Tom Weitzel has spent most of his grownup life interested by what occurs when a police officer is attacked. For the previous 15 years, he has pushed one particular concept: that the on-duty homicide of a police officer ought to mechanically turn into a federal crime, investigated and prosecuted by federal authorities, and eligible for the demise penalty. He believes the stakes are nationwide, not simply native.
For Weitzel, this isn’t summary coverage. Practically 4 a long time in the past, he was shot within the line of responsibility throughout what ought to have been a routine in a single day patrol in Riverside. He was three years into the job and didn’t talk about it a lot earlier than retirement.
“This alteration is urgently wanted to make sure consistency throughout the nation and to ship a transparent message that assaults on regulation enforcement won’t be tolerated,” stated Weitzel, the retired Chief of Police in suburban Riverside.
His proposal is simple. A federal “go workforce,” modeled on the federal authorities’s response to airplane crashes, would take over investigations instantly when an officer is shot within the line of responsibility.
“Federal businesses just like the FBI, ATF, U. S. Division of Justice, and others can be tasked with taking on the investigations for the homicide of a police officer within the line of responsibility and bringing all of the sources, experience, and evidence-gathering consultants to bear,” he stated.
In Congress, the closest parallel is the “Skinny Blue Line Act,” launched within the Home in January. It has not moved out of committee. The invoice would make the homicide of cops, firefighters, and different first responders a capital federal crime.
In the meantime, violence towards regulation enforcement continues at elevated ranges: the Nationwide Fraternal Order of Police experiences 285 officers shot nationwide this 12 months by October, in comparison with 300 on the identical time final 12 months. That’s nonetheless far above pre-pandemic ranges — and Illinois is tied for tenth place, with 9 officers shot this 12 months.
A scorching night time in 1987
It occurred round 3 a.m. on a scorching August night time in 1987. He approached a automobile parked dealing with the flawed means, its home windows tinted so darkly that even his flashlight couldn’t penetrate them. As he walked behind the car, the rear door opened and a person rolled out. Then he heard the sound of a shotgun being racked.
“The following factor I do know, he shot me,” Weitzel stated. The power of the impression threw him backwards, and he hit his head on a automobile bumper as he fell to the bottom.
Lower than a minute later, he regained consciousness and realized his radio had damaged. He crawled again to his squad automobile and used its radio to name for assist. Birdshot pellets had torn into his vest and torso, leaving him with damaged ribs, inner bleeding, and an eye fixed damage. Six weeks later, he was again at work.
“If you’re working, you don’t need to dwell on that, and I didn’t need that to outline my profession,” he advised the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark.
Investigators ultimately decided that Weitzel had stumbled upon three members of a Chicago road gang who had been planning to hold out a theft. They escaped that night time and weren’t linked to the capturing till eight years later, when one in all them tried to commerce info throughout a weapons-trafficking case. By then, the statute of limitations had expired.
“That was very heartbreaking to me that we couldn’t prosecute the offenders,” Weitzel stated.
He pushed to vary that regulation, too. Working with the late Sen. Judy Baar Topinka, he efficiently fought to remove the statute of limitations for tried homicide of a police officer in Illinois.
The federal marketing campaign has been tougher. He has written to 2 presidents and a number of senators over time.
“I wrote a letter on March 7, 2011, to Senator Dick Durbin… however obtained no reply; it went nowhere,” he stated. “On August 21, 2022, I wrote a letter to (then President) Joseph Biden… however, once more, no response.”
Just one individual ever acknowledged him.
“Regardless of quite a few letters and outreach… solely President Trump has responded to me, even when within the type of a letter,” he stated. “His acknowledgment underscores the significance of this problem and the necessity for federal consideration.”
Weitzel believes the dialog round policing has contributed to the local weather officers face.
“The rhetoric from some political leaders that undermines regulation enforcement should cease,” he stated. “Such phrases contribute to violent criminals feeling empowered to assault cops and resisting arrest, fostering an surroundings of lawlessness.”
He additionally recounts tough dealings nearer to house.
“I argued with [former Cook County State’s Attorney] Kim Foxx when one in all my officers was injured… [Prosecutors] refused to file a felony cost because of no hospital keep, which isn’t the regulation, a felony evaluation [prosecutor] hung up on me.”
To him, the ask is straightforward: cops ought to have nationwide, uniform safety, and their deaths ought to set off the strongest doable response.
“The women and men who serve our communities deserve the strongest doable protections,” he stated. “When an officer is murdered… it’s an assault on the rule of regulation itself.”
He helps the demise penalty for these convicted. He believes the menace issues. And he believes the necessity is pressing.
“Prior to now 8 days, 11 cops have been shot in America, with 4 dropping their lives,” Weitzel stated Sunday on Twitter. “In the event you consider there is no such thing as a want to vary how we dehumanize police… you’re flawed.”
“I’ve been engaged on this for 15 years. And whereas I’ve heard loads of ‘Nice concept, Chief” with no motion, I genuinely consider we’re nearer than ever to creating it actual.”
Tom Weitzel is lively on X, previously Twitter, at @chiefweitzel, Tiktok at @chiefweitzel, and Substack.
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