Fatal police shootings have Greater Fall River officers 'in a stage of alertness'

For years, law enforcement officials have warned of criminals becoming more violent and reckless. Combined with widespread resentments over racially-charged police shootings of unarmed black men across the country, many police officers see their jobs becoming more dangerous.

Police officers across the country this year have been shot while serving warrants, responding to domestic violence calls and even while eating lunch.

“It makes you realize it can happen at any time in any place,” Westport police Detective Jeff Majewski said Thursday, a day after Cpl. Eugene Cole, a sheriff’s deputy, was shot and killed in central Maine.

“We have an expression; that basically you’re in ‘Code Orange’ all the time,” Majewski said. “You’re always in a stage of alertness.”

For years, law enforcement officials have warned of criminals becoming more violent and reckless. Combined with widespread resentments over racially-charged police shootings of unarmed black men across the country, many police officers see their jobs becoming more dangerous.

“This general dislike of police makes it more unsafe for officers,” Majewski said.

In 2018, the dangers of police work have reached tragic levels. According to figures compiled by CNN, 21 law enforcement officers in the United States were shot and killed in the line of duty in the first 17 weeks of this year.

That averages out to one police officer a week being killed.

“It’s happening every week, somewhere in the country,” Fall River police officer Mike Pereira said.

This past week, officers were killed in Texas and Maine. On April 12, Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon was shot and killed while serving a warrant on Thomas Latanowich, a 29-year-old man with a violent criminal history.

“Really, how are we going to prevent it when someone is so hell-bent on doing something like that?” said Pereira, who added that officers more than ever have to be aware of their surroundings and present a good “command presence.”

“The officer has to be vigilant at all times,” Pereira said.

Law enforcement officers have long accepted the risks that go with police work. That something bad, even tragic, could happen is in the back of the officers' minds as they go about the work of policing their communities. But recent events have cast those concerns in sharp relief.

“It’s always been part of the job. Now over the past few years, it’s come to the forefront in the officers’ minds. They’re more mindful of it,” Fall River police Chief Al Dupere said in describing the resentments toward law enforcement and the risks to officers’ lives.

While adding that anti-police sentiment seems to be rising in many parts of the country, Dupere said he sees the community in Fall River as still being very supportive of its police department.

“People who don’t break the law have always been very supportive of us,” Dupere said.

Pereira attributes many of the recently deadly attacks on civilians and police officers to mental illness, adding that people who ambush others "can't be mentally stable." Pereira said the Fall River Police Department responds to and documents every call related to mental health.

"We're very service-oriented," he said. "We get a lot of calls about mental health service, on the daily."

With more people with mental health illnesses in the communities, Dupere said police officers have to not only help refer those individual to services, but also must be aware of their surroundings as they respond to 911 calls.

"They can't take anything for granted," Dupere said. "They have to be aware of the location of a call, what they see when they're approaching the call, to watch out for things that don't look right. You absolutely have to be aware of your surroundings at all times, especially when you're out in uniform and answering calls, for the safety of the public and your own personal safety."

Majewski added that "there have to be consequences" for people who resist arrest and fight back against police officers. A charge of assault and battery on a police officer is a misdemeanor, unless a serious injury happens to the officer. Majewski echoed the sentiments of other law enforcement officials who believe that the courts are too lenient in allowing dangerous criminals with violent records to walk the streets.

"If they are doing violent offenses, they need to be held accountable, especially if they attack police," Majewski said. "Those offenses need to be taken seriously, otherwise people will do them time and time again. And that's what we see."

Email Brian Fraga at bfraga@heraldnews.com.