Useless

The following story took my breath away. I have never heard of such negligence/cowardice on behalf of supposedly trained first responders. God forbid if this is what the Obongo-ites have in store for us once the government takes over our health care. This is a classic example of how liberals save money by allowing people to die. From the UK Daily Mail:

Police, firemen and paramedics refused to go to the aid of an accident victim who was drowning in just 18 inches of water... because they believed it was too dangerous.

A senior fire officer banned his men from using ropes and ladders to climb down a 15ft bank to the victim after carrying out a ‘risk assessment’.

Acting on advice, ten police officers who attended the emergency also failed to rescue father-of-three Karl Malton, 32, as he lay face down in the shallow ditch.

This unconscious victim of an auto accident died while over a dozen emergency personnel stood around and did absolutely nothing.

His body lay there for three hours after a decision was made to send for a ‘water rescue team’ based more than 50 miles away.

When relatives arrived at the scene, they found emergency workers standing around drinking tea.

Oops, didn't catch this first time around. They were doing something. My bad.

An inquest into Mr Malton’s death yesterday heard that officers no longer have to swim or receive life-saving training.

Last night Mr Malton’s father Peter branded the emergency services’ response to the tragic accident as ‘unacceptable’.

Officers don't have to swim?? The poor SOB was in 18 inches of water!! They only had to wade through knee deep water and turn him over! Check for a pulse! Do something!

I don't call this unacceptable, this is criminal negligent homicide, which is- "The failure to use reasonable care to avoid consequences that threaten or harm the safety of the public and that are the foreseeable outcome of acting in a particular manner."

These assholes stood by and did nothing to provide assistance. I would hazard an opinion that the death of Mr. Malton was the forseeable outcome of ... drinking tea. Might as well throw grand larceny and official misconduct into the charges; they were getting paid to save lives and stood around instead with their thumbs up their arses.

Can you imagine professional firefighters arriving on the scene of a major conflagration and doing nothing but drink tea while people scream for help behind a wall of smoke and flames?

The case has prompted fresh controversy over how health and safety restrictions are preventing the emergency services from fulfilling their most basic duties. The issue flared up two years ago after another inquest heard how two police community.

Oh sweet Christmas, you mean this has happened before? No public oficials have been beaten to death yet? What are these safety restrictions?

Paramedic Sonya Lawrence arrived within 14 minutes but began to search on the nearside of the car, although it was damaged on the offside.

Another 19 minutes later a second ambulance crew arrived and found Mr Malton, who had been thrown unconscious into the dyke by the collision.

He was lying face down in the water and appeared to be dead. Paramedic Fergus White climbed over a barrier before deciding it was too dangerous to go down the bank.

‘If we had access to him we would have carried out resuscitation but we had no access,’ he said. ‘The bank was very steep and unstable.’

Mr White admitted he could not be ‘100 per cent sure’ that Mr Malton was dead. After a further 28 minutes a team of firemen arrived and set up ladders and ropes on the bankside but were ordered to stop by senior officer Edward Holliday.

I think of my career and the number of times I put myself at risk. I think of my fellow officers who did even more. I think of all the cops and firefighters who have died in the line of duty. Then I read what this idiot has to say:

Mr Holliday said: ‘I made the assessment that it would be inadvisable to enter the dyke until a properly trained and prepared crew arrived.’

He called in a water rescue team from Lincoln, more than 50 miles away. Mr Malton’s body was finally recovered using a boat at 2.18 am, more than three hours after the crash.

Now look at the following photograph. It is representative of the drainage ditches that line the roads in this area of England.

This is the sight that terrified English public safety officers; an 18 inch deep water hazard in Satan's Ditch paralyzed them with fear. You'd think the cops were facing a Wehrmacht Panzer Division on the other side of the Rhine.

Thank God they all refused to endanger their afternoon tea and stayed on the road surface where it was safe for Earl Grey. In complete safety they waited for someone to bring them a Higgins Boat or some damn rowboat located fifty miles away.

So they could rescue a man who was lying in 18 inches of water.

Today, are these the same type of people who stormed ashore at Gold Beach on D Day?

I. Think. Not.

I am somewhat embarrassed to think that I was in the same profession as this crew of incompetents and cowards.

When Ya Really Need Help...

One thing about a good host is that he tries to make his guests as comfortable as possible. He cares for their needs and sees to their welfare to the best of his ability. Except when you are a former community organizer I guess. Then you expect other people in the community to fulfill your duties.

Now I don't think Sgt. Crowley should have gone to the White House. He should have let Obongo and Skippy stew in their own juices. But Sgt. Crowley is a class act. It shows in his appearances before the camera and I have the feeling that it also shows in his personal life when he is not in the public view.

Look at the following photograph; you'll see someone who obviously needs a hand and two strong, able-bodied men who are each capable of rendering assistance. Guess who is doing the assisting?

When you need someone to jerk you off - call a community organizer.

When you need help - call a cop!

Call ACORN for one, 911 for the other.

More On The El Paso Police Pinata

The El Paso Police Pinata thread has received a lot of attention for some reason. I only posted four photographs as I am not a gore merchant. I am a retired police officer and a certified evidence technician - I processed crime scenes for seven years. I'll go into some more detail now as I believe it is warranted, particularly from some of the reponse from Gunbroker.com and XD Talk (hi guys!).

There are twelve crime scene pictures that my brother sent me. I will now include all of them and comment where I see something relevant.

Photo #1

The first four photographs are the only ones that show the placement of a single helmet. From his proximity to the suspect closest to the plainclothes officer (we'll call him Officer #1 and the suspect is Suspect #1) and the helmet. He appears to have lost consciousness or has expired. If you look closely at the rearmost suspect (farthest away from the police officer, we'll tag him Suspect #3) you will see a very small object near his right knee. When blown up, it resembles a cartridge casing. While onlookers appear to keep their distance, there is no real attempt to secure the scene. It is a cloudy day and thus no sharp shadows; however, look at the apparent shadow thrown by the white pick up truck bed, the helmet and the officer's feet. It appears to be a very short shadow so it may be that these photos were taken around noon time.

