Offering Up a 'Zona Defense
David Whitley
National Columnist
It used to be easy to spot a racist. They wore white hoods with eyeholes cut out.
Now they wear Arizona Diamondbacks caps.
At least that's the message from opponents of Arizona's new immigration law. They are calling for fans to picket Diamondbacks games. They want the 2011 All-Star Game moved from Phoenix. They want teams to move their spring training sites out of Arizona.
Boycott Fever -- Catch It!
Sorry, I can't. And I hope you'll think twice before making a picket sign.
That would be once more than the boycott crowd. It looked at the bill and quickly distilled Arizona's motives by using standard reactionary math:
New Law + Immigrants = Racism.
If anything, a boycott should be aimed at the Nationals. Washington's spineless politicians forced Arizona to take the law into its own hands before the state turned into one big O.K. Corral.
Critics can't be bothered with such complexities. They are saying Hanley Ramirez will be treated like Rodney King the next time he gets to Phoenix.
The Major League Baseball players' union has come out against the law. It is shocked that a player "must be ready to prove, at any time, his identity and legality of his being in Arizona."
The horror is apparently catching on. Adrian Gonzalez told FanHouse he'd boycott next year's All-Star Game "because it's a discriminating law."
Yes, just as theft laws discriminate against thieves, illegal immigration laws discriminate against illegal immigrants. Or as MSNBC breathlessly flashed in headline:
"Law Makes It A Crime To Be Illegal Immigrant."
Terms like Brownshirts, vigilantes, apartheid and Republican are being thrown around. Al Sharpton has landed. The celeb crowd has taken its standard morally superior stance.
Shakira weighed in, saying "Some of the darkest moments in human history -- persecution of Jewish people, segregation in the American South and ethnic cleansing around the world -- began just like this."
Today, they're rounding up shortstops in Phoenix. Tomorrow, they're putting you in a cattle car for having a Spanish accent.
People are so busy demagoguing you wonder if they've actually read the law. It's 16 pages that grant police broader powers to identify and arrest illegal aliens.
"Now they're going to go after everybody, not just people behind the wall. Now they're going to come out on the street," Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cesar Izturis said. "What if you're walking down the street with your family and kids. They're going to go after you."
It's no surprise a player is misinformed and easily manipulated. You expect more out of The New York Times. Or maybe you don't.
"The statute requires police officers to stop and question anyone who looks like an illegal immigrant," The Times reported.
Wrong.
Police must have "reasonable suspicion" to determine a person's immigration status. The law specifically states that race cannot be a factor in determining reasonable suspicion.
Critics automatically presuppose Arizona lawmen have been dying for an excuse to racially profile and deport 30 percent of the state's population. But before anyone can be even be suspected, they have to be part of a "lawful stop, detention or arrest."
In other words, a cop can't just stop a car full of law-abiding Mexicans or a Marlins shortstop walking down the street.
Ramirez would have had to violate some law. And you know what police would do if they suspected he's an illegal immigrant?
Ask for his papers!
(Please add evil voiceover for dramatic effect).
"It harkens back to apartheid where all black people in South Africa were required to carry documents in order to move from one part of town to another," Cynthia Tucker said on ABC's This Week.
Actually, it harkens back to 1940 when Congress passed the Alien Registration Act. Non-citizens have been required to carry a visa or green card or some form of identification for the past 60 years.
What seems like common sense is now controversial. Constitutional lawyers say Arizona's law may not stand up because states can't enforce federal laws.
That legality isn't what has boycotters threatening everything Arizona. They see xenophobia as deep as the Grand Canyon.
Never mind that every civilized country in the world has laws against anybody just wandering in. In politically correct America, merely asking someone for proof of citizenship is grounds for Klan induction.
Polls show 51 percent of Americans favor Arizona's law, while 39 percent oppose it. In Arizona, polls show 70 percent of residents support the law.
Are they all bigots?
Most illegal aliens don't come to America to deal drugs and join gangs. But according to the Department of Justice, Phoenix is the country's kidnapping capital, with 566 abductions the past two years. Attacks on Border Patrol agents increased 46 percent to 1,097 in 2008. Federal officials reported the victims usually have connections to either immigrant smuggling groups or drug traffickers.
A recent University of Arizona study found illegal immigration cost the state $1.4 billion a year. The state treasurer said the true cost is closer to $2 billion.
