A big story yesterday was that a motorcycle cop escorting Hillary Clinton died when he crashed into a concrete barrier.  This was a tragedy, “the death of Senior Cpl. Victor Lozada Tirado , a father of four and 20-year veteran of the force.”

It has long troubled me that the tragic death of a police officer or firefighter is viewed and treated so differently than the tragic death of anyone else.  Hillary Clinton was affected by the death of this cop, and due to the direct connection between the two, it’s understandable that this would have a more significant impact, perhaps even suggesting that there was some indirect responsibility.  I don’t begrudge Clinton her feelings in this instance.

But this gives rise to the general issue.  When a police officer is killed in the line of duty, it’s a front page story.  When a non-police officer dies tragically, with the same 4 kids and a 20 year career, it’s buried on page 14 if it appears at all.  Do we care less about the lives of people who are not cops?

There is much talk on the campaign trail about the sacred cow of “our men and women in uniform,” yet we don’t hear about anyone dying in Iraq for the most part, and we rarely hear about any individual soldier’s death.  Do they not count?

This is not to detract from the consequence of the death of a police officer or firefighter.  It is to question why the death of others are not given the same prominence or shown the same level of concern.

When a police officer dies in the line of duty, there is often a fund created for her children so that they can attend college.  People read about it and contribute to the fund.  This is a good thing.  When a civilian dies tragically, and she has children as well, are we less concerned about them? 

There is a hierarchy in our concern for tragedy.  Cops trump civilians.  White trumps black, as can be seen when a pretty white girl is kidnapped and murdered versus a black girl, regardless of comeliness, about whom we hear nothing.  Female over male as well.

Will this question be taken as a slight toward police officers?  It shouldn’t be.  I don’t raise the issue to say that we should neglect the significance of the tragic death of Cpl. Torado, or any officer.  But I wonder why we don’t have the capacity or will to recognize the death of others with similar concern.  All life is precious, and worthy of our attention.  Tragedy is tragedy, whether it happens to a cop or anyone else.