Public Safety Signals
A discussion of Public Safety issues and why they matter
LAPD SWAT member killed in the Line of Duty
2008 Feb 9 Posted by Joseph Pascarella
Tragically, a Los Angeles Police Department LAPD officer, Officer Randal Simmons, was murdered in the Line of Duty this past week while attempting to apprehend a man who was barricaded in his home after the man had murdered three family members.
Officer Randal Simmons was assigned to the elite SWAT Team of the LAPD and it was the first Line of Duty Death in the storied history of the SWAT Team.
SWAT is an acronym for “Special Weapons and Tactics” and members of the SWAT Team are the most proficient, highly trained, and specialized members of the police. There is a saying in policing circles, “when a citizen is in trouble, the citizen calls a cop, when a cop is in trouble, they call the SWAT Teams (and other specialized Emergency Service Police Officers). The LAPD SWAT time is legendary both within and outside of the Public Safety community.
This horrific incident, in which a man with reportededly a history of mental illness, highlights the danger and potential deadliness of “domestic disturbances” that are responded to by public safety officers on a daily basis. Often, public safety personnel have very little information what is going on inside a confined location and must make decisions with vague or incomplete information.
Take care and stay safe.
Joe Pascarella
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Public Safety Signals provides a venue for those working or interested in the public safety field to join in a conversation about the latest news, trends and important issues related to public safety.
Authors
Dr. Steven Barthelmeus
Program Chair,Public Safety – Criminal Justice/Forensics program, Capella University
Dr. Jeffrey Rush
Asst. Professor of Criminal Justice/Homeland Security, Dept. of Public Management and Criminal Justice, Austin Peay State University
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Harold Torrens Says:
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — February 7, 2008, a teacher’s estranged husband charged into her fifth-grade classroom Thursday morning, then stabbed her as students watched, police said. He fled and authorities said he apparently killed himself at his home after a standoff with police. Minutes before the teacher was stabbed, police say her husband, who goes by Mike, also stabbed a different woman in an alley about five blocks from the school. Awareness and security at our schools, especially in rural areas may have to be revisited.
Be Safe,
Harold Torrens
February 9th, 2008 at 6:35 am