THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 10, 1994 TAG: 9412100205
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Mourning was mixed with calls for tougher penalties for juveniles as hundreds of law enforcement officers gathered Friday to bury a deputy sheriff killed while trying to arrest a 15-year-old accused of stealing a car.
Cliff Dicker, a Wythe County deputy sheriff, was shot in the back of the head with his weapon as he lay wounded Tuesday.
``Across the nation today, in great multiplication, our law enforcement officers are falling and we're not doing anything about it,'' the Rev. Donald Keller told relatives, friends and about 500 law enforcement officers, whose uniforms formed a quilted rainbow in muted shades of blue, green, brown and gray.
Black elastic or tape covered the jurisdiction on their badges to show their unity in mourning, and the officers lined both sides of the driveway, parking lot and walkway leading into the Pulaski Church of God before the service. They gave white-gloved salutes in unison when Dicker's wife and children arrived.
The minister and officers called on legislators and Gov. George Allen to reform juvenile justice and try to instill respect for police.
``It's time today to stop coddling criminals and reinforce the people who are keeping this place in order,'' Keller boomed into his microphone.
Dicker was the fifth Virginia police officer to be killed in the line of duty this year.
Outside, where about a hundred officers who couldn't fit into the church listened over speakers, the tone was similar.
``It seems like they (teenagers) used to have more respect for law enforcement,'' Fairfax County Deputy Sheriff Matthew Lemke said. ``Now it's just a game. They're just not afraid.''
Christopher Shawn Wheeler has been charged with capital murder in Dicker's death. Prosecutors say they will hope to try the boy as an adult. If convicted as a juvenile, he cannot be held past his 21st birthday. If convicted as an adult, he would face either life in prison or the death penalty.
``This kid,'' Lemke said, ``if he's not tried as an adult, he'll be out of jail when he's 21. What kind of punishment is that?''
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision may ban the execution of those convicted of crimes committed before their 16th birthday.
Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore said the Allen administration has reformed the adult criminal justice system and now needs to turn its attention to teenage criminals.
``It's unfortunate,'' Kilgore said outside the church, ``that this highlights the fact we need to take a good hard look at the juvenile justice system in Virginia. It takes too many bad acts before serious consequences follow.''
Sheriff Wayne Pike said Wheeler had been squirrel hunting Tuesday before Dicker came to take the boy to a detention center. Authorities said the teen had been arrested on 12 juvenile warrants in the past. ILLUSTRATION: [Box]
VICTIMS
Five Virginia law enforcement officers have been shot to death in
the line of duty in 1994:
Steven R. Rutherford of the Newport News Police Department died
of gunshot wounds he received Jan. 11 while trying to stop a
robbery. He was posing as a pizza delivery driver during an
undercover operation.
Kenneth E. Wallace of the Hampton Police Department died of
gunshot wounds he received while sitting in his patrol car Feb. 22
after patrolling a shopping center.
Larry Bland of the Newport News Police Department was shot to
death while making a traffic stop on May 13.
Terry L. Griffith of the Christiansburg Police Department was
shot to death Sept. 18 after stopping a shoplifting suspect.
Clifford E. Dicker, a Wythe County sheriff's deputy, was shot
Tuesday just inside the door of a Wytheville house where he was
attempting to arrest a 15-year-old for allegedly stealing a car.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE POLICE MURDER SHOOTING FATALITY DEPUTY by CNB