"But why does the typical soldiers funeral differ so much the typical policeman's funeral?"
Not saying it's right or that it has any merit, but maybe it is because a police officer is not a soldier in a war -- he is charged with maintaining law and order - not on a battle field, though sometimes it turns into one, but in the back yards and streets of our own homeland.
I have attended a few police funerals over the last 38 years that I have worked both as a police officer, and now within the justice enterprise as a retiree. Every one I attended was on my own time, meal and accomodation expenses were on my nickel, and the department paid the vehicle expenses -- one patrol car for every 5 officers. But you endure the cramped travel and the expenses for the sake of honouring a fallen brother and supporting his family.
If a soldier from a town within 100 miles of my home was being buried after return from a campaign, I'd be there to show my support, whether I knew him or his family or not.
I've been the guy that is doing an entry into an allegedly booby trapped house with no bomb squad training, and the armed entry into a house accessible only by rail that is 50 miles from the nearest backup with no backup present. I understand what the risks are. I appreciate the men and women that stand for public safety. I stand with them, and always will. If you don't, feel free. I hope you never get to feel the sting of losing a friend or relative to some insane freak that gave nothing to society but trouble -- and a dead police officer.
