There Has Not Been Enough Time to Mourn… Why We Must Continue to Mourn Slain Dallas Officers
Over the last two days I gathered statistics from the United States Department of Justice and law enforcement think tanks, statistics on gun violence, statistics on black on black violence, statistics on gun violence in America and other industrialized nations. This is not my first rodeo; I have written countless journalistic articles and opinion pieces about gun violence in America – I have traveled to and spent Mother’s Day in Washington several times when my kids were young to cover the gun crisis in America.
I stood side by side with mothers of slain children, I wept with and stood beside the Columbine moms, soccer moms, mothers of the Bloods, Crips and former members of MS 13., mothers from tony neighborhoods and mothers from the South Side of Chicago. I covered gun violence and the voices of mothers from every corner of this great nation.
However, I decided this piece must not be about gun violence, it is too soon for that conversation, there has not been enough time to mourn.
After going over a behemoth stack of data including statements from our new Suffolk County Chief of Police Tim Sini, I decided now is not the time for a column for any one of the complex subjects surrounding the cold brutal murders of five fine members of law enforcement.
This column must be about the five men in blue – members of the Dallas Police Department who were heinously assassinated just eight days ago while protecting the public in the line of duty; while keeping order at a protest against police officers. It is too soon for anything else, there has not been enough time to mourn.
My maiden name is Ledden and like many Irish Catholic families, I bleed blue, we have a long history of family members in law enforcement and continue to have them at present. A distant cousin of mine was shot in Huntington Station responding to a domestic dispute several years back; a member of the Suffolk County Police Department. Thank God he recovered from his injuries.
My husband’s late father, Joe Rossi, was a Captain in the N.Y.P.D. until his retirement in the late 1970s. His Captain’s hat sits atop an antique cherry wood China Cabinet in my 1920’s formal dining room known as the Great Gatsby Room with all it’s 1920’s antiques that includes a fabulous oil rendering a Renoir’s The River Scene adorning the primary wall.
In the late 1950’s and early 60’s Chief Inspector Michael Ledden was the highest ranking officer on the N.Y.P.D. Yes, the Michael Ledden whose name my father bears and the name my older brother carries as well.
The Chief was a great man – well respected amongst his brothers in blue and the politicians running Gotham at the time. A humble man, he was of great intellect – my own father is 76 and remains quite proud to carry The Chief’s name that brings enormous pride to the large Ledden brood and all their offspring.
The President of the United States Barack Obama held a community forum Wednesday of this week, it went on for four hours – it was about race relations and law enforcement in our country. It was too soon for that, there has not been enough time to mourn.
At a memorial service for the slain Dallas officers just days ago, President Obama spoke for forty-five minutes. With grieving family members and brothers and sisters in Blue from the Dallas Police Department he spoke about problems endemic in poor communities, problems that tend to be the breeding ground for many social ills. He spoke about the need for better race relations, more money for education, better treatment for drug abuse and mental illness. It was not the right forum and it was too soon for that, there has not been enough time to mourn.
So today I continue to mourn and I continue to pray for the hearts of the families of:
Officers Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Sgt. Michael Smith and Senior Cpl. Lorne Ahrens.
It is too soon for anything else, there has not been enough time to mourn.