[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 182 (Monday, December 7, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12613-S12614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       LAKEWOOD POLICE SHOOTINGS

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, tomorrow will be a somber and very 
difficult day in my home State.
  That is because tomorrow, just over a week after the single worst act 
of violence against law enforcement in Washington State history, police 
officers from across the State and Nation, heartbroken Washington State 
residents, the community of Lakewood, WA, and the families of the 
victims of last Sunday's brutal attack on four police officers will 
gather to say goodbye.
  Tomorrow's memorial for the four officers killed on the morning of 
November 29th will begin with a procession that leaves from just steps 
away from the coffee shop that was the site of that senseless and 
cowardly attack.
  An attack in which four officers were targeted solely because they 
were in uniform, solely because they had sworn to protect their 
community.
  The procession will then weave its way through that very community--
Lakewood, WA, a community that has been devastated by this tragedy, a 
community where these four officers were original members of their 
police force--and were loved and respected by their colleagues and the 
people they served.
  Along the way, the procession route is expected to be lined by 
thousands of Lakewood residents and by all those who have been so 
deeply affected by this tragedy from throughout my State.
  At the Lakewood Police Department the procession will stop to pick up 
the families of the fallen officers--families who together now include 
nine children left without a parent--families whose grief is hard to 
imagine.
  The procession will end at a service that is expected to be attended 
by more than 20,000 law enforcement officers from every corner of my 
State and from throughout the Nation.
  It will be an emotional end to a week that has rocked my home State.
  It will also be farewell for four police officers who devoted and 
ultimately gave their lives to protect others.
  Law enforcement is not for everyone. In fact, it takes a special kind 
of person to be willing to wake up each day--motivated and ready to be 
the line of protection between dangerous criminals and our 
neighborhoods and people.
  But in the case of Sergeant Mark Renninger and Officers Gregory 
Richards, Tina Griswold and Ronald Owens it is easy to see where they 
got that motivation from.
  When you hear their life stories, it is clear that, to a person, 
these were officers who beyond all else, were dedicated to family; 
officers who knew that the work they did protected those they love and 
families just like theirs.
  In a telling quote this week, a fellow Lakewood officer described his 
fallen colleagues by saying that they were executed because they were 
cops, but that none of them saw their lives that way.
  Instead he said they saw themselves first and foremost as family men 
and women.
  For these four police officers any reminder of just how critical the 
duties they performed each day were came when they went home each 
night.
  Officer Greg Richards leaves behind a wife and three children. He was 
an 8-year veteran who served in the Kent Police Department before 
joining the Lakewood department.
  In memorials he has been described as a glass-half-full guy, someone 
who made things better for the people around him. His wife Kelly has 
talked this week about his passion for music, his job and of course his 
family.
  Officer Tina Griswold leaves behind a husband and two children. She 
was a 14-year veteran who served in the police departments in Shelton 
and Lacey before joining the Lakewood police force in 2004.
  She stood 4 foot 11 but as her colleagues have said many times--she 
wouldn't back down from anyone. She was a member of the riot response 
team, a hard-charging officer and mom who loved her job and her family.
  Officer Ronald Owens leaves behind a daughter. Owens followed his 
father into law enforcement and was a 12-year veteran who served on the 
Washington State Patrol before moving to the Lakewood Police 
Department.
  He has been remembered as spending almost all of his off-duty time 
with his daughter--attending all of her school

[[Page S12614]]

functions, riding bikes together, and treating her to nights out 
whenever he could.
  Sgt. Mark Renninger leaves behind a wife and three children. He was a 
veteran, who wore the uniform of the United States before putting on 
the uniform of the Tukwila Police Department in 1996. He joined the 
Lakewood Police Department in 2004.
  He was an Army Ranger and has been described as having the kind of 
natural leadership abilities that put other officer at ease in 
difficult situations.
  He was a SWAT team trainer known for an enthusiasm for his job. But 
he was also remembered this week for the joy that family brought him--
whether it was trips to Mariners games or family vacations to Mount 
Rainier.
  This was a senseless and brutal killing--and it specifically targeted 
the people who sacrifice each day to keep all of us safe.
  This terrible crime has not only left the families of the victims 
shattered, but it has shattered our sense of safety and left an entire 
community in disbelief.
  It was also part of a shockingly violent month for my State's law 
enforcement community that has also included a senseless attack on 
October 31 which killed Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton and left 
another officer--Britt Sweeney--injured.
  These attacks remind all of us of the incredible risks our law 
enforcement officers take each day, and that even when doing the most 
routine aspects of their jobs, our law enforcement officers put 
themselves on the line for our safety.
  Already this year more than 100 police officers across our country 
have given their lives while serving to protect us.
  Each of these tragedies sheds light on just how big a sacrifice our 
police officers make in the line of duty.
  But these most recent attacks in my home State also offer an 
important reminder that our officers are always in the line of duty, 
even when they are training other officers, out on routine patrols, or 
simply having coffee.
  There is no doubt that these senseless attacks have left many law 
enforcement officers across my State and our country feeling targeted. 
But there is also no doubt that their willingness to put themselves on 
the line to protect us will continue unshaken. That is a testament to 
the commitment they make to serve and protect us every day, and it 
should remind all of us that these brave men and women deserve all the 
support we can provide to keep them safe.
  As my State prepares to say goodbye to these four heroes, I again 
extend my condolences and the condolences of the entire Senate to their 
families.
  Our law enforcement professionals put themselves between us and 
danger every day. Right now, in light of such horrible events, we hold 
them even closer in our own thoughts and prayers.

                          ____________________