HOW WE SEE IT: Goodbye, Funeral Processions

Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse has no doubt felt a little heat for allowing the police department to discontinue escorting funeral processions.

Listening to Sprouse’s concerns, one could easily come to the conclusion he is simply the fi rst bigger-city mayor in Northwest Arkansas to preside over the tradition’s own funeral, with more to follow, so to speak.

“I will not apologize for stopping a practice once I was convinced it was unsafe,” Sprouse said at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

Probably everyone can agree with the notion that no tradition is worth injury, or worse, to any of Springdale’s police offcers or members of the public. It’s simply a judgment call as to whether Springdale has reached the size that funeral processions are unmanageable. The off cers apparently believe so. They cited several nearmisses in discussing the matter with the Springdale City Council.

“It’s one thing to risk your life in emergency situations,” Rusty Boyd, a Springdale off cer, said.

“That’s what we do.”

Whether Sprouse is right or wrong, it appears the issue is done for Springdale. It’s entirely within his authority to discontinue the practice of police escorts. The decision means far more than the end of escorts. Funeral processions themselves will eftectively come to an end since there will be no police protection at intersections and drivers must obey all traff c signals.

So we mourn the loss of a part of the funeral experience that has traditionally held meaning for families and loved ones. We cannot argue Sprouse’s point that many drivers today simply do not know about, or care to respect, the honorable tradition.

It’s just sad that it has become so.

Funerals will go on in Springdale and funeral directors will adjust. Families and friends will still want to attend the burial for that last bit of closure, that final opportunity to say goodbye in a ceremonial way, but they won’t get any help from their city.

Hopefully, Sprouse and others who deal with the public can learn a little from this flare up. His administration handled the matter poorly. Some of the grief over its implementation isn’t just about the change, but the way it was communicated.

Funeral directors tell us the rumors started spreading about a possible change in December, but they say city leaders told them there was nothing to worry about, that no such decision had been made.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, funeral directors were scheduled to visit City Hall for what they thought was the start of a discussion. Instead, it was a meeting to advise them of the change. The decision had been made. The same day, the city issued a press release explaining that the practice had come to an end.

“The public didn’t get a chance to be heard,” Alderman Jim Reed said at Tuesday’s meeting.

It’s a no-brainer that ending such a long-standing tradition would raise concerns. Sprouse and company could have laid out their considerations and oftered opportunity for some public discussion to give the community a chance to get comfortable with the change. Sprouse clearly didn’t come to his conclusion overnight. It was unfair to expect the community to accept it so suddenly, even if his mind was made up.

Hopefully, if the administration starts thinking about banning rodeos or Friday night football, they’ll invite some open discussion before announcing a decision.