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Main Page More comments from the peanut gallery.....
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: ShakeEmDOwn016

Prosecutor thinks twice about cop’s judgment
By Maggie Mulvihill
Monday, December 12, 2005 - Updated: 03:02 AM EST BOSTONHERALD

A former Suffolk County prosecutor who signed off on a decision to clear a Boston police officer in a 2001 fatal shooting says the rookie cop should have been disciplined internally for poor judgment.

Officer Mark Loewen was walking between a parked van and a car full of drug suspects on April 3, 2001, an official report states.

After rapping on a passenger’s window and identifying himself, Loewen headed for the driver’s side, putting himself in the position of nearly being crushed when 21-year-old Justin Ronchetti of Lunenberg lurched the car forward. Loewen landed on the roof of the car as it sped away. He fatally shot Ronchetti through the sunroof after he ignored his screams to stop the car. He was never cited by his supervisors in the case.
“I think it was very poor judgment on his part to approach that situation in the manner in which he did,” said attorney Robert Griffin, who supervised the Ronchetti investigation as former head of Superior Court prosecutions.
“That is the stupidest thing I ever heard,” said nationally recognized criminologist Sam Walker of Loewen’s actions. “That officer should be fired for stupidity and probably charged criminally.”
Loewen was cleared of any wrongdoing seven months later. Thomas Drechsler, Loewen’s attorney, said he acted appropriately under the circumstances. He said Ronchetti was trying to throw Loewen off the roof of the car as he sped down Friend Street.
“It was entirely justified,” Drechsler said. “The driver of that car tried to kill the policeman.”
Ronchetti’s father, Wayne, is still haunted by his death. His pleading letters to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, as an investigation got under way into Loewen’s conduct, illustrate the pain experienced by families whose relatives have been shot dead by police.
“The pain that my family and I have is indescribable. Our lives have been torn apart by this horrific incident,” Ronchetti wrote to D.A. Ralph C. Martin II on June 28, 2001. “I urge you to carefully review the officer’s experience, training and ability.”

Is "stupidest" even a word???? Imagine that... from a "nationally recognized" criminologist that probably has never been in a high stress situation except for reading Sherlock Holmes Books for research for his Doctoral Dissertation.

Posted by: Delta784

This is Professor Walker's website, you decide what his motivations are;

http://www.policeaccountability.org/

Posted by: JoninNH

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta784

This is Professor Walker's website, you decide what his motivations are;

http://www.policeaccountability.org/

Yikes!! Thats one bias "expert". Driving while female? Police sexual abuse of young girls? This guy needs help.

Posted by: chief801

First of all, Criminology is a SOCIAL SCIENCE! It attempts to explain criminality, motivations behind it, reasons for it, etc. His credentials offer no evidence of expertise surrounding tactics, use of force, or police procedures. He is not qualified to offer an "expert" opinion regarding whether or not the officer's actions were "the stupidist" thing he had ever heard. Were the officer's tactics sound? I don't know. But a tactical error would not be cause for dismissal, possibly re-training at the most.

Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by chief801

First of all, Criminology is a SOCIAL SCIENCE! It attempts to explain criminality, motivations behind it, reasons for it, etc. His credentials offer no evidence of expertise surrounding tactics, use of force, or police procedures. He is not qualified to offer an "expert" opinion regarding whether or not the officer's actions were "the stupidist" thing he had ever heard. Were the officer's tactics sound? I don't know. But a tactical error would not be cause for dismissal, possibly re-training at the most.

Just for the icing on the cake, all of Walker's formal education is in History, not even Criminology or Criminal Justice.

http://www.policeaccountability.org/vita.htm

Scroll down a bit, and you'll see he wrote an annontated bibliography for the ACLU.

Yup, no bias there.

Posted by: Delta784

Oh, and Professor Walker's e-mail address is;

samwalker@mail.unomaha.edu

I'm sure he'd love to hear from the many, many police officers who have an opinion on his credibility as a police tactics "expert".

Posted by: JoninNH

I wonder if the administration would take a dim view of the good professor's rantings... especially since he identifies himself with the UNO Police Professionalism Inititive, adn the UNO Polic Accountability Inititive.

http://www.nebraska.edu/about/admin_chance.shtml

Huh. http://www.policeaccountability.org/earwarnsys.htm Not good to find this guy's work on the community oriented policing website.

Posted by: ShakeEmDOwn016

Where does the Herald find these freaks to get quotes from. Couldn't they looked in their own back yard in search of Jamie Fox and Jack Levin from Northeastern U? OR maybe they did seek out opinions from these two and were not pleased enough with thier responses that may have favored the actions of the Officer in question. Anything for a controversial news story.....

By the way, does anybody read the "talkback" section on the ONLINE print of the Herald? If so, what are your opinions of an anti cop, anti govt, conspiracy theorist poster named "joeb"? Check out his rants. I believe he wears a TIN FOIL HAT to deflect the rays of aliens and the CIA from stealing his thoughts... Nutty bastard.

Posted by: MSP75

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShakeEmDOwn016

Where does the Herald find these freaks to get quotes from. Couldn't they looked in their own back yard in search of Jamie Fox and Jack Levin from Northeastern U? OR maybe they did seek out opinions from these two and were not pleased enough with thier responses that may have favored the actions of the Officer in question. Anything for a controversial news story.....

By the way, does anybody read the "talkback" section on the ONLINE print of the Herald? If so, what are your opinions of an anti cop, anti govt, conspiracy theorist poster named "joeb"? Check out his rants. I believe he wears a TIN FOIL HAT to deflect the rays of aliens and the CIA from stealing his thoughts... Nutty bastard.

JOEB is a freak. He doesn't even try to discuss. He just cuts and pastes from the world of conspiracy. I have posted my thoughts about him and some of the biased moderators. Most have been deleted. They are not as accommodating as this site.

Posted by: CJIS

Hmmm Peanut gallery ehh.... I think this calls for...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...=peanut+butter

Posted by: ShakeEmDOwn016

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSP75

I noticed that the Herald selectively picks and chooses the articles where people are allowed to comment on. Also, they delete anything anybody has to say that is pro police and allow those comments which bash the law enforcement profession to stay up. For those reasons, I don't bother reading the Talkback Section anymore.

As far as this JOEB character, he certainly does cut and paste articles from any and all publications throughout the world that negatively reflect policing and conspiracy crap. Talk about having time on his hands. I happened to notice that he believes that the events of 9/11 were created by the CIA. This person, my friends, is a certifiable nut.

Has anybody seen the movie called something like "One Crazy Summer" starring Demi Moore, John Kusack and that Bobcat guy who screams everything? I picture JoeB as the chainsmoking weirdo in the messy smoky office full of magazines and newspapers constantly trying to call the local radio station to win the contest. He is probably some burnout freak, with no job, possibly a smelly cat hoarder, cellar dweller in mom's house.

Posted by: MSP75

I used to swear by the Herald, but it has gone down hill quickly. I hate to say it, but I now buy the Globe and read it critically. It may be biased sometimes, but at least it real news and not the daily scandal.

Posted by: MSP75

Quote:

Originally Posted by npd_323

Hmmm Peanut gallery ehh.... I think this calls for...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...=peanut+butter

That was great!!!!

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