Posted on 06/08/2009 7:11:33 PM PDT by Born Conservative
Ping
This one is tragic all the way around.
Trooper Joshua Miller.
Fidelis ad mortem
I'm puzzled by this statement from the Police Commissioner. It's clear from the story that the initial contact to police would have included the information that the father who abducted the boy was armed. If that information wasn't communicated to the officers who were dispatched to chase the abductor's vehicle, then somebody dropped the ball in a huge way, probably costing this officer his life.
If you read some of the comments at the link, you’ll see mention of an incident 11 days ago in Scranton, when a mentally ill woman who used to be in the Air Force, was shot and killed by 4 local police officers. There have been NO details, and many in the area believe there is a cover up.
My father in law is a retired State Trooper. They really do a very dangerous job. Any routine traffic stop could result in a dangerous situation like this one. My father in law made it to retirement without a shooting incident. The Troopers I know well, 3 who are all retired, are salt of the earth guys. Hearts of gold all of ‘em.
Rest in Peace Trooper Miller. He was one of the good guys.
Just emailed an old Marine buddy who is a PA State Trooper to tell him I’m praying for him.
The whole business is very sad. I can’t help wondering whether there couldn’t have been some other way to handle it, that didn’t take such a huge risk of killing the kid, and ended up with a dead police officer and a dead father.
The court gave custody to the mother, then the father, then the mother. Obviously this must have been a real tangle.
Maybe it was the only thing to do, but sad that it ended as it did.
RIP.
"I am a Pennsylvania State Trooper, A Soldier of the Law. To me is entrusted the Honor of the Force. I must serve honestly, faithfully, and, if need be, lay down my life as others have done before me, rather than swerve from the path of duty. It is my duty to obey the law and enforce it without any consideration of class, color, creed, or condition. It is also my duty to be of service to anyone who may be in danger or distress, and at all times so conduct myself that the Honor of the Force may be upheld."
Thanks for posting the Call to Honor. I hesitate to tell my father in law of this sad loss of a Trooper. He probably has heard already from his fellow Troopers.
ping
Very sad story but I am confused about something - the protective order of abuse. She claimed he was abusive, then he claimed she was, then she claimed he was..... does that sound right? Does the court often switch sides like that so quickly?
There was a case in Delaware County where that happened. I think the problem comes down to competency among judges.
I am sorry I haven’t been paying attention to the news recently. I was wondering why the flags were at half staff around here.
Oh, you know, eating donuts and setting up speed traps gets old.
Right. Perhaps the cops didn't know this when they decided to chase him down. My Monday Quarterback thought: this isn't like an abduction by a stranger. It was the kids dad...they knew how to get him. Just go after him later...rather than go speeding around town and ramming him.
Well, I’m not saying there were any easy choices. And I’m NOT blaming the cop who was killed. He was following orders and doing his job.
There does seem to have been some confusion at headquarters. They knew the father had a weapon, but evidently they didn’t tell the cops they sent after him about it.
I can’t say they did the wrong thing; I just feel sorry that things didn’t turn out differently. The father was crazy enough to take a gun, grab his kid, and shoot a cop, but that was after he was backed into a corner. What about the mother? Was she possibly the real source of the trouble between them? Why did the judge take custody from her at one point, which is unusual now, when divorce judges usually favor the mother? We aren’t told enough to know, but it’s too bad that two people are dead, and the child MAY have been left with nothing but a crazy mother.
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