If bashing the police were a sport I'd give The Democrat a trophy for their coverage of the recent officer involved shooting. I'm very disappointed in the way the Democrat handled the entire series. First their printing of a Web story just an hour and half after the shooting when they only had preliminary information was certainly less than professional journalism and more like what one would expect from a grocery store tabloid than a respected newspaper.

Secondly, in my opinion allowing their company Web site to be used by anyone with a computer and a modem to post nonsensical theories only fuels discontent. I've read these articles and the numerous Internet postings filled with laughable "what ifs" or "if it would have been me I would have …" for far too long. Things like he should have shot him in the shoulder, ankle, leg or other extremity of your choice; or he should have Tased him or pepper sprayed him. I believe the only good thing The Democrat did was to print the Missouri State Highway Patrol report in its entirety

The Highway Patrol has concluded its investigation, the prosecutor has called the shooting justified and the Sedalia police chief has reinstated the officer. Mr. Morgan was a convicted felon, arrested for 19 felonies, according to the patrol's report, and who died in the commission of yet another violent felony. He came at an armed police officer in an aggressive manner with a deadly weapon. Cook was justified in shooting Morgan; there was no Taser for him to use and he couldn't get to his pepper spray in time.

Frankly pepper spray's effects are not always instantaneous and don't always work. Had the officer holstered the gun and grabbed the spray he most likely would have been stabbed by Morgan and it would be Cook's family mourning, not Mr. Morgan's.

The local FOP Web site lists the names of 16 officers killed within 30 miles of Sedalia.

Don't fool yourself, it can happen here as well.

To those who suggested aiming for the leg, arm or shoulder, I'd say read more and watch less TV. In a critical incident you lose your fine motor skills; aiming at an extremity requires those motor skills and time and there was no time.

  

In a critical incident you lose your fine motor skills; aiming at an extremity requires those motor skills and time and there was no time.

Mark Moore   

A person when confronted with someone trying to take his or her life responds instinctively. For a police officer that instinct is honed from hours of training on the range. It's on the range where officers train to shoot center mass and that is what Cook did. Police officers don't train to shoot at extremities because they train to shoot only as a last resort to stop a deadly encounter. Aiming at an extremity doesn't guarantee to stop a life-threatening event; aiming center mass usually does.

To those who suggested that the officer could have backed up or run away, have you ever tried to run backwards and defend yourself from a forward moving attack? It's very difficult to do. As to turning and running all that would have done would have got Cook stabbed in the back or perhaps Morgan would have stabbed the woman he was threatening moments earlier.

The police are under no obligation to retreat. Moreover they have an absolute obligation to defend the citizenry.

To those who suggested a man of Morgan's age was not dangerous, according to FBI records 304 murders were committed in 2004 in the United States by offenders over the age of 60. Mr. Morgan had already proved he was capable of such acts. Nineteen felony arrests, including arrests for drug sales, violent assaults and resisting arrest should tell you something.

The Democrat was off base when it suggested a disservice was being done to the community because the ad hoc committee won't review the Sedalia Police Department's "execution" of its use-of-force policies. And while The Democrat was quick to point out the age of the policy in question in earlier stories, that doesn't mean it was never reviewed, nor is this a disservice to the community.

This policy in question, like all police policies, is reviewed on a regular basis. That includes the policy's implementation or execution in the field. There's been no change since 1992 because the policy is simply correct. Rest assured, if the same situation happens tomorrow in New York City or in another 31 years here in Sedalia, if another violent felon tries to kill another dedicated police officer in identical circumstances the result will likely be the same. Police officers are people too. Police officers have a right to live and a right to defend themselves from attack.

To those who complained he should have waited for more officers, perhaps taxes should be raised to hire more cops so the city can have twoman patrol cars. Had he waited though the headlines surely could have read, "Cop waits on street corner for backup while knife-wielding assailant kills woman."

While I truly am sorry for the Morgan family and they are in my prayers, I am thankful the Lord saw fit to allow Officer Cook to go home to his.