Bombings Remain a Danger for Law Enforcement Officers

Although bombings may not be one of the leading causes of line-of-duty deaths among America’s law enforcement officers, this weekend’s killing of two officers in Oregon from a bomb blast remind us of the types of dangers facing law enforcement today.

Captain Tom Tennant of the Woodburn Police Department and Senior Trooper Bill Hakim, a bomb technician with the Oregon State Police, were killed on Friday evening, December 12, as they were investigating a suspicious device outside a branch bank in Woodburn, OR. Woodburn Police Chief Scott Russell was also hurt in the blast and remains in critical condition at a local hospital. A suspect in the bombing was reportedly arrested in the Salem area on Sunday night.

According to research records from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, more than 75 law enforcement officers have been killed in bombings throughout our nation’s history. Some, like Captain Tennant and Trooper Hakim, died because it is their job to disarm bombs before they harm innocent citizens. Others were targeted for death by bomb-wielding terrorists. More than a few were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time—a common problem for police officers.

The first known bombing incident to take the life of a police officer occurred on May 4, 1886. Seven Chicago police officers were killed when a bomb exploded on a city street. The bomb-throwing incident was part of a tragic civil disorder, centered around a labor dispute, which has become known as the “Haymarket Riot.” Killed in the blast were Patrolmen Mathias J. Degan, John Barrett, George Miller, Timothy Flavin, Thomas Redden, Nels Hansen and Michael Sheehand. Some 70 others in the crowd were injured in the bombing.

More than a century later, bombs continue to be a popular and destructive criminal tool. In February 1992, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper James H. Fulford, Jr., was killed by a bomb during a “routine” traffic stop. After pulling a car over for speeding, Trooper Fulford conducted a search of the vehicle. When he picked up a package in the trunk, it exploded. Omaha (NE) Police Officer Larry D. Minard suffered a similar fate in August 1970. He was moving a suitcase he found lying on the floor of a vacant house when the bomb inside exploded.

But, even under the most favorable conditions, explosives can still be extremely dangerous, especially those that are illegally manufactured. Johnny Masengale, a special agent with the then-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), was killed in May 1992 while preparing to destroy a highly volatile mixture of explosive materials that had been seized the day before. At the time of the explosion, Special Agent Masengale was working with a team of ATF and military explosives experts at Fort Lewis, Washington. As they were preparing for a controlled ignition, the materials detonated prematurely.

Explosives can have deadly consequences even during training exercises. In February 2002, Scottsdale (AZ) Police Sergeant Thomas Hontz was killed while conducting a training exercise in two vacant homes in Scottsdale, Arizona. A device called a "gas ax,” which is used to puncture walls and pump tear gas into a room, exploded. Fourteen other firefighters and police officers were injured in this incident.

In recent years, several officers participating in the war on terrorism have been killed in bomb blasts. For example, several special agents with the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and U.S. Diplomatic Security Service have died in roadside and other bombings while serving in Iraq.

Trooper Hakim is not the first Oregon State Police member to be killed in a bombing. On October 2, 1997, Sergeant Richard Schuening was working with state and federal law enforcement in locating and removing dynamite and other explosives that were illegally stored on a property in Granite, OR. The 18-year veteran was killed when some of the materials exploded.

Go Blue This Holiday Season

Twenty years ago, a Philadelphia woman put blue lights in her windows during the holiday season in honor of her son-in-law, a police officer who had been killed in the line of duty. This year, law enforcement families and supporters across the United States will once again be decorating in blue to remember those officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice as well as those who continue to serve and protect.

“Blue lights in windows, homes and on Christmas trees during the holiday season are a visible reminder of the service and sacrifice that law enforcement officers make on behalf of all Americans 365 days a year," said Craig W. Floyd, chairman and CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

The tradition traces its roots to 1988, when Mrs. Dolly Craig wrote a letter to Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), a non-profit organization that provides resources to assist in the rebuilding of the lives of surviving families and affected co-workers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Mrs. Craig said she would be putting blue lights in her windows that holiday season in honor of her son-in-law, Philadelphia Police Officer Danny Gleason, who had been shot and killed in June 1986 while investigating a vandalism report. Mrs. Craig thought others might like to share her idea.

