PAX Centurion - May / June 2015

Page 44 • PAX CENTURION • June/July 2015 617-989-BPPA (2772) will not take a portion of a recovery.Your job is dangerous. Protect yourself. If you would like to discuss your insurance coverage, please feel free to contact us at your convenience. Guns And Alcohol Are Not A Good Combination T here is not much more to be said than what the caption states. Guns and alcohol are a bad combination. Guns and bars are a bad combination. It is against the law to possess a firearm while you are under the influence of alcohol. If you plan on drinking or go- ing to a bar, please leave your gun in your locker at work, or leave it secured someplace other than on your person. Buy a trigger lock to render your gun inoperable. This is just a friendly reminder as I have recently had to deal with this bad combination with several officers from several departments. I have nothing more to add than what was just said. Please think before you drink. Best of Luck Andrew Miller and Welcome Aboard Peter Pasciucco F or those of you who have come across AttorneyAndrewMiller over the last year, I am sure you realized what a great guy and what a fantastic lawyer he is. Unfortunately for us, Andrew is leaving this firm and moving toWashington D.C. to get married and to start a new career. ReplacingAndrew will be Peter Pasciucco, who many of you know from his four and a half years in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Peter is the pride of Roxbury Latin High School, a former baseball player at College of the Holy Cross, and a graduate of Emory Law School inAtlanta, Georgia. He was a supe- rior court prosecutor from the major felony bureau who also worked in the Chelsea, Dorchester, and Charlestown District Courts before running the gun court of the Suffolk DA’s office. Welcome aboard, Peter. Although I do not believe what happened in Baltimore and other cities could happen here, we all need to remain vigilant. To a certain extent, we are living in a powder keg and we are giving off sparks. We live in a crazy world and your job is not easy.You get blamed for everything under the sun and there is nothing you can do about it. Keep your head up, watch each other’s backs, and do your best to stay safe. From Anderson on page 35 The world we live in and other random thoughts… unfortunately, was caught up in the line of fire, but luckily was only grazed. We later found out the scumbag who pulled the trigger was a career P.O.S. that had a habit of shooting at cops, and not just shoot- ing… shooting to kill. This was a man, (and I use that term loosely) that BEFORE he shot John Moynihan had no morals or integrity. To put this quite simply, he is not someone we should aspire to be. He lived his life one way. To take. To take for himself and from others without remorse. I have had varying opinions on the local clergy who our Dept. work so closely with. But I believe that if the work they do with the community saves one kid from turning to gang life, then it is worth having them help these kids. But this guy? Hell no…He turned his back on the church quite some time ago. There was no clergy out- reach program for him. He didn’t want their help. There was nothing of value for him to take. He sealed his fate years ago. He chose “the game” over a life of decency and honor. If he were gunned down in a gang related shooting, he would be a yearly homicide stat; a couple of paragraphs in the Herald or Globe. But he didn’t die that way. He made his choice about how he was to punch out and pick up his pitchfork quite clear. At the time of this writing, it’s been a week since John was shot and I have heard a hundred times that the video of the shooting prob- ably stopped a lot of protests and second guessing. As true as that is, it’s also total horse shit. It seems to me that the main reason why the angry mobs died down was not so much about having a “good video,” as it is that a cop was was shot. Not in the leg or the arm, but in the face! There’s your pound of flesh, Ladies and Gentleman. Now I’m going to throw a “what if” at you. I’m sorry. I know we all hate what if’s. But, let’s change two things from the shooting scene, while everything else stays the same. #1. John saw the gun being raised toward his head and knocked his arm away sending the slug into the stratosphere and not into his eye socket. #2. NoVideo. John’s Dept. picture would be on the news just the same, just not in the way we saw it this past week; as a hero. Make no mistake, his friends and family and fellow Officers would stand with him. But everybody else? I’m not so sure. How John has lived his life up to that point compared to howWest had lived his life would not have mattered in the eyes of the media or the protesters.Yes, the facts would come out. The truth would come out as well. But would the damage be done? Last summer’s events in Missouri were manipulated by half truths and outright lies. When the truth was finally revealed, it was too late. The damage was most definitely done. Looters filled the streets, burned buildings and caused havoc. Many hard-working people had to watch their life’s work literally go up in smoke. A movement based on a lie was born. T-shirts were printed up and no one cared when the sameAttorney General, who helped fan the flames, said there was nothing to charge DarrenWilson with. Where was DarrenWilson’s video? There was none. There were only facts. But that’s not enough to feed the wolves. As of this writing, John is recovering from surgery that removed the bullet that almost ended his life. He will most likely be replaying that car stop in his head for the rest of his life. He will have sup- port from his friends and family as well as his fellow Officers. But I believe his core values and his character will play the most vital part in his recovery. From Things on page 29 Things we have to deal with… Attention To all members of the Boston Police Relief Association – Active Duty or Retired If you need to change your beneficiary or you are not sure of who your beneficiary is you can contact the relief office at 617-364-9565. If you leave a message your call will be returned and if necessary the paperwork will be sent out to you. Thank you. William F. Carroll, Clerk, Boston Police Relief Association