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James Waghorne
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10/07/04 Things are upside down all
over this town.
You might want to start drinking bottled water,
because there is something going on all over this town. Whatever it is
that's making people in positions of authority act nutty may very well be in
the water. Whatever it is that's causing suicidals to use police officers
to help them check out may very well be in the water. There just is no other explanation.
If things keep going like this,
we are going to run out of police officers who are willing to intervene when a
citizen calls because they're concerned that someone may be a danger to himself
or others. Seven officers found themselves in serious financial straights
this year because they went to a woman's aid (a woman with children) when she
called and said her husband weighed 300 lbs, was violent and would require
several police officers to subdue him. The fat crackhead died during the
melee he started, all officers on the scene were put on desk duty and denied the
right to work their part-time jobs.
We had another policeman involved on the scene of a suicidal's demise.
I'm referring to the shooting at the NW Highway hotel. A guy pulls a
gun out of his waistband after telling the officers he had thrown the gun
away and was unarmed, what else would you call him but suicidal?
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Officer K:
Just a minor correction, the Long John Silvers incident happened in
Richardson, not Dallas. So, the DPD
cannot give him an award, ALTHOUGH HE DESERVES
ONE! Other than that, you are right on every count!
On another note, you say "I
understand why police officers have to be taken off the streets when they
are involved in a fatality. It's really the only way to protect the
officers from opportunists out there who hate police officers. Not to
mention the trial lawyers who encourage women like the fat crackhead's widow
to sue the city and the officers individually. I understand their desk
duty, but I don't like it. "
Officers involved in death incidents
should be taken off the streets for a few days to get themselves back
together and get ready to get back to work. It
used to be that way, but not now. We were on
desk duty a few days and then back to work. Under
Chief Kunkle, officers are presumed guilty until proven innocent!
We are prohibited from
working our regular job as well as off duty
extra job while the new Chief waits until a Grand
Jury decides to either "indict" or "no bill" us.
It seems our new Chief is more
willing to listen to community "Reverends"
rather than common sense at the expense of street officers doing
our job every day, which
punishes any officer who
may be involved in a "death incident". It seems our
Chief cannot determine right from wrong regarding
an officer involved in a "death incident"!
You are right on the money when you
say "Thank God, for the officer involved with the
shooting death of Mr. Welch. He protected himself first, which is just what
he should have done. At the end of the day, the officer got to go home to
his wife and kids and his own parents and siblings."
Thanks
to Chief Kunkle, the officer unfortunately will be
off the streets for several weeks or months until a Grand Jury decides to
clear him. Until then, his family will
suffer.
And people wonder why DPD officers
are leaving in large numbers for the suburbs? |
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Whether Eddie Mac Welch shot himself or the
officer's bullet got him, he was intent on checking out.
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Police investigate fatal shooting;
Officer on leave as inquiry
studies whether man killed himself
October 6,
2004 By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas
Morning News |
A 21-year Dallas police veteran is on
routine administrative leave after a shooting Wednesday that ended with a
troubled Stephenville man dead.
Authorities are unsure whether Eddie
Mac Welch, 28, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head or
whether one of several bullets fired by a Dallas officer killed him. The
Dallas County medical examiner's office had not completed an autopsy
Wednesday afternoon.
A spent .45-caliber casing was found
near the man's body, police said.
Mr. Welch's stepfather said he
believed that police shot his son and that the shooting was unjustified.
... Mr. Walker said, adding that he thinks his
stepson was unarmed when he died.
Deputy Police Chief Alfredo Saldana
... "We understand that the family is
distraught. Our officer is also distraught," Chief Saldana said.
... Mr. Welch's ex-girlfriend called Dallas police
about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, saying that he was distraught and possibly armed
at ....
... As officers talked to Mr. Welch, he appeared
despondent over his recent breakup and troubles with his worker's
compensation claim. They asked him whether he had a gun, and he said he had
thrown it over a nearby fence.
... During the 20-minute conversation, the
officers offered to take the man to the hospital to get help. He refused,
police said, and they summoned an ambulance as a precaution. After
paramedics arrived, they joined the officers in the lobby.
... At one point, the officers began to walk
toward the man in an attempt to detain him. When they were about 15 feet
away, Mr. Welch turned away from the officers and paramedics, reached into
his waistband and pulled out a gun from under his shirt, police said.
When one of the officers saw the gun,
he felt threatened and fired several times, police said. Mr. Welch then fell
back against the wall in a sitting position, the gun still near his lap.
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In this current police on-scene death, police officers responded to a call from
a despondent man's
ex-girlfriend who warned he might be armed. If Welch did not intend to use
his gun, why did he lie about tossing it away? If Welch did not intend to
use his gun, why did he remove it from his waistband?