You can probably find a study to support whatever position you favor. Either way, it's easy to be sanctimonious when you're sitting in New York City. It's not so simple when you live in Arizona.
The state is essentially attempting to enforce federal laws on illegal immigration. Given that, shouldn't the boycott be nationwide?
Let's picket every baseball team everywhere and demand that every All-Star Game be moved to ... Mexico!
No wait, Mexico's immigration laws make Arizona look like San Francisco. You can get two years in jail just for entering the country illegally.
Or in terms even MSNBC might understand, "Law Makes It An Illegal Crime To Be Illegal Criminal Immigrant In Mexico."
Such discrimination cannot stand.
I fully expect Gonzalez, Shakira and the MLB players union to call a press conference and demand we boycott Mexico.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Taurus-based Police Car
This car is hot!!!!
Ford Introduces New Taurus-based Police Car
By Nadeem Muaddi
Ford Police Interceptor
“Ford first introduced its police package in 1950 and today the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor is the industry leader,” explains Jalopnik. “The automaker's dominated the streets to the point that over the last five years, Ford's controlled more than 70% of the patrol cars sold. … Unfortunately, the Crown Vic's Panther-platform's getting a little long in the tooth — it hasn't seen a redesign in over 15 years.”
So out goes the Crown Vic and in comes the Taurus. “To develop the all-new Police Interceptor, Ford engineers worked hand-in-hand with Ford’s Police Advisory Board of law enforcement professionals, which provided input on key vehicle attributes such as safety, performance, durability, driver comfort and functionality,” writes Ford.
While the new Police Interceptor is based on the 2010 Ford Taurus, the changes are significant.
According to Cars.com, “Police departments across the country won’t be piloting just any Taurus off dealership lots. Ford says approximately 90 percent of the interior has been redesigned for police use.” Unique features include front seats with anti-stab plates to protect officers from violent criminals and vinyl rear seats to make cleaning up after messy ones easier.
That’s not all. USA Today reports: “The Taurus-based model will keep the Police Interceptor name but offer just two 3.5-liter V-6 engines, no big V-8s, as in the Crown Vic. Ford boasts that the standard version will be 25% more fuel efficient than the current standard V-8. And the version with two turbochargers, what Ford calls EcoBoost, will deliver 365 horsepower, 115 more than the standard Crown Vic.” The 365-horsepower V6 is the same found in the performance-tuned Taurus SHO. An optional all-wheel drive system will also be available.
The result is a better-performing police car. “Ford’s new police car can endure a rear-end crash at 75 m.p.h., easily jump curbs and accelerate twice as fast as Ford's outgoing iconic Crown Victoria Police Interceptor,” says the Detroit Free Press.
However, the competition is tough. “The Taurus-based cop car will have to compete against the Dodge Charger cruiser, which looks good and is plenty fast with the available Hemi, and the Chevrolet Caprice, another rear-driver which is pretty much a Pontiac G8 in all but name (and civilian availability),” writes Edmunds.
Ford will cease production on the old Police Interceptor in late 2011 and begin introducing the new Taurus-based model in 2012.
If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.
According to Cars.com, “Police departments across the country won’t be piloting just any Taurus off dealership lots. Ford says approximately 90 percent of the interior has been redesigned for police use.” Unique features include front seats with anti-stab plates to protect officers from violent criminals and vinyl rear seats to make cleaning up after messy ones easier.
Ford Police Interceptor
The result is a better-performing police car. “Ford’s new police car can endure a rear-end crash at 75 m.p.h., easily jump curbs and accelerate twice as fast as Ford's outgoing iconic Crown Victoria Police Interceptor,” says the Detroit Free Press.
However, the competition is tough. “The Taurus-based cop car will have to compete against the Dodge Charger cruiser, which looks good and is plenty fast with the available Hemi, and the Chevrolet Caprice, another rear-driver which is pretty much a Pontiac G8 in all but name (and civilian availability),” writes Edmunds.
Ford will cease production on the old Police Interceptor in late 2011 and begin introducing the new Taurus-based model in 2012.
If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Update 4- Fairfield Officer Shot 5 times
They caught him!!! looking at 30+ years..