You will also notice something in this and in all the other photos that is conspicuous by its absense - there are no emergency medical workers in attendence. The motorcycle cop in the back (if that's what he is - he's wearing a helmet) we'll call Officer #2. There appears to be another officer (dark pants and dark t-shirt) next to the motorcycle cop, we'll call him Officer #3 because it seems that he is wearing some kind of equipment around his waist. Next to Officer #3 is a man in a white t-shirt. Behind him is a man dressed in matching blue pants and shirt and he has something shiny on his belt. We'll call him Officer #4.

The suspect in the middle, Suspect #2, apparently has a gunshot wound to his left arm and is lying on his right side.

There appears to be a line of some kind of cobblestone to the right of the suspects' motorcycle. It could be a false curb marking where parking is allowed.

Photo #2

This photograph is taken from the same aspect. Suspect #2, the one still alive, has moved and Suspect #1 has been rolled on his back. Suspect #1 also has his left leg splayed out away from the motorcycle and his right arm has moved lower to his body, away from Officer #1. To the left of Suspect #2 is another police officer wearing mustard colored shorts and carrying handcuffs. We'll tag him as Officer #5. Behind Officer #5 is a man wearing a white long sleeved shirt and blue with some kind of identication tag around his neck. I will not tag him as a cop right now.

Next to Officer #2 (motorcycle cop) is a man with a big gut wearing a horizontally striped shirt and blue shorts. To the right of him is a man wearing a striped shirt and jeans. It looks like he is holding a cell phone and there is something in his right hand. Look above his right hand; apparently he is wearing a holster as his shirt is bloused out over it. Tag him Officer #6.

Look at Suspect #1's right thigh. There is a blood stain on his pants but no blood underneath his leg. This smear was caused by someone dragging Suspect #2 over his leg. This action probably caused the movement of Suspect#1 as detailed in the above paragraph. I will blame Officer #5 for this as he looks like a chump. He may be considering whether or not it is necessary to 'cuff Suspect #2.

Suspect#3 has not moved. There is still a small object near his right knee. You can now see the motorcycle on the right side of the photo. There is a small object on the lane paint stripe just to the left of the motorcycle's rear tire. Perhaps it is a lane reflector. Officer #3 is talking on a cell phone and seems to have his right hand on his holster.

The suspects' motorcycle still has its headlight on. There doesn't appear to be any spilled gas on the road.

Photo #3

Officer #1 has moved to the left side of the photograph. He is still holding his pistol. Officer #3 appears to be motioning for people to stay away from the scene, you can see the holster on his right thigh more clearly now. The motorcyle cop hasn't budged, perhaps he is posing. Mustard shorts is out of the picture as well as the guy with the big gut.

Photo #4

The photographer has moved behind the cobblestone line. Officer #1 is still holding his pistol and he is dancing over the stream of blood. The suspect's headlight is still on. Suspect #2 has his head up from the pavement. Either he is waiting to see if the cops are going to kill him outright or someone is talking to him. He is not using his arms to support himself. He may also have a chest wound, but since he was originally laying on his right side, the blood on his t-shirt could be from the gunshot wound to his arm.

There is a mark on the side of the suspects' motorcycle gas tank shroud. I can't tell if it is a bullethole, the headlight is still on.

Suspect #1 looks like he has bled out. I have seen far, far more blood than that on a bleed out. Suspect #3 still has his head up. There may be blood on the right side of the black full cover helmet. I call Suspect #1 as the driver as I think he was wearing the helmet. There is blood on his right hand corresponding to the blood on the helmet.

Photo #5

Still not sure about that round mark on the tank shroud. Suspect#3 appears to have some blood under his head, he is clutching a baseball cap in his left hand - obviously he wasn't wearing the helmet. That small object is still near his right knee. The motorcycle cop still hasn't moved. He is the only one with shiny shoes. Suspect #3 now has his head down, right side towards the pavement.

Photo #6

Suspect #3 moved his head to the other side. Officer #1 still has his pistol in his hand. The motorcycle cop has moved ever so slightly away from his two wheeler. The suspects' motorcycle's drive chain needs a good lube. That object near Suspect #3's knee is still there.

Photo #7

Officer #1 has had his pistol surgically attached to his hand. The cop expects Suspect #2 to jump up at any time and assault him, possibly with deadly shards of bone from his left arm. This and the next photograph show how badly that arm has been hit.

Photo #8

Officer #1 may be questioning Suspect #2. Still no medical personnel on the scene, but these photos could have been taken within five minutes or less. In a third world city it probably is unfair to expect an ambulance within minutes.

Photo #9

There is a black line just above Officer #1's belt. It may be a holster. Officer #1 is either going to holster his pistol or is preparing to shoot and then urinate on Suspect #2. The man in the background wearing jeans and a gray shirt looks like he is taking a picture.

Photo #10The pistol is now holstered and Suspect #2 can't believe that he hasn't been shot or pissed on. It looks like someone wearing uniform shoes is squatting just to his right,

Photo #11It does not look like Suspect #1 took a GSW to the chest. Perhaps a gut shot severed a major artery.

Photo #12

Last photo. I can't tell if this was a police photographer taking these shots or not. If it was, he is not very good.

It seems like the photographer tried to capture the scene from all four sides (that is an absolute minimum - I would go through a dozen rolls easy at a scene like this), but he missed shooting from the side of the road where the police motorcycle was parked, or else those photos were not included in the original emails.

El Paso Police Pinata

Three armed perps tried to rob an El Paso Special Operations police officer and then get away on a stolen motorcycle.
Bad idea. The cop used a .40 cal. stick to bust them open.
Two dead and the one perp survivor shot in both arms.
The pics are pretty graphic so if you have a weak stomach (sight of blood), you may want to pass this by.
Pics are below.
H/T to my brother Bob.

UPDATE: I have tried to find mention of this story somewhere, anywhere in a newspaper, snopes, or other media offering other than a blog and have not been successful. I find it unbelieveable that a cop could off three armed perps in this country and not have it splayed all over the place.

I did find a story from Cebu City, Philipines, where three armed men were shot to death on an overloaded motorcycle. Apparently they also were not wearing helmets. They apparently were suspects in an armed robbery and refused to stop for a police road block on or about 2 NOV 08 as reported here.

The three men refused to stop when flagged at a checkpoint and one of them, who was riding behind the driver, even pulled out a gun and fired prompting the police to retaliate.

The three were identified by relatives at the morgue of Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Nivel Hills.

