(December 6, 1999) Seventeen year old Eli McCoy, a suspect apprehended by Baltimore police Housing Authority, was shot and killed about a block from his home over Thanksgiving holiday. As written in the Sun: "Witnesses said McCoy was shot while on his knees with his hands in the air." Police say McCoy looked like he was going for a weapon, although a couple dozen witnesses say otherwise. No weapon was recovered. The shooter, Officer Kenneth M. Dean III, 32, is one of the few people who Attorney General J. Joseph Curran thinks can be trusted with owning or using handguns.

The slaying of suspect Larry Hubbard while in police custody on October 9 remains under investigation by federal authorities tasked with bringing charges of civil rights violations as appropriate. The shooters, Officers Hamilton and Quick, are members of the Curran Klan too. "Poppa Joe" says you can't be trusted with guns but they can.

This isn't just Baltimore. In November, 19 year old Gary Hopkins was shot to death by an off-duty officer at a PG fire station. The FBI opened a civil rights investigation of the matter too, announcing its plan to send findings to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. The shooter in this case, a Prince George's County Police officer, is yet another of the elite fraternity whom Joe Curran thinks should be the only people allowed to own a handgun.

Okay, what's our point? We don't for a minute want to judge the entire blue fraternity by the actions of just a few. (In fact we think most of the street cops do a darned good job.) Each individual above should be treated as his own case merits. But Joe Curran's unwillingness to give us this same courtesy harms us all. He wants the misdeeds of a few to disarm everyone. We need solidarity, not Curran building an elite force separate from us peasants.