The gun — a Ruger 9 mm — landed on a long list of weapons awaiting routine testing. For nearly four weeks, it sat in a cardboard box in a file cabinet at Union County Police Headquarters in Westfield as the lab worked through the backlog of low-profile cases.
Fairfield Police Chief Charles Voelker at Saturday's press conference following the arrest of Preye Roberts, who was charged with shooting off-duty Fairfield Police Officer Gerald Veneziano on Jan. 30. Essex County Acting Prosecutor Robert Laurino is at right.
But when police finally got around to testing the firearm Thursday, they quickly realized the Ruger was no ordinary gun. A nationwide ballistics database identified it as the weapon used in the high-profile January shooting of a Fairfield police officer.
“It drew the needle out of a haystack,” said Sgt. Michael Sandford, a member of the Union County ballistics team.
Yesterday, prosecutors charged Preye L. Roberts, 24, with attempted murder for allegedly shooting police officer Gerald Veneziano Jan. 30 in a Fairfield parking lot following what police called a road rage incident.
The shooting, which left Veneziano with gun shot wounds to the head, chest and leg, was investigated for weeks by a team of local and state law enforcement officials. It was the ballistics testing of the gun in the unrelated Union Township shooting that finally helped break the case, investigators said. “Projectiles and shell casings are almost as significant as fingerprints,” said State Police Sgt. Jeff Kronenfeld, one of the investigators on the case.
Police used the Integrated Ballistics Identification System, a computer database shared by law enforcement officers around the country, to link the gun in the Union case to the shell casings found where Veneziano was shot.
FURTHER EVIDENCE
Veneziano, of Belleville, remains in stable condition at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, recovering from his injuries. On Friday night, investigators went to the facility to show photos of Roberts to Veneziano, who identified him as the man who shot him in January, police said.
Law enforcement officials said Roberts and Veneziano did not know each other before the alleged shooting.
Preye L. Roberts was arrested in connection with the shooting of a Fairfield officer.
Prosecutors said investigators also linked Roberts to the Fairfield case because he was allegedly renting a black Dodge Caliber with a “W” in the license plate at the time of the shooting. Veneziano had previously told police his assailant was driving a black SUV with a “W” in the license plate.
Roberts was charged with attempted murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, prosecutors said. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.
Roberts is being held at the Union County Jail in Elizabeth, police said. Bail was set at $100,000 for the Route 22 shooting and an additional $500,000 for the Fairfield shooting.
Neighbors in Nutley yesterday described Roberts as a mature young man from a good family. He lives with his parents and two sisters, neighbors said.
“Ten years ago when we moved into the neighborhood, he was the first one in the family to introduce himself,” said Mike Treshock, a neighbor.
No one answered the door yesterday at either Roberts’ or Veneziano’s houses, which are about 1.5 miles apart on similar tree-lined streets in middle class neighborhoods in Nutley and Belleville.
Investigators said it remains unclear what sparked the alleged Jan. 30 road rage incident between Roberts and Veneziano.
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino said investigators have yet to get a full account of the road rage incident from Veneziano, whose jaw remains wired shut as he recovers in the rehabilitation institute.
“We’re going to debrief him, hopefully, in the next few weeks,” Laurino said. “It all depends on the medical team.”
Calls to Veneziano’s attorney were not returned yesterday.
ROAD RAGE INCIDENT
Immediately after the shooting, Veneziano told investigators he was driving to work in his silver Volkswagen Passat when a black SUV began following him from Clifton into Fairfield.
The two cars eventually pulled into a parking lot a few blocks from Fairfield police headquarters, where Veneziano told investigators he identified himself as a police officer and confronted the occupant of the other car.
Veneziano — who was not in uniform and not wearing a bullet proof vest — was shot six times. He returned fire, shooting 13 rounds from his service weapon before collapsing, police said.
Two weeks later, Union Township police responded to a report of someone firing shots outside Aarti’s World Discount Liquors on Route 22 in Union Township. The store’s owners said the gunman shot the store’s video surveillance camera and a 1997 black Cadillac with a “for sale” sign. A local police officer had asked to leave the car in the parking lot a few days before, the store’s owners said.
Police arrested Roberts at the scene around 1:41 a.m., said Union Township police director Dan Zieser.
