No Medal of Valor for Kristina Ripatti
[Posted by Jack Dunphy]
Last June 3, LAPD officers Kristina Ripatti and Joe Meyer chased down a career criminal who had just robbed a gas station in South Los Angeles. The suspect shot Ripatti, nearly killing her and leaving her paralyzed from the chest down. Meyer then shot and killed the man. (Patterico wrote about it here, and I wrote this column about it on NRO.) On May 10, Meyer will be recognized with the LAPD’s Medal of Valor, the department’s highest award. And what will Ripatti get?
She’ll get to watch. From her wheelchair.
The powers within the LAPD who decide such matters have determined that Ripatti, despite the extreme sacrifice she made, was somehow less valorous than her partner was that night. This is an outrage, and it demonstrates that the LAPD brass is once again tone-deaf to the sentiments of the cops on the street.
Nothing less than outrageous and what an offense to Officer Ripatti and her family, as well as all other officers risking their lives on a daily basis. I hope she does not feel this lack of sensibility and respect is representative of the citizenry she protected, because it isn’t. This decision also would appear to be a public relations nightmare in the making, which the L.A.P.D. can ill afford. Losing the ability to walk isn’t enough of a sacrifice? What more do they want?
Please inform readers the most effective pro-active steps to take in order to help.
Dana (e8033e) — 4/7/2007 @ 9:44 amThe MOST effective step would be for Meyer to publicly refuse the medal (at the time of presentation would be best, if you ask me), or for him to accept it, and then immedeately walk where she is, appologize on behalf of the LAPD, and present HER with the medal.
Jack, if you have a way of getting the ear of Meyer, please try and convince him to do either…
Scott Jacobs (a1de9d) — 4/7/2007 @ 10:57 amBizarre. What could possibly be the logic behind this decision?
Patterico (6aca06) — 4/7/2007 @ 11:27 amWithout my knowing the intimate details of what happened that night, nor the specific criteria on which these awards are given, but figuring that whoever does give out these awards would know the details and would know to expect a PR uproar from those upset at Ripatti not getting a Medal of Valor of her own, and thus wouldn’t look to exclude her on anything less than real solid grounds, am I wrong in guessing that there is some element of the criteria that applied to his actions that night and not hers? For example, as, per the LAPD website, “an officer would have performed an act displaying extreme courage while consciously facing imminent peril”, is it possible that since she didn’t see McNeal with a gun, that her actions didn’t rise to the level of “consciously facing imminent peril”, while her partner, seeing her shot, knew the ‘imminent peril’ he was facing?
And at the risk of appearing insensitive, why would her injury factor into determining whether her actions that night rose to the level required for the award? Getting shot and paralyzed, while terrible and while it might make us aware of what might otherwise go unnoticed, shouldn’t serve as a (perverse) bonus for turning the otherwise not-valorous into an act worthy of the Medal of Valor.
stevesturm (d3e296) — 4/7/2007 @ 11:35 am4
I agree with this. Just having something bad happen to you shouldn’t make you a hero. For example it bugs me when the office workers who died on 911 are called heroes when most of them didn’t do anything particularly heroic at least in my opinion.
James B. Shearer (fc887e) — 4/7/2007 @ 1:43 pmBoth officers acted valorously, but Ripatti, being faster than Meyer, was the one who caught up with the suspect first and was therefore the one who took the bullet. Either they both deserve the Medal of Valor or neither of them does, but for Meyer to get it and not Ripatti is an insult to both of them.
Jack Dunphy (833e5e) — 4/7/2007 @ 1:51 pmI have 2 good friend who are/were LAPD cops (I did the taxes for one for a bottle of Scotch for decades that’s how close we were) and they have said repeatedly that the leadership of the LAPD has gone downhill -fast- since Gates was forced out! I think they would agree with you Jack and maybe be more blunt with much stronger words – words I should not repeat here but I think you get my drift.
Rodney A Stanton (1e9a44) — 4/7/2007 @ 5:21 pmJoining the LAPD and staying on the job for any length of time is extremely heroic.
There should be some sort of award for those who pay this additional deep cost for the good of the people. Not a Valor award, but something like the purple heart. Some people simply make greater sacrifices, and honoring those is one way to encourage those who are faced with risk in the future to know their potential misfortune is appreciated.
Dustin (ea244e) — 4/7/2007 @ 5:25 pmJames B. Shearer:
If something bad happens to you while you sit on your ass at IBM, you are not a hero.
If you are shot and paralyzed while being an aggressive cop in South Central L.A., you are a hero/heroine.
Get the difference?
P.S. What is your standard for the Purple Heart?
Patterico (605aca) — 4/7/2007 @ 5:33 pmFrom what I’ve read, Officer Ripatti’s actions were valorous but I also like Dustin’s Purple Heart idea.
DRJ (50237c) — 4/7/2007 @ 5:47 pmIf I were a cynical character from a Joseph Wambaugh novel I would speculate that performing retro-active birth control on a would be cop-killer is probably what made the difference. It’s not that bad a morale-boosting message to the rank and file even if it is too politically incorrect to ever be said out loud.
nk (306f5a) — 4/7/2007 @ 5:51 pmPatrick: her being being shot ought to have no impact on whether her actions up to that time were heroic or not. Put another way, one doesn’t have to be shot to be a hero, nor does getting shot makes one a hero.
And Purple Hearts are awarded to those wounded by the enemy… even if they were sitting on their a** in on office at the time…. a far cry from the standard required to be awarded the LAPD’s Medal of Valor.
stevesturm (d3e296) — 4/7/2007 @ 6:30 pmRipatti’s actions that night were equally valorous to those of Meyer, and arguably more so.
