Two charged with death of Woburn police officer
By adamg - 12/27/10 - 10:58 am
Scene in Woburn last night. By Courtney Sacco.
The Globe reports on charges against two of the men who allegedly got caught as they tried to rob a Kohl's jewelery counter last night for the death of Woburn officer John Maguire. A third man died in the gun battle, which happened after police arrived and began chasing the three.
Photo copyright Courtney Sacco. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.
Comments
In the history of stupid scores..
this one is right up there. At least he took one with him. Now I hope Kohl's steps up to the plate and does something for the officer's family, since he gave his life for their stupid rocks.
Unbelievable, and for what?
I’m not a supporter of the death penalty but some people are just not worth locking up. Killing a cop over Kohl’s jewelry! The two they caught should be shot.
A cop shows up for work late
A cop shows up for work late Universal Hub explodes with outrage.
A cop dies in the line of duty... no interest.
Of Course...
Trendy hipsters in the People's Republic know the police are a racist, occupying force in "The Community". These poor, innocent victims of police excessive force were simply trying to survive in the Bu$hitler economy. Repossessing some rocks there were mined by DeBeers slaves from a big business isn't a crime, it's social justice.
And your contribution?
So, say something useful.
Instead of coming here to talk about the cop (what you claim "Universal Hub" isn't doing), you came here to talk about Universal Hub. Talk about part of your own self-contented problem...
seems only fair
A cop dies in the line of duty... no interest.
Seems only fair. That's about how the police or fire fighters feel when one of us dies. When a police officer dies, it's "one of their own", everyone's choked up and angry, the crime is thoroughly, relentlessly, exhaustively investigated, the criminal usually caught immediately, or within hours or days. Donations pour in to cover costs. Union and municipal death benefits come in. The body gets an honor guard. A funeral parade, with city vehicles, officers pouring in from around the state and region to parade in dress uniform. TV and papers cover the investigation and funeral extensively. Officers, command staff, municipal leaders, DA's all leap to be on camera to pour their hearts out.
Let's contrast that with the typical treatment of a "civilian" murder: good chance it goes unsolved. If it is solved, it takes months or years. Reported as a mere byline (if at all), unless there's some heart-tugger. Donations don't pour in, the only cops that show up are there to handle traffic, and the family probably has to pay for it. Everyone in the government gives the press the cold shoulder- either redirecting to someone else, refusing to answer questions, or issuing press releases. If the press even come calling...
Only firefighters can lay claim to having a job among the most dangerous. For the police, they're actually protected class, with a murder rate one third of the general population. Most police deaths are due to car crashes, not murders. Still, the police chose to place themselves in this danger; it's not a job anyone works because they have to, and it's a job with enormous privilege, power, control, and clout. Civilian victims generally don't chose to put themselves in front of the bullet that kills them...often times it's just being in the wrong place, looking like someone else, or having a family member with access to a gun or knife and anger management issues.
Despite what Woburn's chief says about danger-every-time-they-put-on-the-uniform, it's just not true, as witnessed by the fact that this guy was the first Woburn officer to die in the line of duty. In the last decade, 4 people in Woburn have been murdered. Did the chief get all choked up about any of them, people he was supposed to be protecting? Did any of his officers attend those funerals?
Is it easy to be such a callous jerk, or does it take work?
A man died last night doing his job - protecting the public. Damn right most people are going to feel worse about that than about some drug-dealing thug gunned down in a gang feud.
"Car Accidents"
Really. While that is true on the face of it, you are conveniently avoiding two inconvenient components of "car accidents" that cops are involved in:
1. Run over by drunk or stupid motorist while assisting at the side of the road. My former roomate's father was a State Trooper. He was killed when the driver of an 18-wheeler ran him down on I-93 while he was attempting to help a stranded motorist in the breakdown lane.
2. Suicide while on duty. There is some good journalism emerging on how many cops do themselves in by way of firearms "accidents" or car accidents.
So much for "not caring when one of us dies". Right. Police work, despite the privileges, is still very stressful and sometimes traumatizing.
I will be one of the first to point out that cops generally have way too much power and way too little accountability in our society. Your callous and truthy comments in a thread about a murdered officer do nothing but polarize things in ways that will only further obscure some of the general issues.
regarding yet another tragedy brought about by parole
It seems to me that this tragic episode began with the blessing of the parole board.
As I understand it, members of a parole board have absolutely no reason to be concerned about who they release. They are aware that the odds of their being killed or otherwise harmed by the person they're releasing are nil: It's a large state with millions of people; the parolee couldn't even find them let alone harm them.
Granted, the parolees are going to kill or otherwise harm someone, that's a given, but almost certainly not the parole board members. Hence there is no reason for restraint on the part of parole board members.
I suggest that parole board members should be held responsible for each person paroled such that each parole board member would be required to serve the same sentence that the parolee receives when he/she re-offends (or likely would have received, in the case of those killed in the commission of a crime).
Let parole board members demonstrate the strength of their belief in the parolee's rehabilitation by inextricably linking their future to his/hers.
That's about the most
That's about the most retarded thing I've heard in a while.
Anyways, condolences to the family. It's a shame that officer John Maguire gave his life over a few hundred in box store jewelry.
That's Silly
The sentiment is well taken, though.
Here's a good guide: if said potential parolee were to be sentenced under the rules of today and not at the time they were sentenced, would they be eligible for parole now?
If so, then proceed.
If not, forget it.
It seems as though we have some midlife thugs getting turned loose because society took their crimes less seriously than it does now. That is the problem to focus on. Perhaps you should work to plug the hole with the legislature.