Tough times for men and women in blue
Law enforcement officials hug each other Monday before a memorial service for two slain Miami-Dade police officers.
January 24th, 2011
01:51 PM ET

Tough times for men and women in blue

As police in Florida prepared for the funeral of two Miami-Dade County police officers gunned down in the line of duty, shots rang out Monday in St. Petersburg, on the other side of the state. Two other officers fell dead and a federal marshal was wounded. Follow updates on CNN and affiliate WFTS-TV.

On any given day, such violence against police officers would be disturbing. But the fatalities capped a particularly violent 24 hours in the United States for the men and women in blue. Eleven police officers were shot.

“It is a very disturbing trend for all of us,” said Hal Johnson, general counsel for the Florida Police Benevolent Association. “Florida has never seen a streak like this. I don’t think anybody has.”

It is natural to search for answers, Johnson said, even if there aren’t any. The shootings do not appear to be related, and the motives may never be known. Declaring it to be open season against police officers seems dangerously simplistic, he added.

He sees the shootings more as acts of desperation.

“They are shooting at people they know have guns,” Johnson said. “I don’t know what’s going on out there, but I’ve never seen it like this. I do see the developing of a callousness. It’s almost as if shooting a police officer has lost its shock effect.”

Consider:

- On Sunday, four officers were shot in a Detroit police station by a man who walked in, firing randomly. Lamar Deshea Moore was shot to death by police so his motive may never be known, but local reports say a relative was awaiting sentencing for double murder. Two of the police officers remain hospitalized. For more, read CNN’s update and affiliate reports from the scene: WXYZ-TV and WDIV-TV.

- Two deputies were shot outside a Walmart in Port Orchard, Washington, near Seattle, on Sunday. Check out CNN,  KIRO-TV and KOMO-TV for the latest updates.

 - A police officer is in a coma and in critical condition after being shot during a traffic stop early Sunday in Indianapolis. Check out WTHR-TV and WISH-TV for updates.

- In Lincoln City, Oregon, a police officer was shot Sunday night during a traffic stop. The officer is in critical condition. Check out affiliate KOIN-TV for more information.

Although they do not appear to be related, the weekend shootings follow two other violent incidents last week involving police officers, including the Miami killings and a slaying in Lakewood, New Jersey.

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Filed under: Crime • Florida • Indiana • Michigan • Washington state
soundoff (1,001 Responses)
  1. Nik

    WOW...so much ignorance and hate, (and horrible grammar and spelling!) I'm ashamed to call myself an American. No one should be harmed at the hands of another. What ever happened to respect and integrity?

    January 25, 2011 at 10:56 am | Report abuse |
    • Sally

      That's also a reporter who has ceroved the cops too much: Police canine sheesh. I know wading through cop press releases can turn brains to mush, but this paper is on the slippy slope of printing a story with perps in the lede.

      August 11, 2012 at 7:26 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Nik

    'Kirk C'..."Hang them on the border"?! Bad people are bad no matter what color they are! I have profound respect for military personnel, as I was engaged to one...but with that statement? It scares the *$@# out of me that you have combat and weapons training!

    January 25, 2011 at 11:08 am | Report abuse |
    • Hala

      Whoa, no wonder we have so many cairinmls running amok over here. For I have never even heard of that level of technology before–let alone seen it in action! Alas, it looks like we have a lot of catching up to do.

      August 9, 2012 at 5:59 pm | Report abuse |
  3. The Sergeant's Wife

    I am deeply saddened by the extreme hatred of the police. It is my hope and prayer that my husband and all officers arrive home safely after their shifts!

    January 25, 2011 at 11:09 am | Report abuse |
    • PoliceOfficersWife

      Amen!

      January 25, 2011 at 1:05 pm | Report abuse |
    • Serge Cannon

      One day, fortunately, your sergeant won't come home. I hope your pain kills you as well for loving a traitor. This will be a good day for the rest of us.

      November 25, 2013 at 3:37 pm | Report abuse |
  4. PoliceOfficersWife

    To those of you who have some "issue" with police officers, please do not bother calling 911 when you are in need of help. Obviously you don't need them.

    It is disgusting to see that people cannot give these men and women the support they deserve. Thoughts and prayers are with the families of these fallen and injured officers. I could never imagine receiving that phone call.

