Christmas week brought sad news: the passing of retired Spokane police chief Terry Mangan, at age 76 after a long illness. http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025302256_spokanechiefdiesxml.html
I was privileged to know the man. He was a cop’s cop. I’ve known many police chiefs who sit behind a mahogany desk wearing a gold-bedecked white uniform shirt, perhaps as a symbol of “I don’t have to go out and get dirty anymore,” and a little vestigial gun as a badge of office, if they wore a gun at all. Not Terry; every time I met him, he was wearing BDU pants, a polo shirt with the department logo, and on his hip, the same .40 caliber Glock 22 he issued to his officers.
An ordained clergyman in his first career before taking up police work, he was able to separate church and state while maintaining the values of fairness and kindness that had become a part of him before he pinned on the badge. In his younger days he participated in civil rights marches, and as a chief aggressively recruited minorities and females onto the job – not because it was the politically correct thing to do, but simply because it was the right thing to do. Terry focused on community-oriented policing before it became a buzzword, and worked hard to keep the public positively involved with the police department.
A “gun guy” at heart, Terry could not be seen as such as a public official in one of the most anti-gun cities in America, but he made firearms safety education part and parcel of Spokane’s crime prevention programs. He made sure that genuine self-defense uses of firearms in his city were treated as such. Chief of Spokane for many years, his retirement took him to Quantico where he spent the rest of his career teaching and consulting for the FBI.
In a time when there is a desperate cry for police and public to come together and better understand one another, Terry Mangan would have been the ideal person to lead such a national dialogue. How ironic that we lost him at a time when we needed him the most.
Godspeed, Chief. It was an honor to have known you.
I was surprised to read that Spokane is an anti-gun type of city.
I live in Seattle, but I admit I have never been to Spokane.
Drop by and see us at the Renton Fish & Game Club if you’re ever in town.
Mas – thanks for sharing the sad news about Chief Terry Mangan, who apparently was the epitome of a terrific human being, as well as a model of what law enforcement should be. We must pray that his influence will be passed down through his examples and teaching. Your reflection that Chief Mangan would have been the “ideal person to lead a national dialogue” reminds me of my post sometime ago (forgive me for using this sad occasion to bring it up) where I made a plea for YOU to be such a spokesman. If memory serves, you replied: Don, “they wouldn’t be interested in what I had to say.” I beg to differ, Sir. After all these years, words, classes, etc. – you surely are aware of the effect your words have on people. Somehow, a way must be found to get those words, YOUR words Mas, to the masses – sooner rather than later.
Let the all too-soon passing of this fine law enforcement officer be a wake-up call for all of us to do more, to emulate Chief Terry Mangan in all facets of our humanity.
Mas for president!
I’d vote for Mas…….
I lived near or in Spokane before and after the days of Frederick “Kevin” Coe. I can believe that Spokane has been anti-gun, after reading about Coe’s alleged 37 Spokane sexual assaults that took place from 1978 to 1981. He is possibly still a resident of McNeil Island. Likely he would not have gotten away with nearly so much crime if the likes of Gila Hayes’ and Massad Ayoob’s or Paxton Quigley’s works had been available and heeded back in the day in Spokane. It seems like a crime itself to prevent women from practicing effective self-defense. You can bet that Terry Mangan made a positive difference when he came along.
“…and as a chief aggressively recruited minorities and females onto the job – not because it was the politically correct thing to do, but simply because it was the right thing to do.”
I sincerely hope it was if, and only if the minorities and females were the MOST qualified for the position.
May he RIP. Sounds like definitely one of the good guys who had his heart in the job.
As a small city cop for decades who worked under five police chiefs, I have an understanding of what you described well. Some chiefs would back us up and run out of the office if they herd emergencies happening during the day when they were working others would never come out of their office except to go to lunch or home. Some would wear full uniforms with vests other suites and ties with sidearms others causal dress and no gun in site.
“A man can never die so long as someone speaks his name.” (Ranger Up)
“Arma virumque cano.” I sing of arms and of a man. (Line 1, Book 1, Virgil’s Aeneid)
What has amazed me most about America is our country’s resilience, and astounding ability to produce brave men and women who will stand up and tackle the problems of the day. I am sure that even now there are men and women like Chief Terry Mangan who will one day soon be the leaders their communities need. Rest in Peace, Chief Mangan!
Spokane is not an anti-gun city. Perhaps you are thinking of Bellingham, on the West (Left) side, where Mangan was previously chief of police.
Mangan did a lot of good things, as you note, but was also well known for being insular and resistant to any kind of meaningful accountability for his officers to the taxpayers. That legacy continues to this day.
