DATE OF INCIDENT: July 17, 2012

Transcription

1 OFFICER NAME: GOODSON, Jeremiah DATE OF INCIDENT: July 17, 2012 LOCATION: CIRCUMSTANCE(S): Lumberton, NC OFF-DUTY ARREST TRAFFIC STOP ABOUT THE OFFICER 33-year-old Master Police Officer Jeremiah Goodson had six years of law enforcement experience. He grew up in the same community where he served as a police officer. Officer Goodson had previously been assigned as a school resource officer, but had spent the past three years in the department s gangs division. He was recalled as an exceptional police officer and an even finer man. His uncle said: He had a genuine desire to see everything better than what it was. I want people to see him as more than a police officer who went above and beyond the call of duty. I want people to see him as a father, brother, son and friend absolutely nothing was more important to him than his family (D. Goodson, as quoted in Rockett, 2012). Officer Goodson was the first Lumberton police officer killed by gunfire in the line of duty since 1936 (Oberfelt and Kumala, 2012). He left behind a pregnant wife, a 16-year old son, and a 2-year-old daughter. Earlier in the morning on the day he was killed, Officer Goodson had taken his wife to the hospital in the early stages of labor, but she was not yet fully dilated. She gave birth to their son, Josiah, eight days after his father was killed. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE INCIDENT At around 11:00 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, off-duty Officer Jeremiah Goodson stopped at the Save More gas station on Fayetteville Road in Lumberton. While at the station, Officer Goodson spotted Marques Brown a suspect he knew to be wanted inside a parked black Honda with a 113

2 gray door (Rockett, 2012). Officer Goodson called on-duty officers to respond to the scene to assist him in making an arrest of Brown. He then waited for backup to arrive. The officer who received a call from Officer Goodson radioed the information to other officers: Check on a subject we might have 29s on subject s name is Marques Brown. He s wearing an orange t-shirt. Off-duty officer has eyes on him (as quoted in Rockett, 2012). The two officers began driving towards the location when the suspect left the location to drive north, followed by Officer Goodson. While enroute to Officer Goodson s location, one of the officers confirmed that Brown had five active warrants. After traveling about one mile, the suspect and Officer Goodson pulled into a Shell station. The first officer to arrive to assist Officer Goodson was Officer Ronnie Hayes, who radioed that he was on scene, but was waiting for a truck to clear the entrance so he could turn in (Rockett, 2012). Five seconds later, an unidentified officer shouted into the radio: Shots fired! Shots fired (as quoted in Rockett, 2012). Officer Goodson was shot four times by the suspect, including twice in the chest (Rockett, 2012). ABOUT THE SUSPECT Marques Brown, 27, was a local man with a lengthy and violent criminal history who was wanted on five outstanding warrants at the time of the shooting. Brown had a history of resisting arrest and assaulting police. When an off-duty officer approached him in a gas station parking lot, he opened fire, killing the officer. A cover officer took Brown into custody at gunpoint without further incident. The suspect was not injured. HISTORY OF THE SUSPECT MarquesBrown,27, hadalengthycriminal history. Marques Brown was a North Carolina native who had attended Lumberton High School. It is not clear whether he graduated, but he began his criminal activities in 2003, when he was just eighteen years old. 114

3 In 2005, Brown was sentenced to state prison for two years on a breaking and entering charge. Following his release, he was transferred to Federal prison in 2007, serving three years on charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of stolen goods. Brown also had several charges of probation violation, contempt of court, burglary of a motor vehicle, and larceny of a motor vehicle (Overfelt and Kumala, 2012). In 2010, Officer Goodson arrested Brown for possession of a firearm by a felon and carrying a concealed weapon (Rockett, 2012). In April 2011, Brown failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued for his arrest. In December, Brown was arrested in nearby Columbus County under an alias name of Marcus Brown for reckless driving, fleeing to elude arrest, and driving without a license. Brown s Facebook page showed him pointing a gun at the camera with the caption reading: Salute me or shoot me (as quoted in Overfelt, 2012). At the time of the incident, Brown was wanted on the following warrants: failure to appear (two counts), receiving stolen property, obstructing an officer, and assault on a government official (Overfelt, 2012). Just before the shooting occurred, Brown was sitting inside a parked black Honda. One account reported that the vehicle Brown was traveling in contained a child strapped in to a car seat in the backseat (Brown, 2012). It is likely that Brown was being driven around by another unidentified subject. Brown and his companion had stopped at a convenience store when Brown was spotted inside the parked car by off-duty Officer Goodson. DISPOSITION OF THE INCIDENT After shooting Officer Goodson multiple times, the suspect remained inside his vehicle. A 911 caller chronicled what happened next: I m at the Shell station on Fayetteville Road. Somebody s been shot. He s on the ground bleeding (as quoted in Rockett, 2012). Officer Goodson had been mortally wounded. When asked for a description, the 911 caller stated: I don t know. He s bleeding. I think he s dead (as quoted in Rockett, 2012). 115

