Vigilante justice not the way to stop Valley thieves

By the looks of things, a bad man ran into a good one on Wednesday in Wasilla, and the bad guy ended up behind bars. Sounds like an ideal outcome, right?

We’re not so sure.

After we posted a news story Friday revealing that a local school board member and former Mat-Su Pretrial Facility superintendent shot and injured a man who was being chased through his neighborhood, social media erupted in glee. Most of the comments on our Facebook page have been incredibly supportive of Richard “Ole” Larson, a retired 29-year Department of Corrections employee who authorities say shot a known thief, bully and drug addict named Codey Tallman. That’s fine; everyone has a right to their opinion, and at first glance Larson’s actions seem pretty darn heroic.

But many of the comments have taken a darker tone, including many wishing that instead of shooting Tallman in the leg, Larson had killed the 24-year-old from Wasilla.

This is a sentiment we feel obligated to speak out against.

Any loss of human life is a tragedy, even when that life belongs to someone who has harmed others. We live in a society where the rule of law prevails, and it’s simply not acceptable for citizens to act as judge, jury and executioner.

Further, the idea that death should be the punishment for such crimes as fleeing police, theft and drug possession is an idea that has long since been abandoned by civilized societies. The only places in the world where such harsh punishments are meted out for relatively minor offenses include Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Malaysia and regions of the world ruled by thugs and terrorists like ISIS and the Taliban. In fact, the United States is one of few countries left in the world that continues to use capital punishment for any crimes — and opposition to that continues to grow. Alaska does not have the death penalty, and we think that’s a good thing. While vengeance and blood may seem appropriate solutions to violent crime, they have been proven time and again to only beget more violence and heartbreak.

It’s disturbing that so many people think that what happened on Cottonwood Loop was somehow a good thing. The local district attorney has not yet determined if Larson committed a crime by following Tallman onto an adjacent property during the encounter, but the decision will not be an easy one. While Alaskans have every right to forcibly defend their own lives when presented with danger — a right courts have affirmed time and again when armed citizens have used deadly force on their own property — this case is a bit different. According to police, Larson followed Tallman onto a neighbor’s property before the fight that led to Tallman’s gunshot wound. While it might be true that Tallman charged Larson, it’s also true that Larson was not obligated to follow him. Alaska law allows an exception for private citizens to use force in the apprehension of a fugitive, but that law only applies when someone is essentially deputized by law enforcement. There is no indication troopers asked Larson for his help in chasing down Tallman. And while he may have thought he was acting in the public’s best interest — and it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t — that doesn’t mean Larson’s actions were legally justified. That’s for the district attorney to decide.

We think the message this shooting sends is that it’s open season on the bad guys here in the Valley. Some might like that idea, but it’s a dangerous precedent to set. Not everyone is as well trained as Mr. Larson, and not in every case are the roles of good guy and bad guy so clearly defined. If we declare an open season on suspected criminals, who are ordinary citizens allowed to go after next? Can private individuals involve themselves in police car chases? Should armed civilians be allowed to use deadly force to track down anyone with a warrant for their arrest? Is knowing someone is wanted by police enough to approach them with a gun? Some will likely argue yes, but it doesn’t take much imagination to see how such ideas and actions could lead to disaster. Our local law enforcement officers are extremely capable and well trained; we doubt they feel they need help in the form of armed, self-appointed deputies roaming the streets. Such a climate could very well lead to more dangerous situations both for citizens and for the officers themselves. While Wasilla is rapidly becoming a more dangerous place to live, this isn’t the Wild West.

We do not believe Mr. Larson should go to jail. That would be the wrong outcome for a man who has served this state and community with honor and distinction. But while the result of his actions did indeed make our community a safer place in the short term, we should not see what happened Wednesday as cause to wish more physical harm on others. That’s not how a civilized society responds to crime. We’re better than that.

If we allow vigilante justice to become the norm, if we give in to the idea that criminals — the vast majority of whom suffer from drug and psychological problems — deserve bullets, we will not have made our world a safer place for ourselves or anyone else; in many ways, we’ll become indistinguishable from the bad guys.

Ole Larson’s actions sent a strong message that crime doesn’t pay. But there’s more to be learned from this case. We applaud Mr. Larson for taking a brave step to do what he thought was right. However, we also believe that bloodshed only begets more bloodshed, and in the long run this shooting has the potential to create more violence in an already violent Valley.

As the saying goes: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”