SPO2 Rey Cuyos of the Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) identified the three dead as Abran Gabato, 28, single, and a resident of sitio Sandayong, Guadalupe; Wilner Ponce alias “Botong”, 31, of Lower Kalunasan, Guadalupe; and Totong Cabajar, of sitio Sandayong of the same barangay.

Gabato was reportedly the driver of the motorcycle with plate number GU1664.
The relatives of the fatalities, who the police believe were motorcycle robbers, said that they only learned of the incident from the media yesterday.

PO2 Michael Codaste of the Homicide Section said that the three sustained several gunshot wounds in their head and other parts of the body. Ponce was hit six times while both Gabato and Cabajar were hit four times.

UPDATE: I did a major review of all twelve photos here.

The 100 Block of Seymour Street

I was cleaning out my blog, looking for posts that I never published; I found this.

Cookie (The Cook Shack) and I worked together as cops. We didn't share any assignments but know each other and got along. Cookie was a detective and I was a street cop/evidence technician. Aboout a year ago we exchanged some views on a series of newspaper clippings my brother emailed to me. One of them was this article about a domestic incident resulting in serious injury under rather unusual circumstances; a man had his penis bit off by his epileptic girlfriend..

Cookie replied:

Too bazaar not to be true......but I had something similar at Upstate one night regarding the last news flash. Seems she (59er) was giving head to her 59er boyfriend in the kitchen when she had an epileptic seisure....he wacked her in the head frantically...giving her multiple contusions, abrasions...and a concussion. He lost most of his penis and there was blood all over the Seymour St address...that's right....good old Seymour St.......

Having worked the 59 beat for several years, I knew exactly where Cookie was talking about. And the typical situations (or atypical if you're not a lunatic) one was liable to run into.

Particularly if it involved sex. Some of the weirdest calls involved unnatural acts with whatever happened to be at hand.

Anyway, I replied:

Where else but Seymour? And Shonnard, Oswego, Kellogg, yes there’s always Kellogg. And Gifford, and Merriman, and …

Cookie sends back:

Remind me to tell ya about the Homicide I had on Shonnard St where a Hispanic man stuck a .12 ga shotgun in his girlfriends mouth during a fight and pulled the trigger....that was a REAL cover yur coffee cup scene if'n ya read me....

Well, I remembered this homicide very well. What Cookie refers to here as a "Cover yur coffee cup" scene is a crime scene that is so incredibly messy that body parts are literally dripping from the ceiling. Ergo "cover yur coffee cup" if you don't want to be drinking someone else's body fluids and swallowing little meaty chunks of whatever.

I emailed Cookie back:

That was in Feb of 1980 I think, 152 Seymour, downstairs on the east side of the house? Is that the one? I was in there for three hours. Heh, that was the house Danny Corbett ran outta there. When I walked in the suspect was on his knees in front of Ralph J. begging him to kill him. Ralph is going, “Now, now, now calm down now ...”

You had to know Ralph. He was a farmer or something and had no fuse, none whatsoever. Nothing riled him, he never really got upset. He was talking to this drunk who had blown his girl's head clean off like he was talking to a schoolboy who forgot to bring his homework to class.

Anyway, we were sitting down in the squad room getting ready for roll call just before 2300 when Danny C. and I were called out by one of the platoon sergeants. "Get down to 152 Seymour pronto" he says, "There's been a shooting."

Danny and I were the Evidence Technicians tonight, or ET's for short, and we rolled on all felonies as sort of a mini-crime lab. It was rather unusual that there was two of us working the same unit on the same night.

I worked the ET car on a regular basis and Danny covered for me on my rest days. There was at least one ET car deployed on every shift, sometimes two (units 235 and 236) if there was enough coverage in all the beats. Each car was stuffed with photographic, latent print and evidence collection gear.

The 100 block of Seymour St. was less than a mile from the station so we got there in no time. Cookie arrived a bit later on Seymour St.

Cookie went on:

Being the Sgt in the Lab...I had to be present at all homicides and suspicious death scenes...and they've become a blur in my memory. You are most correct...I stand corrected regarding date and location...but that was an unforgettable scene wasn't it?

Yes it was. This was one of the nastiest messes I'd ever had to process. I had an indication that this could be bad when Danny and I first pulled up. I saw the ambulance crew saunter out of the first floor apartment with an empty gurney and not a care in the world.

Right away I knew that either it was nothing or it was everything. An empty gurney and bored EMT's means that emergency care is not needed or the victim is far beyond any care.

As I passed the ambulance crew I asked, "What is it?" They just shrugged and proceded to stow their gear back on the rig. Danny stayed behind on the sidewalk leading up to the entrance and yelled at me, "I can't stand that stuff, let me know how bad it is."

I just said "Sure," and walked into the scene.

I emailed Cookie:

High speed Velveta cheese all over the wall. A big piece of the top of her skull completely stripped of flesh and hair on the kitchen floor, upside down like a soup bowl. I could look down her throat into her stomach. And she was still holding a glass of beer.

It took a few seconds for the sight to sink in. The victim, a white female approximately 40 years old and not getting any older, was sitting at a small table in a cheap vinyl kitchen chair. She was slouched over the tale on her left side. About three quarters of her head was completely gone. And she was clutching a glass of beer in her left hand.

Gore was everywhere. Brains, hair and blood had painted the wall behind the table and was dripping from the ceiling; much of her head had spattered over the rest of the room after ricoheting off the walls and ceiling.

At the time I imagined that if I shined a flashlight down her throat I could have read a book with the light coming out her ass.

Danny wanted to know what was going on. He called from outside, "Is it bad?"

I have been told I have a sadistic streak.

I answered him, "Nah, it's nothing."

Danny walked into the scene and ran out like a flash. I didn't see him for several hours. I never asked him what he did all that time. I think he was painting the side of the apartment with his dinner.

Cookie has a sadistic streak too.

Cookie emailed me back:

What you may not have seen or heard about that night was what I did to the then Lt. Smith. I found something over in the corner of the kitchen...picked it up with a spoon and went outside to Lt. Smith...who by the way was sick from the scene...and I had the spoon behind my back. I walked up to him and said..."Hey L.T" .....pulled out the spoon from behind my back and put it up to his face and said "Here's lookin at you kid"...it was one of her eyes. Smith lost it right there.....ROFLMAO.....

I wondered where the hell her other eye had gone to! It weren't on the floor.

There is no mercy, even for your wingman. If we find out you have a weak stomache, you'd better get an inside job or carry one of those airplane puke baggie things with you.

