As news of a sniper’s apparently calculated killing of five police officers at a peaceful protest in Dallas was absorbed by the ranks of Upper Valley police departments Friday morning, area chiefs said it was an opportunity for police and community members to draw closer together, even in the face of a tragedy that has the potential to drive them further apart.
“I think we’re all deeply troubled by the distrust becoming a focal point. It’s important for the public to trust the police department, and it’s important for the police department to trust the public,” said Hartford Police Chief Phil Kasten, who learned about the Thursday night shooting shortly after he first booted up his office computer at 5 a.m. on Friday.
“We can’t allow this to divide us,” Kasten said. “We have to work together. I encourage all of the community’s leaders to help bring us together at this time.”
Lebanon Police Department Capt. Tim Cohen knows firsthand that the death of an officer has the potential to undermine the relationship between the public and law enforcement.
The Dallas shooting led the 20-year law enforcement veteran to remember 1997, when, as a new officer working in Canaan, he was still developing a friendship with Jeremy Charron, an ex-Marine and Epsom, N.H. patrolman who had graduated the academy with Cohen.
One night, shortly after telling Cohen that he had some work to do back in the office, Charron was shot and killed during what began as a routine check of a parked car in Epsom.
Cohen was shaken, and the next day, he brought his fear to work.
“I remember my first traffic stop after Jeremy was killed. It was an old man who had a traffic violation,” Cohen said, demonstrating an aggressive stance. “I went up like Robocop, with my hand like this, back by my holster. My attitude was, ‘They’re not going to get me like they got him.’ ”
Only after he sat back in his patrol car with the man’s license did Cohen pause to think about the way the old man’s hands had trembled as he handed over his license.
Cohen realized that he couldn’t let Charron’s killer dictate his behavior toward the public.
“You can’t let them win,” he said.
Cohen, who said that acting more gently as he handed the man’s license back only partially mitigated the damage he had done, used the encounter as a learning opportunity.
Ever since that day, he said, he’s worked hard to recognize the shared humanity of the people he encounters.
“I hope you can tell, I take a lot of pride in my job,” he said. “A lot of jobs pay the same or better, but this is a calling kind of job.”
Area police chiefs said the Dallas killings resulted in an outpouring of public support on Friday morning.
Kasten and Lebanon Police Chief Richard Mello both said they’d received multiple calls and emails, while Judy Powell, the administrative assistant for the Norwich Police Department, said one woman brought in a small vase of green, white and yellow flowers.
“She thanked the department for everything they do, and wanted us to know the public was thinking of us,” Powell said.
Powell learned about the shooting when she first got to work Friday morning and received an email from a website that tracks news of officers being harmed in the line of duty.
As officers — including Patrolman Frank Schippert — arrived, Powell told them about the tragedy.
“It’s just a sad state for a fellow officer,” Schippert said. “The job seems to be getting harder and harder.”
Even though the shooting happened in a major urban area, Schippert said he believes it could have happened anywhere, including in the Upper Valley.
“It just made me more cautious,” he said.
“The size of the community makes no difference,” Kasten agreed. “The reality is, these are issues every community is grappling with.”
Many officers expressed concern for those who were personally affected by the Dallas shooting.
“It’s a sad day,” Mello said. “It’s a thousand miles away, but it resonates with us. We want to support our brothers and sisters.”
Norwich Police Chief Douglas Robinson said he was joining other departments in calling for an end to the violence, and made reference to the videos showing two black men shot by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, which spurred the Dallas protest against police use of force.
“We’re asking for calm,” he said. “These officers were there (in Dallas), keeping the peace. Let due process take its course.”
Cohen said he was bothered by some of the police actions he has seen caught on video over the past few years.
“If there’s a bad apple, we’ve got to deal with that,” he said.
But he also said he believed that each case would be resolved in a just manner.
“We believe people have a right to their day in court, and that the investigatory process works,” he said. “If not, everything we do is for naught.”
And for Cohen, the job is still the job.
On Thursday, just hours before the Dallas tragedy, he spent much of the day working on a grant proposal to bring resources to combat distracted driving.
He reviewed some department paperwork, and then stood duty at the Lebanon Farmers Market.
On Friday, he felt a little more aware of the job’s dangers, but he carried on with his duties, checking his computer for news on the tragedy when he got the chance.
He spent most of the morning working with an officer who had been pricked with a dirty hypodermic needle during a vehicle search and needed medical attention, and filling out more paperwork.
Though he said the shooting was on his mind, there wasn’t much discussion about it with his fellow officers. They were too busy with the job, he said.
“Guys do it their own way,” he said. “It’s business as usual.”
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.