Page 1 - FINAL WEST FOP BlueNote 2017 July August
P. 1

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 12
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                     12
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 12

   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                    14

    On 3/19/13 his location was changed to Caledonia Correctional under medium security                                         Trivia!                   17
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                      19

                                                                                                                                2017 Memorial Service

                                                                                                                                Information               21

                                                                                                                                First Attempt at Major
                                                                                                                                Overhaul of Retirement
                                                                                                                                Benefits Has Begun 23

                                                                                                                                Use of Force Develop-

                                                                                                                                ments: U.S. Supreme

                                                                                                                                court Issues unanimous

                                                                                                                                Force Decision Favoring

                                                                                                                                Officers                  25

                                                                                                                                Local Lodge News 27

                                                                                                                                Photos from the National

                                                                                                                                Peace Officers’ Memorial

                                                                                                                                Service                   29

                    The Voice of Law Enforcement
   1   2   3   4   5   6