The snarky response by the FBI, allegedly the most sophisticated law enforcement agency in the United States, detailed in my last post is completely in keeping with how a number of law enforcement agencies have responded when family members of victims, their legal representatives, or the media have dared to ask questions. The public responses by Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper and her number 2, Paul Walton, warrant numerous separate posts. As do their responses that are not a matter of public record. The following is a representative example of the response of the MSP—not the carefully considered words of some captain who knows next to nothing about the case, given to a media representative, but the words unloaded on a victim’s family members.
My brother Chris and my Dad met with the MSP after becoming aware of the “LeMans information” in October 2006 to find out was going on in this investigation. They actually asked how they could help and discussed the “car information” and the idea that they would be willing to go to the press in view of the looming 30th anniversary of Tim’s murder and be interviewed about it to try to shake something or somebody loose. I can’t even tell you how hard it was at that point for any of us to even consider going to the press. This was a very private nightmare and we had always trusted and relied on the police to handle this case with the precision and commitment we all thought went without saying. MSP Det./Sgt. Garry Gray said some version of the following in response to my family’s offer to discuss the car information in the press: that this was the last thing they needed because the phones would start ringing off the hook and that my Dad and brother should know he was technically retired and on the OBD program. My brother and Dad, having never worked in the public sector, asked what the OBD program was. Gray replied that he was technically retired but working this case in a temporary assignment and it was “One Bad Day. One bad day and I’m out of there.” He actually said that to a victim’s family members. My Dad and my brother were speechless. When told of this, I went nuts. In spite of this, my Dad, a total cop supporter, took another year to fully understand the gravity of this unbelievable statement. Surely the agency tasked with speaking on behalf of these dead kids was all over it, right? Like I said, he totally supported the cops, the prosecutors–all of them–and the job they were doing. Here’s what I say to now retired Det./Sgt. Gray: Try having 12,737 bad days, you prick.