Editor’s note: Lives of four Lakewood officers touched many; how you can help

By now the news has been out several days: four police officers sitting quietly in a Lakewood coffee shop, gunned down in cold blood.

Officers Greg Richards, 42, Tina Griswold, 40, Ronald Owen, 37, and Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, died Sunday morning in an utterly senseless way, for reasons a sane person may never understand.

Between them, they left behind nine children and three spouses. They also left behind a close-knit family of police officers and people from the public whom they knew and cared deeply about.

You may have noticed the badges and the uniforms first, but these four officers were real people, with real lives. They had kids who needed help with homework, Christmas shopping to do, holiday family events to plan. They probably lost socks in the dryer and maybe even the car keys, occasionally.

They were like us.

Lakewood may be reeling right now from the impact of losing four officers from a relatively small (100-member) police department. But like widening ripples on a pond, those impacts are radiating out to other places, and other people.

The lives of those four touched many.

In Kent, where Greg Richards worked previously, his colleagues are grappling with the loss. They’re also trying to put it in perspective.

“Something like this is devastating and it’s tragic, but it doesn’t define the community, nor does it define law enforcement. It can’t,” said Lt. Lisa Price, who worked with Richards during his employment at Kent PD. He left the Kent force to start work with Lakewood in 2004.

“For us, we have to maintain the perspective that the majority of the public supports us, and we can’t let something like this affect how we deliver service,” she added.

“The public still appreciates what we do, and our mission is to provide quality service.”

Kent Police Chief Steve Strachan, who came on board after Richards had moved on to Lakewood, said he was deeply moved by the manner in which officers, as well as the public, are responding to the crisis.

“When things are at their worst, officers are at their best,” he said.

“I really wish this had never happened, but it did happen. And I am absolutely amazed by the level of support that officers are giving each other,” he added, noting that Kent officers are assisting other agencies right now with peer support, in addition to being sounding boards for one another.

“It’s not just the officers – it’s the public, too.”

Strachan said he was moved to learn that someone had placed flowers and crosses at the fountains near the entrance of the Kent Police Department Monday morning. And there have been supportive phone calls and messages coming to the department.

“People we have not expected to call have left a note,” he said, of the simple, but so appreciated gestures of good will that have been made these past few days.

The chief pointed to a larger picture, as well.

“We need to remind ourselves the vast majority of officers are like these officers were. They are good people doing a good job, every day.”

So is there anything you, as an average citizen, can do in the face of this senseless, painful act?

You’re darned right there is – this isn’t just another sad news story.

You can help support the families of these officers, by donating through the Lakewood Police Independent Guild Benevolent Fund at P.O. Box 99579, Lakewood, WA 98499 or by visiting their Web site at www.lpig.us for more information.

And on a simpler note, you can decide for yourself to be part of the solution. It may sound like a cliche, but it’s the truth.

“It’s however they translate that,” said Price of what motivated people can do. “Volunteer work, working to change laws, working with kids, working toward treating mental health. Get involved in the solution and get involved in the community, at whatever level.

“Make a difference in your own life and make a difference in others’. Not just when a crisis occurs, but on a slow and steady course. Somehow, somehow.”