On a night when most were celebrating the end of 2016 and the beginning of the new year, two families in central Pennsylvania were grieving the loss of their loved ones.
One is the family of 23-year-old Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Landon Weaver, who was gunned down on a domestic violence call near Raystown Lake in Juniata Township, Huntingdon County. A recent graduate of the academy and a newlywed, Weaver earned a degree in criminal justice from Indiana University of Pennsylvania prior to enlisting with the state police in December 2015.
The other is the family of Jason Robison, the 32-year-old man who allegedly murdered Weaver. Father. Artist. Convicted criminal with a record that included prior assaults, arson and other crimes. A recent posting on Robison’s Facebook page shared his view that “the only good cop is a dead cop.” Robison was shot and killed during his attempted capture which followed the manhunt after the shooting of Weaver.
Two young men, both from small towns in central Pennsylvania, and both with their lives ahead of them. Two very different paths that intersected with a deadly and horrific ending.
How did each of these men end up on the receiving end of a bullet which ended their lives and likely destroyed the lives of the family and friends who love them?
Our relationships with and our perceptions of police officers have a lot to do with the place from which we get to view the world.
As a 50+ year old, white female, my perception of police officers is that of a resource for help. The time we thought someone was breaking into our house, the police came to help. The time my baby was choking, the police officer arrived before the ambulance. There have been times that we’ve needed to engage the police at Penn State out of concerns for a student. The times I’ve locked my keys in my car, been involved in a car accident or witnessed someone else doing something he shouldn’t have been doing — the police have been there to help.
And then there are the different encounters. Driving down the interstate and hoping the cop didn’t “catch me” going over the speed limit. The time I got pulled for running a red light. The stories of local police pulling kids over using lights and sirens for the crime of riding a skateboard. Even then, when I was doing something I shouldn’t have been doing, I didn’t feel compelled to assign the blame for that to the police officer who caught me doing it. The police officers with whom I have had interactions, even when I wasn’t happy with what would likely be the outcome, were polite and respectful.
For those who aren’t 50+, female and white, interaction with the police — or their portrayal at times in media and online accounts — aren’t always as positive.
We hear stories of profiling and baiting and small towns and big cities where corruption within police departments has become almost an accepted practice. There are YouTube videos of police officers not only overreacting but seemingly fueling the fire of the anti-police movement. There are clips of police shootings that on the surface seem wholly unnecessary played endlessly on the news.
In any profession – from nurses to teachers to doctors to university faculty members – there are many people who perform their jobs earnestly, with honesty and integrity. There are also those exceptions who skirt the rules, take short cuts and misuse their power.
In spite of the bad apples, the police are who we call when we need help. They keep us safe and maintain order. Without order, there is chaos.
With only limited details about the alleged shooter in the incident last weekend, it’s easy to speculate on the roots of Jason Robison’s views about police officers. A troubled but talented young man who began showing signs of concern while still in high school, one wonders about his home life, his childhood, his life experiences, what he went without. I wonder about his mental health or possible drug use, and what seemed like an evolving and escalating anger at the world, seeded in frustration with his inability to be successful or to find peace. Criminologists and other social scientists can almost predict criminal behavior created by similar circumstances. Feeling out of control and powerless, his perception may have been that those with power to have negatively impacted his life, creating the anti-cop sentiment that the media fed for the last several years. This can be understood, but not excused.
But the story in this is Trooper Landon Weaver, a young man who stepped up to take the risks that are inherent with the role of a police officer. Like firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and those who serve in the military, Weaver prepared for and accepted a position that would serve his community – a community not far from where he grew up – with a potential significant risk to his health and safety.
A young adult with less than a year of experience, he didn’t have time to develop a hard shell of disdain or prejudice or over-reach of his power that the media attributes to cops gone bad. To the contrary, his teachers and friends and neighbors say he was the type of person who would help anyone. He was alone on a domestic dispute call, those that my friends in law enforcement will tell you can be the most dangerous.
One man, ready to serve, newly trained and alone. Did it all happen so fast that he didn’t have time to feel scared and alone? Were his last thoughts of his family?
Another man, angry and alone. Were his thoughts of anger or were they, too, of the small child that he was leaving behind? Was it suicide by cop?
In a small town in Pennsylvania this past weekend, police officer shootings have now found us. My thoughts and prayers go out to Trooper Landon and his family, friends and colleagues. There is no greater sacrifice.
When is it going to stop?
