Mother Of Fallen Yarmouth Police Sgt. Calls For Change
YARMOUTH (CBS) - The pain is still fresh and raw about three weeks after Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon was killed in the line of duty, but his mother says she feels an urgent need to speak out.
"Sean wouldn't expect me to do anything less than speak to do the right thing," said Denise Gannon. "So it doesn't have to happen to anyone else. Enough, enough. Fix it."
Only weeks after the K9 officer was shot to death, allegedly by career criminal Thomas Latanowich, another man with a record allegedly shot a Maine Sheriff's Deputy to death last week. "We said, here it is again, again, again, and it's going to happen again, and again," Gannon said.
She has been in touch with Cpl. Eugene Cole's family, and says they have this same question. "If you've committed a violent crime not once, not twice, not three times, but many times, then why are you not sentencing them to heavier sentences?"
Gannon had met his accused killer before. WBZ's I-Team obtained court audio of him testifying against Latanowich last year, but the charges were dropped when the alleged victim backed out.
"Sean wasn't a person to bring the job home, but every once in a while he would allude that the system is broken," his mother said. "I said Sean, what do you think is the cause for the escalation? And without hesitation he said, 'It all starts with family.'"
She's calling for families to teach respect, and for the public to pour resources into police protections like cameras for dogs, and helmets for officers. "If Sean had worn a helmet, he might be alive," she said.
