UB Police host first local honor guard training for law enforcement

BUFFALO, N.Y. – University at Buffalo Police this week welcome almost 50 police and law enforcement officers from throughout New York State taking part in the first police honor guard training of its kind in the Western New York area.

The officers will receive training in numerous topics relevant to honor guards and carrying out these ceremonies, such as marching, color guards, flag etiquette, rifle salutes and funeral details.

Fourteen different New York State agencies are represented in the weeklong classes, being held June 3-7, all on UB’s North Campus. Police and law enforcement officials from Buffalo State College, Cornell University and various municipalities such as Cheektowaga and North Tonawanda, as well as officials from the New York State Department of Environmental Protection, are among the 48 students taking the rigorous five days of course instructions.

The sessions will conclude at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 7, with a simulated “Full Honors” funeral ceremony that begins at the UB Newman Center on Skinnersville Road and continues with a procession to the Skinnersville Cemetery on Frontier Road.

“This is the first-of-its-kind formalized police honor guard training in this area,” says UB Police Officer Brendon Zubek, who organized the training session. “It’s a way to help us honor and remember our fallen brothers and sisters.

“These ceremonies are to provide a service to the families to temporary relieve them of their grief.”

Previous police training was based on military protocol, according to Zubek, and police protocol for honor guards is not the same.

The training is being conducted by the DFL Honor Guard Training Group from Goshen, Ind. Officer David Cudahee from the Niagara Falls Police Department will play bagpipes for Friday’s closing ceremony.  Sgt. Eric Sheffer from the U.S. Army Honor Guard will be the bugler.

Donations made by Amigone Funeral Home will be used in the honor guard training. All training exercises will take place at the UB Newman Center and the Skinnersville Cemetery.