JustRalph
02-02-2008, 05:25 AM
In what has proven to be two of the highest years for Police Officer Deaths, 2006-2007...........2008 gets off with a bang.............This reeks of incompetence.........by those who manage the New Orleans Police Dept.
Officer's death shocks New Orleans
Suspect beat and shot Nicola Cotton 15 times, police say
An autopsy shows Cotton was eight weeks pregnant when she was killed
Cotton was patrolling alone in her cruiser in New Orleans' deadliest district
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Hundreds of officers, some from as far away as Colorado, turned out Friday along with New Orleans residents to mourn slain police officer Nicola Cotton -- whose violent death has shaken the city.
An autopsy showed Cotton, 24, was eight weeks pregnant when she was killed.
On Monday, she stopped a man matching the description of a rape suspect, and a struggle ensued as she tried to arrest him.
The man, 44-year-old Bernel Johnson, grabbed Cotton's baton and beat her, New Orleans police said.
Surveillance video showed him grabbing her service revolver, a .40-caliber Glock, and shooting her 15 times in the head and body.
Johnson waited until police arrived on the scene and gave them the firearm.
On Friday, mourners formed a line snaking around the block as they waited to file past Cotton's flag-draped coffin.
At her funeral, friends and fellow officers remembered her as a having a huge heart.
"Few are willing to do the job Officer Cotton did, and few can," said police Superintendent Warren Riley.
A letter from Cotton's partner was read by another officer at the service. "I know I can't bring you back," it said. "I wish I could have been with you on that day."
Cotton was in the first police academy graduating class after Hurricane Katrina. She had relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, but chose to return to New Orleans, relatives said.
When she responded to the call of a possible rape suspect on the loose about 10 a.m. Monday, Cotton was patrolling alone in her cruiser.
In the wake of her death, many in New Orleans questioned why she was alone in the 6th District, the city's deadliest. There were 209 murders in New Orleans last year, many of them in the 6th District.
Police spokesman Joe Narcisse said the practice is common in the city, and Cotton did nothing wrong in approaching the suspect -- who was twice her size -- by herself.
"She was doing what we pay her to do, what we beg of [officers] to do," Narcisse said.
~more at the link~
Officer's death shocks New Orleans
Suspect beat and shot Nicola Cotton 15 times, police say
An autopsy shows Cotton was eight weeks pregnant when she was killed
Cotton was patrolling alone in her cruiser in New Orleans' deadliest district
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Hundreds of officers, some from as far away as Colorado, turned out Friday along with New Orleans residents to mourn slain police officer Nicola Cotton -- whose violent death has shaken the city.
An autopsy showed Cotton, 24, was eight weeks pregnant when she was killed.
On Monday, she stopped a man matching the description of a rape suspect, and a struggle ensued as she tried to arrest him.
The man, 44-year-old Bernel Johnson, grabbed Cotton's baton and beat her, New Orleans police said.
Surveillance video showed him grabbing her service revolver, a .40-caliber Glock, and shooting her 15 times in the head and body.
Johnson waited until police arrived on the scene and gave them the firearm.
On Friday, mourners formed a line snaking around the block as they waited to file past Cotton's flag-draped coffin.
At her funeral, friends and fellow officers remembered her as a having a huge heart.
"Few are willing to do the job Officer Cotton did, and few can," said police Superintendent Warren Riley.
A letter from Cotton's partner was read by another officer at the service. "I know I can't bring you back," it said. "I wish I could have been with you on that day."
Cotton was in the first police academy graduating class after Hurricane Katrina. She had relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, but chose to return to New Orleans, relatives said.
When she responded to the call of a possible rape suspect on the loose about 10 a.m. Monday, Cotton was patrolling alone in her cruiser.
In the wake of her death, many in New Orleans questioned why she was alone in the 6th District, the city's deadliest. There were 209 murders in New Orleans last year, many of them in the 6th District.
Police spokesman Joe Narcisse said the practice is common in the city, and Cotton did nothing wrong in approaching the suspect -- who was twice her size -- by herself.
"She was doing what we pay her to do, what we beg of [officers] to do," Narcisse said.
~more at the link~