On Monday when America was paying solemn tribute to the men and women of the armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, two more men in uniform were killed in the line of duty.
U.S. Air Force veteran Officer Gregg “Nigel” Benner of the Rio Rancho Police Department, New Mexico, was killed while making a traffic stop, and Sergeant Iris Smith of the Mississippi Department of Corrections lost her life in a traffic accident while transporting a prisoner.
Only one day earlier, Housing Authority of New Orleans Police Department Patrolman James Bennett, Jr. was executed in his car during an ambush while working overtime at a construction site.
In this month of May alone, thirteen law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty, including eight by gunfire and one by vehicular assault. Of the 51 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty this year, 14 were by gunfire. With 8 of them occurring just this month alone, May has been the deadliest month of 2015 so far.
All of these deaths are devastating, especially to the family members of the fallen. Some of the most heartbreaking include the death of 25 year old Liquori Tate, who had been a Police Officer for only eleven months when he became the 43rd law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty this year.
Also murdered in this traffic stop gone bad was Police Officer Benjamin Deen, a 34 year old veteran who was named the Harrisburg Police Department Officer of the Year in 2012. Deen was the 44th law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in America this year.
The 48th officer killed in the line of duty in 2015 was Detective Kerrie Orozco, a 29 year old mother of a newborn daughter and two stepchildren. She was shot to death while attempting to serve a warrant.
It’s only by sheer luck that would be cop killer Elton L. Bandoo wasn’t a better shot or another police officer might have been added to this list.
North Miami Beach Police Officer Lino Diaz, who was cleared to go back to work yesterday by his surgeon, was shot on February 6, 2015 while attempting to serve a warrant at Bandoo’s home.
Bandoo, who is suspected of tax fraud and identity theft crimes, is also “famous” for his ultra violent rap videos featuring guns and gangs, at least one of which entitled Pull Out The Stick, was filmed at the very house where the raid took place.
In bond court, Bandoo’s attorney Seth Lavey, who donated to recently re-elected Councilwoman Phyllis Smith’s campaign, tried to portray the video as “art.”
In real life, however, this “artist” is the proud owner of “an arsenal of weapons, including a high-powered assault rifle and clips for automatic weapons,” according to NBC Miami.
In spite of his brush with death, or perhaps because of it, Officer Lino Diaz told me he can’t wait to get back to work. He’s only disappointed that it will be a while before he can rejoin the SWAT team.
Needless to say, Officer Diaz is one of the good guys. Police officers like Diaz are being unfairly targeted by race hustlers like Al Sharpton, who has instigated the War on Cops, the flames of which are fanned every single time there is a police shooting, whether justified or not. It has now become “fashionable” to hate law enforcement under the false narrative that blacks are unfairly targeted by white cops.
Of course, that narrative doesn’t quite fit when a black man shoots an Hispanic cop.
Or, as in the case of slain Officer Liquori Tate, the four individuals charged in his murder are three black men and a black woman.
Al Sharpton was nowhere to be found.
But, I digress.
In the War on Cops, North Miami Beach Police Chief Scott Dennis has found a way to fight back. Not with weapons, but with the truth.
On May 21, 2015, three local school children were sworn in as Junior Chiefs for the Day. The winner of an essay contest in which “more than 100 submissions” were entered, when asked what she would do if she were a chief of police, Ojus Elementary student, 9 year old Nae’kia Lawrence wrote that “having a squad of her friends called “Kids Citizen Patrol” to help check on suspicious activity would help cut crime.” The other two winners of the contest were 11 year old Chrissie Baptiste from Sabal Palm Elementary and 9 year old Kenold Ordenat from Fulford Elementary. They were all sworn in as Junior Chiefs for the Day. Like Chief Dennis was in his youth, all three winners “are part of the safety patrol program in their schools.”
The Junior Chiefs and their families spent the day with members of the North Miami Beach Police Department. As the Herald reported, “The agenda for the day also included a K-9 demonstration by Radek, an 8 year-old German shepherd, a robotics presentation from the SWAT unit, an MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle tour and lunch at Area Code 55 with the Greater North Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce.”
