Prince George’s County Police have confirmed the death of PGPD Officer Kevin Bowden who was killed this afternoon in his take-home cruiser in an off-duty crash on Route 5 in Clinton, Maryland. Officer Bowden was 28-years-old and had been on the police department for six-years. He leaves behind two young children.
Obviously, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Officer Bowden, as well as the occupant of the other vehicle and his/her family.
I am hoping desperately that the cause of the crash will be something "legitimate" instead of a tragic outcome of an on-going problem of cops driving like lunatics in take-home cruisers.
The Miami Police Department recently fired one Fausto Lopez, after Lopez was chased by a Florida Highway Patrol officer and removed from his vehicle at gunpoint. Lopez had been driving at speeds of about 120 MPH during the 7 minute pursuit. Bear in mind, 7 minutes at 120 MPH yields a 14 mile chase. Lopez had been clocked operating in excess of 90 MPH over 80 times. In three months. Or about once a day.
Apparently, Lopez's excuse for the last trip was that he was late for an off-duty job. Uh-huh, right.
When I was a cop, if any of us had been caught driving over 90 MPH while off-duty, even once, we would have been fired, arrested, and charged. I don't even want to try to imagine what would have happened if we had been caught doing 90+ every day for three months.
Anyway, I sincerely hope that Officer Bowden didn't pay the ultimate price because he was a speed demon. I hope to Christ it was a sudden mechanical failure, or a kid darting in front of his car, or the driver of the minivan swerving to avoid a pothole or something. ANYTHING other than another cop being a fool, simply because he could.
We won't know the cause of the accident until the investigation is complete. Until then, I'm giving Officer Bowden the benefit of the doubt.
R.I.P., Officer Bowden.
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