Officers found the Ruger 9 mm gun in his jacket pocket, Zieser said. The weapon was fully loaded with eight rounds, including one ready to fire in the chamber, according to police. Roberts also was carrying 19 loose bullets in another pocket. Officers recovered seven spent shell casings at the scene.
ANALYSIS OF CASINGS
Sandford, a Union County police officer who worked on the case, said the ballistics team performed an “operability study” on the gun that included firing test shots into a water tank. They used the test shots and the shell casings from the scene to ensure that only one gun was used in the Union Township shooting.
Sandford said the team also analyzed the grooves inside the barrel of the 9 mm and the distinctive pattern it left on the bullets. All of the evidence eventually linked the gun to the shell casings in the Fairfield case through the Integrated Ballistic Identification System, which tracks digital images of “bullet fingerprints” used in crimes around the country.
“The IBIS system worked exactly how it was supposed to work,” Sandford said. “They connected the dots.”
By Sharon Adarlo and Kelly Heyboer
Ballistics match leads to arrest in Fairfield police officer shooting
By Star-Ledger Staff
March 14, 2010, 11:16AM
When Union Township police picked up a Nutley man for allegedly firing random shots outside a Route 22 liquor store last month, they seized his handgun and sent it to a ballistics lab.The gun — a Ruger 9 mm — landed on a long list of weapons awaiting routine testing. For nearly four weeks, it sat in a cardboard box in a file cabinet at Union County Police Headquarters in Westfield as the lab worked through the backlog of low-profile cases.
Fairfield Police Chief Charles Voelker at Saturday's press conference following the arrest of Preye Roberts, who was charged with shooting off-duty Fairfield Police Officer Gerald Veneziano on Jan. 30. Essex County Acting Prosecutor Robert Laurino is at right.
But when police finally got around to testing the firearm Thursday, they quickly realized the Ruger was no ordinary gun. A nationwide ballistics database identified it as the weapon used in the high-profile January shooting of a Fairfield police officer.
“It drew the needle out of a haystack,” said Sgt. Michael Sandford, a member of the Union County ballistics team.
Yesterday, prosecutors charged Preye L. Roberts, 24, with attempted murder for allegedly shooting police officer Gerald Veneziano Jan. 30 in a Fairfield parking lot following what police called a road rage incident.
The shooting, which left Veneziano with gun shot wounds to the head, chest and leg, was investigated for weeks by a team of local and state law enforcement officials. It was the ballistics testing of the gun in the unrelated Union Township shooting that finally helped break the case, investigators said. “Projectiles and shell casings are almost as significant as fingerprints,” said State Police Sgt. Jeff Kronenfeld, one of the investigators on the case.
Police used the Integrated Ballistics Identification System, a computer database shared by law enforcement officers around the country, to link the gun in the Union case to the shell casings found where Veneziano was shot.
FURTHER EVIDENCE
Veneziano, of Belleville, remains in stable condition at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, recovering from his injuries. On Friday night, investigators went to the facility to show photos of Roberts to Veneziano, who identified him as the man who shot him in January, police said.
Law enforcement officials said Roberts and Veneziano did not know each other before the alleged shooting.
Preye L. Roberts was arrested in connection with the shooting of a Fairfield officer.Prosecutors said investigators also linked Roberts to the Fairfield case because he was allegedly renting a black Dodge Caliber with a “W” in the license plate at the time of the shooting. Veneziano had previously told police his assailant was driving a black SUV with a “W” in the license plate.
Roberts was charged with attempted murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, prosecutors said. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.
Roberts is being held at the Union County Jail in Elizabeth, police said. Bail was set at $100,000 for the Route 22 shooting and an additional $500,000 for the Fairfield shooting.
Neighbors in Nutley yesterday described Roberts as a mature young man from a good family. He lives with his parents and two sisters, neighbors said.
“Ten years ago when we moved into the neighborhood, he was the first one in the family to introduce himself,” said Mike Treshock, a neighbor.
No one answered the door yesterday at either Roberts’ or Veneziano’s houses, which are about 1.5 miles apart on similar tree-lined streets in middle class neighborhoods in Nutley and Belleville.
Investigators said it remains unclear what sparked the alleged Jan. 30 road rage incident between Roberts and Veneziano.
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino said investigators have yet to get a full account of the road rage incident from Veneziano, whose jaw remains wired shut as he recovers in the rehabilitation institute.
