Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said the killings in March and early this month are worrisome, but officials cannot live in fear of their lives.
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John Morganelli
But a rash of violence directed at law enforcement leaders including prosecutors and corrections officials has become difficult for even these leaders to ignore, according to Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli.
“When something like that happens, it shakes the office a bit because it is a fellow colleague,” he said.
Tom Clements, a 58-year-old Colorado prisons chief, was gunned down outside his Colorado Springs home March 19.
Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found shot to death March 30 outside their Forney, Texas, home.The killings occurred months after McLelland’s deputy, 57-year-old Mark E. Hasse, was killed near a Texas courthouse.
The murders of the McLellands and Clements remain unsolved. Authorities Saturday arrested a 46-year-old suspect for terroristic threats in the investigation into the McLellands' murders. No one has been charged in the deaths.
Early this month a West Virginia sheriff, Eugene Crum was murdered in his vehicle and a Jackson, Miss., detective was shot to death by a murder suspect who later killed himself.
While Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey law enforcement offices have critical security procedures in place, killings around the nation have pushed them to at times re-examine their protocols.
“There is heightened awareness — even for myself and others — when this sort of thing occurs,” said John Kuczynski, Hunterdon County’s chief of detectives.
Threats bring on risk assessment
No threat is handled lightly.
Kuczynski said the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office conducts risk assessments when threats are made to those in law enforcement. The assessments examine the credibility of a threat and determine what kind of response is necessary, he said. The most common response is beefed up security personnel, Kuczynski said.
“On a daily basis, it’s victims, witnesses and the public ... and even defendants (who are threatened). A lot of times we don’t think about ourselves as being victimized,” he said. “Who’s protecting the protectors? It’s us.”
Kuczynski mentioned extra corrections security personnel that were mobilized following the killing of Carl Epps at the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility after Epps, a 20-year-old inmate from Egg Harbor Township, N.J., was beaten to death. Worries about gang involvement circled around the inmate's death, and Kuczynski said steps were taken to ensure staff at the facility were safe.
“It’s routine for us to keep our radar and antennae up on all security issues,” Kuczynski said.
‘I’m not going to live in fear’
Morganelli said his office has dealt with threats in the past, but called the occasions rare.
“But it is a dangerous business we’re in,” Morganelli said.
For the most part, defendants understand that prosecutors, detectives and corrections officers have a job to do, Morganelli said.
“We’re doing our job. I would say 99 percent of the time, most people understand that it’s not personal,” Morganelli said.
A more than 20-year veteran at his post, Morganelli said besides routine security measures, there isn’t much a high-profile leader in law enforcement can do.
Stiffer penalties for those who threaten or assault law enforcement officials are already in place. Vigilant security is just about all that can be done to be proactive, Morganelli said.
“We just have to be careful. When threats we believe are serious are made, they have to be investigated,” he said. “But you never know what’s going to happen. I don’t have a crystal ball here. I’m not going to change my lifestyle. I’m not going to live in fear.”