Coulda been Rico, once upon a time

Rico says he'd've probably retired by now, even if he'd successfully become an auxiliary Oakland PD member when he lived in California, but this article by a bunch of San Francisco Chronicle writers hits close to home:

In an emotional farewell, more than 20,000 grateful citizens and law-enforcement officials from across the country gathered on Friday to honor the lives of four Oakland police officers who were shot and killed in the single deadliest day in department history.
Every kind of law enforcement officer from every corner of the nation was there, from San Francisco parking-control officers to state game wardens and sheriff's deputies in camouflage to officers with rescue dogs. There were officers from the United States Mint, UC Berkeley, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Austin, Texas, many of whom waited in lines snaking around Oracle Arena to remember their fallen colleagues. They were joined by community members and a host of dignitaries during a three-hour service at the arena for what was by far the largest police funeral in recent memory.
Sergeant Mark Dunakin, or "Dunny" as everybody called him, was a big teddy bear and die-hard Ohio State Buckeyes and Pittsburgh Steelers fan who proudly patrolled the streets on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle after serving a stint as a homicide investigator.
Traffic Officer John Hege was a "beer and brownie man" who combined his love for the department and the Oakland Raiders by working overtime at the Coliseum during home games.
SWAT Sergeant Ervin Romans was a former Marine Corps drill instructor, a "tactical guru", and an expert marksman who instilled the importance of safety in the hundreds of officers he trained.
Sergeant Daniel Sakai, a former K-9 officer known for his big smile and big ears, juggled the duties of being a patrol sergeant and a SWAT entry team leader, yet still insisted on working out and running with officers preparing to take a grueling physical test.
All four veteran officers died on 21 March when a wanted parolee, 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon, opened fire in separate incidents just hours apart in East Oakland. Together, they had nearly fifty years of experience with the force. Their deaths left ten children without fathers.
As officers from fifteen other agencies patrolled city streets, the entire 815-member Oakland Police Department came to celebrate the lives of the officers even as they struggled to come to terms with the deadliest day in its history. To lose four officers was almost too much to bear. "I was hoping not to have to go to another one of these things. It's a tough job," said Oakland police Officer John Wilson, a 25-year veteran who hopes to retire this year. "But our job is to protect and serve, and sometimes we die for it."
Mixon opened fire with a handgun after Dunakin, 40, and Hege, 41, pulled him over during a traffic stop at 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard at about 1 p.m.
Shortly after 3 p.m., Romans, 43, and Sakai, 35, died when their SWAT team stormed the apartment where Mixon was hiding. This time, Mixon fired with an assault rifle. He was shot to death by police.
Another SWAT officer, Sergeant Pat Gonzales, suffered a gunshot wound but is recovering. He was one of Sakai's pallbearers.
Rumbling corteges of motorcycle officers escorted each hearse in miles-long processions to the arena, causing traffic delays on most East Bay freeways in the morning and again in the afternoon. Along the way, police officers and firefighters stood in silent salute on highway overpasses. At the arena, police vehicles passed underneath a giant American flag hanging between the extended ladders of two Oakland fire trucks, maintaining a tight and sharp formation, just as Dunakin would have liked it, his colleagues said.
Their badges wrapped with black bands of mourning, hundreds of officers in dress uniforms lined the steps outside the arena and saluted as, one by one, honor guards escorted four flag-draped caskets inside, followed by the officers' families. A sign at the complex read Forever Heroes.
Hundreds of police vehicles— bomb-squad trucks, motorcycles, Ford Crown Victorias, and Dodge Charger cruisers— filled the parking lot. There were police cars from Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. A rainbow of uniforms filled the arena and the adjacent Oakland Coliseum, where an overflow crowd of several thousand watched the service on two big screens.
Many officers dabbed at their eyes with white gloves as the caskets were placed in front of a flower-adorned stage beside their pictures. The police motorcycles of Dunakin and Hege and two pairs of empty boots sat nearby.
The funeral was mixed with humor and sadness.
Chris Dunakin recalled playing cops and robbers with his goofball of an older brother who, naturally, was the cop. Mark Dunakin took great delight in the irony that his little brother became an attorney, because that meant "I am still a crook," Chris Dunakin said, drawing laughs.
Sergeant Rich Vierra said he tried to wow Romans with a story about being attacked by a baby seal while scuba diving. Romans countered with a story of how a bear stole a fish from him in Alaska, and he "took the fish back from the bear".
Along with remembrances by friends and family were reminders by public officials who told those in attendance to keep their heads high in honor of the fallen officers. Public officials who spoke at Friday's event included Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein, State Attorney General and former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums sat on the stage but did not speak after he was asked by at least one family not to. Members of the Oakland City Council, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa were also among those in attendance.
"Yes, they were gunned down in hatred and in anger, but they stand very tall in our hearts, in our memory forever," Brown said.
"We must not let the pain drown out the joy and comfort that these men brought to so many lives," Feinstein said.
Schwarzenegger hailed the selfless actions of officers who "would give their lives for any one of us. It is an awful day when we lose one of them, and now we have the sorrow of saying farewell to four of them, all at once."
Oakland police Captain Ed Tracey agreed, telling mourners that although the four officers he supervised died of an evil act, "We must not, however, allow the selfish and cowardly actions of a criminal to taint our wonderful memory of these officers' lives." Tracey also singled out Clarence Ellis, a 53-year-old retired AC Transit bus driver who ran over and performed CPR on Dunakin.
Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan, who assumed the post only three weeks before the tragedy, gave the families of each officer the flags that had covered their caskets. A bugler sounded taps, and police bagpipers played Amazing Grace. Outside the arena, officers stood at attention as their slain colleagues received a twenty-one-gun salute from military cannons.
Each officer was honored with a group of five law enforcement helicopters flown overhead, with one peeling off in a "missing man" formation.