Maureen Faulkner is the name of a woman every police wife and every police officer on this planet should have burned into their memory. Maureen Faulkner, who in 1981 suffered a loss every police wife fears, the murder of her husband. A murder with eyewitness testimony and irrefutable physical evidence. He was 25 years old. I called the Chief this morning after I learned Daniel Faulkner’s killer would be conducting yet another commencement speech (this will be his 3rd since his misguided supporters have started twisting the facts and padding his resume), and learned he was already halfway through his post on this topic. Needless to say, we were both disgusted by the decision to allow a convicted murderer to be a part of this type of ceremony. It’s insulting and disrespectful to every person who has served this country through military service and public service, not to mention every family who has lost someone at the hands of a murderer. Daniel Faulkners childhood was not an easy one. His father died when he was 5 years old and he was one of seven children raised by a single mother, but unlike those who use this as an excuse for their bad behavior, Daniel became a productive member of society. After high school, he joined the Army. When his military service was complete, he became a Philadelphia police officer, bought a house and would marry Maureen in the fall of 1979. One of the most endearing things Ive read about Daniel was his commitment to raising money for Muscular Dystrophy through an annual softball marathon to benefit the fight against it. A childhood friend had suffered from Muscular Dystrophy and he felt strongly about this cause. Daniel Faulkner was more than a police officer, he had a good heart and a place in his community. I cannot imagine the pain Maureen Faulkner must have felt the night she learned of her husbands murder. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of the suffering she continues to endure to this day. Daniel Faulkners murderer has become a celebrity at the hands of people who benefit financially from Hollywood celebrities and shameless self-promoters who gain popularity through controversy. The same people who will ignore the facts as long as there is hope in making the police into the enemy. We have to “wait for the facts” when a police officer is killed, but when an officer involved shooting occurs, there is no time for due process because rumor and speculation become “fact” and the officer is immediately labeled guilty. When I made the transition from police officer to police wife, I began to see things from an entirely different perspective. Being the wife of a police officer is a difficult one, to say the least. A spouse deals with odd shifts, odd days off, court time, overtime, cancelled days off, phone calls at all hours and the knowledge that there are people out there who won’t think twice about killing a police officer. A phone call or a knock at the door can mean your life has changed forever. It’s a worry every wife of a police officer has, every shift. Maureen Faulkner is the epitome of strength, loyalty and unwavering commitment. Maureen has spent over thirty years attending every court appearance during the appeals process and attending events supporting her husband’s murderer, to hand out fliers explaining the facts of the case. She’s been spit on and threatened for her efforts to maintain the truth and expose the myths surrounding this case. She has given up any chance of having a “normal” life because she is committed to maintaining the truth of her husband’s death while special interest groups, authors and celebrities make money from it and celebrate how “cool” they are for being so controversial and anti-authority. Show me a conspiracy theory and I’ll show you people making bundles of money from the people who buy into. Police departments can’t have successful conspiracies, because they have more leaks than a berry strainer. Maureen Faulkner has set the standard for every wife (and husband) of our police families. When a police officer is murdered in the line of duty, we will stand for what is right and what is just. We will not let hate deter us. We will not run away or become divided by the distortion of the truth. We will think of Maureen Faulkner and let the world know, we will not be defeated. You can read the facts and the myths of this case here: danielfaulkner/
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 22:55:01 +0000