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February 28, 2006
CHP DEATHS
"Highway Patrol reels after another death FIVE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN LOST IN 5 MONTHS By Rodney Foo, Mercury News.
A frenetic Friday that began with the pre-dawn killing of a California Highway Patrol officer ended with one man in custody and authorities searching from the Central Valley to the Bay Area for a second suspect.
Earl Scott, a 36-year-old officer and son of a retired CHP sergeant, was fatally shot about 4:40 a.m. while conducting a traffic stop on Highway 99 near Ripon, 10 miles north of Modesto, said Highway Patrol Commissioner Mike Brown.
Scott, who would have marked his fifth year with the CHP on Sunday, is the fifth CHP officer to have died in the line of duty in the past five months -- a grim statistic that is on the minds of the 7,500 officers who patrol the state's highways."
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Officer John Bailey, a 36-year-old father of four, was struck by a vehicle and killed Saturday night. Bailey, a motorcycle officer and 10-year veteran, had pulled over a suspected drunk driver on Interstate 15 near Hesperia about 10:30 p.m. when another car, also driven by a suspected illegal alien and drunk driver, veered into him,
Lt. Mike Walker died New Year's Eve when the driver of a BMW was unable to stop for a snow plow truck, lost control and caused a chain-reaction crash in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Other recent deaths:
• Officer Erick Manny, 35, was killed Dec. 21 while chasing a suspected drunk driver on Interstate 5 in Kern County.
• Thirteen-year veteran Andrew Stevens, 37, was shot to death Nov. 17 near Sacramento.
NOTE: The head of the California Highway Patrol on Monday (2/27/06) called for a department-wide emergency review of safety policies after the on-the-job deaths of six officers in the last five months — the most recent struck and killed over the weekend by a suspected drunk driver in the Cajon Pass.
Calling the string of deaths unprecedented, CHP Commissioner Michael Brown said Monday that all patrol officers in the state would be debriefed within 48 hours to determine whether immediate changes are needed in department policy to prevent additional fatalities.
Posted by Post Scripts at February 28, 2006 10:42 AM
Comments
California has obviously become a quagmire. It is time to pull our police forces out. What fool sent them into the field with limited body armor and pitifully small firepower and with their authority tied behind their backs? It is clear, the majority of Californians does not want them there, it's time to get them out!
Most of this, unfortunately is true. The only thing that isn't remotely true is that we want them gone. Just imagine if you woke up tomorrow and there were no police on the job.
Posted by: Toby Stahler at February 28, 2006 02:02 PM