Unmentioned thus far is what led-up to her being shot. She and her partner were on patrol and saw a man run basically in front of their car who matched the description of a suspect who had just robbed a convenience store at gunpoint. So, both Ripatti and Meyer took off on foot after a man they knew to be likely armed and dangerous. Then, Ripatti reached out to grab the suspect, insted of just shooting the bastard. The suspect pulled a gun and fired with the arm she hadn’t grasped.
Her shooting, gave Meyer a green light to cap the guy. Now, it was certainly a chaotic couple of seconds in close proximity. But I’d have to imagine the reflex of returning fire, even with a wounded partner is an much easier decision than to reach out and grab a 211-with-a-gun suspect.
However, I suspect that one reason for this decision may be that every time Kristina Ripatti is on TV, the Police Commission and department brass look like the jack asses that they are. They are the ones who make it easier for slime balls like this suspect to shoot cops like Ripatti. Everytime she’s on TV is one more chance for someone to say “Gee, you ever notice John Mack seems pretty indifferent about Ripatti but was all kinds of ticked off when Devin Brown got killed as he tried to do the same thing to Steve Garcia?”
Kristina Ripatti is the truth of police work, and the likes of John Mack and Connie Rice describe her and those before her as “the myth and lore of urban policing” (Rampart Revisited Report, Pg 46, which, notably, was issued 10 days after the Ripatti shooting). She is the 600-pound gorilla in the consent decree / LAPD emasculation room, and the more she is invisible, the more that crowd can work their stupid (no flashlights as weapons) ways.
Oh, they’ll stand by and smile and all, but, truth be told, Tony V would take a dozen of her in place of another Stanley Miller or Devin Brown.
RCJP (7b518f) — 4/7/2007 @ 9:33 pmPat —
We had a similar controversy in Ventura County years ago, only the officer involved was killed in the line of duty.
As I recall, the argument went something like this:
“He was doing his job, bravely — but he never saw it coming, never knowlingly put himself in the gunman’s sights, and therefore was not deserving of the Medal of Valor, in that he did not perform acts above and beyond that which are expected of all officers.”
He received the second-highest award, if memory serves.
I remember thinking that it was analogous to the military’s Medal of Honor, which is not routinely awarded to brave soldiers who are killed or wounded in action; it requires more than ordinary courage to earn the highest award, even for those men who made the ultimate sacrifice.
In that context, denying the Medal of Valor seemed less a slap in the face to a fallen police officer, than a recognition that there are honors reserved for those heroes who exhibit not just the “regular” level of courage, but extraordinary, mind-boggling feats of bravery and unbelievable sacrifice.
I don’t know enough about Officer Ripatti’s actions to comment on whether they approach the “extraordinary” — I’ll defer to Dunphy and Pat on this one — but there are times when the Medal may not be appropriate for officers who take a bullet in the line of duty, even in the opinion of fellow cops.
Mike Lief (e6260e) — 4/7/2007 @ 9:38 pmI share the sentiment that just getting yourself shot does not automatically qualify as valorous.
However, based on RCJP’s description of the events it seems to me that Officer Ripatti’s actions qualify for some sort of special recognition.
That said, her acts do not rise to the same level as her partner. Ripatti was attempting to aprehend a fleeing suspect but got shot in the process. Brave? Absolutely. Tragic, also.
Meyer returned fire upon a criminal who had already produced a weapon and begun firing. That takes an entirely different level of bravery to stand and fight once the shooting has begun. He not only stayed in the fight, he finished it.
Sure we like to think that is the proper response when seeing your partner get shot, but how many of us have actually faced down an obvious lethal threat? And how often do those efforts succeed? Meyer deserve extra recognition, not only for doing the right thing, but also because he succeeded.
ThomasD (9714e1) — 4/7/2007 @ 11:09 pm13
According to Dunphy’s NRO article Ripatti and Meyer did not know that the man they were chasing matched the description of an armed robber.
James B. Shearer (7bcaf9) — 4/8/2007 @ 12:45 am“if something bad happens to you while you sit on your ass at ibm, you are not a hero.”
really? i believe this gives unfairly short shrift to our heroic technologists. there’s a widely held fallacy in law enforcement that its members are somehow just a nobler breed than the ordinary stiffs on the street, notwithstanding the fact that police work is statistically much safer than commercial fishing and logging, the two most dangerous jobs in america. this blanket disparagement of an entire lawful, socially valuable industry is unworthy of a smart guy like patterico. i believe there are unsung acts of heroism every day in all occupations, technology and bartending and pizza delivery too.
assistant devil's advocate (ef5514) — 4/8/2007 @ 4:36 amIt’s always a pleasure to read Jack Dunphy’s remarks on any subject, even his momma’s tea party, if he sees fit to mention it. Go get ’em, Jack!
dchamil (18f21f) — 4/8/2007 @ 7:07 amOfcr. Ripatti: no Medal of Valor…
LAPD Officer Kristina Ripatti will not get the Medal of Valor for the shooting last June that left her confined to a wheelchair. You may recall that Kristina and her partner, Joe Meyer, started a foot pursuit of a robbery…
Cop The Truth (72c8fd) — 4/9/2007 @ 8:01 pmOfficer Steve Gadja was killed on New Year’s eve 1998. He died chasing down a gang-member who later turned-out to be a wanted 187 suspect. Only Steve knows if he knew he was chasing the murder suspect or not. If he did, his actions were trully above and beyond the call of duty, and therefore deserving the title of “hero” and worthy of the Medal of Valor. If he did not know who he was chasing, and was killed as a trajic reminder that this is dangerous occupation. Then he is simply a Police Officer performing his job in a proactive and brave manner, which sadly and trajically lead to his death…Where was the support for him being considered for the Medal of Valor from the rank and file?
Blu9ght (9fc768) — 11/3/2007 @ 4:49 am