Bruce Jacobs didn't apologize. I guess we shouldn't be surprised

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Police Chief: Radio Host Should Apologize

Go on, oppose officer's widow, but respect loss

Aug. 27, 2008 12:00 AM

So Bruce Jacobs didn't apologize. I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

In our ongoing trench war over illegal immigration, it's dangerous to stand out there in the middle ground. Everybody's fair game, it seems. Even the widow of a police officer who died 344 days ago, in service to his city.

Even a woman who knows better than most - maybe even better than Jacobs - the excruciating cost of this nation's joke of a border policy.

On Sept. 18, Officer Nick Erfle was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant. He, who had twice beaten cancer, died in an instant at the hands of a criminal who shouldn't have been here. He was 33 years old.

Now his widow, Julie, is left to raise two young sons and something else: the level of debate about illegal immigration.

"I felt strongly when Nick died that there was some greater meaning to his death," she said. "And the way the community reacted, the way everybody reacted when he died . . . it just caused the debate to take on such a heated tone in Phoenix in particular and I thought maybe I could elevate the discussion somehow."

Erfle believes we can solve the illegal-immigration crisis and secure the border if people will find the courage to step out and explore what is now no-man's land - the dreaded middle ground.

So last week, she went to Washington at the request of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon to advocate for a plan that would in all probability include some form of amnesty.

For this, she was attacked Thursday by KFYI's Jacobs, who questioned how she could work with Gordon when it was his police department's don't-ask policy that allowed her husband's killer to freely walk the streets.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Julie
Erfle," he scolded. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself for being used. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for pitching for lawbreakers. You ought to be ashamed of yourself and I don't know how you can look at your kids and do this . . .
"I'm sure if her husband were alive today, knowing how his legacy is
going to be used or his memory is going to be used to further the cause of the very thing he took an oath for, to uphold the law, he would be ashamed of you, and I'm ashamed of you."

Jacobs went on to say that the compromise Erfle advocates will lead to more illegal immigration and more deaths.

"When the next police officer is gunned down or killed . . . is it fair to blame you?" he asked. "Because I am going to give you partial blame. Put that in your legacy for your husband."

On Monday, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris and officers across the state demanded an apology. On Tuesday, Jacobs spent several hours defending himself, explaining that Erfle was a fair target once she stepped into the spotlight.

"My comments were never aimed at Julie Erfle the widow," he said. "I empathize with the tragic and senseless death of her husband, fallen hero Nick Erfle. However, anyone who wants to be an advocate, promoter or spokesperson for amnesty is opened to be criticized."

Actually, I agree. But there's a difference between criticizing her point of view and taking a bludgeon to the side of her head - or the center of her heart.

Hey Bruce, bash Gordon all you want. He signed up for the job, and I haven't forgotten how he was MIA during the siege at Pruitt's or how he blanches at the idea of giving his officers the discretion to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement when their training and their instincts tell them they should.

But strafing Erfle? To tell a woman grieving the loss of her police-officer husband just 344 days ago that the blood of the next cop killed will be on her hands?

That's inexcusable. But then, this is war, talk-radio style, where it isn't enough to respectfully disagree with enemy combatants or, God forbid, actually listen to what they have to say.

Better to bloody them up in hopes of shutting them down, using all the weapons so effectively employed by talk radioites anymore:
Sermonize, demonize, pulverize.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com