Police Oficer deaths

I’d started 2011 with a piece on police officer deaths. Sadly the year was horrific for LE. More officers were killed in 2011 than 2010. I pray 2012 is a better year for all officers. But too, I pray less, lots less officer related intimate partner crime is committed during this year. Both these, the murders of officers and DV crimes are horrible for LE everywhere. Sadly on New Year Day this year I read of a park Ranger killing in Mt Rainier National Park. Her husband and children get to spend their year with a huge hole in their heart without her to fill it.

The Police Officer Related DV Death of Leslie Morin

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Sometimes police officers break the law. On Monday, December 12, 2011 Jose Gonzales III, an officer with the Alice, Texas police department broke the law in a big way. He committed the ultimate sin. Murder. Jose was dressed for work when he drove to the home in Annaville where his ex girlfriend and common law spouse Leslie Morin was staying with her son and mother. Leslie and her mom hid in the closet when Jose arrived but he broke the door and entered the home, pulled her from the closet and shot her numerous times before taking their 8-year-old son and leaving. Leslie had left Jose, ending their relationship approximately two weeks earlier.

Gonzales fled to a home in Alice but LE was able to talk him into freeing the child and finally giving himself up to them. He exited the home with hands in the air to face his punishment. At least he gave up voluntarily and didn't start a gunfight with other officers. Or shoot himself.

Leslie's father, a pastor, has allegedly stated the family has forgiven Jose. I wonder if Leslie's mother is included in that statement. I don't know if I could. Her daughter was shot in front of her. Multiple times. That's rage. Allegedly no known domestic violence happened in the couple’s home prior to Leslie’s leaving. But surely something happened to cause her to fear for her life and leave. Subtle hints from him perhaps?

Jose Gonzales has been charged in the murder and given $250,000 bail. He, according to his lawyer, can't afford that bail. Good! The lawyer says Jose is still in shock and is emotional. Yeah, well, his son and Leslie's other child are likely still in shock and emotional also. Too late for regrets Mr. Gonzales!

The You Shoot Me, I'll Shoot You Back . . . Later, Mindset

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I get upset anytime I read of children being the innocent victim of violence. Drive by shootings happens daily across this country. Durham, NC is no exception and that was proven in a harsh and violent way recently.


On the afternoon of Oct 23 Troy Lee Howard and two children 1-year-old Au-Nestii Hagans and 3-year-old Anaryiion Hagan were struck by bullets in a shooting on Driver Street. The children were inside their home and Howard was outside at a neighbor’s home. When police arrived they were told '3 masked men' drove up in a car and began shooting. However, at that time the police did not know if Howard was the intended victim or not.

Apparently a few days earlier on Oct 17, Tavarez Brown of Spruce Street was on Fern Street when he was the target of a shooting. Allegedly the shooting was perpetrated by John Tarver. So Brown decided you shoot me, I'll shoot you back. Later. So, on the Oct 23rd Tavarex Brown allegedly gathered his buddies, Jaunarais King and Arthur Clendenning and drove over to Driver Street and began shooting at John Tarver. The bullets missed Tarver but did hit the 2 children who were inside their nearby home. John Tarver shot back but his bullet struck Troy Lee Howard instead of his intended victims.

Residents of the neighborhood complained that shootings were becoming commonplace yet noone would give names of anyone who could have been involved. When police made a public plea -Help us help you - they received tips of possible shooters’ names.

Now, after the arrest of the alleged shooters, it seems a cousin of the victim Troy Howard says Arthur Clendenning was not a part of the foray of the 23rd. Allegedly Clendenning was at a home across the street from the Hangan's house. Even mom of the children. Dominique Hagans, says he couldn't have been one of the 3 shooters in the car because he was with her sister across the street and was the one who called to report the shooting. (Okay fine, but was he involved any way in some other manner such as contacting Brown and advising Tarver was outside his home?) I'd like to know how long he had been at Chandria Myers home. Had he arrived at the time the shootings happened or was there already? He could've been in the car, exited, then hotfooted it over to Myers home to make himself a part of an after the fact reaction and not the shooting action. Remember folks LE was told the day of the incident there were 3 Masked Men in the car - So if it wasn't Clendenning in the car, who else was involved?

The sad fact of all this is, all four of the accused have previous convictions on drug charges and Arthur Clendenning, Tavarez Brown and Jaunarais King also have convictions for carrying a concealed weapon. Brown was convicted of a couple assault charges previously. He was on probation. John Tarver was also on probation. Had all four still been in jail perhaps these children and Mr. Howard would not have been shot.

Even sadder is that two small babies were victims’ of others violent lifestyles. I am glad Mrs. Hagans is moving her children away from that street. They need to move forward and not be afraid in their home. I 100% agree with her comment as stateed in http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10294259/
- "People just need to sit down and think about their actions sometimes. They actually don't affect (just) themselves. They affect other people (and) other people's families and children."

I'm also glad tips came in to police. I hope each of those involved goes to prison and serves a long full sentencing term without parole and is not given a short term sentence then probation. It's time to stop the violence in that neighborhood. Apparently two previous shootings occurred there over last 6 months when the victims were sitting on their porches. The residents need to move past this, whether Clendennings is an innocent bystander of the incident where Howard and the children were shot or not. He has a violent past so let him deal with his own legal problems and take back your streets! Gather neighbors and friends and make a pack to involve police with cleaning up the neighborhood of violent offenders. Keep the tips coming. Make it known, If you come on our street, to our neighborhood with your weapons and intent to harm, we'll turn you over to police - Then you are on your own. If the people believe Clendenning wasn't one of the shooters and knows who the alleged 3rd person in the car was, they need to call LE and advise them. After all, the police can't read minds. Let the cops do their job.

