Thursday night’s slaying of five police officers at a Texas protest march has reverberated more than 2,100 miles from Dallas as North Olympic Peninsula residents reach out with sympathy to area police departments.
Killed by a sniper were four Dallas police officers: Patrick Zamarripa, 32; Michael Krol, 40; Michael Smith, 55; and Senior Cpl. Lorne Ahrens, 48, as well as a Dallas Area Rapid Transit Officer, Brent Thompson, 43. Seven others were wounded.
The shootings were the deadliest single day for law enforcement officers since Sept. 11, 2001.
The eruption of violence was at about 9 p.m. during a calm protest over the fatal police shootings of two black men: Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota.
Peninsula police representatives said they have been touched by the many cards, letters, flowers and words.
Port Townsend
Cookies, flowers, cards and plenty of kind words have been flowing into the Port Townsend Police Department office since the Dallas shootings, according to Police Chief Michael Evans.
Although he has been out of the office, he acknowledged that officers have reported items coming in.
The Port Townsend community remembers its uniformed officers whenever a significant police incident occurs, Evans said.
In particular, Evans remembered a number of citizens who brought cards or other items to the office in 2009 when four Lakewood police officers were fatally shot in a coffee shop. The gunman entered the coffee shop, fired at the officers as they sat working on laptop computers and fled the scene.
Port Townsend police will wear black stripes on their badges until after the Dallas officers’ funerals, he said.
Evans said incidents like the one in Dallas are “hard on communities, but particularly on the officers’ spouses.”
His own wife was the first person to tell him about the Dallas shooting “and was near tears when she saw it online,” he said.
Clallam County
Like other law enforcement agencies, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office also has received an outpouring of kind items and thoughts from the public, Sheriff Bill Benedict said.
The sheriff said he has talked to a lot of people in the past two days and many have offered their thanks and kind words.
Still, Benedict said, the Olympic Peninsula is fairly well-removed from shootings like the one in Dallas.
“I tell everyone we don’t have nearly the strife that has gone down in a lot of the country,” he said.
He also sees his personnel as having good relationships with the community.
Sheriff’s Office uniformed personnel were authorized to start wearing black stripes on their badges Friday morning, Benedict said.
The department also has a chaplain that officers can talk with if they feel stressed.
“It’s horrific and people handle it in their own way,” he said.
Port Angeles
In a Facebook post Friday, Interim Chief Brian Smith said, “Thank you, Port Angeles and surrounding community for your kind words, flowers and cards sent to the Police Department today.
“Our hearts are broken by the events in Dallas. We very much appreciate your thoughts and support!”
Although Sgt. Jason Viada was out of the office for much of Friday, he said he was aware of flowers coming in.
He said he stopped in Port Angeles on Friday and was out of his vehicle for only about 30 seconds when one of the first people he saw “thanked me for my service.”
Many of the Port Angeles police officers are wearing black bands on their badges to honor the five officers slain in Dallas on Thursday.
Sequim
Deputy Chief Sheri Crain said flowers and cards started to arrive at the Sequim police station Friday morning.
Numerous people had stopped by, most notably a couple who brought their children by the station with flowers, she said.
“People also stop us on the street and say things,” Crain added.
Uniformed personnel will be wearing badges with black bands until after the Dallas police funerals, she said.
Inside the department, Crain said personnel are aware of the stress that shootings like the one in Dallas can create.
“This is certainly not the first time bad things have happened,” said Crain.
“It’s important for us to have conversations when they do.”
The force also has a trained chaplain on staff to whom staff members can talk if they feel stressed and Chief Bill Dickinson emailed staff about the shootings Friday.
Crain said “this is our community” and the police are very much a part of it.
The Sequim police have a good relationship with the community, and the towns on the North Olympic Peninsula are generally safe, she said.
Jefferson County
Flowers and cards have not shown up at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said Sheriff Dave Stanko on Friday.
For his personnel, he allows anyone who wants to wear a black band on a badge to honor fallen colleagues, even those far away.
When it comes to stress management, Stanko said his office always has a conversation when an incident occurs involving police. Incidents like the one in Dallas don’t seem to touch his personnel as closely as ones that happen in Washington state, he said.
But, he added, “they’re still in the law enforcement family.”
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Assistant Managing Editor Mark Swanson can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55450, or mswanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
