The city buried another NYPD officer this week, the second son of Queens to die among the four policeman gunned down in the past 11 months.
Officer Randolph Holder, who immigrated 12 years ago to Far Rockaway, was on patrol in East Harlem when he was shot to death as he investigated gang shootings in a housing project. It was one of the most dangerous NYPD assignments.
Holder, 33, shared his Queens experience with Officer Rafael Ramos, 40, a resident of Glendale since childhood who was assassinated in Brooklyn in December. Officer Wenjian Liu, 32, died with Ramos as they sat in their patrol car. Like Liu, Holder felt an obligation to serve his adopted country. Liu was born in China and Holder in Guyana, but the immigrant dream burned bright in both young men.
And Holder, a third-generation police officer, shared that heritage with the fourth victim, Officer Brian Moore, 25, who was killed in Queens Village in May and came from a proud NYPD family.
Their four paths converged in a heart-breaking kaleidoscope of lives wasted at the hands of aberrant criminals. The multiple reflections of young men from vastly different cultures dedicating themselves to keeping fellow New Yorkers safe and following in the footsteps of their fathers were shattered.
Lawmakers and pundits have tried to assign blame for the killings: stop-and-frisk reforms, hostility toward cops after Eric Garner’s death and Congress’ aversion to tougher gun laws
Now add to the debate bail and drug courts.
Tyrone Howard, Holder’s accused killer, has a rap sheet that includes more than a dozen drug arrests and jail time. But the drug addict and dealer was never convicted of a violent crime, although he was arrested last year as part of a drug gang.
When Howard was arraigned, the judge set bail at $35,000, presumably in the belief that he would not be able to raise that sum. Under state law the judge was not allowed to weigh whether Howard was a danger to the community. Setting bail was the judge’s only tool.
But Howard made bail and as a nonviolent offender was deemed eligible for drug court, where he was sent to treatment, not prison. He missed court dates and was on the lam when the shooting occurred.
The state’s bail system must be overhauled to take into account the threat dangerous criminals pose to the community. On the other hand, Howard was the wrong person in the right program that has rehabilitated many drug abusers across the state.
This is small consolation to a city which has been greatly diminished by the loss of these four officers.