    January 25, 2011 at 1:03 pm | Report abuse |
  5. sinpar

    people are tired of the corruption on all levels and it appears people are starting to take matters into their own hands.
    cops are not how they were 40 years ago...its all about lies and greed these days. id say only 20 percent are ok, the rest suck

    January 25, 2011 at 3:29 pm | Report abuse |
  6. lazzo

    everyone keeps sayin who you gonna call if you need them- id rather deal myself and have never called the when needed. i agree with david ! amen brother

    January 25, 2011 at 3:31 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Derk

    We don't have enough hand guns in America.

    January 25, 2011 at 8:00 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Bear

    I used to respect the police...not anymore. They come armed to the teeth presuming you are guilty and treat you as such. If others have had experiences like mine, in cuffs over half a dozen times and never been charged with a crime, then they are probably upset with the law also. Too don't forget the the line "we are cuffing you to protect you and us." Thanks for protecting me but I can protect myself thank you. However I do feel bad that I no longer feel bad about police being shot anymore. It has come to this. How about more respect from the police sorry I mean cops. We are not all criminals!

    January 25, 2011 at 9:59 pm | Report abuse |
  9. tinfoil hat

    You are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than a terrorist, yet we still pump billions into all of their gadgets so they can continue to oppress us. We have way too many people in jail for victimless crimes and the police treat people who have a joint with the same contempt as a rapist. At the same time, police are trying to intrude into citizens private lives more than they ever have, ie, the use of drones flying over Miami, just as they do in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is what happens when you let 26 year old rednecks become officers. They don't have the maturity, nor the life experience to deal with people on a human level. For the record, I've never been arrested and have only been cited for speeding in my 37 years.

    http://newsblaze.com/story/20090221100148tsop.nb/topstory.html

    http://www.justnews.com/news/14708354/detail.html

    January 26, 2011 at 9:46 pm | Report abuse |
  10. bad cops

    All cops have it coming, and I am glad they are dying. They are as bad as the "criminals" they claim to protect us from. Between overpriced tickets and abuse of power, even killing an unarmed man Oscar Grant. Our entire justice system is a load of crap. It is all about money (Florida raises parking tickets from 10 dollars to 100 dollars). If it were fair I would always have a jury, even for traffic tickets. A 12 member jury as our forefathers had for any issue, and If I were a juror I would be able to see right from wrong. All we get for most cases is a biased evil judge (judges caught getting kickbacks for jailing children Ciavarella ,Luzerne County). Cheating people out of money is worth going to war, and I think this "War on Cops", as the movement has been branded, is going to only get worse.

    I applaud those that are brave enough to take on the system in whatever manner you can manage. As for the dead police families, I hope you are all in a lot of pain right now. The police industry attracts bad criminal minds to those positions, and you know what I speak is the truth. Police are petty losers that could not amount to anything or contribute to anything in life, and so they became cops or bullies. Think about it what mentality does it take to want to mess with citizens on a daily basis or give traffic tickets. Perhaps they were bullied or treated like outcasts from the mainstream group. It doesn't take a psychologist to figure this out. COPS ARE LOSERS AND I FEEL NOTHING WHEN THEY DIE.

    January 27, 2011 at 10:34 am | Report abuse |
    • Joel

      The Riverside cops (pigs) lied in police reports, stole money from my wallet, and abused me and my wife. hey used her mental illness to extort money from us and the Riverside corrupt judges turned a blind eye to the cop lies. The corrupt judges love it when cops lie in police reports. Dirty pig liars and corrupt judge cowards they are.

      December 24, 2012 at 1:58 am | Report abuse |
  11. bad cops

    cops deserve to die, period.
    cops are the biggest cowards in the world.
    Watch some of the videos of cops in the thick of things.
    They run like a bunch of scarred little pigs.
    The bad guys know they are going to die and stand their ground, who is brave now.

