Officers speak at mayor's meeting

A patrol officer says the police have to go on despite this tragedy.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Every police officer knows there are risks involved with the job, and a single moment can change everything, said Youngstown patrol officer Barry Ervin.
Even so, no amount of training and experience can soothe the pain and sorrow officers are feeling over the slaying of patrol officer Michael T. Hartzell.
"With our job comes a lot of risks; it could be a gunfight or a rabid dog," Ervin said today at the Mayor's Task Force on Crime and Violence Prevention meeting. "But we know the risks going in."
Ervin helped train Hartzell when he joined the Youngstown force in December 2000, and served on honor guard detail at the fallen officer's calling hours Thursday.
"When you lose someone like that, it's hard; it's heart-wrenching," Ervin said. "But we have to go on. We have to go forward with a job that's dauntless. We have a job to do."
Charged in shooting
Martin L. Koliser Jr., 30, is charged with aggravated murder in the Tuesday killing of Hartzell. He is also charged with the attempted murder of Donell Rowe, 23, of Salt Springs Road.
Ervin said Hartzell's killer perceived the officer as a threat, and when he approached the officer's car, he "had malice in his mind." Hartzell, Ervin said, was still trying to determine what the killer was doing when he was shot execution-style in his vehicle.
Ervin said he has been called to crime scenes that are out of control, and has to immediately access the dangers and risks. Sometimes, he said, his job environment is equivalent to urban warfare.
"The patrol officers are the first line of defense," Ervin said.
Detective Sgt. Delphine Baldwin-Casey, who also spoke at the task force meeting, said she had a lump in her throat and stomach pains when she heard about Hartzell's murder. She began to describe a case in November when she was arresting a person and the situation became quite violent before Hartzell responded to assist her. She was too upset to continue the story.
Mayor George M. McKelvey told the task force members that Hartzell's murder has been the worst experience of his life.
"It's so personally affected everyone in this community," he said. "Every single day, police officers are being bashed and trashed and being called lazy, no good and abusive. Why does it take the death of a police officer for people to appreciate what they do?"
McKelvey said Saturday's funeral will probably be the most difficult day of this week for police officers.
"The officers have been able to blunt their pain by trying to find the suspect," he said. "Now they have to focus on their pain and the loss."
Overwhelming response
McKelvey and Ervin commented on how overwhelmed they have been by the community's response concerning the slaying.
"It's one of the most touching things I've every experienced," McKelvey said.
The Rev. Alfred D. Coward, who chairs the task force, said he doesn't cry often, but it's hard not to shed tears over the murder of the 26-year-old officer.
"You look at his picture and he was so full of life," he said.
skolnick@vindy.com