It Brings Tears To My Eyes

H/T to Paul Clithero

Police Etiquette 101

While browsing through Vince Aut Morire, I saw this little toothsome tidbit. Allegedly he bit a Nebraska State Trooper last February and managed to escape. He was apprehended on April 17th and tried to escape again.

Wrong.

He looks like a recent graduate of the nationally accredited Police Etiquette 101 course offered for free by most law enforcement agencies throughout the country. It is a pass/fail course and class participants will be tested.

It is strongly recommended that you pass the first time.

Tools Of The Trade

When I was trained in the academy years ago, cops were taught to use a variety of non-lethal instruments whenever someone did not want to submit to an arrest. All these instruments produce compliance by inflicting pain.

First of all, in most states it is against the law to resist arrest even if the arrest is unlawful. If you are innocent, you must still submit. Once you start to resist arrest there is a sliding response scale that the cop will use to produce compliance. It ranges from the "Golden Tongue" tactic - where you convince the defendant that he should submit without a struggle - through various stages of more physical convincing that involves poking, prodding, pushing, pelting, pummeling, pounding, pistol whipping and ultimately pumping lead into the uncooperative miscreant.

There are jacks, saps, batons, ASP's, claws, day sticks, night sticks, aircraft quality aluminum flashlights, slappers and sap gloves. There wasn't much training for some of these items, particularly the claws, saps, slappers and jacks. But they were all used in some fashion against foreheads, cheeks, jowls, throats, wrists, ribs, testicles, kneecaps, shins and ankles.

And they worked pretty well too. Of course there were those who needed more convincing than others and most cops were more than willing to provide additional course work in Police Etiquette. Choke holds were the most dangerous and cops were specifically warned against "cranking" on someone's windpipe with a police baton. Crushing a larnyx was definately not recommended.

We were also issued mace (a concentrated form of CS or teargas) and then pepper spray. These also worked, but they worked on the cop too. As a rookie I quickly learned that when you are up close and personal with a drunken mope, you don't want to use mace. It bounces off the mope's face and right back into yours. Mace comes out of the canister with enough force to travel almost twenty feet. Plus, he's drunk and you're not.

This is a Bad Thing To Do 'cause most likely you'll just piss him off even more with the added benefit that now you are unable to see what he's fixing to do.

But technology offers new methods of subduing mopes without killing them. At least hopefully without killing them. The Taser was such a device. When they first came out, many law enforcement agencies resisted using these highly mobile pistol-shaped defibrillation paddles. Now over 12,500 agencies all over the world issue these to their staff.

But there is a risk to their use:

A man who died Monday after being shot by a Clay officer with a Taser stun gun appears to be Central New York's first Taser-related fatality.

Just minutes after a Clay police officer shot Christopher H. Jackson, 37, in his bedroom in the Norstar Apartments in Clay, he was conscious and breathing, police said. But he was not responsive to their questions, Clay police said. He suffered cardiac arrest as paramedics worked on him.

Clay police are one of 16 Central New York police agencies with Tasers. Taser International says it has supplied Tasers to 12,500 police agencies worldwide.

The Taser has been hailed as one of the greatest tools available to police officers today. But deaths have occurred in incidents after a Taser device was used on people. Amnesty International says there have been more than 290 Taser-related deaths in the United States since June 2001.

Taser International, through spokesman Steve Tuttle, cautioned against jumping to conclusions on the cause of Monday's death until all the facts are known.

Public Service Announcement

Chris Rock delivers an important PSA on how not to get your ass kicked by the police.







H/T to Charlie the Cop

Cop Thoughts

My retired cop buddy Al sent me this. He's a real good egg and one of these summer days he'll make it to Syracuse for the Nationals. This has been around for some time but it is still a decent read.

When Cops Retire:

When a good man leaves the 'job' and retires to a better life, many are jealous, some are pleased and yet others, who may have already retired, wonder. We wonder if he [she] knows what they are leaving behind, because we already know. We know, for example, that after a lifetime of camaraderie that few experience, it will remain as a longing for those past times.

We know in the law enforcement life there is a fellowship which lasts long after the uniforms are hung up in the back of the closet. We know even if he throws them away, they will be on him with every step and breath that remains in his frame. We also know how the very bearing of the man speaks of what he was and in his heart still is.

These are the burdens of the job.

You will still look at people suspiciously, still see what others do not see or choose to ignore and always will look at the rest of the law enforcement world with a respect for what they do; only grown in a lifetime of knowing. Never think for one moment you are escaping from the life. You are only escaping the 'job' and we are merely allowing you to leave 'active' duty.

So what I wish for you is that whenever you ease into retirement, in your heart you never forget for one moment that 'Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called children of God,' and you are still a member of the greatest fraternity the world has ever known.

Civilian Friends vs. Police Friends

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Get upset if you're too busy to talk to them for a week.

POLICE FRIENDS: Are glad to see you after years, and will happily carry on the same conversation you were having last time you met.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Never ask for food or alcohol.

POLICE FRIENDS: Are the reason you have no food or alcohol.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. And Mrs.

POLICE FRIENDS: Call your parents mom and dad.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong.

POLICE FRIENDS: Would be sitting next to you in jail saying, 'Damn...we screwed up...but man, that was fun!'

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.

POLICE FRIENDS: Cry with you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.

POLICE FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.

POLICE FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.

POLICE FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds' ass that left you behind.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.

POLICE FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, 'I'm home!'

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are for a while.

POLICE FRIENDS: Are for life.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have shared a few experiences...

POLICE FRIENDS: Have shared a lifetime of experiences no civilian could ever dream of...

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough.

POLICE FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say 'You better drink the rest of that, you know we don't waste. That's alcohol abuse!!' Then carry you home safely and put you to bed.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will talk crap to the person who talks crap about you.

POLICE FRIENDS: Will knock them the hell out for using your name in vain.

RIP Rocky Fallo

A real character is gone. Sgt. Ronald "Rocky" Fallo of the Syracuse Police Department passed away on 12 December 2007. He was appointed 08/26/70 and retired 04/11/93. Rocky and I worked together for about a year and a half just before he retired. Prior to that we were on midnights together. He was a classic cop, a real old school kind of guy.

Let's Spring These Guys

A federal Appeals Court judge has stated that federal prosecutors may have over reacted when they sought prison terms for two Border Patrol officers who shot a drug dealing messican in the ass.