Over the years, Project Blue Light has grown into a nationwide initiative to honor law enforcement. In addition to individual supporters, many law enforcement agencies participate in the effort by staging their own Blue Light ceremonies. In the nation’s capital, for example, the Metropolitan Police Department and the DC Chapter of C.O.P.S. decorated a blue spruce tree outside police headquarters using blue lights and ornaments created by the children of fallen officers.

This year, the Memorial Fund is selling blue, LED-battery operated votive candles in its Visitors Center & Store, 400 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC, as well as through its online gift shop. So as you're decorating for the holidays, proudly shine a blue light for the men and women of law enforcement.

DC Race to Remember Raises $10,000 for Museum

Last month, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Oct. 19, the first Race to Remember: Memorial 5K took place in Washington, DC. Starting and ending at Judiciary Square in front of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, race participants brought out strong support for American law enforcement - 500 runners raised $10,000 for the Memorial Fund, with all of it going to help realize the dream of building the country's first National Law Enforcement Museum.

Monday, Dec. 1, NLEOMF representatives Craig W. Floyd, Chairman and CEO, and Megan McMullen, race organizer and Law Enforcement Relations Manager, visited DC MPD to accept the check and recognize MPD and the FOP for their invaluable work in organizing the event. Chief Cathy Lanier, Assistant Chief Pat Burke, and MPD Officer and President of the DC FOP Marcello Muzzatti, presented the $10,000 donation and vowed to host the Race to Remember every year to raise funds and help build the National Law Enforcement Museum. Officer Muzzatti was also presented with an award from Chief Lanier recognizing his community service in organizing the event.



The money raised will go toward the $80 million "A Matter of Honor" campaign to build the National Law Enforcement Museum. The Museum will be located adjacent to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC.

The NLEOMF thanks all of those who participated in the Race to
Remember, especially our generous sponsors: Fraternal Order of
Police, Metropolitan Police Labor Committee; Fraternal Order of
Police, Jerrard F. Young Lodge #1; Police Federal Credit Union; and District of Columbia Protective Services.

We couldn’t have done it without your support, our wonderful runners, and race organizers. Thank you!

Interested in hosting a race in your town? Contact Law Enforcement Relations Manager Megan McMullen at megan@nleomf.org or at 202-737-8538.

Come visit us - Tree Unveiling!

The NLEOMF is spreading some good cheer this holiday season in a couple programs to boost the spirit of giving in the DC area and around the country.

Tree Unveiling - 4 PM, Tuesday, Dec. 2

On Tuesday, Dec. 2, we're working with DC's Metropolitan Police Department to kick off MPD's Holiday Toy Drive with a Tree Unveiling at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Visitors Center on 400 7th Street NW, Washington DC.

We'll have food, music, and fun for all our law enforcement supporters.

It's a great chance to meet us, for us to meet you, for you to meet each other, and to get in gear for the holidays, as we'll start collecting toys at the Visitors Center for DC's kids in need.

With the economy as it is, requests for assistance and gifts for children are coming in at high volume at MPD, and the NLEOMF wants to help. And, we want to celebrate the season with you!

What: "Tree Unveiling" Holiday Party for MPD's Toy Drive

When: 4 - 6 pm, Dec. 2, 2008

Where: NLEOM Visitors Center - 400 7th Street NW DC

Why: To kick-off the Toy Drive and finally meet you in person!

Free food! Bring friends!

"In Honor of" Holiday Remembrance

The holidays can be a difficult time for friends, families and supporters of law enforcement officers. The NLEOMF wants to give people all over the country a chance to remember their loved ones this holiday season at the NLEOM Visitors Center. Call the Visitors Center during the month of December and tell us the officer you want to honor, and we'll post a special paper ornament with your name and his/her name in our Visitors Center for display. The officer you'd like to honor can be a fallen hero or a living legend. We request a minimum donation of $1, to go to the Memorial and Museum. We hope to cover the entire NLEOM Visitors Center in paper ornaments this year - a tribute to America's finest.

