Good Cops and Bad Cops: A Predator and a Panicky Cop

[Note: This was originally published on another blog 29-April-2014.]

The Good....

Last January police in Portland, Oregon were hunting Kelly Swoboda who was a suspect in three bank robberies.

Swoboda turned even more dangerous when he kidnapped a 23 year old woman from a tanning salon, beat her with the butt of his pistol, stuffed her into his van, and bound her ankles and wrists with duct tape. Somehow the young woman managed to get the van door open and tumble out into the street as her attacker drove away.

Evidence suggests Swoboda then stocked his van with supplies to prevent the escape of future captives: chains attached to the floor, ropes, and zip-locks. He watched and followed women, taking careful notes on their appearance, where and when he spotted them and, in some cases, their license plate numbers.

By March there were numerous reports of a suspicious van following female students near Wilson High School.

It was this suspicious van that Portland police officer John Romero and two colleagues were investigating on March 12 when Romero saw Swoboda watching and then walking quickly away.

Romero followed the suspect and repeatedly ordered him to stop and take his hands out of his pockets. When Swoboda finally did take his hands out of his pockets one of them was holding a gun and he opened fire on Romero wounding him on the hand.

Romero stayed on his feet and focused on his job, returning fire and killing Swoboda with a bullet to the chest.

Based on all the evidence pieced together before and after the shooting it is clear that Swoboda was a dangerous predator who would have attacked more women if given the chance. Officer Romero's professionalism, courage, and skill ensured that he would never get that chance.

John Romero is a good cop!

For more details check out the links below:

http://koin.com/2014/04/25/im-hero-swoboda-killer-john-romero-says/

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/04/detectives_found_evidence_fugi.html

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/03/portland_police_shooting_kelly.html 

 

 

The Bad....

Officer Randall Kerrick shot and killed unarmed Jonathan Ferrell with 10 shots to the chest and arms on September 14, 2013.

Ferrell had wrecked his car shortly after midnight and was apparently searching for help. As he pounded on one door the frightened woman inside called the police to report a man trying to break in.

Ferrell left that house and soon encountered Kerrick and two other officers responding to the call. As Ferrell approached the officers one of them shot him with a taser, one or more of them shouted orders to get on the ground, and then Kerrick - 27 years old with three years on the force - shot him dead.

The Charlotte - Mecklenburg (North Carolina) police department almost immediately ruled the shooting unlawful and arrested Kerrick. Police Chief Rodney Monroe said that even if Ferrell had continued to advance after being ordered to the ground that would still not have justified the use of deadly force.

Kerrick is now facing a criminal charge of voluntary manslaughter and also a civil lawsuit filed by Ferrell's family. Whatever the outcome of those trials may be Kerrick's shooting of an unarmed man who was searching for help after a car accident was ethically and morally wrong.

Randall Kerrick was a bad cop.

For more details check out the links below:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/27/us/north-carolina-police-shooting/

http://newsone.com/2853047/former-cop-randall-kerrick-indicted-in-fatal-shooting-of-unarmed-jonathan-ferrell/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mari-fagel/jonathan-ferrell-attorney_b_4676681.html


Copyright © 2016 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

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This is a great book about a good cop. I want to reread it soon. If you get to it before I do please send a review I can publish here.

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