NEW ORLEANS — Federal prosecutors may have overreacted in their case against two Border Patrol agents who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after jurors convicted them of shooting a fleeing drug suspect and hiding evidence of the incident, an appeals court judge said Monday.

Judge E. Grady Jolly, one of three judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing the case of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, questioned whether the two agents would have been charged if they had reported the shooting.

This is certainly good news. By golly Judge Jolly ain't Judge Judy, but he sounds like he may be saying, "Don't piss on my shoes and tell me it's raining." It has been said that you can indict a ham sandwich, but the logic behind arresting two men for non-reporting an incident and sentencing them to 10 years in prison escapes me. Especially if they were justified in using deadly physical force in the first place.

"For some reason, this one got out of hand, it seems to me," Jolly said of the agents' prosecution.

It would appear that it escaped Hizzoner Jolly also.

A federal jury in Texas convicted Ramos and Compean of assault, obstruction of justice and civil rights violations in the wounding of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila on the Texas border near El Paso in 2005. A federal judge sentenced Compean to 12 years in prison and Ramos to 11 years.

The agents' attorneys are asking the 5th Circuit to throw out the convictions. The judges didn't indicate when they will rule on the appeals.

"It does seem to me like the government overreacted here," Jolly said, noting the severity of the charges and the lengthy sentences prosecutors sought, as he questioned Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Stelmach..

This case really gets my ass all cranked up because the US Attorney gave the mule a Get Out of Jail Free card for testifying against the agents and then the mule gets arrested AGAIN smuggling a thousand pounds of reefer. This time he is using a car the US Attorney gave him so he can get to court from his home across the border. I wonder how much weed he stuffed into that car and brought into the US before he finally got caught.

In exchange for his testimony against the agents, Aldrete was given immunity from prosecution for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs the day he was shot. Jurors didn't hear evidence that Aldrete allegedly smuggled marijuana in the United States several months after the shooting.

Botsford said Judge Kathleen Cardone, who presided over the trial in El Paso, Tex., should have allowed jurors to hear evidence that Aldrete was "not a (drug) mule, a simple one-time (border) crosser."

"He basically left a false impression for that jury," Botsford said of Aldrete.
Judge Patrick Higginbotham, who heard the appeal with Jolly and Judge Edward Prado, said evidence that Aldrete made multiple attempts to smuggle drugs across the border "strikes me as very relevant."

Stelmach acknowledged that Aldrete told "some lies" to investigators, but he said jurors rejected the agents' argument that they acted in self-defense when they shot at Aldrete.

I can see the BP guys getting fired or demoted/suspended/reamed etc. for their actions - and they should be. But 10 years or more in the slammer for shooting a major dope runner? This dirtbag got caught with nearly a ton of weed so far and they want to give him a break???

Aldrete was arrested last month following an October indictment on various drug charges. Mebbe someone else should be prosecuting this.

Taking The Law When No One Else Will

The new Subway motto is "Eat Dead."

PLANTATION, Fla. -- One man is dead and another in critical condition after the duo was shot by a customer while they were attempting to rob a Plantation Subway shop Wednesday night, police said. Police said 71-year-old John Lovell II used a licensed gun to shoot the alleged robbers at the Subway on North Pine Island Road and Sunrise Boulevard.

According to investigators, two armed men entered the restaurant, pointing guns and demanding money. Lovell turned around and saw a gun pointed at his face. Plantation police said that's when he took the law into his own hands.

"As the customer was being forced into the restroom at gunpoint, the customer, who was in fear for his life and legally armed, shot the robbery suspects," said Plantation Police Department spokesman Robert Rittig.

Police said one of the suspects was fatally shot in the head. He was identified as 22-year-old Donicio Ricardo Arrindell. The other suspect, 21-year-old Fredrick Gerard Gadson, was shot in the chest and was able to run nearly 300 yards into a nearby Bank Atlantic parking lot while trying to escape, police said.

I am getting to really dislike the phrase "took the law into his own hands" as if there was anyone else there to do it. The cops were no where to be found when this went down. Since when are you taking the law into your own hands when you defend yourself from being robbed at gun point?

Thank God They're OK

It has been a hellish stretch of road for our brothers in the NY State Police. One Trooper narrowly escaped death in the following incident as reported in the Post Standard. It happened yesterday:

HELD AT TROOPER'S HEAD, GUN JAMMED

Ronald E. McCarthy, of Granby, had already rammed his minivan into a trooper's SUV, attacked him with a 4-by-4 and fought through pepper spray, according to police. Now the 250-pound man had state police Sgt. Joseph Domagola pinned against a roadside guiderail, pressing the trooper's pistol against the back of Domagola's head, witnesses told state police.

"Oh, my God! No! Don't do it!" shouted a woman driving by, according to one witness.

By chance, the .45-caliber Glock malfunctioned.

With the help of another officer and passers-by, Domagola wrestled McCarthy to the ground and handcuffed him, witnesses said. McCarthy, 45, of 250 state Route 48, is charged with attempted murder of a police officer, attempted aggravated assault of a police officer and menacing a police officer, all felonies.

This is where you got to suck it up, wrestling on the side of a country road with a maniac trying kill you with your own gun. This is the stuff cop nightmares are made of.

The drama began at about 5 a.m. Saturday when state police got a call asking them to respond to a suspicious fire at the McCarthy residence, said Maj. Frank J. DeGennaro, the commander of state police Troop D.

The home was severely damaged. State police Investigator Scott Harrington interviewed McCarthy, who said he returned to his home at 3 a.m. after being out of town. McCarthy said he became upset because his wife and family were gone and some of their personal belongings, as well as family furniture, were also missing.

During the interview, McCarthy was distraught and angry over issues with his family, DeGennaro said. McCarthy left the state police barracks at around 8 a.m.

McCarthy came back to the barracks around noon, swore at his family and police, threw an empty beer bottle at a Trooper and then sped off. That's like chumming the water in the Sea World Shark Tank.

DeGennaro said Domagola witnessed the incident, hopped into his marked Chevrolet Tahoe and drove after McCarthy. Domagola saw McCarthy make a U-turn. McCarthy "then tried to ram his car head-on into the trooper car, but he missed," DeGennaro said.

