Page 1 - FINAL EAST FOP BlueNote 2017 July August
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Fraternal Order of Police
BlueNote
Official Publication of the North Carolina State Lodge
Volume 3, Issue 28 www.ncfop.org July/August 2017
The Story of an Angry Father Inside This Issue
By Bob Clark – Guest Contributor Chaplain’s Corner 5
This is the story of a father who has held in a tremendous amount of anger and frustration Directory 5
for the last 10 years, holding most of it in and dealing with it the best he could. It all started
on April 1, 2007 when his son, Officer Sean Clark, a member of the Charlotte-Mecklen- BlueNote Info and
burg Police Department, was ambushed along with his partner Officer Jeff Shelton. Deadlines for 2017 5
Both died from their injuries not having time to draw their weapons to defend them- Message from 7
selves. Both officers, Jeff Shelton 35 and Sean Clark 34, were married but Sean, had a President by Randy
wife and three and a half year old son. His wife was seven months pregnant with their Hagler
second son at the time of his death. From that day on, Sean's father and the lives of both
families were changed forever. Twin counties Law En-
Almost four years went by before the accused came to trial. During that time, there forcement memorial
were many mental evaluations, mental incapacity hearings, and various other evaluations.
At no time did the accused speak a word, not even to his lawyers, let alone give anexpla- Service 9
nation as to why these officers were killed. Then the death penalty was reduced to life in
prison without parole by the presiding judge due to a serious paperwork error. More anger Retiree Budget Items
and frustration. Now Before Speaker
and President Pro
Finally, now the trial and justice will be served, but that was not the case. There never Tempore of Senate 11
was a reason given for these killings and the man accused still has not said a word to
anyone except his relatives. Various antics and gestures throughout the trial toward the State Treasurer
witnesses, police officers and family members did not help the situation.
Conduct- ing State
Almost two months passed before the trial was finally over. The verdict was two con-
secutive life sentences without parole. Not what the father wanted but accepted it knowing health Plan Dependent
that was the worst he could get.
Eligibility Verification
On 9/30/10 after conviction, the murderer was sent to Central Prison in Raleigh under
maximum security until being processed to a permanent location, which the father was Audit 11
told would be Bertie Correctional. On 10/30/10 this transfer was done. Yet once trans-
ferred to a permanent location his status was changed from maximum to medium security PBA’s Effort to Gain
with no notification given to the families. Even after several attempts to find out howand Seat on Standards
why his status was changed, they still have no answers for that either. Commission Fails 11
The father has verified that paperwork filed with the court, stating the families would National convention
be notified of any change in status or location, had been done, but the victims’ families
were never notified. Update 13
On 3/19/13 his location was changed to Caledonia Correctional under medium security Trivia! 15
with no notification. On 8/13/15 his location was changed to Pender Correctional under
medium security with no notification to the families. On 2/9/17 still another change in FOP Weighs in on
location under medium security with no notification.
Omnibus Bill Change
Continued on P. 3
Date 17
2017 Memorial Service
Information 19
First Attempt at Major
Overhaul of Retirement
Benefits Has Begun 21
Use of Force Develop-
ments: U.S. Supreme
court Issues unanimous
Force Decision Favoring
Officers 23
Local Lodge News 25
Photos from the National
Peace Officers’ Memorial
Service 27
The Voice of Law Enforcement