{"id":69569,"date":"2009-12-07T19:00:35","date_gmt":"2009-12-08T00:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2010449064_mauriceclemmonsandfivefallenpoliceofficers.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2009-12-07T19:00:35","modified_gmt":"2009-12-08T00:00:35","slug":"maurice-clemmons-and-five-fallen-police-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/69569","title":{"rendered":"Maurice Clemmons and five fallen police officers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enough is enough<\/strong><\/p>\n

Enough. Please quit writing about the lunatic who gunned down the Lakewood officers. He doesn\u2019t deserve the ink [\u201cA path to murder,\u201d page one, Dec. 6].<\/p>\n

I did not read the lengthy article in the paper, but The Times sure devoted a lot of space to a man who took so much. He\u2019s not worth my time to read about. His name should never be mentioned again.<\/p>\n

What is the point of showcasing his miserable life? To show how society failed him? His family failed him.<\/p>\n

I wonder how the left-behind family members feel about seeing his picture every day in the paper? What\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n

\u2014 John Meadows, Bonney Lake<\/em><\/p>\n

Aunt deserves to be recognized for her courage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please, won\u2019t someone recognize the incredible courage of the aunt Chrisceda Clemmons and her husband Michael Shantz, who turned Maurice Clemmons in to the police [\u201c\u2018I didn\u2019t want him to hurt any more people,\u2019 \u201d page one, Nicole Brodeur staff column, Dec. 3]?<\/p>\n

It must have been a terribly difficult decision for them. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you have the courage to do what they did? I\u2019m not sure I would.<\/p>\n

The community should rise up to recognize them. They deserve more than a trashed house for their efforts. They deserve public recognition.<\/p>\n

Someone \u2014 perhaps the police union \u2014 should offer to help her with the cleanup. That would be good community relations as well as simple justice.<\/p>\n

If someone will start a fund to help her family with the cleanup, I would be happy to contribute.<\/p>\n

\u2014 John Watkins, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Windows and doors are replaceable, lost lives are not<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am not surprised that after the tragedy of four police officers being murdered in cold blood, people are upset that Chrisceda Clemmons\u2019 house was trashed by the Seattle Police Department in their search for a murderer [\u201cHelp is coming, and it\u2019s only right,\u201d NWFriday, Nicole Brodeur staff column, Dec. 4].<\/p>\n

Yes, it is sad that the house was trashed, but the Seattle Police Department is helping her and her family. I admire her for doing the right thing, when no one else who knew this murderer would.<\/p>\n

People don\u2019t get it that the police just couldn\u2019t go up to the front door, knock and say, \u201cCome out Maurice Clemmons, we know you\u2019re in there.\u201d The police are trained in how to safely apprehend such a suspect without the loss of their lives or the suspect\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Broken windows and a front door \u2014 those and the other material things in Clemmons\u2019 house that were trashed are replaceable, but those four officers are gone forever.<\/p>\n

How sad that after this tragedy, people still get upset with the police for doing their job to protect us and keep us safe. Just because a person has a bad experience with the police, no police department should be judged as being bad.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Donna Carlton, Federal Way<\/em><\/p>\n

Wishing the blame game enacted real change<\/strong><\/p>\n

When something good happens, politicians run for the camera. When something bad happens, the blame game begins [\u201cFixing blame won\u2019t fix this mess,\u201d NWWednesday, Danny Westneat staff column, Dec. 2].<\/p>\n

Within hours of the four police officers being shot, the blame game began. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee blamed the system, the system blamed the judges and so on. Then Gov. Chris Gregoire blamed Arkansas, Huckabee, their system and our system.<\/p>\n

Do these politicians not realize that they are the system?<\/p>\n

These are the very politicians we elect to make sure these things do not happen. Wouldn\u2019t it be refreshing to have one of our politicians step forward and say, I am part of the system, so therefore I am part of the problem. They are all paranoid about their futures and therefore are hesitant about taking any blame.<\/p>\n

How about taking the blame and take a stand to change the system.<\/p>\n

Are these officers going to be soon forgotten or is this a turning point to protect the people who give their lives, to protect us? The catch-and-release program we seem to offer criminals needs a slight review.<\/p>\n

Our judicial system needs to be changed to offer assistance to officers, rather than adding to their challenges.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bill Heimkes, Shoreline<\/em><\/p>\n

Reflecting on recent events<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being a Seattle cop for the past 28 years has taught me one thing: Nothing surprises me about human behavior.<\/p>\n

My reflecting over the past month about the abhorrent, vicious and senseless acts against our region\u2019s police officers has caused me to rethink that statement. I understand that there are selfish, narcissistic criminals in society who go through life victimizing others and accepting no responsibility for their actions. I also know that a small percentage of those criminals present a clear danger to our community and to the police officers whose sole job is to protect society from them.<\/p>\n

Even with this in mind, the carnage launched against this area\u2019s law-enforcement officers over the past 30 days defies any logic, reasoning or justification.<\/p>\n

These cowardly acts of murdering five of this community\u2019s police officers in cold blood are so disturbing that it makes one question just how civilized our society is, and reminiscent of the Third World mayhem we all read about and dismiss as being irrelevant to our nation.<\/p>\n

The late Maurice Clemmons is a shining example of people who leave behind a trail of victims throughout their life, with apparently no conscience or remorse for their acts. Not only did he discard the lives of four cops during his murderous rampage, but added a multitude of additional casualties such as the officer\u2019s children, spouses, families, co-workers and most important, an increasingly frightened public for which no amount of comfort will ever make them feel safe.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jim Ritter, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enough is enough Enough. Please quit writing about the lunatic who gunned down the Lakewood officers. He doesn\u2019t deserve the ink [\u201cA path to murder,\u201d page one, Dec. 6]. I did not read the lengthy article in the paper, but The Times sure devoted a lot of space to a man who took so much. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}