Domagola turned his vehicle around and gave chase and McCarthy again made a U-turn, pulling off and stopping on the west shoulder of Route 57. DeGennaro said McCarthy waited there and intentionally drove into the path of the Tahoe, this time striking it head-on.

Domagola got out of his SUV and went to check McCarthy for injuries, DeGennaro said. McCarthy immediately became combative, and Domagola tried to subdue him with pepper spray.

A word about pepper spray, mace and other non-lethal weapons. Sometimes they are more non-lethal than at other times. Some people do not react with getting sprayed with a highly irritating fluid other then getting highly irritated themselves. Or in numbnuts case, more irritated than he was to begin with. McCarthy tried to yank other people out of their cars but failed.

McCarthy reached into the bed of the truck and pulled out a 4-by-4, 8-foot long, wood fence post. He began swinging it at Domagola, witnesses said.

DeGennaro said Domagola drew his pistol and told McCarthy to drop the fence post several times. When he didn't comply, Domagola fired one round, but it landed in the pavement, the major said.

McCarthy dropped the lumber and Domagola put the pistol back in its holster, he said.

I'm not going to second guess the Trooper on this. The State Police are highly trained in the use of deadly physical force and he reacted as he was trained.

McCarthy charged at Domagola again and the two wrestled against a guide rail with McCarthy trying to grab the gun, police said.

"The man had all his weight against the trooper with the gun in his right hand," Miller said. "He was pointing and pressing the gun up against the trooper's head and at his neck, yelling something at him."

McCarthy weighs 250 pounds; Domagola weighs 200 pounds, DeGennaro said. Both men are a little over 6 feet tall, the major said.

"He pointed the barrel of the weapon at the sergeant's head," DeGennaro said. "They both had their fingers on the trigger guard."

DeGennaro said the empty shell from Domagola's first round was still in the chamber, likely preventing the second round from going off.

DeGennaro credits passersby and witnesses to the accident with distracting McCarthy, screaming at him to stop.

This is known as a "stove pipe jam." The gun could not go off because the spent cartridge never cleared the breech. Therefore the Glock could not cycle completely and the next round in the magazine was never loaded.

Thank the Good Lord above. The next paragraph is about gun control in a crisis.

Miller said Domagola took advantage of McCarthy's distraction to get the upper hand. "The next thing I know the trooper had his gun back," Miller said.

By then, the major said, Harrington had arrived on the scene.

Harrington "immediately went at him and I went right behind him," Miller said. Harrington "grabbed him on top and I grabbed his legs and the man fell to the ground. This man was still struggling to get free, but the officer ended up getting him handcuffed."

McCarthy and Domagola were treated at A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital in Fulton and released. Domagola had scrapes and bruises, DeGennaro said.

This round goes to the good guys. At the end of his tour Trooper Domagola went home to be with his family. Right where he belongs.

I wonder how long it took him to fall asleep that night...

Officer Marty Henry

Marty Henry is a 32 year veteran of the Syracuse Police Department. He came on about a year or so behind me. We worked the south side together for a while back in the late 70's. Marty is a huge man, 6'5" and almost 300 pounds. And he is a gentle soul. For the last ten years Marty worked in the Personnel Division.

Yesterday morning a special ceremony was held in his honor outside St. Joseph's Hospital. The event was captured in this morning's Post Standard.

Hundreds attend "Signal 94" ceremony for Marty Henry, a cancer patient.

A line of Syracuse police officers stood at attention Thursday morning in a courtyard and saluted toward a hospital room containing one of their own.

Ten cars with lights flashing were in front of them. Behind them were more than 200 people, some in uniform, some in hospital scrubs, some in civilian clothes.

The parking garage and the skywalk that connects it to St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center were lined with people at 9 a.m. All were quiet.

Officer Marty Henry, a man Sgt. Tom Connellan called "the most beloved police officer on the force," was unseen behind a tinted window receiving his "Signal 94," a ceremony marking the end of his last shift on duty.

Henry, 56, an officer with the force since 1975, is being treated at the hospital. He has cancer, his family said.

The officers in the courtyard held the salute for almost 10 minutes. The cadets in the police academy saluted in their sweats. Tears moved down more than one cheek.

"God bless our friend. You're a fine example for all of us to follow," Deputy Chief Michael Kerwin said before the 911 center made the radio broadcast marking Henry's end of service.

Henry last served in the chief's office but was more known for his work in the personnel department. "Anyone hired (by the Police Department) in the last 10 years went through Marty to get here," Connellan said. When you came on the job, he gave you your badge. When you retired, he took it back," Deputy Chief Dave Barrette said.

He was also the man who planned Signal 94 ceremonies for retiring officers, Barrette said.

"Marty took sick a week after putting in his retirement papers," Barrette said.
He was supposed to retire in May but decided not to when he learned of his illness, Barrette said.

During his career, Henry had a couple of brushes with death. He almost died in the summer of 1981 when he was stabbed as he was going through a door, Barrette said.

Henry also was forced off Interstate 481 in 1999 whnen his vehicle was rammed from behind by a speeding sport utility vehicle. Henry went across the median and through oncoming traffic before hitting a tree, records state. His sons, Tom and Chris, were in the room with him. Tom works for Google in California, and Chris is in the Washington, D.C., police academy.

"He was shocked," Tom Henry said. "I don't think he realized the impact the ceremony would have."

The numbers of people that Henry had touched moved everyone in the room, he said.

After the service, as the police cars pulled away, police Chief Gary Miguel told officers that Henry was moved.

"He saw the whole thing and so did his family," an emotional Miguel said.

"I said, 'Marty, how many people do you think are out there?' " Miguel told officers.

"He said, 'A lot.'

I said, 'They're all here for you.' "

Marty is very close to death now. Say a prayer for his family. We're all going to miss him.

Cops All Over The World

Here are some videos of how some cops in other countries perform their duties.

In Ireland, in Spain and other places (you ain't gonna believe this last one!).

Hat tip to Charley, Chicago PD.

Suicide By Cop

Every so often someone decides to commit suicide by shooting at the police. They know they're finished, it's all over, but they want to make a statement, or go out in a blaze of glory ("Top o'the world Mom!), or whatever reason they have. But they end up pointing a gun or shooting at a police officer. I wish they'd just find a bridge somewhere and jump.

In Syracuse we had an honor killing/death by cop incident yesterday. This happened about a mile and a half down the road from us.

From the Post Standard.

