Have You Thanked Your Neighborhood Cop Today?
The next time you pass a cop in your neighborhood, you might offer your thanks. The police are often criticized because there are a few bad apples on the force (as there are bad apples in every profession), but these people put their lives on the line every day to protect the rest of us, and a little acknowledgment seems to be in order.
Here's one of them it's too late to thank, LA SWAT officer Randal Simmons:
Richard Winton,, Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Andrew Blankstein write in the LA Times of how Simmons was shot and killed on the job the other night (officer James Veenstra was wounded, but is expected to pull through):
The incident began about 9 p.m. Wednesday when a man called 911 and said he had killed three people at a home in the 19800 block of Welby Way in the Winnetka area of Los Angeles. Over several hours, he made a series of additional calls to 911, police said. Police said the suspect told them that three people were dead at the home and that two others were still alive inside.At one point a dispatcher told police that moans could be heard in the background, leading authorities to believe there were wounded victims inside.
The decision to enter the home came early this morning, more than three hours after the initial 911 call, when officers determined there might still be people in distress inside, said Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell.
At that point, McDonnell said, SWAT members had been at the scene only about 15 minutes. The decision to go in immediately, instead of taking a more patient approach, he said, was made out of concern that people were either being killed or were about to be killed inside.
"This was one where you have to go in right away," he said. "If you think people are being executed, you don't wait."
...Officer Randal Simmons, a veteran of the unit, was mortally wounded in the head as the officers broke through the door, police said. Sources said a round entered Simmons' neck, lodging in his brain stem. He was rushed to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he died just after 1 a.m, officials said.
Simmons, a 51-year-old married father of a teenage son and daughter, spent his off-hours mentoring youth in South Los Angeles -- a sign of how passionate he was about his work and the community where he had been a gang officer for years, colleagues said.
...Originally from New York, Simmons had been a football player at Washington State University, and friends said he hoped to play professional football before an injury ended his chances.
...Simmons ended up in the LAPD academy, and then as a patrol officer, starting in 1981. He worked Pacific Division gang units in South Los Angeles, and then joined the SWAT unit.
"He was always there to support, mentor and help," said LAPD Capt. James Craig, a close friend and academy classmate. "He was a kind person."
I thank cops and firefighters all the time, and I donate to their various causes. I also am one of the first in line at the Oyster Festival for the Dunk a Cop game, it's a blast! o_O
Flynne at February 9, 2008 10:25 AM
Bah, One good cop in a bunch means crap. And worse, it is no longer the people who are bad cops alone, but the whole effin insitution that has turned rotten.
Tomare Utsu Zo at February 9, 2008 5:28 PM
What do you recommend?
Crid at February 9, 2008 7:47 PM
I know I'm commenting on what's most likely a dead thread, but I felt I should comment anyhoo.
I recently had a false alarm on my house system. Since the company couldn't reach me, an officer was sent to my house just as I arrived home. He was professional and polite. I apologized to him for having to come out for nothing, but thanked him having arrived promptly. While he was filling out paperwork in his cruiser, some middle-aged guy in a pickup made flipped off the officer as he drove by. The officer wasn't blocking the road or anything...the pickup guy was just apparently being an ass..
No government institution is perfect. None. You occasionally have a bad cop, and you occasionally have a Blood who's only in the Marines so he can shoot people better when he comes home. I seriously believe that the "bad ones" are in the minority, and if there were NO cops at all, just about anyone would sorely miss their absence. Even those given to hyperbole like Tomare above.
Jamie at February 11, 2008 10:09 AM
Not a dead thread at all. People read through the entire month from the top down much of the time. Thanks for posting that.
Amy Alkon at February 11, 2008 10:31 AM
"What do you recommend?"
Radley has pretty much occupied the field.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476
The best way to deal with bad apples would be to hold them accountable for their actions. That doesn't seem to happen too often. But let's not get too far off on this thread. A guy with hostages and a gun needs to have his door broken down by SWAT. That is exactly what SWAT is for.
smurfy at February 11, 2008 4:32 PM
omg what the heck is going on! this is a very informative post, thank you for taking the time to write it. just wanted to let everyone know the Olive Garden is giving out free meals for a month for facebook users. check it out americanhealthtoday.com/olive-garden/
Bernskoetter@gmail.com at May 9, 2011 3:29 PM
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