Standing Up For the Cops
SAN DIEGO -- You can bet that many law enforcement officers had a "blue" Christmas. The air is heavy with the haunting sound of bagpipes as police officers pay respects to fallen brothers.
For me -- the son of a retired law enforcement officer -- the issue of dead cops can't be discussed in the abstract. It's personal.
I remember the day my dad took me aside and told me that he might not come home because someone had been going around town threatening his life. I was 10.
The thousands of men and women who do this thankless job are like family. And my friends on the force tell me there is, among the rank and file, a combustible mixture of anxiety and anger over a rash of cop killings.
It's not just about New York police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, who were murdered on Dec. 20 as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn.
It's about Florida officer Charles Kondek of the Tarpon Springs Police Department. The father of six was responding to a noise complaint on Dec. 21 when he was killed by a fugitive.
And it's about Arizona police officer Tyler Stewart, a 24-year-old rookie of the Flagstaff Police Department who was shot to death on Dec. 27 by a domestic violence suspect.
A few days ago, the Los Angeles Police Department went on tactical alert after two men fired on officers in a patrol car.
What in the world is happening?
The epicenter of the storm is New York, where Pat Lynch, president of the city's largest police union, has said that Mayor Bill de Blasio has "blood" on his hands.
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