Editorial: Police officer's death should be beginning of reform

9:32 p.m., Saturday, July 26, 2008

At first the slaying of a missionary-turned-police officer in downtown Fort Myers in the dead of night led us to wonder from the heart how and why bad things happen to good people in seemingly peaceful communities.

We ponder the tragic impacts to his wife and three children, to which the extended Southwest Florida community has responded with an outpouring of cash and prayers.

We are compelled to examine the immigration and criminal justice system that contributed to the paths of Abel Arango, 27, and Fort Myers police officer Andrew Widman crossing in a violent encounter that left both dead.

After surveying the evidence of a criminal justice system that at various documented times since 1998 had Arango on its radar or in custody, it is clear that all systems failed.

Public records show that Arango, following a Naples armed robbery conviction, had been ordered deported back to Cuba — which could not be achieved due to the absence of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic ties. He had been found in violation of his probation for being arrested for selling drugs to undercover officers on Fort Myers Beach — unbeknownst to two judges who had him in their courtrooms in May and June and let him go.

This may shock and anger: One of the few people who did what they were supposed to do, at least in court, was Arango.

Then he spent that subsequent freedom on drugs, violence and death.

The criminal justice system is made up of law-enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges and their staffs. They all want to do a good job.

They all ought to eagerly resolve to have Widman’s death stand for reform — the drawing of a line.

Technology exists for nearly flawless tracking of business transactions and sharing that information with those who need it. Suspects’ and criminals’ whereabouts are the public’s business. We can identify with precision which steps of the way toward that dark street corner came up short.

Let the execution-style murder of Widman be what it takes to register on the civic and political radar and mandate a better standard of precision and justice.

With this proviso: We get what we pay for.
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