I'm usually a supporter of the police. But, that support really gets strained when one of their members kills a friend. Actually, I met Eric Hammock only once through one of his relatives, so I can't really call myself a friend. But, he struck me as a very likeable fellow and not one to pick fights.
The funeral service today was a pretty good mixture of grief and disbelief. It was a church funeral so there was much reference to religion as a possible source of answers to the unanswerable. The slide show put tears in a lot of eyes. And, one of the preachers summed it up nicely by describing the family's experience as a kick in the chest.
Here's the story, as reported by Ryan Myers in the Midland Reporter-Telegram [bad link, sorry]. Eric Hammock was driving back to his home in Midland after visiting his sister in Arkansas. In Fort Worth, he was alleged to have driven into and out of an area guarded by an off duty police officer. The off duty officer chased him in his personal vehicle and apparently caused Eric to stop his car and begin running on foot. The off duty officer caught up with him and struggled with Eric. Apparently, some other officers arrived and someone shot him multiple time with a Taser. And, according to the article "Hammock was stunned at least once more by a different officer using his Tazer [sic] in stun mode, which requires touching the device to the subject..." The result of all of this was Eric's death.
Where should we start? Was the off duty police officer in uniform? What efforts did he make to try to convince Eric that he was a police officer? When civilians are confronted by non-uniformed individuals in Fort Worth claiming to be police officers who want to put us in hand cuffs, what the heck are we supposed to do? Don't look to the Fort Worth Police Department for an answer to that last one.
Since the off duty officer was using his personal vehicle then we can assume that there is no video tape recording of this incident. And, here's an interesting quote from Mr. Myers' article: "[Lt. Dean Sullivan, spokesman for the FWPD] said Hammock was not within the waste treatment facility long enough to steal any property." So, here we are left with a bunch of unanswered questions.
Then there's the Taser. Goodness gracious. How many deaths have to occur before this particular invention will cease to be sold as a "non-lethal weapon?" Check out this quote from Mr. Myers article "[Sullivan] noted this is the second death to occur in police custody following the use of a Tazer [sic] gun."
Of course we can't judge all police officers by the actions of one or even a few. In most cases they are well intentioned people who sincerely want to help others.
But, this whole thing was indeed a kick in the chest.
Thank you soo much finally someone who doesnt make my dad sound like a jerk because he wasnt he was the greatest dad ever. i loved him more than anything and he was awesome i jus hope those police officer know what they did to our family. He didnt deserve to be killed, but he is in a better place now. Thank you again for being positive.
Brittani Hammock
Posted by: brittani hammock | April 18, 2005 at 09:07 PM
Brittani,
My heart goes out to you. I wish life had a rewind button so that we could go back and change the outcome of things like this. But life keeps going forward, and the best that we can do is try to live with the tragedies and make the most of the good things that come our way.
My most sincere condolences to you and your family in this time of tragedy.
George
Posted by: George | April 19, 2005 at 01:23 PM
Dearest Brittani,
I know your dad was a great guy. He was kind, handsome man. He had a kind word and a smile for everybody.
What happened to your daddy was wrong.
I am sorry that someone your age has had to be directly related to such a miscarriage of justice.
You are old enough to take a stand and testify to what heartache the needless death of your dad has brought to your family.
Stay smart, stay in school and take the initiative to testify and make known your experience in the hopes that someone will eventually listen...and they will, but you will have to make the decision makers listen and not let them forget until this problem is fixed.
You can't bring your dad back but you can make sure this stops happening.
Make sure everyone knows your story and that Eric's death does not become a forgotten statistic until the next kid's dad dies needlessly.
You are young and smart enough to make a difference.
Forgive, but stay mad.
Posted by: old friend | April 23, 2005 at 06:21 PM
Brittani,
Check out this website and make sure everyone you know reads these stories about the inappropriate use of tasers.
http://www.infowars.com/subject_archives/ps/tasers_archive.htm
Posted by: old friend | April 23, 2005 at 06:44 PM
"this whole thing was indeed a kick in the chest" that's so cruel!
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