‘Blue curtain’ mentality a shock

Published 11:47 am Thursday, May 13, 2010

The comments of the retired police officer in Tuesday’s Herald regarding Officer Steve Klocker, who testified against Officer Troy Meade in the tragic shooting in Everett, came as a shock to me. (Letter, “Despite verdict, Meade faces firing”).

There had to be a reasonable degree of suspicion on the part of the prosecutor that a unwarranted shooting had occurred to have brought this trial forward. A retired police officer of 31 years and his group of retirees over a cup of coffee came to the collective decision they would not want Klocker to show up at a crime scene with them.

Also, the writer strongly implies Klocker’s weakness of showing emotion on the witness stand was a sign of him being unfit for duty. I disagree. I believe the truth often comes with emotion. It also seems to me these retired police officers got these two officers’ names mixed up.

Officer Klocker no doubt showed emotion on the witness stand from the extreme pressure he was under by piercing the “blue curtain” code of silence. I believe Klocker demonstrated courage and fortitude that instills respect from the public.

Is it possible this group of retired officers, speaking collectively over coffee, still cling to the blue curtain traditions of not saying anything against a fellow officer? That is disturbing. I would imagine these officers would be proud to work alongside Klocker, who was willing to take a stand of what he believed to be the truth.

My brother, now deceased, was a former police sergeant in a major city. I believe he would have stood with Klocker and respected him for his choice to raise his right hand and tell the truth, the whole truth, as he saw it, so help him God. To me, that choice seems to far outweigh the old traditions of silence and the blue curtain.

Lynn Claughton

Tulalip