SPD grieves fallen officer

SPD grieves fallen officer

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Story Published: Nov 16, 2006 at 6:37 PM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 17, 2006 at 1:55 PM PDT

By Bryan Johnson

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Friends, family and colleagues gathered at the East Precinct on Thursday to remember the 30-year-old rookie officer, who chose to serve Seattle just five months ago.

Nowak died on November 13th, when driver Neal Kelley hit her with a stolen car. Kelley also died on the scene. Police say he had 16 felony convictions in his past, and had been out of jail for nine months.

At a private memorial on Thursday, her former training officer Dorothy Kim said her death is a loss for the entire city.

"We can all be proud, and the citizens of Seattle can be honored, she chose us. And be very angry that we lost her. We lost one of the good ones," Kim said.

Nowak was an Air Force Reservist who was called for service in Afghanistan. One friend describes her as a fierce patriot and a good friend.

"Just to have her life cut so short. It's sick to me because of how much she cared about everyone. She cared about this country," said Nowak's best friend, Lynnette Oelke.

Nowak's death comes just months after the tragic death of another East Precinct police officer. Officer Lito Barber died on August 13th after a speeding SUV rammed into his patrol car.

Having recently lost two officers, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske wants career offenders off the street so they won't endanger others.

"Well, they didn't put me in charge, but I'll tell you what. I want to bring it to the attention of the legislature, on the auto theft sentencing issues," he said.

The prosecutor's chief of staff Dan Satterberg agrees.

"People who steal cars and who are under the influence of drugs are a tremendous threat to public safety, and for way too long we have treated that as the lowest level crime," he added. Satterberg says the hope is that two tragic crashes will convince the Legislature to get tough.

Chief Kerlikowske says the Secretary of the Washington Department of Corrections is promising a comprehensive review of the supervision polices for people released from state prisons.

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