“We’re going to debrief him, hopefully, in the next few weeks,” Laurino said. “It all depends on the medical team.”
Calls to Veneziano’s attorney were not returned yesterday.
ROAD RAGE INCIDENT
Immediately after the shooting, Veneziano told investigators he was driving to work in his silver Volkswagen Passat when a black SUV began following him from Clifton into Fairfield.
The two cars eventually pulled into a parking lot a few blocks from Fairfield police headquarters, where Veneziano told investigators he identified himself as a police officer and confronted the occupant of the other car.
Veneziano — who was not in uniform and not wearing a bullet proof vest — was shot six times. He returned fire, shooting 13 rounds from his service weapon before collapsing, police said.
Two weeks later, Union Township police responded to a report of someone firing shots outside Aarti’s World Discount Liquors on Route 22 in Union Township. The store’s owners said the gunman shot the store’s video surveillance camera and a 1997 black Cadillac with a “for sale” sign. A local police officer had asked to leave the car in the parking lot a few days before, the store’s owners said.
Police arrested Roberts at the scene around 1:41 a.m., said Union Township police director Dan Zieser.
Officers found the Ruger 9 mm gun in his jacket pocket, Zieser said. The weapon was fully loaded with eight rounds, including one ready to fire in the chamber, according to police. Roberts also was carrying 19 loose bullets in another pocket. Officers recovered seven spent shell casings at the scene.
ANALYSIS OF CASINGS
Sandford, a Union County police officer who worked on the case, said the ballistics team performed an “operability study” on the gun that included firing test shots into a water tank. They used the test shots and the shell casings from the scene to ensure that only one gun was used in the Union Township shooting.
Sandford said the team also analyzed the grooves inside the barrel of the 9 mm and the distinctive pattern it left on the bullets. All of the evidence eventually linked the gun to the shell casings in the Fairfield case through the Integrated Ballistic Identification System, which tracks digital images of “bullet fingerprints” used in crimes around the country.
“The IBIS system worked exactly how it was supposed to work,” Sandford said. “They connected the dots.”
By Sharon Adarlo and Kelly Heyboer
Saturday, January 30, 2010
UPDATE 3: Fairfield NJ Officer Shot 5 times, currently in surgery. Suspects still at large.
UPDATE 3:
They now believe the vehicle is a BLACK DODGE CALIBER. They have found surveillance video from a mall showing that vehicle following him out of the parking lot. The talk is that he followed the officer from this mall area towards police HQ. While en-route he contacted a fellow officer to run the plate, but that officer was working a choking at a nearby restaurant and at the same time there was a massive structure fire that had a lot of other resources tied up.
The suspects shot through the off-duty officer's door striking him 3 times in the abdomen. He then made his way from the vehicle to return fire. It is beleived that a couple fo rounds hit the suspect's vehicle.
There was a mild glimmer of hope Thursday night when they thought they found the vehicle abandoned in Brooklyn. Similar vehicle was found with 2 bullet holes in it. Word came out from the NJ State Police that it was false information.
Suspected motive is gang retaliation because this officer apparently arrested a gang member last month. cowards.
UPDATE 2:
The vehicle they are looking for is a BLACK DODGE NITRO with HEAVY TINT.
If anyone knows a vehicle that fits this description or knows anything about the incident is being urged to contact the Fairfield NJ Police. A $10,000.00 reward is being offered for information in the case.
UPDATE:
NJ police officer critical but stable after shooting
Josh Einiger, Eyewitness NewsFAIRFIELD (WABC) -- A New Jersey police officer who was shot on his way to work is recovering in the hospital Sunday morning.
The 26-year-old officer was on his way to work in his own car at around 6:15 p.m. Saturday, when, for some reason, he pulled over on Fairfield and Hollywood roads. And that's when someone gunned him down.
The patrolman, with three years on the force, ended up shot three times in the upper body. He did manage to return fire, but it's not known if he hit anything or anyone.
Moments later, other officers arrived at the scene after someone called 911 to report gunfire.
"We were able to get a description of the vehicle from him, and a description of the two suspects," Fairfield deputy police chief Steven Gutkin said.
The officer, lying wounded in the street, said suspects were in a Dodge Magnum station wagon.
"All we have is a black Magnum," Chief of Detectives Anthony Ambrose said. "That's all we have."