    LIST OF HIGHLY PUBLICIZED EVIL COP ACTIONS IN CASE YOU HAVE A SHORT MEMORY

    Cop shoots homeless man in groin in wheelchair
    Cop shoots unarmed man on ground Oscar Grant
    Cops beat up kid on skateboard park
    Cops beat up cops son in Denver while holding cell phone camera, camera pans out
    Cops attack teenage driver and does not know car cam running
    Cops beat up Rodney King
    Cops caught molesting kids
    Police assault 12 year old girl
    Cop writes ticket while man's mother dies
    Cop gives car a ticket with dead driver inside
    Cop steals from toys for tots
    Cop shoots mentally challenged kid with knife
    Cops imprison numerous protesters with no charges
    Cops begin to give tickets for 5-10 miles over the speed limit in hard times
    Cops beat up grandmother

    Take the wheelchair incident in San Francisco. Most of us would try to deal with a person physically even if they had a knife. Take the knife away or hit it away. Anyone who is that big of a coward that would shoot a wheelchaired homeless man in the groin deserves to die. All cops always say they are following procedures. We know right from wrong and those cops that use that excuse are BS.

    January 28, 2011 at 12:45 am | Report abuse |
    • Vichy

      I agree ENTIRELY. Cops are worthless, subhuman gangsters who are nothing less than a domestic army to terrorize the population. They work for the largest, most murderous crime ring in the world THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.

      August 8, 2011 at 1:58 pm | Report abuse |
  12. sad state

    All cops have it coming, and I am glad they are dying. They are as bad as the "criminals" they claim to protect us from. Between overpriced tickets and abuse of power, even killing an unarmed man Oscar Grant. Our entire justice system is a load of crap. It is all about money (Florida raises parking tickets from 10 dollars to 100 dollars). If it were fair I would always have a jury, even for traffic tickets. A 12 member jury as our forefathers had for any issue, and If I were a juror I would be able to see right from wrong. All we get for most cases is a biased evil judge (judges caught getting kickbacks for jailing children Ciavarella ,Luzerne County). Cheating people out of money is worth going to war, and I think this "War on Cops", as the movement has been branded, is going to only get worse.

    I applaud those that are brave enough to take on the system in whatever manner you can manage. As for the dead police families, I hope you are all in a lot of pain right now. The police industry attracts bad criminal minds to those positions, and you know what I speak is the truth. Police are petty losers that could not amount to anything or contribute to anything in life, and so they became cops or bullies. Think about it what mentality does it take to want to mess with citizens on a daily basis or give traffic tickets. Perhaps they were bullied or treated like outcasts from the mainstream group. It doesn't take a psychologist to figure this out. COPS ARE LOSERS AND I FEEL NOTHING WHEN THEY DIE.

    cops deserve to die, period.
    cops are the biggest cowards in the world.
    Watch some of the videos of cops in the thick of things.
    They run like a bunch of scarred little pigs.
    The bad guys know they are going to die and stand their ground, who is brave now.

    LIST OF HIGHLY PUBLICIZED EVIL COP ACTIONS IN CASE YOU HAVE A SHORT MEMORY

    Cop shoots homeless man in groin in wheelchair
    Cop shoots unarmed man on ground Oscar Grant
    Cops beat up kid on skateboard park
    Cops beat up cops son in Denver while holding cell phone camera, camera pans out
    Cops attack teenage driver and does not know car cam running
    Cops beat up Rodney King
    Cops caught molesting kids
    Police assault 12 year old girl
    Cop writes ticket while man's mother dies
    Cop gives car a ticket with dead driver inside
    Cop steals from toys for tots
    Cop shoots mentally challenged kid with knife
    Cops imprison numerous protesters with no charges
    Cops begin to give tickets for 5-10 miles over the speed limit in hard times

    Take the wheelchair incident in San Francisco. Most of us would try to deal with a person physically even if they had a knife. Take the knife away or hit it away. Anyone who is that big of a coward that would shoot a wheelchaired homeless man in the groin deserves to die. All cops always say they are following procedures. We know right from wrong and those cops that use that excuse are BS.

    January 28, 2011 at 12:49 am | Report abuse |
  13. Tom

    Actually Russian "Đ’" is more like english V and it used in mrkaaoV or Vodka word. And "Đ›" is more like W in English "What". "Đł" stands for g as used in english word "God". and yes "god" in Russian language means year. I don't know actual meaning of the writings is it a serial number, factory code or maybe something else.herrmannek

    August 9, 2012 at 5:30 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Joel

    Liar cops are the enemy of the people and abusers of the community. Any judge or DA who refuses to prosecute liar cops is just as guilty and deserves life in prison, along witth the liar cops.

    December 24, 2012 at 2:01 am | Report abuse |
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