'Blue Alert' To Nab Police Attackers Coming To Colorado
DENVER (AP) -- A bill signing turned a bit personal Thursday for Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. Before signing into law a "Blue Alert" system to help nab people suspected of hurting peace officers, the governor embraced a Denver woman whose husband was killed in 2005 by an illegal immigrant working at a restaurant partly owned by Hickenlooper.
The woman was Kelly Young, the widow of Denver Det. Donald "Donnie" Young, who was shot to death in 2005 while working off-duty security for a private baptismal party.
The detective's shooter briefly escaped to his native Mexico before being extradited back to Colorado and convicted of murder. At the time of the shooting, Raul Garcia-Gomez was working at the Cherry Cricket restaurant.
Hickenlooper was mayor of Denver at the time but had put his portion of the establishment into a blind trust and didn't have any control over hiring.
Hickenlooper, who attended Donald Young's funeral, embraced a smiling Kelly Young on Thursday and asked, "How are the kids?" The widow smiled back and the governor turned to sign the bill.
Before the ceremony, she praised the governor and state lawmakers for making Colorado the 10th state with Blue Alert notifications.
"I think it sends a big message that the killing of police officers is not going to be stood for in Colorado," Kelly Young said.
The state's Fraternal Order of Police backed the new law, which takes effect next January.
"This is the right thing to do for those who put themselves on the line," Hickenlooper said.
The governor also signed into law four other bills Thursday. They included a new requirement that state notifications about ballot initiatives include information about how the initiatives originated, and a bill allowing school clinics to waive co-pay requirement for sick pupils.
Hickenlooper was headed to a Denver day-care center Friday morning to sign into law a bill streamlining background-check requirements for child-care facilities with common owners.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
