Searching areas of homeless hangouts happens regularly here in Nashville for perpetrators of crimes and while there's nothing really wrong with that, sometimes police get a bit on the aggressive side and conduct what really might be considered "sweeps" of an area, running everyone's ID in the process.
Not sure of the Constitutionality of this, although in the case of the man who shot the police officers, it's certainly expected, since cop killers threaten the overall authority of law enforcement and therefore are typically dealt with swiftly and forcefully in order to regain the power of the authority of the State.
Interestingly enough, as I write this, TV breaking news is saying that "police have fatally shot the man wanted in connection with the killings."
Police search homeless hangout for killer
LAKEWOOD, Wash., Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Police searched an area near Seattle's Dr. Jose Rizal Park Monday, looking for the suspect in the shooting deaths of four police officers, officials said.
Police moved their search for Maurice Clemmons to an area known as a commune for the homeless known as "The Jungle" after calling off a search near the University of Washington Medical Center once they learned a matter of mistaken identity prompted the medical center sweep, officials told The Seattle Times.
Four officers were shot and killed Sunday morning as they worked on their laptops at Forza Coffee Co., a coffee shop popular with police in Parkland, about 40 miles from Seattle. The two officers shot were "flat-out executed," and the other others died trying to stop the suspect, Pierce County, Wash., sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.
The victims were identified as Sgt. Mark Renninger, and officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold and Gregory Richards.
An arrest warrant charging Clemmons with four counts of first-degree murder was issued, Pierce County Sheriff's Office, the lead investigating agency, said in a statement posted on the county's Web site.
Clemmons "has a gunshot wound and is armed," a sheriff's office release said. "Suspect knows law enforcement is looking for him and should be considered dangerous."
A $125,000 reward was posted by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Crime Stoppers, the sheriff's department said.
Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar said the four officers who died were original members of the community's police force that was founded in 2004.
"They were good people. they were great officers and we will miss them very much," Farrar said during a news conference.
Motioning to the police officers and city officials behind him, Farrar said the department was coping by being on the job and "working hard. ... There's no doubt in my mind that this person will be brought to justice."
Lakewood Mayor Douglas G. Richardson said officials' priorities were to comfort the families of the victims as well as the police department "and the pursuit of the individual responsible for this heinous crime."
Clemmons, who has a lengthy criminal history in Arkansas and Washington, was released from jail in Pierce County a week ago. He was facing a charge of raping a child, the Times said. Family members described him as being in a deteriorating mental state.
Police moved their search for Maurice Clemmons to an area known as a commune for the homeless known as "The Jungle" after calling off a search near the University of Washington Medical Center once they learned a matter of mistaken identity prompted the medical center sweep, officials told The Seattle Times.
Four officers were shot and killed Sunday morning as they worked on their laptops at Forza Coffee Co., a coffee shop popular with police in Parkland, about 40 miles from Seattle. The two officers shot were "flat-out executed," and the other others died trying to stop the suspect, Pierce County, Wash., sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.
The victims were identified as Sgt. Mark Renninger, and officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold and Gregory Richards.
An arrest warrant charging Clemmons with four counts of first-degree murder was issued, Pierce County Sheriff's Office, the lead investigating agency, said in a statement posted on the county's Web site.
Clemmons "has a gunshot wound and is armed," a sheriff's office release said. "Suspect knows law enforcement is looking for him and should be considered dangerous."
A $125,000 reward was posted by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Crime Stoppers, the sheriff's department said.
Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar said the four officers who died were original members of the community's police force that was founded in 2004.
"They were good people. they were great officers and we will miss them very much," Farrar said during a news conference.
Motioning to the police officers and city officials behind him, Farrar said the department was coping by being on the job and "working hard. ... There's no doubt in my mind that this person will be brought to justice."
Lakewood Mayor Douglas G. Richardson said officials' priorities were to comfort the families of the victims as well as the police department "and the pursuit of the individual responsible for this heinous crime."
Clemmons, who has a lengthy criminal history in Arkansas and Washington, was released from jail in Pierce County a week ago. He was facing a charge of raping a child, the Times said. Family members described him as being in a deteriorating mental state.
