TIME TO REINSTATE COURT WATCH

Do you remember the tragedy at Columbine High School eleven years ago?

Recently, three miles from Columbine, in Littleton, Colorado, a
32-year-old gunman opened fire in the school parking lot with a rifle.

He hit two students and was taking aim at another when he was tackled
by a math teacher who pinned him to the ground.

The two students are recovering in a near-by hospital. Jefferson
County Sheriff Ted Mink is praising teacher David Benke as a hero.

British Columbia's Cariboo has its own hero/sheepdog in a Williams
Lake school teacher who tackled a student who had discharged a
handgun on a school bus.

And of course we have Port Alberni's sheepdog Dennis Galloway who put
the brakes on an armed bandit bent on killing Galloway and his wife.

Port Alberni has another sheepdog, a teen who told her parents and
they successfully warned Washington State police of a planned school
shooting she discovered on Facebook.

Brewster, Washington Police Chief Ron Oules said they arrested 17
year old Charles Mustoe, a Brewster High School teen and seized a
number of firearms.

Mustoe planned the attack for April 20th, the 12th anniversary of the
Columbine shootings.

What about the men and women we pay to be our daily sheepdogs?

They put their lives on the line with little if any gratitude.

Then to heap insult onto a thankless job, the justice system doesn't
back their actions with punitive jail time for offenders. Recently,
Cst. Ryan Wilton, a Kamloops RCMP officer, was working a drug
undercover operation when a teenager stuck a sawed-off shotgun in his face.

Garret Getz, 18 pleaded guilty to robbery with a prohibited weapon
and received four years.

Four years for attempted murder of a police officer.

Court documents showed that Getz placed the shotgun to the officer's
head and told him to hand over the $7,000 the officer brought to the
drug deal, or he'd be shot.

The Mountie's cover team arrived quickly. Getz tried to flee and was
taken down by the Cst. Wilton.

None of us can put ourselves in Wilton's position, but try for a moment.

Think of staring down the barrel of a shotgun knowing your life will
soon to be over.

Then the table turns and you have control of the shooter. What would you do?

Court documents indicate that prosecutor Sheri Mark and defence
attorneys jettisoned a charge of attempted murder of a police officer
and the mandatory minimum five year gun related sentence agreeing,
"The minimum prison term is the appropriate penalty."

Really?

Tell that to Cst. Wilton. Better yet, tell that to the Wilton's family.

Is it time to reinstate the Court Watch program where citizens sit in
on deliberations and sentencing then publish the results with the
intent of embarrassing both the justice system and legislators into
mandatory minimum sentencing?

Getz was given a lecture by Justice Robert Powers telling Getz he was
lucky to be alive and should mend his ways or else face death by drug
trade or more jail time.

RCW would like to know what offence would warrant more jail time than
attempted murder.

Watch Courage in Red on Thursday nights. RCW welcomes your input at
www.ruralcrimewatch.com