At the end of the day, Chief Dennis told the Herald, “We hope that this will continue to instill positive relationships between our youth in our community and the law enforcement community.”
Kudos to Chief Scott Dennis and the North Miami Beach Police Department for going on the offense in this despicable War on Cops. Not with weapons or by force, but by helping educate local children that the police are the good guys.
A very special thanks also goes out to Officer Lino Diaz, who literally took one for the team.
Officer Diaz is truly one of North Miami Beach’s finest!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
The biggest and oldest Hustle “Badges Don’t Grant Extra Rights.”
http://www.copblock.org/
DALLAS – Fort Worth police killed an unarmed homeowner in his own garage responding to a burglary call for another house, his widow claims in Federal Court
http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/05/27/shot-to-death.htm
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles police sicced a dog on a hemophiliac, who lost half his blood, merely because he was walking at night in a bad neighborhood and ran from a (police) car following him with its lights off, he claims in Federal Court
http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/05/27/los-angeles-p-d.htm
CHICAGO – A Chicago policeman shot a Boy Scout who was out after curfew but committed no crime, the 16-year-old claims in Federal Court.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/05/27/shooting-a-boy-scout.htm
that Michael Brelo did not commit voluntary manslaughter on when he jumped onto the hood of a car and fired 15 shots into the windshield of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams after a high-speed chase that lasted for 22 minutes.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/05/26/police-officers-acquittal-leads-to-unrest-in-ohio.htm
The officers reported that upon their arrival, Rice reached towards a gun in his waistband. Loehmann fired two shots within two seconds of arriving on the scene, hitting Rice once in the torso.[2][5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Tamir_Rice
No one said there are no bad shootings. Based upon the number of actual law enforcement officers in America, there are bound to be problem cops, problem shootings, and errors.
But let’s talk some reality here.
Starting with the murder rate in Chicago: Twelve over this past Memorial Day weekend (http://homicides.redeyechicago.com/), or 159 this year (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TPPz_d77xt_LJrnFplSnpPaiHwnsQtwu9DWQdxFQd3c/pub?output=html). The vast majority of those killed are black men. (http://heyjackass.com/)
In Detroit, murders are up 25% in the first quarter over last year. 108 homicides this year so far. (https://data.detroitmi.gov/Public-Safety/Reported-Homicides-in-2015/up7p-ndxx)
New York City, where shooting cops is a sport, 2015 has a 20% increase in murders so far over last year. As of March 29, 2015, there were 75 murders in NYC. (http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/nyc-crime-murders-2015-article-1.2170679) In February, the New York Times proudly reported that there was a 12 day period during which there were no murders. Yay! (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/nyregion/new-york-city-murderless-streak-ends-at-12-days.html?_r=0) CNN called that a “Modern Record.” (http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/16/us/nyc-homicide-free-streak/)
Los Angeles: 188 murders this year. (http://homicide.latimes.com/year/2015)
I could go on, but I’ll stop here.
Yes, there are police shootings that result in death. I never disputed that. Most are justified. You can list a small handful of shootings that may be questionable or completely unjustified, but don’t ignore the thousands of murders that take place in America each year by cold blooded killers.
And do not ignore that the number of police officers killed in the line of duty is on the rise. As MSNBC reported (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/fbi-number-cops-killed-duty-has-spiked), 2014 saw an increase of 89% law enforcement officer deaths over 2013.
Feel free to jump on the I-Hate-Cops bandwagon if that’s your thing. But if you get in trouble and need help, don’t call the police. Call Enterprise. They’ll pick you up.
Oh, and by the way, genius, there’s an “e” in Rodney.
Just saying, of course.
Mr. King, how come “BlackLivesMatter” only when shot by white cops? Maybe if that culture argued with facts rather that racist rhetoric, the average law abiding citizen would see to support them. Until they tackle the real issue of black-on-black massacres that are occurring (Baltimore, Chicago, New York to name a few), their rhetoric is falling on deaf ears.
