An article appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune that you can read here that pertained specifically to the city of Rosemount, Minnesota, but dealt with the Minneapolis-St. Paul metroplex in general and the practice of local police departments of escorting funeral corteges from the place of service to the cemetery for interment.

The article explained that Rosemount, and many other cities, have stopped the practice of offering this as a free community service and that decision has bothered some area funeral directors.  I don’t know if this is specifically a “Minnesota Nice” practice or not, but for many years local police departments across the state have provided this service free of charge.

The article goes on to say that there are at least five businesses in this metro area that can provide funeral processions an escort for a cost.  According to one business, the starting price for such a service is about $220.  One Rosemount city council member, Shaun Nelson, commented by saying, “The days of escorting people for free are gone.”  He did add, however, that it might make sense if the city was reimbursed for the service.

Funeral Director John White, who owns the 600 call White Funeral Homes is disappointed in the Rosemount decision.  He commented, “If they (families) want a funeral procession, we’re going to give it to them, whether they have to pay for the escort of not.  I would like to see them not pay for it.”  White also says about 200 of his 600 calls are casketed funerals that require a procession to the cemetery.

Funeral Director Daily take:  This is certainly an issue – not necessarily the escort issue – but the issue, in general, of what is a public service and what is a private service.  For years, things such as opening locked car doors by police or funeral escorts have been free community services in my community.  In today’s world, where we seem to move pretty fast and try to get the most “bang for the buck” funeral escort services may be something that communities just cannot provide free of charge anymore.

On the other hand, the police chief and the sheriff in my community have always went out of their way to provide these services free of charge.  Over the years in talking with them I believe it boiled down to three reasons why they provided the service:

1. It showed their presence in the community
2. They many times told me it was easier and simpler to do than have an accident happen and have to then do accident reports and, potentially, testify in court.
3. It was just the “right thing to do” in a small community

In our community it also boiled down to “helping each other”.  For instance, in Minnesota with unexplained or circumstantial deaths, post-mortem exams are usually done by the more experienced Medical Examiners in the metro area rather than local coroners.  In these cases, there is a “chain of custody” whereby the deceased cannot leave police custody until delivered to the Medical Examiner’s office.  We have always allowed the local police department to use our removal vans – at no charge – to drive the bodies to that office.  In my opinion, it is about “being a good neighbor”.

I do think, however,  as America keeps getting bigger, growing more anonymous with our neighbors, and losing the value of human life, we will continue to see decisions such as made by the City of Rosemount become purely economic decisions over the ideals of the “right thing to do”.

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