The Topeka 8

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The past few days I have been unable to put feelings in word with this horrific event. Even now, I feel I haven't expressed myself the way I want over this. I feel I could never really do so but thought I must try to at least say something on the matter - for the victims’ sake.


Due to all I have read and heard about the sham of a city council and the mayor I call these 8 persons ‘Enablers’. ( And it’s hard to call them persons) They need tee-shirts printed, declaring ‘I am one of the Topeka 8 - You Do Not Count. The 8 are facilitators of domestic violence and in essence have become abusers themselves. It’s not alleged but a fact -the vote the 8 cast this month takes away the victims’ right to assistance with the horrors they face. It’s said 30 abuse suspects were freed after the decriminalizing of domestic violence. And I am angry.  I hope the citizens of Shawnee County, Kansas are angry too. I have a right through the constitution to speak my opinion of these ‘things’ called Topeka mayor and council members and I am doing so. You, too, have a right to contact them and speak your anger about this demoralizing victims of domestic violence. The victims have been thrown to the wolves.

I laughed when I googled Topeka, Kansas and came across their city government pages.

http://www.topeka.org/tpd/crime_victims_assistance.shtml

Here is a list of what is on the page listed above:

Types of crime we can offer assistance with:

Domestic Violence
Burglary
Battery
Identity Theft
Robbery
Sexual Violence
Assault
Criminal Damage
Stalking
Child Abuse
Theft
Hate Crimes
Workplace Violence
Graffiti

All the above can be struck through. Because You Do Not Matter. This list needs to be wiped off the web page because it’s a farce. None of the list is applicable now, not since the Topeka 8 legalized domestic violence in the name of allegedly saving money. Each one of the crimes listed are part of how abusers operate. Not all abusers, but far too many to not strike through the crimes listed. Women and children of Topeka Kansas and yes, even men are no longer protected.

I cringe when I think of a child in Topeka crying because mommy and daddy, or mom and her boyfriend are screaming at each other. I think, maybe the abuser hitting the child’s mommy- demoralizing her verbally as mom cringes in a corner. I think of an elderly person silently screaming inside, why are you doing this to me? I wonder if she is thinking, I am your mother while she is being screamed at, threatened or hit. Perhaps both the child or elderly citizen reaches for a phone then yanks their hand back as if being struck by lightning because it dawns on them- There’s No One to Help. No One Cares. I Do Not Count. You want the names of the Topeka 8 abusers who do not care about the children or elderly, nor the spouses, girlfriend/boyfriend who are abused? Warning! Be ready to be shocked, Women Are On The List. Go Here: http://claudinedombrowski.blogspot.com/2011/10/topeka-voted-tonight-to-decriminalized.html

Keep this abuse by the mayor and members of the city council forefront in the news. Do Not Forget come election time.

Religiously Motivated Medical Deaths Among Children

There is a tension between competing rights in cases that involve faith-based medical treatments. The First Amendment declares religious liberty and the states' duty to protect the welfare of children are competing issues. As advances in medicine evolved into an accepted science, claims of religious liberties became more prominent. With time, public views on the matter have supported that the courts are the place to solve such matters; particularly when they result in the death of a child. Subsequently, the court has become the foundation on which these tensions are resolved, or in many states, unresolved. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 30 states have specific exemption laws that permit parents to allow their children to die if they were using prayer as treatment. You don't need to have a criminal justice degree to understand the complications that this controversial topic has caused within the legal system of America.

Although public consensus seems to favor decisions of the courts to punish these parents, there are many places in the United States where the laws simply do not support that opinion. This is a cause for concern in the state of Idaho where two children have recently died as a result of faith-based healing beliefs.

In fact, according to an online article from the KATU by Dan Tilkin, in March of 2011, two very sick children died in Caldwell, Idaho. The children were from two separate families and likely died from pneumonia, although the medical examiner is not sure since they were never actually taken to a doctor. The article stated that “for more than 99 percent of the community of Idaho, not taking their children to a doctor when he or she is sick could be considered a crime.” For one group, however, it is perfectly legal in Idaho for parents to choose prayer as treatment for sick children, even if they are gravely ill. If the child dies, the parents are not prosecuted. Idaho is not the only state that has been in the news for children falling victim to their family's belief system.

The same issue surfaced in Oregon in 1998. Reports from an Oregon newspaper reported that of 78 children buried in the Followers of Christ church graveyard, 21 most likely would have lived with medical treatment; something as simple as a prescription for antibiotics. The cemetery may represent one of the biggest concentrations of faith-healing related fatalities in decades.

However, the laws are changing in Oregon. In the past two years, Oregon has prosecuted two couples for failing to provide medical care for dying children. Two other couples are currently awaiting trial for criminal mistreatment and second-degree manslaughter. It has taken decades, but the state is finally addressing the issue of neglect among faith-healing parents. Both prosecutors and lawmakers endorsed a bill on Feb. 21, 2011 that removes special protections for parents who use faith-healing instead of providing medical treatment for their children. The bill was a response to the aforementioned Followers of Christ, an Oregon church with a long history of children dying from treatable medical conditions. On March 10, 2011, the bill passed unanimously.

To have children die needlessly in a society that has become so medically advance seems counterproductive. Although we do have religious freedom and the right to choose, many of these children do not have the mental capacity or the ability to choose for themselves. They can make that choice as adults. Meanwhile states should protect these children just as they protect the lives of every other resident of the state. All in all, its important to be respectful to a group's religious beliefs, but when it can become a danger to an individual or members of society sometimes actions must be made.