4 Officer Hayes kept the suspect Brown at gunpoint until other officers arrived. Brown was taken into custody without further incident. Officer Goodson was transported to the hospital, but did not survive his injuries. Two shots had struck the officer in the chest, one of which entered the officer s aorta. After conducting the autopsy, the medical examiner refused to identify the location of the other two shots: The other two I would rather not talk about for the family s sake (Dr. R. Johnson, as quoted in Rockett, 2012). It is likely that both of the additional wounds were execution-style head shots. During his interrogation, Brown stated he did not know that Officer Goodson was a police officer. However, investigation revealed that Brown had had a previous encounter with the officer he murdered. Officer Goodson arrested Brown in 2010 on charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and carrying a concealed weapon (Rockett, 2012). On the day after the shooting, the district attorney announced he would seek the death penalty for Brown (Overfelt, 2012). DISCUSSION Officer Goodson made a surprising discovery on his day off. Stopping at a convenience store, he looked into a nearby vehicle and saw an offender who was well-known to him, a former arrestee who had warrants. The officer knew he didn t want to attempt to take down the offender by himself. Calling for assistance, he followed Brown s vehicle until cover arrived. Officer Goodson did everything right in this incident. Why did Marques Brown kill Officer Goodson? The answer may be more complex than it appears. Obviously, Brown did not want to return to custody and was willing to resist arrest in the past. However, let s examine his statements for clues as to his state of mind during this incident. He stated that he did not know that Officer Goodson was a police officer. Is this possible? Perhaps the answer is no. But, if the answer is yes, then perhaps Brown saw Officer Goodson as just another man, like himself. Seeing an armed man rushing towards his vehicle, Brown acted with extreme violence. He thought he was in grave danger and used lethal resistance. Does race play a factor in the interaction between officers and suspects? Let s look at this comparison: In 2011, of the fifty-seven officers who were feloniously shot and killed: Fifty were Caucasian (87%); 116

5 OfficerWilliamTorbitJr. (EOW1/10/2011)was killedinafriendlyfire incidentwhilewearing plainclothes. Four were Hispanic (7.0%), Two were African-American (3.5%); One was an American Indian (1.7%). Nearly half of the cop-killers who used firearms were Caucasian (45.6%), nearly matched by the number of African-American shooters (43.8%). Thus, the most common incident in 2011 involved the killing of a Caucasian law enforcement officer by a Caucasian offender (45.6%). The second most common incident involved the killing of a Caucasian law enforcement officer by an African-American offender (43.8%) (Bumbak, 2012). Thus, as we consider the role of race, we should recognize that the prevalence of black shooters killing black officers is actually quite rare. 16 In fact only two incidents in 2011 involved a black officer and a black shooter. 17 However, no black officers were murdered by other race offenders in 2011 or Let s also consider another incident involving plainclothes: the death of Baltimore Police Officer William Torbit, Jr. Officer Torbit responded to an assist call at a nightclub where a large crowd had gotten out of hand. He approached a woman in the parking lot who was creating a disturbance and told her to leave. A man who witnessed this exchange took offense to the officer s tone. He and a group of men confronted Officer Torbit, who told the men to leave. The assailants then attacked the officer, knocking him to the ground and beating him. All of the individuals involved in this incident, including the officer were black. When he drew his police firearm and fired in self-defense, Officer Torbit was killed by gunfire from uniformed officers who did not realize he was a police officer. Although Officer Goodson was clearly the target of the shooter s rounds in this case, the same race-based judgment may have played a role in his shooter s overreaction. The perception by the offender that Officer Goodson was like him may have led to his decision to use extreme violence. Like many cop-killers, the offender in this case was a career criminal who had to be constantly aware of the risks of his profession, the threat from other criminals and those whom he had 16 ItshouldbenotedthatOfficerCelenaHollis ablackfemaleofficerinthisyear sstudy wasalsokilledbyblack shooter. 17 These2011incidentsinvolvingblackshootersandblackofficerswerethemurdersofOfficersDarylHalland CliftonLewis. 117

