Earlier this morning Detective Benjamin Marconi was shot and killed in the line of duty as he was conducting a traffic stop right outside the police department. The detective is the first Texas peace officer to die in an ambush shooting since the five officers were shot by a sniper in Dallas on July 7th. Several Texas officers have died since then, and I honor them here before I write about Detective Marconi.
July 12 - Officer Marco Zarate of the Bellaire Police Department crashed during a pursuit and died of his injuries.
August 4 - Officer Justin Scherlen, Amarillo Police Department, lost his life in a traffic accident that occurred while he was on duty.
September 4 - Officer Amir Abdul - Khalig, Austin Police Department, was killed when a vehicle struck his motorcycle.
September 7 - Deputy Hubert Maltby, Eastland County Sheriff's Office, died of injuries suffered in a traffic accident while he was on duty.
September 30 - Deputy Eugene Ransom suffered a fatal heart attack while providing first aid to a jail inmate who had also suffered a heart attack.
All of these officers deserve our gratitude for their willingness to serve the people. My sympathy and prayers to their families and their fellow officers.
Detective Marconi's death was not an accident or a medical event, as with the officers above. The detective was targeted and the shooter had only one intent, to kill a police officer.
Detective Marconi had made contact with a driver for a traffic violation, and then had returned to his vehicle to write a citation. So much has changed in the decades since I have been a peace officer. Among those changes are computers and ticket printers located in the officers' vehicles. I do not know if the detective had such equipment in his car, but in any case, he had sat down in the driver's seat to complete the citation.
While the officer was occupied with this, and presumably keeping an eye on the driver and/or passengers in the vehicle he had pulled over, a car parked behind the police vehicle. I cannot second guess what the officer was doing or why he did not see the person approach him, but I have been in this situation many times myself.
The fact is the officer does not know why another vehicle has stopped, but there are several possibilities. The vehicle could be following the car the officer stopped, and simply pulled over so as not to lose the other car. Another possibility, believe it or not, is that a person seeking information or directions saw the officer and decided to stop behind the police car and wait until the officer has finished so that the person can ask questions. Or the person the person has more sinister motives, as in this case.
San Antonio police at this point are saying they have no information to link the shooter to the person who was stopped by Detective Marconi. The officer was White and the shooter was Black. The shooting occurred directly in front of the San Antonio Police Department building, which to me hints at the idea that the shooter was watching from somewhere nearby waiting for a police officer to appear outside the building. Since today is Sunday, there was likely much less police traffic than usual. When the shooter was sure that Detective Marconi was occupied he made his move to ambush the officer. The shooter simply decided to kill the first officer he saw.
No one knows why Detective Marconi did not notice that the person approaching him had a weapon at the ready. Possibly the officer was distracted by his computer. In my day, officers simply wrote out a citation while radioing to the dispatcher all information so that the dispatcher ran wanted checks and provided other information to the officer. The officer had only two tasks, write the citation and keep a sharp eye on the person or persons occupying the vehicle. And on his surroundings.
Now that we are in the computer age, officers are many times expected to check for criminal information on the person and vehicle themselves, by entering information into their computer console. Some departments have added computerized printers, so that the officer must also split his attention even further. Many departments now expect that officers will do very little communication "over the radio," instead, the officers must now do data entry while driving or while trying to watch violators. I am personally of the opinion that police administrators have inadvertently traded high-tech convenience and efficiency for officer safety.
But whatever happened today, a police officer was murdered, possibly in a racially-motivated scenario. My prayers go out to the officer's family and to his fellow officers at SAPD. I also pray that this cowardly shooter is caught soon, and receives the appropriate reward for his deed.
Today Detective Benjamin Marconi was taken from his family and friends, and is now in that Thin Blue Line in Heaven.
May God Bless America
July 12 - Officer Marco Zarate of the Bellaire Police Department crashed during a pursuit and died of his injuries.
August 4 - Officer Justin Scherlen, Amarillo Police Department, lost his life in a traffic accident that occurred while he was on duty.
September 4 - Officer Amir Abdul - Khalig, Austin Police Department, was killed when a vehicle struck his motorcycle.
September 7 - Deputy Hubert Maltby, Eastland County Sheriff's Office, died of injuries suffered in a traffic accident while he was on duty.
September 30 - Deputy Eugene Ransom suffered a fatal heart attack while providing first aid to a jail inmate who had also suffered a heart attack.
All of these officers deserve our gratitude for their willingness to serve the people. My sympathy and prayers to their families and their fellow officers.
Detective Marconi's death was not an accident or a medical event, as with the officers above. The detective was targeted and the shooter had only one intent, to kill a police officer.
Detective Marconi had made contact with a driver for a traffic violation, and then had returned to his vehicle to write a citation. So much has changed in the decades since I have been a peace officer. Among those changes are computers and ticket printers located in the officers' vehicles. I do not know if the detective had such equipment in his car, but in any case, he had sat down in the driver's seat to complete the citation.
While the officer was occupied with this, and presumably keeping an eye on the driver and/or passengers in the vehicle he had pulled over, a car parked behind the police vehicle. I cannot second guess what the officer was doing or why he did not see the person approach him, but I have been in this situation many times myself.
The fact is the officer does not know why another vehicle has stopped, but there are several possibilities. The vehicle could be following the car the officer stopped, and simply pulled over so as not to lose the other car. Another possibility, believe it or not, is that a person seeking information or directions saw the officer and decided to stop behind the police car and wait until the officer has finished so that the person can ask questions. Or the person the person has more sinister motives, as in this case.
San Antonio police at this point are saying they have no information to link the shooter to the person who was stopped by Detective Marconi. The officer was White and the shooter was Black. The shooting occurred directly in front of the San Antonio Police Department building, which to me hints at the idea that the shooter was watching from somewhere nearby waiting for a police officer to appear outside the building. Since today is Sunday, there was likely much less police traffic than usual. When the shooter was sure that Detective Marconi was occupied he made his move to ambush the officer. The shooter simply decided to kill the first officer he saw.
No one knows why Detective Marconi did not notice that the person approaching him had a weapon at the ready. Possibly the officer was distracted by his computer. In my day, officers simply wrote out a citation while radioing to the dispatcher all information so that the dispatcher ran wanted checks and provided other information to the officer. The officer had only two tasks, write the citation and keep a sharp eye on the person or persons occupying the vehicle. And on his surroundings.
Now that we are in the computer age, officers are many times expected to check for criminal information on the person and vehicle themselves, by entering information into their computer console. Some departments have added computerized printers, so that the officer must also split his attention even further. Many departments now expect that officers will do very little communication "over the radio," instead, the officers must now do data entry while driving or while trying to watch violators. I am personally of the opinion that police administrators have inadvertently traded high-tech convenience and efficiency for officer safety.
But whatever happened today, a police officer was murdered, possibly in a racially-motivated scenario. My prayers go out to the officer's family and to his fellow officers at SAPD. I also pray that this cowardly shooter is caught soon, and receives the appropriate reward for his deed.
Today Detective Benjamin Marconi was taken from his family and friends, and is now in that Thin Blue Line in Heaven.
May God Bless America
No comments:
Post a Comment