Attempt To Reinstate Police Funeral Escorts Fails In Committee

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — A renewed push to reinstate police funeral escorts failed Tuesday after not receiving the necessary support to move forward during the Tuscaloosa City Council's Public Safety Committee meeting. The Tuscaloosa Police Department has long been opposed to motorcycle escorts for funerals, with the current law prompted by the death of TPD Officer Trevor Phillips in 2011.

Phillips was killed when a member of the funeral procession he was escorting pulled out in front of the motorcycle officer to attempt a U-turn.

Paul Rollins Jr., owner and managing director of Rollins Funeral Home, spoke in favor of reinstating escorts as a matter of safety for mourners.

"There are other alternatives," he said. "We don’t have to use motorcycles, we can use cars. We can just cut it down to eight cars in a procession. We can contact the police department and say we have a procession coming."

Others also mentioned their concerns for the safety of those in the processions, but Tuscaloosa Police Chief Brent Blankley took to the podium to once again voice his opposition to a measure that he believes is a poor use of resources that puts his officers in danger.

Blankley, whose predecessor Steve Anderson also opposed funeral escorts, said he thought the debate was over when the law was changed in 2011.

"You’ve got to have enough people to do them and we were doing them between calls," the chief mentioned.

Blankley was joined by Heather Sexton, the wife of a TPD officer, who also spoke to the committee in opposition of reinstating escorts.

Sexton presented her own research to validate her claims, saying she had spoken with other agencies outside of Alabama who have also lost officers during funeral processions. In all of her calls, she said she was only able to find one town that reinstated funeral escorts — Slidell, Louisiana.

"Their population stands at about 24,000 people," she said. "Tuscaloosa is well over 103,000 people, not including the 25,000 students who are here, so that has to be taken into account."

She also pointed out that the difference in how Slidell brought back funeral escorts came in the use of cars, as opposed to motorcycles, with the procession restricted to the one patrol vehicle, the hearse and two family vehicles.

"It’s very irresponsible to take that many officers off the road to escort multiple processions because … you’re taking manpower away from emergent calls and I really don’t think it's necessary," Sexton said.

TPD Officer Keith Clements joined Blankley and Sexton in speaking against the proposed change to the law. Clements, a veteran of the TPD for a little more than 12 years, serves as co-commander of the department's accident reconstruction unit and sits on the city's accident review board.

Clements stressed the importance of remembering why the law was instituted in the first place.

"On May 21, 2011, officer Trevor Phillips was killed in the line of duty while escorting a funeral," he said. "I feel like some forget how it happened or maybe they just don’t know. A member of the procession made a U-turn right in front of his passing motorcycle. As a result of the collision, he was thrown 81 and a half feet. He was killed by a vehicle in the procession, not by an outside vehicle running a red light or stop sign or anything else."

The Tuscaloosa City Council in August of that year voted to leave the decision on funeral escorts up the police department, as opposed to it being a requirement.

"Trevor's helmet hangs in our garage, the very one he wore the day that he died," Clements pointed out. "His dusty, broken motorcycle is still at the shop at TPD and the Tuscaloosa News article about his death is taped to the front of it."

Clements said the resolution honored the ultimate sacrifice made by Phillips, while extending good will to the officers.

"We were effectively out of the funeral escort business," he said, before mentioning that there had been no fatalities connected to funeral processions in Tuscaloosa since the law was changed.

Following the death of Phillips, Clements reflected on a call his supervisor received from a citizen wanting a funeral escort. When informed the department no longer provided escorts, the caller said "cops die all the time," a sentiment Clements said is echoed on social media amid the current social climate.

He then implored the Committee to take a different approach and show support for the law enforcement officials protecting their community.

"In voting to reinstate police escorts," he said. "It does feel like you’re placing tradition before life."