Police chief Moose shows his horns to media
The head of Maryland’s Montgomery County police department, where five victims were shot, has let his temper erupt during a number of media encounters.
After a local TV station reported leaked details about a Tarot card apparently left by the gunman at the scene of the shooting of a 13-year-old boy, he begged the media not to interfere with the investigation.
“I have not received any message that the citizens of Montgomery County want Channel 9 or The Washington Post or any other media outlet to solve this case,” he railed.
“If they do, then let me know. We will go and do other police work, and we will turn this case over to the media.”
It later emerged the card had a note telling police not to make its existence public.
Mr Moose’s career has been marked by successful police work and angry outbursts.
“He’s a cop’s cop,” says Montgomery County State Attorney Douglas Gansler.
“He’s a real police officer. He came up through the ranks. He literally and figuratively wears his uniform at all times.”
The 49-year-old grew up in North Carolina and later moved to Portland, Oregon, where he rose through the ranks to become the city’s police chief in 1993.
There, he upgraded the community policing system and helped cut the city’s crime rate. His department was widely praised for solving the murders of three prostitutes in 1999.
But during his time in Oregon it emerged that early in his career, he had made racial slurs against whites who he thought were discriminating against him.
“I’m sad that those responses occurred,” he said at the time of the revelations. “I’m ashamed of my behaviour in those situations, clearly embarrassed that I have to relive those situations again.”
Mr Moose’s decision to buy a house in one of Portland’s worst neighbourhoods in an effort to lead by example backfired when a mob of protesters marched on his home.
The police chief called for protection, and was accused of using excessive force.
When he left his Portland post, an editorial in the local newspaper said: “An explosive temper sometimes set back Moose’s efforts and severely bruised some relationships, but the chief should be remembered less for those occasional outbursts than for his huge accomplishments.”
In 1999 he was appointed police chief in Montgomery county, where he was in charge of more than 1,000 officers.
Soon after taking up the position, he was reported to have complained that he was not in a more challenging community, saying that the area “had just 13 murders last year“.
Now he finds himself leading an investigation into a brutal killer who has terrorised the normally quiet Washington suburbs and captured the world’s attention.
Mr Moose has responded by criticising former police officers who give their “expert” opinions on television news, accusing them of enjoying the limelight and harming the investigation with their comments.
He also showed his determination to solve the case after the sniper critically wounded the 13-year-old schoolboy.
“Our children don’t deserve this...shooting a kid. I guess it’s getting really, really personal now,” he said.
