Senator Golden Speaks Up Against Paroling Cop Killers

Senator Martin J. Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn), ranking member of the New York State Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, recently demanded the New York State Board of Parole keep two cop killers behind bars. Two of the men convicted in the murder of Police Officer Harry Ryman, who was gunned down on August 14, 1980 in Brooklyn, are up for parole this month. As in the past, Golden, a former Police Officer, is fighting efforts to free them.

Golden said, "Officer Ryman was not only a loving father and husband, but a dedicated public servant. The role of Police Officers in our society is absolutely essential to maintaining public safety. When the safety and even the lives of the men and women who swear to protect us are not valued, their lives are put in danger. Everyone who would do harm to a Police Officer should know that they will spend the rest of their lives in jail."

Golden continued, "The family of Harry Ryman demands that justice continue to serve his memory. The safety of all law enforcement officers also demands that justice continue to be served in this case. Justice in this case means these two men are not paroled this month and will spend the rest of their lives in prison."

Senator Golden introduced legislation in 2009 that would reinstitute the death penalty for cop killers in New York. He has also spoken out against recent decisions by the Parole Board and the Division of Parole that have resulted in the release of a high-profile prisoner convicted of killing a Police Officer and the implementation of policies that will make it harder to put parole violators back in prison.