PoliceOne investigates claim of MS-13 “Kill an Officer Day”

September 21, 2005 11:19 AM •

Alert found unsubstantiated

Recently an e-mail indicating that the MS-13 gang has declared Oct. 30 an annual “Kill a Law Enforcement Officer Day” began circulating nationwide. After receiving several copies of the alert from across the country, Police1 staff began investigating the claim.

We found that the warning that cops will be specifically targeted on this day - an allegation that originated in Newport News, Va. - has not been substantiated.

In an interview with Police1, Lt. David Graham, who is in charge of intelligence with the Organized Crime Unit of Newport News PD, said the informant cited in the e-mail was “re-interviewed by the Newport News Gang Unit and the information was not found credible in this case.”

The alert began spreading across the country after an officer posted information on the alleged “Kill a Cop Day” threat to a Virginia Gang Investigators Association e-mail list.

“Information that comes across the list server is neither validated nor sanctioned by the Virginia Gang Investigators board,” Lt. Graham said. “It is up to the users to verify this information before disseminating.”

We share these findings in the interest of accuracy and in preventing unwarranted hyper-vigilance on Oct. 30. HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE: This is not to say that you should ever let your guard down, regardless of the day.

“Law enforcement officers who deal with MS-13 [members] should always consider them a threat,” Lt. Graham cautions.

Gangs

Scott Buhrmaster

Scott Buhrmaster is Vice President of Training and Editorial for Police1.com, which was awarded the “Quill & Badge Award” for Excellence in Journalism by the International Association of Police Unions. He is also the Publisher of Police Marksman magazine and has served as Contributing Editor for Law Officer magazine. He has been a member of the law enforcement training community since 1989, when he began work as Director of Research with Calibre Press, Inc., producers of The Street Survival Seminar.

Throughout his tenure at Calibre, Buhrmaster was involved with virtually every aspect of the company’s officer survival training efforts, from the planning, creation and marketing of the organization’s award-winning textbooks and videos to developing and securing training content for the Seminar. In 1995, he was named Director of the Calibre Press Street Survival Newsline®, an Internet-based officer survival training service he helped found. In less than five years, Newsline readership grew from 25 officers to more than 250,000 in 26 countries, making it one of the most popular training vehicles in law enforcement history. His efforts now focus on providing training and information to the nearly 400,000 officers worldwide who visit Police1.com every month.

Prior to joining Police1, Buhrmaster, who also serves on the National Advisory Board of the Force Science Research Center and stands as an active member of the American Society for Law Enforcement Training and the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, was President of The Buhrmaster Consulting Group, an international consulting practice for the law enforcement training sector and the publishing industry. Scott may be reached at buhrmastergroup@comcast.net.