6 betrayed or stolen from. Yet, despite their vast differences in character, the two men were close in age and of the same race. This exact quality a sameness between the officers and offenders that was perceived by the offenders was seen in five line-of-duty deaths in 2011, involving American Indian, Hispanic and black officers. Specifically, in addition to the case of Officer Torbit, the following cases illustrate this trend: Officer Daryl Hall, 34, was off-duty and shot at by a 30-year-old male. When Hall returned fire, killing the man, he was in turn shot and killed by a club bouncer, who did not know he was a police officer. All of the men involved were black. Officer Rolando Tirado, 37, was off-duty working an extra job when he confronted a 27- year-old male, who shot and killed him. Both were Hispanic. Sgt. Darrell Curley, 48, was shot by the 48-year-old father of a domestic violence arrestee. All of the men involved were American Indian. Officer Clifton Lewis, 41, was off-duty working an extra job when he was shot by a 29- year-old male during a robbery. Both were black. Thus, the risks to black and Hispanic officers are much higher for off-duty or plainclothes incidents involving suspects of the same race or ethnicity as the officer. Based on the evidence presented here, officers of color should be more vigilant when confronting offenders of color, not only because the history of the perception of sameness as playing a factor in the deaths of police officers who are in plainclothes, but also because they are more likely to be killed by a member of their own race in a line-of-duty incident. In the past two years, the same principle has been true with white officers, who were more likely to be killed by white suspects. TRAINING IMPLICATIONS Taking action when off duty is a difficult balancing act. Although we often perceive ourselves as 24-hour-a-day representatives of law and order in every situation, those whom we may confront may not be aware of our innate role as law enforcement agents. We must always weigh the risks of injury with the need to apprehend. When involved in reporting an action that requires police intervention, an off-duty officer should remember that his top Plainclothesandoffduty enforcementcanberisky. 118

7 priority is to ensure that uniformed officers are the ones who will take all enforcement action. Unless there is an imminent threat to life, off-duty officers should serve as support personnel only. Consider yourself as a pair of additional hands and eyes, and a trained witness, but do not place yourself in harm s way as the primary officer who makes contact with the offender. Without the benefit of our protective equipment such as a vest or long guns, we are quite exposed to risk of harm, especially from an armed suspect. Departments should maintain policies regarding off-duty and plainclothes enforcement that protect officers from injury. An off-duty or plainclothes officer should always defer to uniformed, on-duty officers, identifying himself clearly to ensure no friendly-fire incident occurs, and keeping his firearm in the holster unless circumstances dictate otherwise. When off-duty or in plainclothes and at the scene of an evolving situation like an arrest, remain in a position of cover unless absolutely necessary. There will be an opportunity for you to assist on-duty officers once the suspect has been taken into custody safely. We must teach officers to be extra vigilant about their personal safety when off-duty or in plainclothes. REFERENCES Brown, T. (2012, July 18). Man accused of killing Lumberton police officer had child in car. Retrieved on November 5, 2012 from Bumbak, A. (2012). Teen cop-killers: a comparative analysis of age, race, gang affiliation, criminal history, motive, and circumstances in the firearms-related deaths of six police officers. Unpublished dissertation. Overfelt, A. and Kumula, T. (2012, July 18). City officer shot dead. The Robesonian. Lumberton, NC: McClatchey-Tribune Business News. Overfelt, A. and Kumula, T. (2012, July 18). Britt will seek death penalty in case against accused cop killer. The Robesonian. Lumberton, NC: McClatchey-Tribune Business News. Rockett, A. (2012, July 19). Robeson County DA to seek death penalty for man accused of killing Lumberton police officer. The Fayetteville Observer. Lumberton, NC: McClatchey- Tribune Business News. Rockett, A. (2012, July 28). Officials release 911 calls in Lumberton officer s shooting. The Fayetteville Observer. Lumberton, NC: McClatchey-Tribune Business News. 119