Visitors Center #: 866-569-4928 or 202-737-3212

For more information, visit http://www.nleomf.org/ (updates will be up soon!)

Surviving a Suicide Bomber … Israel Police Officer Visits the Memorial to Tell Her Story

Video by NLEOMF, Nov. 18, 2008

The summer of 2002 was a time of heightened alert in Israel. Dozens of suicide bombings have been carried out throughout the country, and Jerusalem was on high alert following reports that a suicide bomber was on his way to the city.

Sgt. Major Ronit Tubol is an intelligence officer with the Israel Police; her husband is a captain on the same department. Sgt. Major Tubol’s unit that was trying to find the bomber suspected of heading to Jerusalem. Based on the intelligence reports, they believed the bomber was coming from the north, but he entered Jerusalem from the south. There, he boarded a bus headed toward downtown.


Video by NLEOMF, Nov. 18, 2008

Also on the bus that June morning was Sgt. Major Tubol, who had just dropped off her 9-month-old child at day care and was headed to police headquarters in plain clothes. Sgt. Major Tubol was standing directly behind the suicide bomber, when he detonated a pack laden with 20 pounds of explosives and ball bearings. The blast blew a hole in the vehicle’s roof and propelled Ronit Tubol onto the street some distance away. She was unconscious and severely injured … but alive. Nineteen other passengers on the bus perished that day.

As police responded to the blast, they discovered Sgt. Major Tubol’s police credentials in the wreckage, and authorities began a frantic search of the victims looking for the officer. In the meantime, Ronit’s husband had responded to the scene to help with the investigation, still unaware that his wife had been on the bus. As fellow officers were about to notify him and escort him to local morgue to try an identify her body, a call came in from Hadassah Hospital that Sgt. Major Tubol may be there. Her husband responded right away, asked to see her jewelry and confirmed it was her.

Sgt. Major Tubol lay in a coma for more than two weeks. When she woke, she found that she had lost the ability to walk, talk and write. But she also knew that she desperately wanted to return to work and continue her life as a mother and wife. After four months in hospitals and a year of rehabilitation—re-learning the basic life skills most of us take for granted—Ronit Tubol achieved her goals. She is back at work in the intelligence unit of the Israel Police, and she and her husband are now the proud parents of two children.


Photos by NLEOMF, Nov. 18, 2008

Sgt. Major Tubol is in DC this week to be honored by the Anti-Defamation League and to share her incredible story of survival and strength, determination and hope, with her U.S. law enforcement colleagues. On Monday evening, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, she received the ADL’s Ina Kay Award, which recognizes individuals for extraordinary acts of courage in confronting intolerance and injustice, extremism and terrorism.

On Tuesday morning, she visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial to relate her story of courage to Memorial Fund staff, Board members and other supporters who had gathered under sunny but cold skies. She was joined by David Friedman, Regional Director of the ADL’s DC Office, and Elise Jarvis, ADL’s Associate Director for Law Enforcement Outreach. Herb Giobbi, the NLEOMF’s Chief Operating Officer, led the ceremony.

Sgt. Major Tubol described her ordeal in detail. Much of the information she has gleaned from others, as her memory of the incident is blurred. But Ronit Tubol is clear on the larger meaning behind her story: “In Israel, we never give up … we never give in to terrorists.”

Following Ronit’s remarks, she joined Mr. Friedman and University of Maryland Department of Public Safety Major Jay Gruber in laying a wreath in honor of fallen officers at the Memorial’s center medallion. Major Gruber serves as president of the Shomrim Society of Washington, DC, an organization of Jewish law enforcement officers.

