×

Parole board must consider the message to police

Word came last week that a parole board in July will consider releasing Edward Alsteens, in prison for more than four decades in the 1971 fatal shooting of Norway Officer Kenneth Moraska.

Alsteens, then 23, gunned down the 26-year-old officer as Moraska responded to a domestic disturbance on Pearney Lane in Norway on May 23, 1971. Moraska had been with the Norway Police Department for only two years.

Now 69, Alsteens has become a senior citizen in prison. Yet because the conviction was for second-degree murder, he does have the potential to walk free again.

Next month’s hearing will be the first time he’ll come before the parole board. There might even be a temptation by the state to avoid the cost of further care of what now is a geriatric prisoner.

An argument can be made that inmates who have done the required time to “pay their debt to society” have earned a chance to be evaluated on whether they still pose a threat to the public.

For most offenses, that should be true.

But this involved killing a police officer. That, by necessity, should put it in a different category.

Alsteens, according to trial records, testified he called the police station requesting Moraska come to his house. He then loaded his father’s rifle and shot the officer as he walked up. A jury did ultimately decide to convict Alsteens of second-degree murder, acquitting him of first-degree that would have shut the door on his ever being paroled. His defense attorneys raised questions about Alsteens’ mental state at the time of the shooting.

Four decades later, the “thin blue line” has admittedly blurred. It’s true that law enforcement nationwide has faced some deserved scrutiny for officer-involved shootings. That is a discussion that should continue.

But that can’t be used as a reason to lessen the seriousness, the weight, that assaulting or killing a police officer should carry.

If we as a society expect law enforcement to respond, without hesitation, to such situations as the one that drew Moraska that night in 1971 — a domestic violence report, statistically considered to be the most dangerous type of call for police — then we have an obligation to provide as severe a penalty as possible for anyone who decides to take an officer’s life.

Otherwise we don’t have a right to ask police put themselves in harm’s way, again and again.

Alsteens should remain behind bars.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today