I really Like Chief Mangan. He is the ONLY Chief that seemed to really back up his men. I watched him shut up a hysterical press corps with facts several times. Once a EDP attacked two Spokan officers with a shard of glass 12+ inched long. The Chief had the piece of glass and a 12″ french knife photographed side by side. He showed it to the hostile press, their collective jaws dropped and it ended their “the police murdered a EDP armed “Only” with a piece of glass hysteria right there!
Honorable men honor good men when when they pass on.
Dishonorable, small minded, cowardly people feel the need to denigrate them when they can no longer defend themselves.
Rest in peace Chief Mangan. Rest knowing that you led a life of accomplishment and honor. Rest in the knowledge that good men will remember you for your service.
Lew – good point. I also hope that heterosexual WASP males were only recruited if they were the most qualified for the job. 🙂
Today we have yet another unprovoked attack on LEO – in Los Angeles this time. Praise God they were uninjured. What really galls me is how the media can be outraged about these attacks – as if they don’t have any idea why these scumbags are doing this. This “outrage,” after the media pummels law enforcement relentlessly about everything – tactics, armament, vehicles, – hell, even the CLOTHES they wear! When you continue to stir the “crazy cauldron” by mixing the endless replaying of past events that didn’t end the way the left thinks it should – with the lunatic fringe, you get tragic results. Did they expect everyone to sit around the campfire, roasting marshmallows, singing cum-by-yah?
First, apologies to Mas for continuing off-topic here (but Don started it first, Dad).
@Don – Pa.: That pendulum swings both ways, Don, and it’s hardly just limited to leftist causes. Remember Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber (gun rights, anti-government), Scott Roeder, the abortion doctor murderer (anti-abortion), and more recently Jerad and Amanda Miller, the Las Vegas cop killers (anti-government, anti-police from the right)? How about James Earl Ray?
Both sides of a difficult issue have a lunatic fringe and any hot-button issue is, regrettably, likely to draw them out. And hot-button issues are going to be covered by the media, like it or not. Your very outrage and willingness to post about it here is the very reason that they cover it: it draws attention and sells commercials and newspapers.
Frankly, the media’s activities are far more predictable and less blameworthy than the rantings of people like NY Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch when he makes comments like he did on December 12: “We will use extreme discretion in every encounter. Our friends, we’re courteous to them. Our enemies, extreme discretion.” We’ll never know if Ismaaiyl Brinsley heard that statement or if it somehow further set off the crazy in him, but if he had heard it do you think that it would have made him less inclined to go out and ambush cops eight days later?
As for the protests over the problems involved with police interaction with people of color, especially young black males, if you believe that they’re merely being stirred up by the media, you’re living in a pipe dream. Yes, there are problems with the details of what the protests sometimes fix upon (as there are with the responses from the other side; see my December 11th, 2014, post in the Grand Juries topic for a complete discussion of that), but the underlying problems — ironically enough centering on the very discretion that Lynch wants to use as a weapon — are real hot-button issues in the Black community and other minority communities and aren’t going to go away, media or not.
A “gun guy” at heart and still carried a Glock 22? A true leader and masochistic to boot. (Tongue firmly in cheek) A great loss to his profession.
@ Dave (the liberal, non-Uncle one):
Well, how many of these wacked out Killer Shooters turned out be Registered Liberal Democrats, just as you seem to count yourself!
After I sent the last post, I thought I might hear from you, Dave – your reaction time is impressive. MY words did not belong here, where Mas started a blog to honor a good man.
Liberal Dave, you are right, the media is predictable, and I believe you fell prey to their predictable manipulation of Patrick Lynch’s comments (rantings?).
After being directed to numerous reports on his comments, by Google, I found the following site that allowed context in their post.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/12/8558814/private-meeting-union-head-tells-officers-use-extreme-discretion?top-featured-image
Comments were made at a meeting of officers, not a press conference. If you read all his comments, not cherry picked, but as spoken, it is very clear the “enemies” he’s referring to are those in de Blasio’s administration. It’s also clear, in context, that the “extreme discretion” refers to following the rules handed down from city hall to the “T”. Those rules go both ways, they can be used to attack officers, but strict adherence to those rules by officers will result in a huge drop in the efficiency of the officers. In other words, he was suggesting that officers become less engaged with fighting crime and be more engaged in following the rules. If you strictly adhere to the General Orders, SOP, and Code of Conduct, productivity will drop.
Unless you believe that Ismaaiyl Brinsley was enraged because Lynch was suggesting that NYPD officers obey the rules and be less aggressive, less likely to confront criminals, I doubt you can attach any responsibility for his (Brinsley’s) actions to Lynch’s words.
