Gunmen Shootout, Interrupted

Los Angeles: Officers assigned to Southeast Detectives, in an unmarked vehicle drove up on a gunfight.

On Monday, October 10, 2006, at 4:40 p.m., officers were westbound on 108th Street approaching Stanford Avenue.   As they approached Stanford Avenue, two gunmen on foot were firing either at each other or towards unknown victims south of 108th Street.  The officers confronted the gunmen as one of them ran northbound.  The other, later identified as Jerome Stephens, Jr., turned on the officers while holding a handgun, leading to an officer involved shooting. Stephens fell to the ground critically wounded and was taken into custody.  A subsequent extensive search, failed to locate the other gunman.

Stephen was taken to a local hospital and was listed in critical condition.  Stephens will face charges of Assault with a Deadly Weapon (ADW) on a Police Officer and ADW on John Doe victims.   

The Officers are Detective Todd Burns, 40, 11 years, 7 months with the Department and Police Officer Timo Illig, 30, 3 years, 5 months with the Department, assigned to Southeast Detectives.

Force Investigation Division is investigating both officer-involved shootings.  For further information, please contact Media Relations Section at 213-485-3586.

Comments

[James R.]

Officer Illig has 3 years on the dept and he is assigned to a Detetctive function? Minus the 7 months in the Academy and the year as a Probationary PO, he has less than 2 yrs as a tenured Officer!

Where is the LAPPL in this matter? How is a 'newjack' Police Officer II assigned to a Detective function?

If the LAPPL demanded that all non-Detectives be pulled from the Detective Squads, maybe the dept. would start vigourously promoting people to Detective.

The City is getting off cheap by having scab Police Officers play 'Detective'.....

Kudos to the Detective and the 'Officer' for surviving the gunfight.

Hopefully there isn't a negative Board of Rights at the end for you.

[mark]

3 years on the Dept assigned to Dets. Unbelievable. I thought the LAPD was short handed with firld officers. I guess they must have enough if you are assigned to Dets with 3years on the job.

[Citizen / Officer]

I don't belive critizicing the officer in this matter is productive for anyone. If the officer was able to obtain a Detective trainee job, it must have been because of his merits and he should be recognized not critized. Good Job Detective and Officer for stopping these criminals from killing other innocent citizens!!!

[Sal]

Southeast Detective Division, like the other Geographic Area's is supported by detectives and officers alike. I would not refer to any of the officer's as "Scabs" or "Play" detectives. Any detective, I'm sure, appreciates the officers assigned on loan to them. And at the same time, the officers are given the opportunity to work detectives, and bring valuable information back to patrol. We used to call these officers Detective Trainee's. Now they are just loans. Most of our detectives began their careers in such a fashion. In this instance, you are basing your opinion on a News Release. The officers time on the job is irrelevant, his position is based soley on his abilities. There are plenty of officers with 2 -3 years on the job working in some administrative assignment, so kudos to Illig, working a detective assignment in one of the busiest areas in the City.

[James R.]

Barbera, I'm just using this press release to discuss the dept's misuse of Police Officer II's and III's in investigative assignments.

If a Police Officer II was tasked with the assignment of training a probie for a good length of time, he would be awarded FTO stripes/pay, but if that same Officer is assigned to a Detective Division assigned to homicide, they get nothing.

The dept uses it's allure of 'officers are given the opportunity to work detectives, and bring valuable information back to patrol' to justify it's misdeeds.

I say it stinks and I don't like it.

Equal pay for equal work!

[Biff]

As a former Police Officer II who was loan to homicide in the 1990's. It granted me many opportunities and affored me the advantage of promoting to detective. Its sad that disgruntled members of this department continue to air out their frustations on this blog. Instead of using the many, many postive aspects of being a LAPD officer, detective, sergeant, etc. In the words of Dean Wormer, "fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son".

[J. Bazan]

To simply make a comment such as "scab" or "play detective" about an investigator that works for me is insulting to me as his supervisor and as the detective who selected Illig to work the Robbery Table. Making comments about an investigator that you dont know anything about is just disrespectful. Officers go through their careers without being involved in a shooting. I dont think it matters what rank you are, If you're on loan or working the gang unit. It could happen any minute, any time working the desk, the school car or DARE. Making irresponsible comments about an officer who just went through a traumatic experience without having any idea about his qualifications, experience or how he ended up working the Robbery Unit is distasteful and insulting to me, Illig, the Robbery Table and Southeast Detectives. I look at Illig as an investigator and a man with integrity, not a "scab" or a "play Detective." I hope this letter will deliver the message to you or anyone who feels it necessary to criticize an Officer who did his job, protected the community and went home safe. Shame on you.

[LC]

The fact that you are using the LAPD BLOG to voice your opinions of the Departments' misuse of personnel is exactly what is so distastful. This, without regard to how a fellow police officer might feel. Using his incident as a stepping stone to voice your issues, that's what's wrong. How about praising his actions? How about talking about his selfless act of heroism? How about saying great job? To believe that ANYONE of ANY rank would not "get" anything out of working homicide, or any other detective function shows your lack of understanding. To refer to an Officer who is making the best of the opportunities presented to him as a "scab" and "play detective" is unforgiveable.

[Esquire]

There is a grand battle between good and evil going on in places like Southeast. Officer Illig has the courage to get involved in that battle every day. Now he has also survived one of its many violent skirmishes. Thank god he did. I think James R. should stop questioning an officer he does not know and instead follow Illig's lead as an exemplary officer, investigator, and person.

[James R.]

Please re-read my post:

--Kudos to the Detective and the 'Officer' for surviving the gunfight--

I wasn't badmouthing the Officer, I was badmouthing the dept and the LAPPL for allowing Officers to work investigative assignments and not paying them for doing so.

Read the MOU! Fight for your rights! Don't drink the Kool-Aid!

[Jcru]

I've never posted any comment on this blog but I felt I had to in response to some of the entries. I am a 12 year veteran, who as a P-II worked Homicide for two years on loan. Now, I wasn't there because I chose to, I was there because during Rampart, all CRASH units were dirty, so therefore I was considered dirty. That experience in Homicide was probably the best in my career as far as learning how to be a better police officer after I returned to a uniform function. I wrote better reports, I made better arrests, I really knew how to debrief a suspect, and I knew how to run a crime scene. Dont judge the book by its cover, people are in certain assignments for individual reasons. As for the idiot who was complaining about the officer working detectives, as the good Lt puts it, "those who can do, those who cant criticize." This guy probably wants to work a detective assignment, but isn't sharp enough to be noticed by detectives, so he complains rather than work hard and prove that he may be a viable candidate. I love these "slaps" that complain about other people doing jobs that they themselves cannot do. The guy did an outstanding job, and the outcome really had nothing to do with what assignment he works. SO to those who cant, just pipe down already, your negative rhetoric is beyond old.