Randi Simmons, the LA S.W.A.T. officer murdered yesterday was a special guy...

[zonkers]

(excerpted from his L.A. Times profile, linked at bottom)

....Patrolling Watts one day years ago, Los Angeles Police Capt. James Craig spotted a van in the street with a crowd of children gathered around. The van's occupant looked familiar. It was his former partner, Officer Randal Simmons, a rising star, in plain clothes and off-duty, doing what few other cops would do: He was trolling the same neighborhoods where he usually made arrests, looking for children to mentor as part of a church ministry. As Craig watched, he noticed that Simmons knew the children's first names, their personal struggles and their problems with gangs.

It was a typical effort by an officer for whom police work was more than just a job. The calling extended into the rest of his life -- from mentoring youth in South Los Angeles to charity efforts.

"Passionate about the job and passionate about making a difference in the community" is how Craig described him.

Simmons had been on the police force 27 years, 20 of them in SWAT, when he was mortally wounded early Thursday morning after he and other SWAT team members broke through the front door of a San Fernando Valley home where a gunman had killed family members. Police said they entered the home believing wounded people might be inside and others could be at risk of being shot and killed.



http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-profiles8feb08,1,1423493.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

[Booster]

1. Wish we had a thousand more like him, but I'd be satisfied just

to have him back. A very good man. RIP, Randal Simmons.

[thunder rising]

2. Looks like his ministry turned militant. 20 of 27 years on SWAT. You gotta love to kill

[zonkers]

3. Generalizing that SWAT officers love to kill is beyond moronic.

"he and other SWAT team members broke through the front door of a San Fernando Valley home where a gunman had killed family members. Police said they entered the home believing wounded people might be inside and others could be at risk of being shot and killed."

[EMdamascus]

12. What an asshat statement!

[Earth_First]

20. I'll chalk that one up as it being early. n/t

[AP]

4. Police officers don't get paid enough.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. And some of them shouldn't be paid at all.

[AP]

7. This one should have been paid much more.

And anyone who puts his life on the line as part of their job every day, should get paid a lot of money.

As for asshole cops, there are assholes in every profession. And if cops got better pay, maybe there'd be fewer assholes.

[tuckessee]

9. He's the first LA SWAT cop to get killed on the job.

So it's not that dangerous of a job.

[AP]

10. My job is stressful. I think being a cop is 100x more stressful than my job.

[Frank Cannon]

14. That applies to every single position of authority in this country

I have friends who are cops, some who are even Republicans, and they are--believe it or not--nice guys (and women) who are trying to help, with incredibly stressful and awful jobs.

[Paladin]

18. Take Your Cop Hating Back Down To The Gun Dungeon....

...where it will be appreciated. It has no place on a thread dedicated to an officer like this one.

[midnight]

17. How much do police get paid. Do they get rertirement benefits?

Do they have health insurance?

[Nailzberg]

5. Sounds like he was a remarkable person

I salute you, Ofc. Simmons.

[Colobo]

8. Remarkable person. RIP.

I don't understand why some people here hate cops.

[Frank Cannon]

15. Probably because they were busted at least once...

and it gave them a real bad day.

But as Sammy Davis once said, "If you can't do the time..."

[localroger]

16. Another perspective

An ex neighbor of mine was a Louisiana State Trooper for 12 years. He once told me that if you meet a cop who has been on the force more than five years, there is a 90% chance they are corrupt. He said the idealists who want to change the world usually drop out by that point because it's a shitty job, it doesn't pay enough, and you spend way too much time dealing with people in antagonistic situations. He said the usual reason for putting up with all that is that you're getting something other than your salary out of the job -- generally the power trip, which makes you dangerous, or payoffs on the side. My neighbor stayed in because he was a devout Christian who felt it was his duty to do what he could to improve things, but even he didn't make it to retirement.

It sounds like this guy was also exceptional. But you don't need to actually get busted to be suspicious of cops. I lived in poor neighborhoods when I was younger and saw how people, especially black people, were regarded suspiciously no matter what they were doing. I saw brazen corruption; crooked cops will do things out in the open behind the airport that they make more of an effort to hide in suburbia. Anyway, it was in suburbia that a cop told me not to trust cops.

[midnight]

19. Very interesting that his advice was coming from the cops in the

suburbs. I have read here that cops get paid poorly. I sure would like to know what poorly is.

[Frank Cannon]

21. Yeah, well racism and corruption suck...

and like I said, they're everywhere... in every line of authority.

The cops with whom I'm acquainted don't fit your paradigm. In fact, one of them (a white Republican) helped put a stop to a problem I was having with a white supremacist group leafleting our neighborhood with threatening literature.

It's easy to broadbrush EVERY profession with its undesirables. The simple fact of the matter is, if you ever get into a situation where you REALLY need a cop, you're going to be happy to see one.

[varkam]

11. K&R In Memoriam

Words fail me. :(

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

13. Officer Simmons sounds like he was wonderful person.

My heart goes out to his wife, his son and daughter and parents.

:hug: :hug: