VIDEO: Palm Springs Chief at Fallen Officers' Memorial: It's Time to Stop Ignoring "Red Flags"
At Tuesday’s memorial for two slain Palm Springs, CA, police officers, the city’s police chief gave this powerful speech:
Good morning.
I say ‘good morning’ because, although we are all gathered here today because of the tragic loss of peace officers Gil Vega and Lesley Zerebny, today people throughout our country will learn how wonderful these two Palm Springs guardians were, the way they lived and what they left behind.
My heartfelt condolences go out to Lesley’s husband, Zach, their 4-month-old daughter Cora and the entire Zerebny family, Lesley’s father David, mother Luanne and her extended family.
My heartfelt condolences go out to Gil Vega’s wife, Susana, your 9-year-old daughter Vanessa, Gil’s seven adult children, and the entire Vega family.
The city of Palm Springs and the Palm Springs Police Department appreciate the time that all of you have taken out of your lives to come to our wonderful city to support the families of our fallen heroes and our police department.
It is my understanding that we have agencies present from throughout the United States, so I will start off with providing you with an understanding of our police department and our community.
We are allocated 96 sworn officers, 41 non-sworn support staff. We have a permanent population just shy of 50,000 that can double on any given day given that our city is a very popular tourist destination.
The city subscribes to the belief that the people are the city. “Like no place else” is our brand. We have an office of neighborhood involvement that coordinates the effort of 42 organized neighborhoods within the city limits of Palm Springs. Two officers, a sergeant and a lieutenant are assigned to every single neighborhood. We attend quarterly, bi-annual and annual meetings.
We have a tremendous relationship with our community and our local tribe, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Our police department has a Citizens Police Academy, LGBT Outreach Committee, Police Advisory Board, and we collaborate with the Human Rights Commission to create equality for all who live, work and visit this great city.
We do not experience much gang-related crime, and we did not experience any homicides this entire year – up until this tragedy. So, with all this in place, how does such a tragedy occur in such an environment with so many people working together every day to make this city a better place for all to enjoy.
All I can say is this: The threat to law enforcement throughout our country is very real. No community is exempt to such a tragedy.
The subject – and I say subject because I refuse to identify him by name. He doesn’t meet the definition of a man in my book, so therefore I will proceed with subject. The subject responsible for this tragedy grew up within Palm Springs, attended our schools and lived a life of criminal behavior.
On Oct. 8, he murdered two of our officers and injured a third. What a very troubling time this is in that the moral compass has shifted to the degree in that a subject such as this one chose to arm himself with a rifle and murder officers simply because they responded to a call for service regarding a family disturbance
Enough is enough.
Our law enforcement brothers and sisters throughout the country are growing tired of this unacceptable behavior. People need to start taking responsibility for their own households and stop ignoring the signs of escalating violent behavior.
Interrupted by applause.
Start paying attention to the red flags that are evident in all tragic events. The Pulse Nightclub Tragedy in Florida. The terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. The murder of our Palm Springs police officers and countless other tragedies. They all had red flags that could have been brought to the attention of local law enforcement before it escalated to these levels.
For example, reading some of the Facebook posts of this subject responsible for the assassination of our officers, clearly depict – in my mind – a ticking time bomb. His friend was contacted by a local news outlet and quoted as saying "He was known to do drugs and carry weapons." When asked about the killing of our officers, we was also quoted as saying "Believe me, it don’t surprise no one that knew him."
Quit ignoring the signs. Give a call to local law enforcement and give them the opportunity to address these subjects before it turns tragic. Keeping the community safe is a shared responsibility.
Now more than ever, our officers are trying to maintain peace and order during some of the most difficult times in policing history. We need to work harder with our communities to identify potential threats, because if we do not, we will continue to see grieving families. Children left behind without a mother or a father. And forever-changed police officers who are growing tired of these senseless acts of violence.
I want to take the time to address the Palm Springs Police Department retirees seated to the front right hand side of our room. Retired chiefs, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, detectives, officers and non-sworn staff – as you might imagine, I have a good understanding of the circumstances our officers found themselves in on Oct. 8. I understand their approach, their reaction when they are fired upon, their tactical movements in an effort to re-position, cover each other, assess the threat and engage in a fierce firefight, develop a plan to extract downed officers and subsequently arrange for the transport of the three injured officers.
The majority of this occurred with line-level officers that ranged from Officer Vega’s 35 years of experience to an officer that just completed the field training program and, in fact, he was on his fourth day on his own. No one of the officers had a SWAT background, yet every single officer responded in the same manner – as a team. Tactics were on point. Decisions were quick. And they were all in, until the end. That says an awful lot about our field training officers and our line-level supervision and preparing our field personnel to address to most dangerous situations they can possibly face.
Sit there proudly knowing that we all walk in the footsteps of those who came before us. And know we all now walk in the footsteps of two heroes of our chosen profession.
Shortly, you are all going to hear from family and friends of Officer Vega and Officer Zerebny, You are going to learn that they are far more than police officers. They had a family just like you. Take the time to absorb what you see, what you hear and what you feel. Make a pledge to yourself that you will do a better job in your effects to strengthen the relationships you have with those around you all in an effort to never see, hear or feel the pain that we were all experiencing today.
To all my brothers and sisters, in our chosen profession, you are all supported, you are all loved and you are all appreciated. May you be blessed, for you are trying to keep the peace in the most difficult time in the history of policing.
Transcript by the Desert Sun.
