Police officer Ashley Guindon, 28, was memorialized at a funeral in Springfield, Mass., on Monday. On her first shift as a police officer in Prince William County, Va., on Feb. 26, the 2005 graduate of Merrimack High School in Merrimack, N.H., was killed while responding to a domestic violence incident and two other officers were injured.
Thousands of police officers from all over the region attended her funeral. Two years ago, Roger Wood attended the services of Stephen Arkell, a police officer from Brentwood. He was stunned, first, by the incredible turnout of officers at Arkell’s funeral, and second, by the fact that responding to domestic violence situations can be so dangerous. Wood spoke with former Manchester police chief and now chief of police in Portsmouth, David Mara, about the sometimes tragic consequences of such responses.
For InDepthNH.org, I’m Roger Wood.