Saturday, November 26, 2011

Officer's Widow Sues Manhattan Beach and El Segundo

It was tragic enough that a police officer died during the funeral honoring another peace officer who had passed away.

It is unscrupulous, offensive, and perverse for the living family members to then sue the cities for negligence for improperly training the other officer involved in the tragic accident; and to sue the cities for negligence in planning and the executing the funeral ceremony.

I am deeply saddened that so accidental a tragedy as the death of a police officer occurred during what should have been a fully organized -- and ultimately routine -- service.

However, an extensive lawsuit will not bring Officer Andrew Garton back to life, nor will an unjust civil prosecution undo the unforeseen individual carelessness that killed Officer Garton and irreparably harmed Sergeant Rex Fowler.

Manhattan Beach is now facing three major lawsuits from disgruntled former employees or their families. Since when did possessing wealth and efficient government automatically give unhappy litigants the right and opportunity to file lawsuits when things have not gone their way? With all due respect, the Garton lawsuit is one more example of lawsuit abuse looking for deep pockets to pilfer. This action serves no one and mars the memory of a peace officer who served capably for many years.

I cannot express this enough: the whole Garton affair is sad enough, but to use this tragedy as a pretext for a multi-million dollar lawsuit against an entire city and its community members -- this is just reprehensible and unconscionable, not to mention dishonoring to the man whose life was untimely cut short.

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