NORTHAMPTON — Police Chief Jody Kasper struggled to find words for the second time in less than two weeks, after a gunman in Baton Rouge opened fire Sunday on police officers.
“Aren’t we all at a loss for words?” Kasper said Sunday.
Kasper was at home Sunday morning when a gunman 1,500 miles away claimed the lives of three of her brethren, wounding several others. Two weeks ago, the Louisiana capital was thrust into tumult — with protests continuing to spill into the city’s streets — after white police officers pinned down and fatally shot Alton Sterling, a black man.
Just two weeks ago, a lone gunman trained a sniper rifle on a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration crowd in Dallas, killing five police officers.
Kasper wasn’t on duty Sunday, but she didn’t have to be at the station to understand the uneasiness, anxiety and fear that was rippling through her department. “Whether it be in France or Turkey or at home, we’re all at a loss,” Kasper said. “When we have a national event like this, it’s a matter of making sure that any steps that can be done in our own department are done.”
Whether it takes the form of personally attending shift changes or following up one-on-one with officers, the priority in the aftermath of any tragedy, she said, is ensuring that officers feel supported.
The symbols that allow officers to be visible protectors of the communities they serve — the uniform, the cruiser, the badge — also make these officers targets, Kasper said.
“As much as we must extend ourselves out there, we’re constantly looking over our shoulders to see if there’s any kind of threat,” she added. “Our jobs were dangerous well before these events happened … Our officers do a great job of watching each others’ backs as well as their own.”
For the families of those in law enforcement, worry is ever present. And officers and staff worry about one another. “Our families worry. Our kids worry,” Kasper said.
The chief has a 12-year-old son. “He’s been worried about me for many years, (but) the fact is it’s a really difficult time in this country to be a police officer,” she said. “We worry more and more when we go into work each day. The conversation with kids is really tricky.”
Northampton Capt. John Cartledge was returning from vacationing with his family Sunday morning when news of the Baton Rouge shootings broke. It was a jarring reminder of conversations he’d had with his family, mostly from previous years when he was a patrol officer and sergeant, that police never really know what awaits them at any call. “No call is routine,” Cartledge said.
But on Monday, like the many Mondays before it, Cartledge will sit among his officers at the early morning roll call. He will be there as a supervisor, a colleague and support system.
“You put on a uniform to do your job,” he said. “It’s what you signed up to do. Most people feel being a police officer is a calling, not just a career.”
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.