BRISTOL, Conn. (WFSB) – It’s been 18 years since an officer on duty was killed by a gun in Connecticut.
Officer Peter Lavery was killed in the line of duty in Newington on December 30, 2004.
Officer Lavery’s death is reminiscent of the deaths of Officer Hamzy and Sergeant Demonte.
“He was responding to what he thought was a routine domestic violence call. He didn’t know the guy living in the house was a former correctional officer, discharged for behavioral problems, had a range of guns, including an AR-15, and when the officer entered the house and go down to the basement. Mike Lawlor, Professor of Criminal Justice, University of New Haven.
Both incidents in which one where officers were ambushed with automatic weapons.
Lawlor says the best way to prevent the same thing from happening is to make sure officers have all the information they can.
“There are guns in the house, do these individuals have a criminal record? Is there a divorce proceeding going on? Have there been any past incidents at this address? Who else lives there? ‘ said Lawlor.
The state developed a system many years ago that police officers, who had been trained in it, could access and see if there were any big red marks.
“What I mean for sure is that if this guy doesn’t have an AR-15, the chances of three officers being shot and two of them dying are very low,” Lawlor said.
This will be heavily debated and discussed in the coming weeks, and Lawlor said he wouldn’t be surprised if there were proposals when the legislature reconvened in the spring.
“They could be more than just gun control laws, they could be reinforcing our red flag laws, providing more training for police, making sure that police have access to the kind of information they need,” Lawlor said. . “It’s going to affect the way they do their job and it’s going to make them more likely to be on the lookout for any reaction.”
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