These are two examples of how minor misdemeanor conduct led to the use of serious force when non-violent deescalation tactics could have been employed. http://www.ericmathenylaw.com/Criminal-Defense-Blog/2015/February/Two-Instances-Of-Police-Brutality-In-Broward-Cou.aspx
2015 Police In the Line of Duty Deaths 54
2015 Killed by Police 485
http://killedbypolice.net/
Police killed more than twice as many people as reported by US government
The uncounted A recent report estimated that there were 7,427 law enforcement homicides in the US during the eight years spanning 2003-2009 and 2011 — or an average of 928 per year. The number is more than twice as large as the closest previous official tally from the US government. Even the two best tallies — combined — left an estimated 2,103 homicides uncounted during those years.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/04/police-killed-people-fbi-data-justifiable-homicides
so this means **2003 – 2011 average of Law enforcement homicides in the US 928 per year, 2.5 deaths per day, one death every 9.6 hours…**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States
2015 Line of Duty Deaths: 54
9/11 related illness: 2, Accidental: 1, Assault: 1, Automobile accident: 15, Gunfire: 14, Gunfire (Accidental): 2, Heart attack: 11, Motorcycle accident: 1, Struck by vehicle: 3, Vehicle pursuit: 2, Vehicular assault: 2
K9 Line of Duty Deaths: 10, Animal related: 1, Automobile accident: 1, Drowned: 1, Fire: 1, Gunfire: 2, Heat exhaustion: 2, Poisoned: 1
Struck by vehicle: 1
https://www.odmp.org/search/year
2014 The preliminary count from the FBI is that 51 law enforcement officers were ‘feloniously’ killed in the line of duty in 2014, and an additional 44 died in accidents (total: 95)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers_killed_in_the_line_of_duty
Law Enforcement Facts Key Data about the Profession
There are more than 900,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States, which is the highest figure ever. About 12 percent of those are female. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, an estimated 1.16 million violent crimes occurred nationwide in 2013, a decrease of 4.4 percent from 2012. Crime fighting has taken its toll. Since the first recorded police death in 1791, there have been over 20,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Currently, there are 20,538 names engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. A total of 1,466 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 10 years, an average of one death every 60 hours or 146 per year. There were 117 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2014. On average, over the last decade, there have been 58,930 assaults against law enforcement each year, resulting in 15,404 injuries. The 1920s were the deadliest decade in law enforcement history, when a total of 2,417 officers died, or an average of almost 241 each year. The deadliest year in law enforcement history was 1930, when 301 officers were killed. That figure dropped dramatically in the 1990s, to an average of 162 per year. The deadliest day in law enforcement history was September 11, 2001, when 72 officers were killed while responding to the terrorist attacks on America. New York City has lost more officers in the line of duty than any other department, with 701 deaths. Texas has lost 1,695 officers, more than any other state. The state with the fewest deaths is Vermont, with 22. There are 1,092 federal officers listed on the Memorial, as well as 633 correctional officers and 34 military law enforcement officers. There are 280 female officers listed on the Memorial; four female officers were killed in 2014. During the past ten years, more incidents that resulted in felonious fatalities occurred on Thursday than any other day of the week. The fewest number of felonious incidents occurred on Tuesday.
http://www.nleomf.org/facts/enforcement/
The Slaughter Continues: 176 Civilians Killed by Police so Far in 2015
“Most people killed by police are not armed with a gun. Only a small fraction of perpetrators are killed during or after a gunfight”
The people killed by police are generally not nice guys. They are deranged with mental problems, drug addicts, drunks, car thieves, shoplifters, vagrants, wife beaters–punks of all kinds and generally up to no good. But, they don’t deserve to die.
“I remember when one cop was all it took to subdue a homeless man without anyone being hurt or harmed. Now?!…… It takes half the police force and a scud missile to subdue a homeless broken down old drunk………. They can capture a man alive after he blows away half a grade school with an arsenal of weapons but they can’t handle a homeless man? They can capture a man after he kills people at a Batman movie but the homeless drunk?…. He’s a home grown terror cell so we better blow him away. Get the picture?”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blake-fleetwood/civilians-killed-by-police_b_6801510.html
http://www.local10.com/news/2-broward-sheriffs-deputies-charged-in-attack-on-man-outside-gas-station/32850780
We get it. You hate cops.
Try not to kill any.