The officer was airlifted by a state police helicopter to University Hospital in Newark for emergency surgery. He remains in critical but stable condition.
"This is the first time in my 23 years in Fairfield that we've had an officer shot," Gutkin said. "So it's hitting us all pretty hard. All of our officers are here. They all came in voluntarily."
A statewide dragnet is in effect for the vehicle. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information in the case.
Fairfield NJ Officer Shot 5 times, currently in surgery. Suspects still at large.
Fairfield, NJ (WABC) -- A Fairfield New Jersey Police Officer was shot and critically injured Saturday evening.The officer's metallic silver 4-door sedan sits abandoned in a warehouse parking lot, less than a mile away from police headquarters.
What happened to the person driving it, has sent Fairfield Police into overdrive.
"It's the first time in my 23 years in Fairfield that we've had an officer shot. So it's hitting us all pretty hard. All of our officers are here, they all came in voluntarily, including the ones that are not off," said Steven A. Gutkin, Fairfield Deputy Chief of Police.
The three year veteran was on his way to clock in for his 12-hour evening shift around 6:15 Saturday night.
Investigators are not saying why he may have pulled over on Fairfield Road and Hollywood Road.
A nearby resident called 911 to report shots fired, and that's when officers found out one of their own was down.
"When the officers from the Fairfield police arrived there, that's when they found the officer lying in the street, he had been shot several times," explained Anthony Ambrose, Chief of Dectectives for the Essex Co. Prosecutor's Office.
The officer was given medical treatment, right where he went down. Investigators believe he may have fired off 13 rounds before his attackers got away.
"We were able to get a description of the vehicle from him, and a description of the two suspects believed to be wanted for questioning, that's was about it," said Gutkin.
The scariest part of this is that my Fiancè is working tonight. I found out from him when he came home on his meal period a little edgy.. i KNEW something was up.. then this breaks on the local news station. They haven't even released the officer's name yet. A fellow officer's wife was one of the nurses to receive him..
This is when i stay up all night because i have state trooper friends working the highways now, i have my Fiancè out there, along with my friends working local municipalities..
Suspects are listed to be 2 black males in a black Dodge Magnum no plate # available. Probably already ditched the car.. They better find these Sons-of-Bitches
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Help for Haiti
This is more devastating than anything i can remember besides the Tsunami a few years back.
Mike Brewer left Haiti for the first time in 10 years to attempt to raise 10,000 for his shelter and children he serves in Haiti. Then, the earthquake hit and he has no word on the survival, safety, or condition of the 75 children he helps.
Haitian Street Kids Incorporated
Mike Brewer left Haiti for the first time in 10 years to attempt to raise 10,000 for his shelter and children he serves in Haiti. Then, the earthquake hit and he has no word on the survival, safety, or condition of the 75 children he helps.
Here is a link to his website http://hski.org/
I'm going to help him get to $10,000, please join me if you can.
Haitian Street Kids Incorporated
Thursday, January 7, 2010
THIS is what the Blue Family is all about
Story courtest of Policelink.com
Mosley, 51, killed Garland Officer Michael “David” Moore nearly 13 years ago during a failed bank robbery.
His execution was delayed twice last year, forcing the officer’s family, friends and colleagues to scuttle plans for the 350-mile round trip.
“Everybody’s been pretty quiet since we got the latest execution date,” said Officer Joe Harn, a spokesman for the Garland Police Department. “We think this one will be it.”
Moore’s wife and three children will join the caravan.
“We don’t know what to expect. This is all new to us,” said Sheila Moore, the officer’s widow.
As relatives began arriving at her home earlier in the week, there were other things to worry about, such as shuttling people from the airport and picking up extra groceries.
“Right now, I’m mainly concerned about the kids and the car,” Moore said with a laugh. “It’s all going to happen, one way or the other.”
Moore’s colleagues on the police force said they will be looking for closure when Mosley finally dies from a lethal injection sometime after 6 p.m. today.
“It’s been a long time, waiting for this day,” Harn said. “It’s pretty emotional for everyone to have it finally happen.”
The execution has forced the people who knew David Moore to recall what happened on Feb. 15, 1997, the day he was killed at a Bank One branch on West Centerville Road in Garland.