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What would you have done in the officer's place? Police officers had been talking to
the guy for over 20 minutes. Clearly, reasoning with him did not work.
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Would you have waited to see if the guy was going to
shoot you with his drawn weapon or another officer?
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Would you have risked your children's future on a guy
who was talking about killing himself? |
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What would you tell the widow and children of another
officer who might take the bullet rather than yourself?
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You
would be an idiot not to protect yourself or your fellow cops from a suicidal
intent on killing himself and possibly others. Do you want an idiot
wearing a badge or carrying a gun?
Life is for the living. If someone doesn't want to
be here anymore, that's their choice. Welch is not the first to commit
suicide by forcing a police officer to fire on him.
Why do people think
cops are expendable? We don't have enough of them. The least we can
do is appreciate those we have. They sign on to stand between us and the
bad guys. They do not sign on to be target practice for suicidals.
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Second man arrested in Long John's robbery;
Supervisor who was fired for
fighting off men says he's relieved
October 6,
2004 By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas
Morning News |
A former Long John Silver's supervisor
fired for fighting off
robbers to protect his three employees said Wednesday that he is
relieved that two men have been arrested in the robbery.
... Cornell Cooper, 46, a Garland father of
six who until now had requested that his name not be used for fear of
retaliation from the attackers, has hired an attorney to help him negotiate
a settlement with the restaurant chain ? and hopefully an apology.
"I was with them 10 years. I loved
the company," said Mr. Cooper, who was fired a few days after he hit a
robber in the head with a hammer Sept. 18 ...
Dallas attorney Steve Kardell said a lawsuit was not
necessarily imminent. "It's too early to get into that," he said. "
... Authorities said two men entered the
Long John Silver's on Belt Line Road in Richardson that Saturday night. One
wore a mask. Neither man was armed, although both claimed to be. They told
the employees to get on the floor, emptied cash registers and ordered Mr.
Cooper to the back of the building.
Fearing for his safety and that of
his young employees, Mr. Cooper picked up a hammer and hit one man in the
head.
... On Tuesday, a 17-year-old girl working that
night ? as well as her mother ? said they believed that Mr. Cooper saved the
girl's life. |
Long John Silver's philosophy
is comparable to how the City of Dallas treats police officers who do their job, but
protect themselves first (as their families want them to do). What if
those two hoods had locked Mr. Cooper in the back and raped the 17-year-old girl?
They had worked themselves up into a testosterone high with the success of their
bluff. Mr. Cooper (like most police officers) has children dependent on
him to come home. It's a lot easier on a child to brag about his
unemployed heroic father, than to mourn a daddy who only lives in memory.
Until Long John Silver hires back Mr. Cooper, I'm not eating in one of their
stores again. Cornell Cooper behaved the way we expect Texas men to act in
a dangerous situation.
Dallas is better off having a man like Mr. Cooper take out that hoodlum.
Now, both hoodlums are off the streets (albeit temporarily). That teenage
girl who was working that night at Long John Silver is certainly better off
having a boss who fought for her life as well as his own. Her mother is
certainly better off being able to thank Mr. Cooper for his courage than damning
him had something awful happened to her daughter.
I understand why police officers have to be taken off the streets when they are
involved in a fatality. It's really the only way to protect the officers
from opportunists out there who hate police officers. Not to mention
the trial lawyers who encourage women like the fat crackhead's widow to sue the
city and the officers individually. I understand their desk duty, but I
don't like it.
If an officer is doing his/her job when a fatality occurred, the city should
reimburse the officer for the overtime pay he would normally earn during the
period he is off the streets.
Long John Silver needs to rehire Mr. Cooper and give him a promotion. The
DPD should give him an award for valor for protecting his staff.
In Dallas, we have come to a strange place where we punish our heroes.
That's an upside down place to be for us.
I'm not the least bit sympathetic to the fat crackhead's widow. She
had children with that crackhead. God knows what those children have seen
in their short lives. Seeing their abusive father in frequent tirades has
to have been as traumatic as seeing him stop breathing after fighting with DPD
officers.
The way things are going in this town, we can expect the Long John Silver
hoodlums to file suit against the company and Mr. Cooper. I guarantee you
there's some lawyer already drafting the petition.
Thank God, for the officer involved with the shooting death of Mr. Welch.
He protected himself first, which is just what he should have done. At the
end of the day, the officer got to go home to his wife and kids and his own
parents and siblings. Mr. Welch apparently did not like his life nor care
for the well being of his parents.
I love our police and firefighters. I love a hero who does what needs to
be done when necessary.
sb
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