Lynn Lyons-Wynne, NLEOMF Senior Director of Memorial Programs, gave the group a tour of the Memorial. She pointed out that among the 18,274 officers whose names are on the Memorial, at least 26 are Jewish, according to NLEOMF research records and information from the National Conference of Shomrim Societies. Only one of those is a woman - Miami-Dade (FL) Police Officer Cheryl Seiden was shot and killed in July 1982 during an attempted robbery when the officer was off-duty.

Following the ceremony, Sgt. Major Tubol and her hosts headed off to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for another session with law enforcement personnel – another lesson in courage, determination and resolve. It is a lesson all of American law enforcement can take to heart, as officers here continue their dual mission of fighting both crime and terrorism.

At the IACP – November 11

It may not have been the largest session of the week, but what this afternoon’s workshop on the National Law Enforcement Museum may have lacked in raw number of attendees, it more than made up for in terms of the quality of attendee interest and discussion. Led by Laurie Baty, the NLEOMF’s Senior Director of Museum Programs, the workshop provided an update on the National Law Enforcement Museum and explored how law local enforcement agencies are an essential ingredient in preserving the history of law enforcement in America.

Ms. Baty explained the history behind the Museum project, emphasizing its connection with the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. She described some of the 7,000 objects in the Museum’s growing collection and, more importantly, brought the objects to life by relating the stories behind many of them. For example, she explained how the artifacts of Macon County, AL, Sheriff Lucius Amerson, who in 1966 became the first black sheriff elected in the South following Reconstruction, will enable the Museum to more fully tell the story of the integration of the law enforcement profession and its role in the Civil Rights era. Sheriff Amersons’ son Anthony had heard about the Museum and wanted to get involved by donating his father’s items to an institution he could trust to maintain and preserve his father incredible collection of badges, weapons, uniform parts, photographs and other historical artifacts.

Much of the workshop involved discussion with the attendees—from Nevada, Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Florida, Kentucky and elsewhere—on what historical objects exist in their agencies and how those items can best be preserved so that the history of local law enforcement in the U.S. can be captured and shared. Several participants described historical items they want to ensure are preserved, either at the National Museum or in their communities.

At the NLEOMF’s exhibit booth, visitor traffic began to subside after a brisk first few days. Still, hundreds of lapel pins, remembrance bracelets, calendars and other information and goodies were given away on Tuesday. By 3:30 pm, as the lights were dimmed at the Convention Center, NLEOMF staff were packing up the exhibit booth and looking forward to next year's IACP Conference in Denver.

At the IACP – November 10

The day started with the presentation of the 16th Annual Award for Quality in Law Enforcement. Several NLEOMF members were in attendance. Named for the IACP’s first president, the Webber Seavey Awards are presented each year by the IACP and Motorola in recognition of quality performance by police agencies around the globe. This year’s winners include programs from the Bundi District Police in Rajasthan, India, the Cincinnati Police Department and European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission for Iraq, along with dozens of finalists and semi-finalists.

In helping to present the awards, Director Carl Peed of the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing Services praised Motorola for supporting not only the Webber Seavey awards, but also the NLEOMF, the National Law Enforcement Museum and other projects. One the Museum project's largest donor, Motorola is funding the 9-1-1 Emergency Call Center in the Museum.

Back at the exhibit booth, a new and popular item this year came courtesy of corporate partner 3M. The company provided us with neck lanyards made out of the same reflective Scotchlite material that meets new federal regulations for visibility gear that are going into effect later this year. Co-branded with the NLEOMF Drive Safely campaign, the lanyards inform agencies about a website where they can get information about the regulations and links to officer safety information.

The day ended with “Host Chief’s Night,” a chance for the local police chief – in this case, William Landsdowne of the San Diego Police Department – to show his appreciation for everyone attending the conference. The event was held at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, and attendees got to eat, drink and check out their baseball skills at a number of interactive “work stations” set up around the park.

Preview for November 11: Laurie Baty, Senior Director for Museum Programs, leads a workshop on how to collect, catalog and store information and artifacts that may help the National Law Enforcement Museum or local communities preserve their history.