[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2886-S2887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING OFFICER AMY S. CAPRIO

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to mourn the loss of Amy S. 
Caprio of the Baltimore County Police Department, who was 29 years old. 
Sadly, Ms. Caprio is the first female police officer to be killed in 
the line of duty in the history of the Baltimore County Police 
Department and the 10th officer killed in the history of the 
department.
  As a longtime resident of Baltimore County and as the Senator from 
Maryland, I want to express my profound sadness and condolences to the 
family and friends of Ms. Caprio, especially her husband Tim.
  Officer Caprio was killed on Monday after responding to a call about 
a suspicious vehicle and potentially a burglary in progress in the 
Perry Hall region. According to police reports, Officer Caprio had 
ordered suspects to leave the car when she was deliberately run over by 
a suspect. It is unclear whether a firearm was discharged, and police 
are reviewing the footage from her body camera before she was killed.
  The Baltimore County police now report that they have several 
suspects in custody, including juveniles who have been arrested and 
charged as adults with first-degree murder.
  A resident of the neighborhood told the Baltimore Sun that his son 
saw the officer struck by a vehicle. Tony Kurek, 54, had just walked 
into the door of his home when his son, Dakota, shouted to him: ``Dad, 
Dad, a cop just got run over out front,'' the father recalled his son 
saying. The officer was lying in front of his house, he said. Dakota 
told his father he had seen the officer draw her gun on a black Jeep 
Wrangler and order the people inside to get out. Instead, the driver 
sped forward, ramming the officer with the vehicle. She landed about 20 
feet away. ``She basically landed almost in front of my mailbox,'' 
Kurek said.
  Let me thank the Kurek family, as well as the EMS and MedStar 
Franklin Square Medical Center staff, who rushed to try to save Officer 
Caprio's life. I know this event has shaken the Perry Hall community, 
as well as residents who were asked to shelter in place, and several 
local elementary schools were placed on lockdown during the police 
search for the suspects. I am hopeful that the Blue Alert System in use 
helped to quickly catch the suspects in this case.
  As we learn more about Officer Caprio's life, we grieve for her loss. 
According to a story in the Baltimore Sun, she served just shy of 4 
years with the Baltimore County Police Department, but she had already 
proven herself to be a dedicated officer. She was credited with 
bringing down a pair of alleged package thiefs, closing dozens of cases 
reported around the county at the end of last year. Because of her 
efforts, the department was able to recover a cache of stolen property.
  The department officials stated:

       She didn't realize she was embarking on what would become a 
     considerable investigation into holiday package thefts around 
     the eastern portion of Baltimore County. This involved 
     numerous cases being independently investigated by 
     officers in multiple precincts, and would eventually 
     result in the identification and arrest of two suspects, 
     leading to the return of a very sentimental gift.

  Officer Caprio had pieced together evidence from security cameras, 
interviewed witnesses, tracked a vehicle, and compared notes with other 
officers who were investigating package thefts in the area. She ended 
up linking two suspects to dozens of stolen package cases in the 
Parkville, White Marsh, Dundalk, Towson, Cockeysville, and Essex 
precincts. When officers found the suspects' hotel room, it was filled 
with stolen goods, including a brightly colored handmade quilt with a 
heartfelt inscription that a woman had shipped to her granddaughter. 
This quilt was eventually returned to the family.
  Closing the case earned her praise across the nearly 2,000-member 
department, and she was named the Parkville precinct's officer of the 
month in March.
  Police Chief Terrence Sheridan said:

       Officer Caprio was the type of officer that you'd want to 
     hire. She was the kind of officer that was going to go up in 
     this organization.

  Officer Caprio had graduated from Towson University in 2010 and was a 
2006 graduate of Loch Raven High School. She joined the county police 
department in July 2014. She graduated with the department's 140th 
recruit class in December 2014 and was initially assigned to the Essex 
precinct.
  The men and women of law enforcement put their lives on the line 
every day and run towards danger, not away from it. Family members 
always worry about being reunited with their spouses, parents, and 
family members at the end of the day.
  Last week, I held a delegation meeting in the Capitol with our 
Federal law enforcement officials from Maryland. I thanked them for 
their service and told them I would fight for the resources they need 
to combat crime and provide the best possible equipment and training 
for their agents. This includes providing full funding for the COPS and 
Byrne JAG Programs, which are absolutely critical to our Federal, 
State, and local law enforcement partnerships. Teamwork is critical, 
particularly when we are combating crime across jurisdictional 
boundaries.
  Last week was National Police Week. It is when we pause to recognize 
and remember those law enforcement and emergency services officers in 
Maryland who have paid the ultimate price and have made the ultimate 
sacrifice. Each spring, law enforcement takes a rollcall to solemnly 
mark the ``end of watch'' for the fallen law enforcement officers. 
Their names are then added to the National Law Enforcement Officers 
Memorial in Judiciary Square, close to

[[Page S2887]]

Capitol Hill. Carved on the memorial's walls are the names of more than 
21,000 officers who have been killed in the line of duty throughout 
U.S. history.
  Let me share with my colleagues the other law enforcement officers 
who were killed this past year in Maryland in addition to Officer 
Caprio.
  Sean Matthew Suiter, a detective in the Baltimore City Police 
Department, was shot on November 15, 2017, while attempting to 
interview a suspect during a homicide investigation.
  Sander Benjamin Cohen, a deputy chief in the Maryland Office of the 
State Fire Marshal, was killed in a traffic accident on December 8, 
2017, as he attempted to assist a law enforcement officer whose car was 
disabled on I-270. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Carlos Wolff was also 
killed.
  This year, on February 21, 2018, Corporal Mujahid Ramzziddin, a 
corporal in the Prince George's County Police Department, in Maryland, 
was killed while he was off duty and assisting a woman who was involved 
in a domestic dispute.
  Once again, I ask my colleagues in the Senate to keep Officer 
Caprio's family and colleagues in their thoughts and prayers today. We 
thank our law enforcement officers and all first responders who run 
towards danger instead of away from it. Congress should make sure that 
our officers have all of the tools and resources they need to 
effectively carry out their mission to protect and serve their 
communities and bring offenders to justice.
  I thank my colleagues.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________