The below column appeared in the South Philadelphia American on August 29, 1996:
Tragedy often brings out both the best and worst
in people. Following the sirens last week, I came upon the scene of an accident
at 22nd Street and Snyder Avenue a little after 9 p.m.
As most of you know from the intense media
coverage, two police cruisers racing to an "assist officer" call
collided, spiraled up on the pavement and killed Lemore Rich, 28, and his
7-month-old son, Lemore, Jr.
Rich lay in the street as a crowd gathered on both
sides of the avenue. A group of men helped lift one of the police cruisers off
of the critically injured man, who subsequently died. The baby stroller lay
crushed on the pavement as testimony of the great force of the crash. The child
was rushed to Children's Hospital where he too died.
There were those in the growing crowd who wanted
to help, like the nurse who offered her services to the police and rescue
personnel, but most people just stood there, gazing and commenting on the utter
tragedy of a deadly accident.
The print and electronic media vultures were
quickly on the scene, which includes, I must admit, yours truly. The press,
notebook or microphone in hand, chatted up the crowd about the accident and
their particular take on the event. The accident would be the top story for the
10 and 11 o'clock TV news broadcasts and the frontpage story for the two daily
newspapers the next day.
While the police waited for the accident
investigators to come to the scene, they tried to maintain crowd control. The
police spread yellow tape from one side of the avenue to the other and a
handful of onlookers attempting to get a better look at the carnage were told
to get back - several times.
Some young thugs gathered around, looking and
hoping for trouble. A retired detective who said he had 27 years on the job,
remarked that the police ought to remove Rich's body from the street.
"They should just draw some chalk around it
and move it," he said a few minutes prior to the body being taken away
when the accident investigators arrived on the scene.
The mothers in the crowd appeared to be the most
affected. They no doubt identified closely with the child's mother, who had
survived the accident, but lost her child and the child's father.
Adding to the circus atmosphere was a drunk,
bloated and slovenly poor excuse of a Dean Martin impersonator, replete with
cigarette in his left hand and a cocktail in his right. He staggered about
Snyder Avenue, muttering senseless obscenities. The accident brought out all of
the neighborhood characters for a good viewing.
Most of the racially mixed crowd of onlookers
grieved equally for the victims, but race came into it for some. I overheard
one man say, "5-0 will cover it up, that's for sure."
Another commentator added, "They just
run over black people."
But I saw two of the injured police officers being
taken away to the hospital and the shocked and saddened look on their faces
belied the type of callus racism some in the crowd would have you believe. One
of the officers was crying softly,
Inspector Bruce Forstator, the commander of the
South Police Division, later remarked that it will be tough for the officers to
carry this with them for the rest of their lives. Deputy Police Commissioner
Richard Zappile, a South Philadelphia native who grew up on Snyder Avenue about
a dozen blocks east of the accident, said that investigators would be looking
at whether the officers were within the guidelines of the department.
The police driving "Bible" is Directive
45, "The Safe Operations of Police Vehicles." The policy reads:
"High speed vehicle pursuits are possibly the most dangerous of all police
activities. the safety of innocent citizens, involved police personnel and
suspects must be paramount when an officer becomes involved in a pursuit. The
most important reason for an effective pursuit policy is to protect life and
property - the basic police mission."
Having been out on patrol a good number of times
with police officers in their cruisers in several police districts throughout
the city, I've rode along on hot pursuits and high speed responses to 911
calls. I've witnessed some good, safe driving from the officers, who are under
intense pressure to quickly get to the scene of a crime. I've also witnessed
the stupidity and arrogance of some drivers and pedestrians who don't quickly
give way to the lights and sirens of the police cruiser.
In this case, the officers were responding to an
assist officer call, the highest ranking call in the 911 system.
People often complain that the police don't
respond quickly enough, and then when an accident like this happens they are
quick to complain about the reckless driving of the police.
Let's wait for the accident report to see if the
officers were truly at fault.
Note: The officers involved were later cleared of wrongdoing.
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