Police

Rest in Peace, NYPD Detective Brian Mulkeen

Brian Mulkeen was a Fordham grad and worked at Merrill Lynch till he quit his job and joined the NYPD. Apparently Mulkeen was killed by “friendly fire” while wrestling with an armed suspect. There’s a nice 1 minute video on twitter. I was mostly just sad and dry eyed till “Country Roads” kicked in. Because he’s not just a cop;…

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Police

Tone it down

I wrote thislast night for CNN, about the massacre in Dallas: Words have the power to inspire, inflame, provoke. Or else we wouldn’t say them. When words inspire others to kill, however deranged those others might be, we must see the consequences. When those on the political right speak against immigrants, Muslims or abortion, those on the left are quick…

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Police

Let’s all put our thinking caps, everybody

Why in the world are people reporting on last year’s data when we have current data at our fingertips? Does reality only happen after numbers are published on DOJ letterhead? NBC News reports: Number of Police Officer Killings Drops, Reversing 2014 Spike. Do reporters not have the wherewithal to see what the current situation is? It is but a mouse-click…

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Police

RIP Detective Colson

“The shot that struck and killed Detective Colson was deliberately aimed at him by another police officer,” Stawinski said. “It’s another tragic dimension to this unfolding story.” Ouch. A black cop in civilian clothes being killed by other cop? This is not exactly frequent… but it is all too regular. In 170 years of US policing, you know how many…

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Police

Blue-on-blue shootings

An emotional story in the Baltimore Sun — related to the “friendly-fire” death of Officer Jacai Colson — about another P.G. County officer who shot and killed his partner and best friend in 1988: “You’re not alone,” Sommers said he told the officer, who has not been identified publicly. “You can’t beat yourself up over it so bad that you…

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Police

Things cops watch

I don’t post a lot of these videos, but this one is revealing. I honestly didn’t know which way this was going to go. Indian River Country, Florida, December, 2015. 3AM. A man has just gone to the convenience store to buy cigarettes. He’s riding a scooter without tags (that’s southern for “license plate”). Stop the video right at 00:15.…

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Police

RIP Ashley Guidon

On 26 Feb, 2016, on her very first shift and just 1 day after being sworn in, Ashley Guidon of the Prince William County (VA) Police Department was killed. R.I.P. In honor of Ashley, police are posting their rookie photo. Ashley and two other officers were shot while responding to a domestic-related call. The killed murdered his wife and shot…

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Police

It’s been a bad week for cops

Eight cops have been shot and killed this month. And February, 2016, ain’t even half over. Already, on my social media stream, I see my cop friends blaming Obama. Well, you must remember December, 2003 when seven cops were shot and killed? Republican George W Bush was president. August of that year? Nine cops were shot and killed. April? Ten…

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Police

RIP Derek Geer and Jason Goodding

Does all the talk about cops being too quick to shoot people “for no reason” have an effect? (A “Ferguson Effect”?) I don’t know. But it might have been in the back of the mind of 14-year police veteran Deputy Derek Geer. Just two days ago Geer tried to tase an armed 17-year-old boy. For his less-lethal efforts, Geer was…

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Police

Ambush in Philly

Officer Jesse Hartnett is lucky to be alive. And bad-ass for returning fire and hitting the wanna-be killer. From ABC: “I just have to tell you, when you look at the video – we have video that captured all of this – it’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen,” said Ross. “This guy tried to execute the police…

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