Keeping A Blue Light On: A Citizen’s Tribute to the Seattle Police Department is the first book by Seattle-area resident Stacey Sanner. During 2010, Stacey was granted rare access to interview and photograph officers from the Seattle Police Department. She has captured personal stories about the experiences that have shaped them, the events and the people they remember, and the rewards and challenges of the job.
The inspiration for the book came from Sanner’s desire to honor the memory of the five Seattle-area police officers who were tragically murdered in late 2009 – Seattle Officer Timothy Brenton, who was shot in his patrol car while instructing officer-in-training Britt Sweeney on Oct. 31, 2009; and the Lakewood officers, Officer Tina Griswold, Officer Ronald Owens, Sgt. Mark Renninger, and Officer Gregory Richards, who were murdered on Nov. 29, 2009 as they sat in a coffee shop doing paperwork. The book is a tribute not only to the fallen but also to the men and women of the Seattle Police Department who put on the badge every day to protect the citizens of Seattle.
The title refers to the touching gesture made by Seattle-area citizens who put blue lights on in their windows as a sign of support for law enforcement during that sad time in late 2009. “This book is my way of showing my support for law enforcement, my way of keeping that blue light on every day, all year round,” writes Sanner in the book’s opening.
Keeping a Blue Light On was originally published in November 2010 in honor of the one-year anniversary of the officer murders. The new edition of the hardcover coffee table book (9″ x 12″) is now available for $29.99 at Amazon.com and at Seattle-area stores: The Elliott Bay Book Company on Capitol Hill, Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Parkplace Books in Kirkland, the Seattle Police Museum in Pioneer Square and the Bridle Trails ACE Hardware Store in Kirkland, one of the first hardware stores to donate proceeds from the sale of blue lights to the families of the fallen officers. Proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the Seattle Police Foundation.