Moore was one of three officers who responded to a “suspicious person” call from a bank employee. While the other officers waited outside, Moore entered the bank and was directed toward Mosley, standing in a teller’s line.
Witnesses said Mosley was behaving strangely, breathing loudly and almost growling as he was standing there. Several employees had recognized him as the man who previously robbed the bank.
Moore came up behind Mosley and asked him to show his hands. A scuffle ensued, during which Mosley pulled a gun from his pocket and the two men crashed through a window.
Five shots rang out and Moore, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, never got up. Mosley was trying to run away from the bank when another Garland officer shot him in the wrist. He was taken into custody without incident.
Moore was airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He was 32 years old and had served nearly 10 years on the Garland force.
At a week-long trial later that year, Mosley would argue that he was simply trying to hand over his gun when it fired five times. The shooting was accidental, he insisted. But the jury didn’t buy it and found him guilty of capital murder after deliberating only 45 minutes. It took half an hour to decide on the death penalty.
Jason January, the Dallas County prosecutor in the case, recalled watching the bank’s videotape of the skirmish and said what happened was as clear as day.
“The officer gave Mosley every chance to give up peacefully,” said January, who is now in private practice. “David Moore was as professional as he could be.”
That memory makes it easier to accept Mosley’s execution by the state, January said.
“If I was a family member watching Mosley die, I would be thinking about the terrible thing that he did to a police officer,” he said. “It didn’t have to happen that way.”
Caravan Will Accompany Officer's Widow to Killer's Execution
The Dallas Morning News via YellowBrix
January 07, 2010
GARLAND, TX – A busload of Garland police officers and their spouses will join a caravan of cars heading to Huntsville today for the scheduled execution of Kenneth Mosley.January 07, 2010
Mosley, 51, killed Garland Officer Michael “David” Moore nearly 13 years ago during a failed bank robbery.
His execution was delayed twice last year, forcing the officer’s family, friends and colleagues to scuttle plans for the 350-mile round trip.
“Everybody’s been pretty quiet since we got the latest execution date,” said Officer Joe Harn, a spokesman for the Garland Police Department. “We think this one will be it.”
Moore’s wife and three children will join the caravan.
“We don’t know what to expect. This is all new to us,” said Sheila Moore, the officer’s widow.
As relatives began arriving at her home earlier in the week, there were other things to worry about, such as shuttling people from the airport and picking up extra groceries.
“Right now, I’m mainly concerned about the kids and the car,” Moore said with a laugh. “It’s all going to happen, one way or the other.”
Moore’s colleagues on the police force said they will be looking for closure when Mosley finally dies from a lethal injection sometime after 6 p.m. today.
“It’s been a long time, waiting for this day,” Harn said. “It’s pretty emotional for everyone to have it finally happen.”
The execution has forced the people who knew David Moore to recall what happened on Feb. 15, 1997, the day he was killed at a Bank One branch on West Centerville Road in Garland.
Moore was one of three officers who responded to a “suspicious person” call from a bank employee. While the other officers waited outside, Moore entered the bank and was directed toward Mosley, standing in a teller’s line.
Witnesses said Mosley was behaving strangely, breathing loudly and almost growling as he was standing there. Several employees had recognized him as the man who previously robbed the bank.
Moore came up behind Mosley and asked him to show his hands. A scuffle ensued, during which Mosley pulled a gun from his pocket and the two men crashed through a window.
Five shots rang out and Moore, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, never got up. Mosley was trying to run away from the bank when another Garland officer shot him in the wrist. He was taken into custody without incident.
Moore was airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He was 32 years old and had served nearly 10 years on the Garland force.
At a week-long trial later that year, Mosley would argue that he was simply trying to hand over his gun when it fired five times. The shooting was accidental, he insisted. But the jury didn’t buy it and found him guilty of capital murder after deliberating only 45 minutes. It took half an hour to decide on the death penalty.
Jason January, the Dallas County prosecutor in the case, recalled watching the bank’s videotape of the skirmish and said what happened was as clear as day.
“The officer gave Mosley every chance to give up peacefully,” said January, who is now in private practice. “David Moore was as professional as he could be.”
That memory makes it easier to accept Mosley’s execution by the state, January said.
“If I was a family member watching Mosley die, I would be thinking about the terrible thing that he did to a police officer,” he said. “It didn’t have to happen that way.”
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