Thousands Mourn 4 Slain Oakland Cops

(CBS/AP)  Thousands of mourners gathered with the families of four slain Oakland police officers for a joint funeral Friday that drew law enforcement officers from around the world.

Officers Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai were remembered for their dedication to their families, friends and a gritty job they loved despite the dangers.

Police said Hege and Dunakin were gunned down March 21 when the two motorcycle officers pulled over a 26-year-old parolee during a traffic stop. Romans, Sakai and the parolee died later in a shootout when the city's SWAT team stormed an apartment where the man was hiding.

The violent confrontation was the biggest single day, gun-related loss of life for law enforcement since four federal agents died 16 years ago during a raid on the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas.

The officers' caskets were draped in American flags and shepherded to the Oracle Arena that passed under a giant U.S. flag held up by two fire truck ladders as they entered the parking lot. Among those speaking at the service Friday were Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and state Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former Oakland mayor.

A spokesman for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said the mayor was attending the service, but was asked not to speak by at least one family of the victims. Paul Rose said he did not know which family made the request or the reason.

Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said at the start of the service that the officers were "our brothers."

"They rest in peace, because they were men of peace," he said.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama thanked the officers in a letter read by Oakland police chaplain Jayson Landeza, saying: "Our nation is grateful for the men and women who work in law enforcement. Their commitment to their fellow man will never be forgotten."

(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Oakland police officers salute as the caskets of four slain police officers are brought into the Oracle Arena.

New York City Police Lt. Tommy Ng, who attended the ceremony, said the tragedy brought back memories of Sept. 11. He said he was not surprised by the outpouring of support for his colleagues in Oakland.

"When one of us is hurt, all of us are hurt," Ng said before the service. "We're all brothers."

Minneapolis Police Sgt. Steve Blackwell said he and three other officers drove from Minnesota to the service in Oakland, even though they didn't know the slain policemen.

"It's a national tragedy, so it cuts pretty deep," Blackwell said. "We want to let the people of Oakland see that we care. I hope that this city finds strength from this tragedy to move ahead."

Oakland streets were being patrolled by other law enforcement agencies to allow the city's officers to attend funeral services, reports CBS Station KPIX. All 815 members of the Oakland department have been given permission to go to the ceremony.

Oakland police officer John Wilson, a 25-year veteran of the force, said he knew the four slain officers and promised that their memories would live on.

"They made the ultimate sacrifice," Wilson said. "They will never be forgotten."

[jwesel1]

I have known many police officers, and seen many sides of the law, and I can assure you that the vast, vast majority of them are good and decent human beings, with one of the toughest and most thankless jobs that exist.
Posted by searingtruth at 2:34 PM : Mar 27, 2009
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What's so tough about standing on the side of the road and pointing radar guns at other cars?

[v22forever]

The cost to taxpayers for these police funerals is staggering. In a time, especially in California, where we can't make the budget balance and our kids are suffering with lack of school funding, each and every Tom, Dick and Harry community police department has sent officers to this and other police funerals at a great cost to the taxpayers.
I know the police will complain about an insensitivity to their fallen brother, but the fact of the matter is that soldiers are sent to war zones and get paid a lot less than police. When Soldiers are fatally wounded, the taxpayers don't have to pick up the tab for sending thousands of soldiers and sailors from every unit of the military plus vehicles to their funerals.

The police know the hazards when they sign up. They are trained for this stuff. If that isn't enough, then they should resign, because there are plenty of people out here who would take their jobs without this feeding at the public trough.

[aziridine]

One has to wonder whether this tragic incident would have happened at all if officers in Oakland hadn't set a precedent by shooting Oscar Grant while he was handcuffed, lying face down and outnumbered 4 to1. When officers send the clear message that "If we arrest and handcuff you, you can expect to be shot in the head, execution style", as they have in Oakland, you can't blame the offender for believing that would happen to him an panicking.

The scary thing about the Oscar Grant case was the way in which the executing officer displayed no emotion as he pumped the bullets into Grant's head, as though Grant were a sack of potatoes. It was the kind of a coldblooded act automatic act that results from an institutionalized conviction that such acts are proper.

I don't know if these officers held such beliefs, but the fact is officers in Oakland gave Mr. Mixon reason to believe that they did when they were high-fiving and laughing down at the station house over Oscar Grant's execution.

[omnibus66]

"Thousands Mourn"

Sadly, those thousands consisted mostly of other cops and their families, not ordinary citizens. More and more, cops are getting the reputation of being trigger happy bullies, and many would probably wrongly say that they got what they deserved.

Most likely these slain cops were the good guys, and this is indeed a tragedy. However, police departments need to work a lot harder at reestablishing the principle that they are there to "protect and serve".

[rssllbll55]

I can say that I don't feel all that bad about these guys. I know for a fact that the Califorina penal system sucks. I also know that a judge has order Califorina to make changes in its prison system. To many prisoner in not enough prisons. So what you have is this revolving door. Some go to jail and, then there's the ones who are getting out.
Not having had any kind of rehab while in prison. I'm sure most get out with a major attitude problem.
This guy who did the shooting in this matter was released for a reason. And the reason was to kill those officers. It was nothing that you or I could have done to prevent this thing from happening.
People die everyday, and someone out there is wondering what they could have done to prevent it.
Nothing!!, there is and was nothing that could have been done. Everybody that was involved in this shooting was there because they were suppose to be there.
Did these officers loose their lives for nothing. Probably. Will anything really change as a result of this incident? I doubt it. Will another officer be shot in the line of duty? Most likely yeah. Is there anything that we can do to prevent it from happening. NOPE!!!
This is a very imprefect world we live in. People die everyday, some for reason,s many of us can not understand, some from old age, some because they just get tired of living.
I say do something about the overcrowding conditions in Califorina prisons first. Try to incorporate a rehab program in these institutions. You know, think about it. How many citizens in america have been shot and killed by police officers for know reason other than the fact that one man believed that another man or boy deserved to die!!!

[sincity_q]

@JoetheDumbass

LOL at all the idiots who think that guns kill... and people are inanimate objects.

[keithle1]

America will NEVER be gun free. Not in a trillion years. Dream on. Far too late for that. You can't get rid of them. Nothing you can do. USA isn't Japan. Never will be.

No one likes to see law enforcement people getting shot & killed. Drug dealers killing other drug dealers doesn't bother me in the slightest so long as civilians don't get killed.
No tears here.

[JoetheDumbass]

LOL @ all the redneck skinheads that get so hurt by the guncontrol/peace comments.

[ranger1948]

NETJUNKIE1
Your wrong, England allows its citizens to own shotguns for sporting purposes.

[ranger1948]

NETJUNKIE1
You are wrong. English citizens are allowed to own shotguns for hunting purposes. I spent three years stationed in England.