With heart overflowing: In memory of Colorado Officer Garrett Swasey

This past week I had the op­portunity to attend the National Association of Counties’ Safe and Secure Counties symposium in Colorado Springs, in El Paso County, Colo. I had the privilege and honor to attend the memorial service for Garrett Swasey, the officer killed in the Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting.

The memorial service was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had, and I came home to Hood River with a desire to share. The event was held in an enormous church capable of holding 4,000 people. At least 3,000 men and women in uniform attended to show their respects. The line to enter the church easily stretched a quarter-mile long, and the 10-acre parking lot flashed with the lights of so many emergency response vehicles that there was no sense in counting them. The formal ceremony was amazing, with a regal air that took my breath away. The procession was a sea of red and blue flashes I will never forget.

Here in our region, much work has been done to reduce the incarceration of those suffering from mental illness. This summer I facilitated a System Intercept Map­ping Initiative with the National In­stitute of Corrections to determine, from a regional perspective, what community-level resources and policies we currently have to address the needs of our justice-involved community members. The work I have spearheaded has included all four counties (Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, and Gilliam) that NOR­COR (Northern Oregon Regional Corrections) serves, as well as the other entities that rent beds from NORCOR’s facility. NORCOR Administrator Bryan Brandenburg recently instituted a nationally rec­ognized tool for assessing inmates in terms of their treatment needs and risk of reoffending, and we are now working on enhancing mental health services inside the jail to bet­ter serve those with mental health and substance abuse issues. We are also working on crafting transition services to aid people who are re-entering the community after a stint in jail, and we are developing more robust community-level supervision services, so that we avoid incarcerat­ing people who are at low risk of reoffending or who fail to appear for their court date. These new ap­proaches are based on nationally researched evidence on the most effective criminal justice practices.

Those who serve our vulner­able populations do so with such commitment, passion and loyalty to improve our community that I am truly moved every time I ar­range a conversation on this topic. Tragic events such as the Colorado Springs shooting should strengthen our compassion and commitment to those with mental health issues. Officer Garrett Swasey was a gallant individual: a pastor, father, brother, husband, son and public servant. Please take a moment to learn about him, his wife Rachel, his son Elijah and his daughter Faith. And remember that Google cannot tell you everything — like that he played the guitar and recently made a worm farm in a five-gallon bucket.

Officer Swasey was a year younger than me and close in age to Sheriff English and Police Chief Holste. We all have children the same ages as Officer Swasey and spouses that, if left alone as the result of a tragic event, would struggle to stabi­lize their families. These similarities make his loss hit even closer to home — and make me value our local law enforcement team even more. So I ask everyone in this community to take a moment to appreciate and thank the members of our County Sheriff Department and City Police Department. They put their lives on the line to provide us the safety we expect. One witness from the Colorado shootings stated, “I was so relieved to see the police arrive.”

Remind our children that when­ever they need help and call 9-1-1, the police will come no matter the circumstances. When you can, introduce your children to police officers and encourage them to ask questions about the uniforms, equip­ment and vehicles. These public servants are our partners in safety, so teach your children what partnership means. Every child in this county should know the name and face of our county sheriff and city police chief and feel comfortable walking up to them, their deputies or their officers and talking with them. We are partners, we are a community, and these individuals have dedicated their lives to our safety. Thank them every chance you get.

As I left the service for Officer Garret Swasey, I signed his memorial memory book as follows:

“Karen Joplin, Commissioner Hood River County, Ore., representing:Matt English, Hood River County Sheriff and department.

Neil Holste, City of Hood River Police Chief and department.

Standing Strong and with love from Hood River County, Ore.”

- First published in the Hood River News. Reprinted with permission of the author.