Philadelphia police lay another of the finest to rest

Sgt. Timothy Simpson, father, brother, son, husband, friend, and heart-and-soul police officer, was laid to rest yesterday beneath a pine tree in a Bucks County cemetery, in a cold wind that seemed fitting in its unrelenting bitterness.

At precisely 2:30 p.m., the police honor guard ceremonially folded the American flag that had been draped over his burnished coffin, etched with his badge number. A solitary bagpipe began playing "Amazing Grace," then was joined by the wail and buzz of the rest of the kilted pipe and drum corps as freezing gusts ruffling through their domed black feathered hats carried the plaintive notes off across the field of gravestones.

When the hymn stopped, silence fell hard over the thousands of uniformed men and women surrounding Simpson's family who stood huddled beside the burial site. Officers wept and embraced as the sergeant's wife, Kathy, their three red-headed children - twins Samantha and Terry, both high school sophomores, and Courtney, a fifth grader - and the rest of their extended family, then laid roses on the casket.

The funeral began with a viewing at 7 a.m. in the majestic Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Center City, followed by a Funeral Mass attended by the city's leaders.

In his homily, Cardinal Justin Rigali said that as the city expressed solidarity with Simpson's family bowing under the weight of grief, the community must "not capitulate" to violence and evil.

No amount of vigilance, however, will be enough to win this struggle, Rigali said: "Our own powers are limited, and we shall succeed only with God's help."

Simpson, a 20-year member of the force, died Nov. 17 of injuries sustained in a violent car crash that night while responding to a robbery. His cruiser was struck by a vehicle driven by a fugitive, William Foster, 41, of Levittown, who was fleeing police. Foster is charged with vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, and related offenses.

The 46-year-old police sergeant was the fifth officer in the last 13 months to die while on duty, a grim succession of losses that included his former partner, Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, who was shot and killed in May while confronting three suspected bank robbers.

The Mass, attended by 1,500, was both stately and soothing in its ritual of prayer, accompanied by organ music and psalms.

Many of the officers tucked the funeral pamphlets, bearing a photograph of the spectacled and mustached Simpson, inside the crown of their police hats. Inside the pamphlet, a message from Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey read:

"This department continues to be numb over the tremendous loss of life we have recently suffered," and "Tim will forever be shrouded in glory and honor."

At 12:45, a police honor guard of seven young men carried the casket out of the cathedral and down the steps to Logan Square, where an acre of officers stood waiting in crisp rows.

City Council members, District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, Mayor Nutter, and many other elected officials stood motionless in the front line watching the scene unfold.

"Today is a day when you feel for the family and the children," U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz said in an interview outside the cathedral. "But beneath the sadness is an underlying outrage that it's happening again to the people who put their lives on the line for us."

Nutter, in an interview, spoke of the grim task he has had in his first year in office, witnessing so much pain.

"I've been to every hospital room," he said. "I've seen families broken when they get the news. Parents who lost a child. Spouses who lost a loved one. Kids who now have no father or mother. It's really hard."

Though the city, its police, the district attorney, judges, and probation and parole officers are doing a good job, the mayor said, "we're going to do better. And we're going to have a safe city. I really believe that."

It took more than an hour for the long cortege of light-gray limousines, polished police motorcycles, and cruisers with their lights flashing to reach Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem.

The procession passed under a gargantuan U.S. flag suspended between two long ladders at the entrance, then snaked through the cemetery, passing hundreds of officers who stood at attention like black pillars along the edges of the road.

When the mourners had all taken their places, gathering 30-deep around the family, a voice commanded: "Bow your heads and pray for the Lord's blessing."

Then came the traditional final radio call.

It began with the crackling sound of a police dispatcher calling for Sgt. Simpson by the code for his squad car: "24 Andy."

"Radio to 24 Andy," she said. "Radio to 24 Andy. Radio to 24 Andy. Radio command, no response from 24 Andy."

A second voice was then heard: "Time check, please."

The dispatcher responded: "The time is 10:33 and 15 seconds p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, 2008."

And finally, the second voice announced: "Sgt. Timothy Simpson, Badge 387, off the board for the final time. And from your entire police family we would like to thank him for a job well done and, Sergeant, let you know you will be missed. And never forgotten."