By Stephen Owsinski:
Following the most recent spate of murders of our nation’s police officers, we have witnessed the rise of an honorable tradition. In recent months, three cops killed in the line of duty whose alleged assailants were apprehended received a posthumous professional honor: the handcuffs of the fallen officers were used in each arrest, respectively.
In the grotesque malice inflicted by Markeith Loyd, who allegedly shot and killed his pregnant former girlfriend and her fetus on December 13, 2016, and thereafter shot the decedent’s brother, a police manhunt ensued in Orlando, Florida. On January 9, 2017, an Orlando cop received a citizen’s tip that their homicide suspect was in a local Walmart. Postumously promoted to lieutenant, then-Master Sergeant Debra Clayton located the murderer and radioed for back-up to effect arrest of the monstrous suspect. She located the suspect who, upon seeing her, unhesitatingly opened fire.
Lt. Clayton perished in a gun battle before additional cops arrived. In the exchange of gunfire, reports indicate that Lt. Clayton’s killer stood over her and pumped additional rounds into her blue-uniformed, mortally-wounded body. Barbarism reared its ugly head in Orlando. Performing with valor, Lt. Clayton’s 17-year police career concluded abruptly.
Ultimately, Orlando cops were aided by a full-on dragnet. In the collective efforts to find Loyd, Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Norman Lewis, astride a sheriff’s office motorcycle unit, was accidentally struck by a motorist. Deputy Lewis also lost his life.
Federal, state, and county law enforcement officers spent countless hours banging the bricks until the suspect shook out. Unsurprisingly, Loyd put up a fight during arrest procedures. The beginning of closure commenced when Orlando police slapped Lt. Clayton’s handcuffs on her alleged murderer. On his Twitter account, Orlando police Chief John Mina summed up the killer’s arrest quite honorably: “Captured and wearing Lt. Debra Clayton’s handcuffs.”
President Donald Trump contacted Lt. Clayton’s spouse and loved ones, offering condolences and support.
…
In similar fashion, Cleveland police Officer David Fahey was also honored by his police colleagues who, after locating the hit-and-run driver who struck and left him for dead, placed him in Officer Fahey’s handcuffs. Working a traffic crash involving a fatality on January 24, 2017, Officer Fahey was emplacing and igniting road flares before sunrise when a motor vehicle struck him and the driver fled the scene. Hours later, Israel Alvarez was arrested and shackled with Officer Fahey’s handcuffs.
Look at any statistics involving deaths of police officers and you will see that a percentage stems from traffic-related fatalities, whether accidental or intentional. Suffice to say that while cordoning off a traffic fatality scene with flares to divert the motoring public, Officer Fahey paid the price in safeguarding others’ lives, having no idea he was about lose his own. Now, a scared and irresponsible motorist is now bearing the burden of unconscionable decisions. Alvarez is the father of five children, including an infant, and remains in jail with a looming $500,000 bond.
According to Cleveland.com, both of Fahey’s parents were Cleveland police officers. Fahey’s father, David Fahey, Sr., was eerily killed in similar fashion by a hit-and-run driver while assisting another person who was changing a flat tire. On an interstate ramp, Officer Fahey, Sr. was struck and killed by a motorist who also fled the scene after stopping initially. Again, fight or flight has distinction of responsibility…or dire consequences.
…
One of the 140 law enforcement officers who perished in the line of duty in 2016, Sergeant Anthony Beminio of the Des Moines Police Department, was also honored when his murderer was apprehended and handcuffed with the fallen sergeant’s“bracelets.” In November 2016, Sergeant Beminio was ambushed in his patrol cruiser during a midnight-shift manhunt for a stone-cold killer who had similarly ambushed, shot and murdered a cop in a neighboring jurisdiction just 20 minutes prior. Urbandale police Officer Justin Scott Martin perished as he sat in his police cruiser.
The crazed gunman who slaughtered both policemen was apprehended, and Des Moines cops performed the click-click arrest ritual using Sergeant Beminio’s handcuffs.
There are many ways to honor the fallen, and slapping on the decedent’s handcuffs is a fusion of grace and humility, both professional and personal.
Symbolic of The Thin Blue Line, gestural sentiments indicative of the brotherhood/sisterhood, especially when a warrior is lost in the battle to hold the line, is honorable and thought-provoking. Akin to the military credo of “No soldier left behind” is the emblematic notion of handcuffing malice with the tools of nobility.
Stephen Owsinski is a Senior OpsLens Contributor and retired law enforcement officer whose career included assignments in the Uniformed Patrol Division and Field Training Officer (FTO) unit. He is currently a researcher and writer.
To contact or book OpsLens contributors on your program or utilize our staff for your story, contact [email protected]
