The recent murder of Riverside Police Officer Ryan Bonaminio brings into sharp focus the dangers law enforcement officers deal with each and every day on the job as they protect and serve our communities. I won't begin to try to make sense of Officer Bonaminio's death here — I'm not sure it's possible. He survived military tours in the Middle East only to return home to be lured into a trap by a career criminal and murdered with his own weapon.
When I read of such a loss, to the community of which he was a part and to his friends and family, I find anger swelling inside me as I think of the way the entire Costa Mesa Police Department was vilified by some members of this community during the recent political campaign. Those flames were fanned by then-candidate Jim Righeimer, as he used what he perceived to be excessive compensation for public employees, and the CMPD in particular, as his singular campaign plank — his springboard into a City Council seat.
