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Honor Guard 101: Line of Duty Funeral Protocol
Photo: Fairfax County Police Department Honor Guard
Featured Author:
Lt. Ken Baine
Lieutenant Ken Baine serves as Commander for the Fairfax County Police Department’s 40-person Honor Guard. Prior to his 18 years on the police department’s honor guard, he served on the burial and flag team in the Marine Corps.
Under Lt. Baine’s supervision, the FCPD Honor Guard participated in over 100 assignments in 2007. He has written his agency’s 175-page Honor Guard SOP and developed and hosts an annual conference attended by officers throughout North America.
For more information about attending FCPD’s Honor Guard Training Conference, contact Lt. Baine through his PoliceLink profile.
More articles from this author:
Lt. Ken Baine / Fairfax County Police Department
You get one chance to make a first impression. This is the motto all Honor Guard commanders and coordinators should have when planning the funeral of a fallen officer. I have had the unfortunate task of coordinating three line-of-duty funerals for the Fairfax County, Virginia, Police Department in my 18 years on the team. It will be one of the most challenging and exhausting things you will ever do. Trust me.
It is an unfortunate reality that one of your officers can be killed in the line of duty at any time. In this article, I will provide an overview of what my experience has taught me it takes to staff a police funeral.
In 2000, when I became the coordinator we had 15 Honor Guard team members. I have since increased that number to 40. A line-of-duty funeral takes an absolute minimum of 21 team members. The breakdown is as follows:
| Pallbearers | 6 |
| Flag team | 6 |
| Firing Party | 8 |
| Funeral Commander | 1 |
| Total: | 21 |
That said, I can tell you that 21 team members will not get the job done. For example, what if one of your team members is on leave, sick or too emotionally upset about the fallen officer to participate? To be on the safe side, you will need at least 30 team members for a line-of-duty funeral. If you are a small agency, have a plan with neighboring departments you can turn to if that time comes. You will no doubt need to lean on other agencies for help.
The officer’s family will dictate what honors will be included in each funeral. We must remember to respect their wishes first, however, as commanders and coordinators it is our duty to explain the importance of all these honors to the officer’s family during the funeral planning.
Traditional honors recommended for a line-of-duty police funeral should include:
Pallbearers
Color Team
Firing Party
Taps
Bagpipes
Black bunting on a cruiser
Black bunting on station
The Fairfax County Police Department also offers these additional honors for the funeral of our fallen officers:
Vocalist at the funeral service or graveside
Helicopter flyover
Radio last call
White dove release
It is very important to know what to do if that day comes. I have attended and studied almost 50 line-of-duty funerals, yet still find things that can be improved in our own services. Are you ready if that call comes today?
This article is the first in a series of articles by Lt. Ken Baine covering all aspects of running a police Honor Guard and detailing each honor given at a line-of-duty funeral.
fultonfinest1220
4 days ago
114 comments
As a former Assistant Commander of the Fulton County Sheriff's (Atlanta, Ga) Honor Guard, it is the most difficult time not only for the Department, but most definitely for those of us who steps in to carry out such details.
And with each detail things never seen to be the same, and being able to keep things under control in those trying times, you always needs to have that relief factor.
This is great I am downloading the info to attend your training.
TDL1537
about 1 month ago
688 comments
Thanks for this great article. Very informative.
Taffy
about 1 month ago
1042 comments
Thank you for a great article. I have forwarded the URL to my Honor Guard Commander. Our Honor Guard is very new and has a great deal of work to do before we are ready to meet the standards for our mission. We have attended the Minnesota LEMA Honor Guard Camp and are putting into practice the valuable material we have learned. This is a great resource not only for the team members but for the Department Commanders to see and digest. Bringing the details of just how involved a line of duty police funeral is will help us gain support for the time and training we need.
Ceec902
2 months ago
298 comments
This is a great resource. Nobody really considered this until it was needed in our county. Thank you.
scotarle
2 months ago
4 comments
Good article. I am one of the newer deputies and have recently been put in charge of our departments Honor Guard. This is a great article to start gathering knowledge on one of the most important tasks a Law Enforcement Officer can do....pay honor to a fallen brother.
annagcarter
5 months ago
2 comments
Very useful information.
sgtmo
5 months ago
12 comments
Thanks for the info.
Posse44
5 months ago
2570 comments
Yet another great place to get good information.
Darkshadow113
7 months ago
16 comments
This is a very good article and well addressed by Lt. Baine. I have been an active member for 8 years and I am currently the commander of the Pentagon Honor Guard Team. I have approximately 6 officers on the team and trying to train more. The responses you receive for assistances from other departments when you have lost one of your own in the line of duty are without a doubt remarkable. Although, we may be with different agencies, we are all part of a special brotherhood that has devoted our lives to serve, protect and defend the lives of others. We wear the thin blue line to honor those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.
deClaire635
7 months ago
102 comments
I've had the privilege of attending an Honor Guard Academy in South Florida. It is unbelievable on how much really goes into a Police Officer's funeral. This academy was a week long. It needed to be a month, that's how much "detail" is in it.
blueman241
8 months ago
130 comments
Good article. I had the unfortunate duty of laying to rest one of our officers after he was killed in the line of duty. We were lucky enough to have a former Army Old Guard on our team so it was very professional. If you are on a Color Guard or Honor Guard this will be your hardest and most proud moment. thanks for the good info.
94five0
8 months ago
28 comments
a terrrible part of this lifestyle, but a more acurate definiton of "brotherhood", you will never find.
It was summer '04 and I was on my way to work and traffic was snarled up to the middle of downtown from the interstate...roughly 4 miles away from my location. and as I approched, I was in awe.. it was a statewide coordination.. local municipalites, surrounding counties, state troopers..all coming to support their fellow brothers, needlessly slain.. we lost 3 of Birmingham's finest: (RIP Harley Chisholm III, Charles Robert Bennett, and Carlos Owen,) {=}
tlwinkles379
8 months ago
2382 comments
Good points. I wish we had the luxury of this many people. We only have enough to have a firing team.
roxy1
8 months ago
2256 comments
Great Article ........ Well said Lt. Baine ....
cops1521
8 months ago
180 comments
I like the part about Departments turning to other departments for help. When Dekalb County PD Officer Ricky Bryant (and his partner Eric Baker) were killed in the LODD on 1/16/08, being with COPS, we reached out to the many jurisdictions in Monroe County that have Honor Guards for assistance upon learning that Ricky was going to be buried here. All the Honor Guards stepped up and worked with Dekalb County PD Honor Guard throughout the entire process. It was very moving to see the different Departments stepping up to help a Department that had suffered a devestating loss. The Dekalb guys continue to thank us for helping them that way. I can only hope they will do the same if we ever have a LODD, especially for the Deaprtments that don't have one.
Thank You to all of you who do the Honor Guard. You have no idea how much it means to the survivors.