Code word could help cops

In light of the shooting and death of Nassau County Police Officer Geoffrey J. Breitkopf by a Metropolitan Transportation Authority police officer [“Fund for cop’s family,” News, March 16], why couldn’t the police institute a policy of supplying a statewide code word to help identify officers who may be plainclothes detectives or off duty?
The word could be changed periodically, either daily or weekly, so it would not easily leak out to criminals or the public. This tactic would cost little or nothing and might save lives.

Ronald Gendron
Smithtown

Editor’s note: The writer is a retired State University of New York police officer.