This newspaper has not always seen eye to eye with Darby Borough Police Chief Bob Smythe. Let’s just say we’ve had our run-ins.

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised to get a call from the chief Thursday. Honestly.

Smythe was not calling to complain. He was offering a compliment.

He was handling some of the logistics involving the massive police and fire presence at the funeral of Lower Chichester Lt. Nick Picozzi on Tuesday.

It was no secret that the family was concerned about the event turning into a media circus. They made it quite clear they did not want media members invading their privacy at Monday’s viewing. Nor did they want us inside the church at Tuesday’s funeral service.

This is a tough call for us. My initial reaction is simply to cover the story. At the same time, I didn’t want to add to what already clearly was a horrifically sad time for the family.

We honored their wish. We still covered both events, but we did so from a respectful distance and allowed the family to grieve in peace. We did not go inside the church for either the viewing or the funeral.

Apparently the chief noticed. He called me Thursday to compliment the three people we had on the scene, staff writer Cindy Scharr, columnist Gil Spencer, and photographer Pete Zinner.

The chief wanted me to know that he, the family and the entire firefighter community appreciated the way we went about our jobs.

He also said something else that meant a great deal to me. He admitted he’s the first to call when we do something he doesn’t like; he wanted to be sure to do the same when we do something right.

I’ll admit it was a tough call. The last thing I wanted to do was aggravate the Picozzi family. One thing I have learned in this business. Dealing with death is a very dicey topic. People’s emotions are raw. And they remember how you act in covering these stories for a long time.

I wanted us to cover the story, but I wanted us to do it in a way that would not unnecessarily add to a family’s grief, in the process cementing an image that is too often slapped on us in the media: That we don’t give a damn who we trample on in our pursuit of the story.

It is my hope that we accomplished that goal. Chief Smythe seems to think we did. And he took the time to call and tell me.

Thanks, chief.