There was an officer involved shooting in my Town. The man who was shot was an illegal immigrant with a rap sheet and a permanent restraining order from the mother of his two children. She was in the car with him at the time of the shooting, has already hired a lawyer (2 days after the shooting,) and is demanding justice because he was a “good” man.I skipped all those facts in this essay because I hoped the media would print it if I did. They refused, arguing that they’re being responsible by not printing anything that could affect the outcome of an investigation or trial. They could be responsible by printing both sides, inflammatory …Read more […..]

DALLAS — Convicted capital murderer Wesley Lynn Ruiz was sentenced to death by injection late Friday for fatally shooting a Dallas police officer. The Dallas County jury deliberated for more than 10 hours before sentencing him in the killing of Senior Cpl. Mark Nix.As the verdict was read, Mr. Ruiz’s mother, Barbara Ruiz, sobbed into a crumbled tissue and turned to her mother for comfort.Mr. Ruiz, 28, fatally shot Cpl. Nix after a high-speed chase in 2007. Mr. Ruiz testified last month during the guilt-innocence phase of the trial that he thought police were shooting at the car in which he was hiding. The jury did not …Read more […..]

After an unexpected surge in 2007, the number of law enforcement officers killed in the United States plummeted 41 percent during the first six months of this year, reaching the lowest level in more than four decades. That’s the finding of a new Research Bulletin issued by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), in conjunction with Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.).The groups’ preliminary data show 59 officers died between January 1 and June 30, 2008. The last time the mid-year total was that low was 1965, when there were 55 line-of-duty deaths. By comparison, 100 law enforcement officers died in …Read more […..]

The Austin police officers, each wearing suits and lapel pins replicating their badges, walked single file into the John Minor Wisdom U.S. Court of Appeals Building and took their seats, filling half a courtroom. The somber crowd included about 25 officers from nearly all ranks, some with only a few years on the force and one with almost four decades. Most had come for one purpose: to hear why the man who killed a fellow Austin officer 30 years ago should be spared execution. “This shows we still are a family,” said officer Ruth Bullock, who scanned the crowd before walking from a nearby hotel to the courthouse. “It doesn’t …Read more […..]

My name is Mary Thompson and my husband, Richard, is the Chief of Police here in Crawford, Nebraska.He’s also a father — and grandfather — who could be sent to prison for five years.All for defending himself in the line of duty against an armed and dangerous suspect!For the past seven years Richard has been the Chief of Police here in Crawford.I am worried — worried that my husband will be locked away in prison with cop-hating criminals just for doing his job!Richard was on duty when he heard thata man by the name of Jesse Britton was wanted in connection with a string of burglaries in the area.Britton had a long …Read more […..]

HARTFORD, CT – A 23-year-old convicted felon accused of firing one shot at a Hartford police officer outside a home on Madison Street early Sunday morning confessed immediately after he was caught, police reports show.Police say Frankie Vega told them: “If I could shoot straight, right now one of you [expletive] would be dead and I’d be happy.” Details of Vega’s confession were contained in a Hartford police arrest report that was released Monday after his arraignment in Superior Court in Hartford.Judge Carl Taylor said he found probable cause to proceed with charges of criminal attempt to commit …Read more […..]