Police said Thach Ros, 62, shot his wife, Sopheap Kim Ros, 52, in the abdomen about 4 p.m. Saturday at their 303 Gere Ave. home. She had been critical condition this morning at University Hospital.

She is still in critical condition.

The shooting started a standoff between Thach Ros that ended Sunday night when a police SWAT team entered the home's basement and exchanged gunfire in the dark with Ros. Ros was killed, but authorities are awaiting autopsy results today to determine whether Ros died from a self-inflicted wound or gunfire from police.

But she wasn't the only one that Ros shot.

Ros' son, Sophin "Peter" Ros, was found dead in the home from a gunshot wound to the head.

This man shot and killed his own son. He shot him once in the arm, once in the stomache and twice in the head. And he killed his 33-year old son for reasons that mystify us, but make all the sense in the world to an Asian. This was an honor killing.

Ros' son, Sophin, disobeyed his father's wishes by marrying another woman. Sophin dishonored his father by making him look foolish.

Ros had arranged a marriage between his son and one of his cousins back in Cambodia. Ros made the arrangement without his son's knowledge and Sophin took exception to this. He married another Cambodian girl and disgraced his father. Four months ago Sophin and his wife moved back into Syracuse.

For some reason Ros also shot his wife; perhaps she was trying to stop him from shooting their son. The other two children fled the second story apartment by running to the rear porch and escaping with the help of police. Responding units cordoned off the area and fired tear gas canisters into the apartment to try to force Ros out. SWAT cops entered the house but were driven back by gunfire. At some point during the standoff, an officer fired when he spied Ros though an upstairs window and may have wounded him.

Ros' pastor tried to talk him out of the house and surrender but all such attempts to negotiate with him failed. Thus the situation lasted for nearly thirty hours as police and friends tried to find a way to spare his life.

But the police cannot let a situation like this last forever. All the nearby residents were evacuated; some had to sleep in their cars overnight. Other residents for blocks around were warned to stay indoors or stay away completely. Traffic was halted and diverted.

Ros either killed himself or was shot to death by a SWAT team late Sunday night.

UPDATE:
Initial reports indicate that Ros probably died from a self inflicted gunshot.

Welcome To The Job

There are times when a cop wishes that his badge is literally as big as a garbage can lid. Two days ago Officer Stuart Ingram of the NYPD experienced this.

NEW YORK — An emotionally disturbed man driving his car on a sidewalk nearly ran over a nun on Thursday before trying to stab a rookie policeman in the chest and breaking his knife on the officer's shield, authorities said.

Talk about the Provenance of G-d. Most of the time an attack like this would have the blade slide off the metal and go into the officer's soft body armor. Bullet resistent ballistic panels are not meant to stop knives and do a very poor job of protecting against puncture wounds.

The unusual string of events started in Queens about 5 p.m., when the man left the scene of an accident and started barreling down a sidewalk where the nun was walking, police said.

Another man pushed the nun out of the way of the oncoming car, which struck a tree and a wall before coming to a stop, the New York Police Department said. When the driver tried to run away, two people tried to stop him, but they backed off when he threatened them with a kitchen knife, police said.

Much more of this and you'll be fingerprinted and issued a license before you can pick up a set of Ginsu's.

Two responding officers confronted the driver, who then tried to stab one of them, Stuart Ingram, in the chest, police said. Ingram said later he told the man repeatedly to drop the knife but the man lunged at him with it. He said the knife hit his badge and shattered.

Ingram said he struck the man with an expandable baton and, with the help of a civilian, subdued him. "That's when we apprehended him," Ingram said coolly at a news conference.

My personal preference would be that Officer Ingram struck him multiple times with a .45 caliber hollow point, but hey, I wasn't there. BC, Imperial Torturer of the Rott also recommends the .45 Goblin Stopper. But in any respect, we're all thankful that Officer Ingram walked away from this encounter. Nice grab!

There seems to be a bit more knife work out there. From the UCR reports I know that there has been a small uptick in the percentage of aggravated assaults committed with a knife, from 18.6% of all agg. assaults in 2004 to 18.9% in 2005. In 2006 the preliminary UCR for NY State shows a 3% increase for agg. assault, but no weapon distribution as of yet.

My read on this is that people have been offing one another since Cain slew Abel. And you can bet your ass he didn't use a Glock.

If a gun is not available, a knife will do. If there isn't a knife handy then a baseball bat certainly is useful. If the sporting goods store isn't open yet, then that broken chunk of cinder block will do the trick. No construction materials laying about? Well, go to it with fang and claw.

Weapons are only instruments that reflect human intent. As long as human intent is evil, the laws that ban one type of weapon or another are useless. Virtually anything can be used as a weapon or dangerous instrument. Sugar-free or not, even a big bowl of strawberry jello (I prefer raspberry) is deadly if you cram someone's head in it.

NYC Plans To Honor Cop Killer

On December 9th, 1981, a 25 year old Philadelphia police officer by the name of Daniel Faulkner pulled over a Volkswagen driving the wrong way on Locust Street. In a few minutes, Officer Faulker was dead.

As Danny attempted to handcuff William Cook, Mumia Abu-Jamal ran from across he street and shot the officer in the back. Danny turned and was able to fire one shot that struck Abu-Jamal in the chest; the wounded officer then fell to the pavement. Mumia Abu-Jamal stood over the downed officer and shot him four more times at close range, once directly in the face.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was found still at the scene of the shooting by officers who arrived there within seconds. The murderer was slumped against the curb in front of his brother's car. In his possession was a .38 caliber revolver that records showed Mumia had purchased months earlier. The chamber of the gun had five spent cartridges. A cab driver, as well as other pedestrians, had witnessed the brutal slaying and identified Mumia Abu-Jamal as the killer both at the scene and during his trial.

It's not as if there was a lot of confusion over identifying the suspect, or questions of violating his constitutional rights during a rigorous interrogation. The dude was there, he shot the cop and was himself shot in return. More on the specific actions of Officer Faulkner's killer.

Officer Faulkner was able to draw his gun and fire one return shot at his assailant, Mumia Abu-Jamal. This bullet was later extracted from Mr. Jamal's upper abdomen. Having fired this shot, Officer Faulkner fell to the sidewalk. While the wounded officer lay helpless and unarmed on his back, Mr. Jamal was seen by four individuals standing over the Officer with his five shot, .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver in his hand. From approximately 3 feet, Jamal began to fire at the officer's upper body.