Happy New Year, folks!
Dennis, thanks for picking me up. I would have – but felt my emotional rant was already immature and ill-advised, considering this thread’s intent. I always thoroughly enjoy reading your “stuff.”
Dennis, I was familiar with the entire quote and context. Though this was a “private meeting” any time you make remarks like that to a large meeting of people in the atmosphere that existed at the time you cannot really expect them not to leak (and since this was a “delegate meeting,” they were intended to be repeated to the rank and file, which makes them even less likely to remain private). As for the context, when you say, “We will use extreme discretion in every encounter. … “Our friends, we’re courteous to them. Our enemies, extreme discretion.” if you’re going to use that extreme discretion in “every encounter” and use that extreme discretion with “our enemies” then the enemies with which you’re going to use that extreme discretion are those who you are going to meet in “every encounter.” Those enemies aren’t just those in the administration. As I said above, I don’t know if Brinsley heard it at all, but if he had it’s unlikely in the extreme that he would have understood enemies to mean those in the administration. And I don’t think that’s what he meant, either.
Liberal Dave, this is the problem many have when trying to reason with liberals. In your eagerness to embrace the left’s anti-cop narrative, it appears that you ignored your considerable education. Adding “extreme” before “discretion” does not change the meaning to denote a desire for evil intent or action. Discretion still means discretion. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discretion
In eagerness to condemn and denigrate the actions of the evil cops, some would try and make others believe that Lynch’s call for “extreme discretion” was the equivalent of a call for “extreme prejudice”. The English language doesn’t allow for that. It’s fairly common in our present social climate for some to read more into an adversary’s words than was really there. I, as I believe Don-Pa does, dislike the tendency of media commentators using phrases like “what they really were saying……..” or “that’s a code word for………” when covering conservatives.
“Extreme discretion” would more correctly mean to go to all lengths to avoid confrontation with our “enemies” in “every encounter”.
Liberal Dave, in anticipation of your expected response, I would again stress the context of Lynch’s “rantings”. How did he preface his statement?
“If we won’t get support when we do our jobs, if we’re going to get hurt for doing what’s right, then we’re going to do it the way they want it.” Lynch said last Friday. ” Let me be perfectly clear.We will use extreme discretion in every encounter.”
How can anyone who is intellectually honest believe he was advising officers to be more confrontational or aggressive if he felt there would be no backing by the administration? The last thing an officer wants is to be “hung out to dry” by “the powers that be” of their department.
Dennis, Liberal Dave – since we all are guilty of taking this thread off-topic, I feel it’s OK to add a few more words. Thanks to both of you for your mature discourse.
Dave, may I respectfully offer it is precisely the tendency of the liberal left (and their P.A. system, the media) to always enter into a discussion with:
– the “we-know-what’s-best-for-you” approach, which used to be considerably more subtle than it is today.
– the attitude of “we are doing this because you are incapable of knowing how or understanding why.” This also used to be subtle – today it’s about as subtle as a kick in the family jewels.
Dennis – again, you have defined the subject here in an intelligent, insightful manner – another learning experience for Don – Pa. thanks.
@Dennis: There’s no question that what Lynch said was ambiguous, probably deliberately so, but the very ambiguity is what makes it irresponsible when that ambiguity makes it give the impression that they’re going to do anything different towards their enemies than they do their friends.
@Don-Pa.: It is very tempting to enter into a discussion about the media, but I fear that’s too far off topic for here.
Sigh.
I guess I’ve made progress. Lynch’s remarks have evolved from being an unambiguous threat against perceived enemies of NYPD officers, to being too ambiguous, but still to be viewed as a threat. Sigh.
Mas,
We was shocked when we read your blog reporting the passing of Terry Mangan. He was the epitome of the modern police chief and great human being.
Al and Sandy
Way back in 1981 I had the privledge to have Chief Mangan as a Mentor for a college co-op work education program that had just started up at the local Community College in Bellingham Wa. I was just starting into my career in Law Enforcement working toward a 2 year degree in Law Enforcement. Without The Chiefs guidance I would not have had such a great start. He jumped at the chance to become my mentor before he even met me in person. I showed up at his office and from the word Hello, he gain my respect. He was always there to ask questions and to put me into any of the units that he knew I would need to experance and learn that would help me in my road to becoming a Police Officer. With in 1-1/2 years, I became a sworn City Police Officer. For most of my adult life I was a police officer or a Deputy Sheriff. It all started with Chief Mangan. I will never forget Chief Terry Mangan. May he rest in peace!
David
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