lansing Police Department, State Memorial Speech May 3, 2010.

The first Police Line of duty death funeral I ever attended was the funeral of East Lansing Police Officer Jim Johnson, who was gunned down on October 25th, 1984. Over the years, I have been to several others. I have attended over half of Michigan's line of duty funerals in 25 years. I have been to police funerals in Lansing, Charlotte, Grand Rapids,

Clare, Traverse City, Dewitt, Brighton, Detroit and several of its suburbs. I know the drill to the point where there are very few surprises for me. I know when to stand at attention. I know where to stand in formation. I know when the taps are coming. I know not to drink a big gulp during the car ride to the service. (I learned this lesson the hard way early in my career.) It is a sad statement to say that for me, line of duty death funerals have become "routine."

As you approach the church to get into formation before the service, there is always a person, usually a lady, with a basket of tiny blue ribbons. She stops you, pins a blue ribbon to your coat, and gives you a smile and then you go and stand in formation with the other officers. That is part of the routine. A thousand police officers, from hundreds of different locations. We all have different uniforms, different equipment, badges and hats, but the one thing that we have in common is the little blue ribbon pinned to our shirts by that lady who stands in front of the church.