Collection of Articles about Police Officers Killed by Semi- Automatic ...

Who then were these neighbors whose fears prompted the search? The answer may well
lie in the demographic make-up of the Stevenson Ranch development, and of Santa
Clarita in general – it is loaded with cops. As the Times reported, “Fully 10% of Los
Angeles police officers live in Santa Clarita, more than live in the city they patrol.” (2)
To illustrate the density of the police population, the Times told the story of a Beverly
Hills publicist who, when he “moved his young family to Stevenson Ranch two years
ago, the real estate agent assured them ‘You couldn’t go more than three houses
without running into a police officer.’ Sure enough, his neighbors include a sheriff's
deputy and an LAPD officer.” (2)
Was it local law enforcement personnel who had ‘reported’ the alleged claims being
made by Beck? And if not, then why were they not the ones to whom their fellow
neighbors reported their suspicions, rather than improbably phoning them in to the U.S.
Marshal's office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms? If you live in a police
'ghetto,' do you really need to place calls to these agencies to report a suspected crime?
A report in the Sunday Times noted that: “The specific reasons for the search are laid
out in an affidavit by a federal agent that was shown to a federal prosecutor and a
federal judge, both of whom approved the search.” The same report though added that:
“[Southern California head of the ATF Donald] Kincaid said the affidavit was sealed and
he would not discuss its specifics.” (9)
Was there an arsenal of weapons and ammunition in the suspect's home?
Of primary concern, according to officials, was the alleged arsenal of weapons being
assembled by Beck. There are serious doubts, however, about whether such a cache
existed. As the Times pointed out, the fire that destroyed Beck's home would likely have
caused the ammunition to “explode, spraying the area with bullets.” (1) Reporters on
the scene observed that “There was no indication that any such explosions occurred.”
(1)
There is also doubt about whether law enforcement officials really believed that such a
cache existed. One report held that after the second floor of the house gave way to the
fire at 1:15 p.m., “Some of the SWAT team members began taking off their helmets,
apparently convinced that Beck could no longer be a threat.” (1)
While it may well be true that Beck was no longer a threat at that time, a large cache of
ammunition on the ground floor would still have posed a considerable threat, not only to
the officers, but to anyone else in the general vicinity of the siege. And the fact that law
enforcement personnel had adopted a strategy of igniting the house in the first place
strongly suggests that they didn't seriously consider the possibility that the residence
was stockpiled with ammunition.
Officials did ultimately claim to have found a number of firearms in the smoldering
embers of Beck's home. Included on that list were “three assault rifles … including an
AK-47 and AR-15, as well as a shotgun, a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol and other
handguns.” (9) Notably absent from that list was the "automatic weapon" with which
Beck had allegedly opened fire to begin the shootout.
Who exactly was James Allen Beck?
One thing that is known is that he was a former police officer himself. In 1987, he had
been accepted onto the Arcadia police force. He was let go just over a year later, for
reasons that remain unclear. The chief of the Arcadia force, Dave Hinig, provided only
vague answers for reporters, citing confidentiality laws.