Our Town: In the line of duty Our Town: In the line of duty (January 18, 2006)

by Don Kazak

Richard May's final impression may have been on the people most important to reach.

Hundreds of East Palo Alto children lined the curb at Bay Road when the funeral procession for the slain East Palo Alto police officer went down University Avenue last Thursday morning on the way to the freeway and a funeral service in San Jose.

They were fourth and fifth graders from Costano Elementary School and Cesar Chavez Academy, both within walking distance.

The children were respectful and well-behaved. Many held up hand-written messages -- "We love you Officer May" -- when the motorcade passed.

"He used to come to our school," Sedric Miller, the parent liaison at Costano, explained.

"They were quiet," Miller said of the reaction when the children were told they were going outside to watch a funeral procession for a police officer.

"We told them it was not a parade and they should respect the family," Miller added.

Nearby, fourth graders from Chavez lined the curb, almost at attention, holding their hand-lettered pieces of paper.

"Why are we here?" a teacher asked a boy.

"To show respect," the boy replied.

"Many students knew him," teacher Judy Harney said.

She said May and other officers came to school at Halloween to visit with the kids. And May was the officer who investigated the theft of a Hurricane Katrina relief fund from the school last fall.

Harney noted that "almost all of them witnessed some of the scene" the previous Saturday night, when May was shot and killed and a large area was cordoned off by 250 officers looking for the person who shot him.

The search lasted 14 hours, until the alleged shooter, Alberto Alvarez, 23, was found hiding in the backseat of a car trying to leave the area at 6 a.m. the next day.

While many of the kids knew May, there is another twist to the story: "Many of them knew the shooter, too, or members of his family," Harney said.

May was interested in the school and the children "because he knew this is where it starts and stops. We're right in the middle of it," Harney said.

When the motorcade finally came into view, Harney told her students, "How do we show respect? With your hand over your heart."

"You hope to never see this again," she added quietly.

The children wrote condolence letters to May's family, which were delivered to family members at the funeral.

As the motorcycle officers began to pass, the children stood quietly.

The cops on the bikes, looking straight ahead, began to notice all the children. A few of them blipped their sirens for a moment. Officers in the following patrol cars started to wave at the kids, who waved back.

The long line of police is not something the children are likely to soon forget.

After the motorcade of hundreds of motorcycle officers and patrol cars had finally passed, 20 minutes later, many of the children walked to a nearby makeshift shrine of flowers, candles, photos and notes created in May's memory next to City Hall. They added their own notes to the many already there.

May's body lay in a flag-draped casket at Spangler's Mortuary in Menlo Park the night before, with police and others arriving in ones and twos to pay respects.

Four Menlo Park police officers stood at the entrance, opening the doors whenever someone entered or left, shaking hands with fellow officers or sharing brief hugs.

For the cops, it was about as emotional as things can get. Many seemed overcome or wiped their eyes after leaving. Every officer knows it can, and will, happen again.

Many members of the community also visited the funeral home.

Longtime resident William Webster took a moment to gather himself after leaving.

"This is devastating," he said. People were talking about how East Palo Alto seemed to be turning the corner on its violent past, "but then there was a doubling of homicides last year.

"Then we start this year with this ominous development. It's like we live under an ill star."

Senior Staff Writer Don Kazak can be e-mailed at dkazak@paweekly.com.

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