Police wives make thin blue ribbons in honor of Unified officer Barney
"Thin blue line" ribbons for a candlelight vigil for Salt Lake City Unified police officer Doug Barney Wednesday, January 20, 2015 in West Haven, Utah.
"Thin blue line" ribbons for a candlelight vigil for Salt Lake City Unified police officer Doug Barney Wednesday, January 19, 2015 in West Haven, Utah.
The widows and wives of northern Utah police officers make "thin blue line" ribbons for a candlelight vigil for Salt Lake City Unified police officer Doug Barney Wednesday, January 20, 2015 in West Haven, Utah.
WEST HAVEN — Christel Thompson has lived with the fears and anxieties experienced by police officers’ loved ones. She also knows first-hand that police families are renowned for supporting one another when tragedy strikes.
Her husband, Rich Thompson, died on Oct. 27, 2013 of cancer after a long career in law enforcement, including a decade with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office.
Now the Thompsons’ son, Keaton, 20, plans to make a career in law enforcement.
“He is excited to follow in his father’s footsteps, and it scares his mom [sic] to death,” Christel Thompson said. “That’s what he’s always known.” She said her son has done many ride-alongs with police to become familiar with the profession.
In this context, Thompson, from Roy, was one of several local women who got together Wednesday, Jan. 20 to make “thin blue line” ribbons in memory of Unified police officer Doug Barney, who was shot to death by a parole violator in the Salt Lake City suburb of Holladay on Sunday.
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The ribbons are distributed at memorials for officers as a show of support for their families. The ribbons made Wednesday were to be distributed at a candlelight vigil in Barney’s honor later Wednesday in Salt Lake County and at his funeral at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 25 at the Maverik Center, 3200 Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City.
The organization Concerns of Police Survivors says each year, between 140 and 160 officers are killed in the line of duty in the United States. Groups such as COPS and Police Wives of Utah provide resources to help police families rebuild their lives after a loss.
Story continues below photo.
BENJAMIN HAGER/Standard-Examiner
Jennifer Lewis, left, shares a moment with Geralynne Swensen while making “thin blue line” ribbons for a candlelight vigil for Salt Lake City Unified police officer Doug Barney Wednesday, January 20, 2015 in West Haven, Utah.
After Ogden police officer Jared Francom was killed in the Matthew David Stewart shoot-out on Jan. 4, 2012, numerous police wives “got together and became friends” in the Ogden area, Thompson said.
“We all go through the same thing together, and we have done quite a few different benefits and fundraisers,” she said. “And we make these ribbons to be worn at police funerals.”
She said it was therapeutic for her family when so many people at her husband’s funeral showed up wearing the blue ribbons.
“It meant so much. And these were people I had never even met before, doing things to help us,” she said. “The family in blue is truly a family.”
Jennifer Lewis of West Haven hosted the ribbon-making exercise Wednesday. Her husband is an Ogden police detective. She agreed with Thompson that such support in bad times is vital for the survivors of officers.