That's four witnesses who testified that Abu-Jamal (real name Wesley Cook, he was the older brother of the man Officer Faulkner was trying to arrest) shot Officer Faulkner. If four people who by coincidence happen to be in the same approximate location and witness a crime, it behooves any cop in his right mind to slam the cuffs on whomever they point their finger at.

Officer Faulkner is believed to have been conscious at this point and to be looking up at his assailant, who was later identified by several people at the crime scene as Mumia Abu Jamal. It's believed that in an attempt to save his life, Faulkner began to roll from side to side as Jamal fired at him. Jamal missed his first several shots. He then moved closer to Faulkner and bent down over him. Mr. Jamal put the muzzle of his gun within inches of Officer Faulkner's face, and squeezed off the final, and fatal, shot. The bullet entered the officer's face slightly above the eye and came to rest in his brain, killing him instantly.

This is death penalty territory. No need to go any further. Please go here to sign the petition against naming a Harlem street after this piece of unrepentant filth.

There is no reason whatsoever for this waste of oxygen to still be alive today. Yet there are those who disbelieve witnesses and a court reviewed sentence.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was arrested at the scene.
He couldn't flee, he had been shot in the chest.
Sucking chest wounds discourage flight.
The weapon was recovered at the scene.
He bought the gun.
He registered the gun.
The gun was his.
Officer Faulkner was shot five times.
The gun was fired five times.
Four witnesses testified that Abu-Jamal shot Officer Faulkner.
Four witnesses testified that Officer Faulkner shot Abu-Jamal.
One witness, Robert Chobert, was directly behind Officer Faulkner's car.
Bullet fragments were "consistent" with the Charter Arms that Abu-Jamal was carrying.

Sometimes all you get are fragments, depending on the type of ammunition, distance to the target and what the slug passes through before coming to rest. The notion of a perfectly formed (or deformed into a "mushroom") bullet is not that common. I was a crime scene specialist, an evidence technician, for eight years. I've recovered quite a number of bullets under many different circumstances. Sometimes even a bullet that seems remarkably whole to the naked eye is difficult to impart to a specific firearm due to irregularities in the rifling striations.

If the bullets passed through Officer Faulkner's body and hit the pavement or other hard object (see the crime scene map here, remember it is not a sketch and is not draw to scale), there could be sufficient damage to the projectiles as to render them useless for a 100% certainty match to the firearm.

It makes my head hurt, but I sometimes try to understand how a convicted murderer like Abu-Jamal attracts such a freakishly dedicated flock of jackasses who maintain his innocence despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. But this is standard operating procedure for moonbats. Any means that will revoke or weaken the rule of law, specifically laws that they don't like, is to be pursued.

Wild assed conspiracies seem to be the mother's milk of liberals. They just happened to latch on to this insane Mumia titty and are working it for all it's worth. The efforts to have a street named after Abu-Jamal are an attempt to legitimize his protestations of unfair treatment at the bar.

This is a list of the lunatic conspiracies that the liberals insist denied their murderous poster child a fair trial. Some of them are:

1) The bullet that killed Officer Faulkner was a .44 caliber bullet, while Jamal's gun was a .38 caliber.

Wrong, just.... so wrong. There was never any evidence that another weapon was used. Police backup was there in minutes as Officer Faulkner had previously called in for assistance. Mumia's revolver was recovered at the scene with the spent cartridges still in the gun.

2) Several "eyewitnesses" saw someone else shoot Officer Faulkner and then escape up an alley.

Where are these witnesses? Obviously the Philadelphia Police Department's "Witness Intimidation Unit" has successfully kept these people silenced for over 25 years. These cops are amazing. Long after they are retired or dead they continue to scare the crap out of people.

3) Mumia Abu-Jamal was denied his right to self representation, in violation of his Constitutional Rights. Mumia Abu-Jamal's court appointed attorney was admittedly incompetent and incapable of mounting a defense on Jamal's behalf.

Can't have it both ways. Either mount your own incompetent defense or let the State do it for you.

4) The ballistics evidence used to convict Mumia Abu-Jamal was flawed. The police failed to test Jamal's hands to see if he had recently fired a gun and they never "sniffed" Jamal's gun to see if it had been fired.

This one is actually funny. Of all the guns I remanded to the crime lab, I never sniffed a one because I didn't want to get my sniffer blown all to hell. You treat every gun as if it is loaded. That means keeping your nose and all other body parts well away from the business end of the thing.

The whole ridiculous mess needs to be flushed. Just like Mumia's internal organs after the prison doctor performs the post-execution autopsy.

UPPDATE:
Last December, Michelle Malkin ran a memorial page for Officer Faulkner here.

Last year, a street in the Paris suburb of St. Denis was named after the murderer of Officer Faulkner. The April 29 ceremony was hosted by the city of St. Denis and its mayor, Didier Paillard. It appears that this was an attempt to placate the seethin' heathen hordes of Muslims who trashed this suburb in the riots of 2005. From Fox News, November 3, 2005:

In a seventh consecutive night of skirmishes, young people threw rocks at police Wednesday in six suburbs in the Seine-Saint-Denis region north of Paris — about a 40-minute drive from the Eiffel Tower. In one of them, Le Blanc-Mesnil, about a dozen cars burned and curious residents, some in slippers and bathrobes, poured into the streets.

So who in Harlem is being placated now?

RIP Gerry Solan

Gerry Solan, retired Lieutenant from the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office, has passed on. He was 59.

Gerry and I attended the 1974 Fall Semester Regional Police Academy together. In the academy we were the "old guys," he was 27 and I was 25. Gerry sat right behind me in the classroom. I was a loud mouth wise guy and tried to crack Gerry up ... and did so on a regular basis. Jerry would double over laughing and smack me in the back of my head. IIRC there were about a dozen different law enforcement agencies in our academy.

We teased the State Parks Police rookies unmercifully. I drew a picture of an obscene felony bear stop for them and passed it around the class. It was awful. They never forgave me for that.

Gerry worked the road patrol and later was the CO of their Personnel Section. He retired about a year before I did. After leaving the Sheriff's, he worked for the US Marshals Office providing security for the Federal Office Building here in the city. I would see him whenever I visited the US Attorney's Office for meetings and spend some time with him.

He was truly a decent man, a good cop and I will miss him.