The Chief Brief

You have an upcoming Line of Duty Death funeral and will be handing the flag to the Sheriff, Police Chief, or Fire Chief who will then hand the folded flag to the next of kin (NOK). What do you say to brief the Chief? Here is something to help you:

“Chief, stand at the head of the casket. When I step over in front of you, hold your hands flat out in front of you with fingers together and I will hand you the flag with the presentation side down. I will salute the flag while your arms are still flat. When I finish my salute, cradle the flag into your chest (now, the presentation side faces out) and I will depart. If you forget to not cradle the flag before I salute, I will still salute. As I depart, you walk over to the NOK, bring your right hand up to the right side of the flag and push the long straight edge of the flag forward so that the presentation side is now up. Recite the statement of condolence, stand, render the Slow Salute, drop the salute and walk off.”

What to Expect

We can begin with the main image above. The flag is folded toward the foot. The checker takes the flag and then:

The flag goes through it’s inspection to ensure it is presentable and then sent down the “Chute” to the Lt.

The police lieutenant hands off the flag to the Chief.

The Lt salutes the flag, turns, and marches off. At this point, the Chief would move to the NOK and present the flag with the speech. Note: the Chief was not briefed in this situation as she was the recipient (mock NOK) for the mock graduation funeral. She was asked to just accept the flag without any guidance since the true NOK would not receive guidance.