2 N.E. Lawmakers Call For Hearings On Officer’s Slaying

A series of apparent failures in the probation and parole system, which contributed to the death of a Philadelphia police officer, has prompted two Northeast Philadelphia legislators to call for coordinated hearings on what went wrong.

Yesterday State Sen. Mike Stack called for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing into the events preceding the murder of Officer Moses Walker.

“The system designed to protect the men and women who protect us failed,” Stack said. “This is unacceptable. Officer Walker’s family and colleagues deserve a prompt and full examination of what happened and reasonable assurance that it won’t happen again.

“We need action now so that other police officers on duty and in the line of fire are not put into jeopardy as a result of systemic failures.”

At the same time, State Rep. Brendan Boyle announced he will host the House Democratic Policy Committee for a Sep. 19 public hearing in Philadelphia on this case. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m., with the exact address to be determined.

“This type of lapse in procedure is absolutely unacceptable. The heartbreaking death of Officer Walker, a crime that could have been prevented, is a stark example of that,” Boyle said. “With this hearing, my colleagues and I hope to find some answers about how this could have happened and ensure that the necessary steps are taken so that something like this never happens again.”

Officials from the Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole are expected to testify at the House Democratic Policy Committee hearing.

Rafael Jones, a career criminal with a violent history, was paroled a year ago after spending four years in prison on a gun charge. Months later, he was back in jail charged with armed robbery. Two witnesses, however, failed to show up to testify in the case and, two weeks before Walker was killed, a judge released Jones with the condition that he wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Because the house he was supposed to live in did not have a phone line, Jones was not given a monitoring bracelet and tested positive for marijuana a week after the judge has ordered zero tolerance for positive drug tests.

“We should ask the Board of Probation & Parole as well as other respected experts to weigh in as to why this happened and how we can prevent these breakdowns in the future,” Stack said.

Stack’s letter calling for the Senate hearing said Pennsylvania “cannot, and should not allow criminals such as Rafael Jones to roam the streets, harm our brave law-enforcement officers and attack our constituents.”

The system failed and a police officer lost his life, Stack said, and that “should never happen. Action needs to be taken now so that repairs can be made and future tragedies prevented.”

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