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Convicted New Jersey cop killer to walk free after parole board's rare move: 'Slap in the face'

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Convicted New Jersey cop killer to walk free after parole board's rare move: 'Slap in the face'

A New York City man who nearly 30 years ago admitted to fatally shooting a New Jersey police officer is set to be freed in a shocking turn of events that one expert called “disgusting.”

On June 26, Chung Ho, who is now 80, was granted parole for the Feb. 18, 1995, death of Lower Township Police Department Officer David Douglass.

David Gelman, a criminal defense attorney and a former deputy district attorney, told Fox News Digital that the news of Ho’s parole was a “slap in the face” to the officer’s memory.

“It’s really disgusting. This was the first time that he applied, and he was accepted,” Gelman said. “It’s a total slap in the face to Officer Douglass’ family, other officers in the department and, frankly, police in general in New Jersey.”

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Patrolman David Douglass was shot and killed while responding to a report of a burglary in February 1994. (Lower Township Police Department)

Gelman said that Ho being released on parole after pleading guilty in 1995 to the murder, aggravated arson and burglary charges sends a “terrible message” to the law enforcement community.

“If your life is taken away by a violent criminal and then the parole board sees it and says, you know what? It doesn’t matter that this happened over 30 years ago. It doesn’t matter that there is an individual whose life was taken for no reason whatsoever. But you know what? We think that the individual who committed this crime, they’ve changed enough,” he said. “We can let them free.”

“That is an absolutely terrible message and the family of Officer Douglass should 100% be upset and mad, which they are,” he said.

Chung Ho, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Officer David Douglass, will be released on parole on Sept. 23, 2024. (New Jersey Department of Corrections)

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Ho’s parole came after he came just shy of serving the minimum sentence for the murder of Officer Douglass.

Gelman shared that the decision was made after a group of 12 individuals reached a consensus before delivering Ho the news that he was granted parole.

“In New Jersey, you have parole boards, and parole boards consist of 12 individuals who are experts in their fields,” he said. “They have to interview the victim’s families, the dependents, doctors and individuals in the prison before they come to a conclusion.”

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“I’d say it’s 50/50 whether individuals get parole,” he said. “When it comes to murders, parole is not often granted. In fact, I don’t think it has ever happened in the state of New Jersey that the officer’s killer has been granted parole at the first opportunity.”

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“And frankly, there’s kind of an unwritten rule in New Jersey and probably a lot of other states as well, that officer killers usually don’t get parole, especially not the first time,” he said. “So this is going against the book on all levels.”

David Gelman, a criminal defense attorney, weighed in on Chung Ho’s upcoming release after he was granted parole on the first try. (Fox News Digital)

Gelman pointed to New Jersey’s justice system and the state’s “completely failed” bail reform.

“The New Jersey justice system has taken a dramatic turn over the last half decade or so. I’d say at least 90% are getting free and they’re not just petty crimes or drug crimes, these are individuals who commit violent offenses and are still getting out on the street in less than 24 hours.”

“So it’s par for the course, if you look at it, for a parole board to take that same attitude for those who committed extremely violent offenses.”

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Gelman said that New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has “exasperated the criminal justice system.”

“The criminal justice system here in our state is completely flawed, and a lot of it has to do with the politics in New Jersey,” he said. “Our governor, Governor Murphy, has really exasperated the criminal justice system and made it a lot easier for criminals to not only commit crimes, but to get very lenient sentences and to be get off pretty much scot-free.”

He said criminals know that New Jersey’s justice system is lenient, which has resulted in rising crime across the Garden State. 

“Our crime in New Jersey has gone up substantially over the last half dozen years or so. And, you know, that is not a coincidence,” Gelman said.

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A group of police officers honored Officer David Douglass at a memorial for the fallen officer in February 2024. (Lower Township Police Department)

On Feb. 18, 1994, Officer Douglass was called to the scene of a suspected burglary and engaged in a foot race against the suspect, Ho, who had just set a house on fire.

When the man turned and shot him. Douglass returned fire, striking the suspect in the hand. He was able to make it back to his patrol car to call for assistance but died shortly after.

Ho was sentenced to 30 years to life in 1995 after pleading guilty. Now, Ho, who is 80, is set to receive parole and will be released in September 2024.

On Feb. 18, 2024, the Lower Township Police Department remembered Officer David Douglass’ lifetime of service to the community. (Lower Township Police Department)

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On Feb. 18, 2024, the Lower Township Police Department commemorated the 30th anniversary of the death of Officer Douglass.

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“Let us not forget his efforts, let us not forget his name, and please let us not forget his family,” the department said. 

A spokesperson for Gov. Phil Murphy did not respond to Fox News Digital.

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Boston, MA

When did Southie get richy-rich? – The Boston Globe

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When did Southie get richy-rich? – The Boston Globe


Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com. To subscribe, sign up here.


Born and raised in Southie, Heather Foley has seen her neighborhood morph over the past three decades of scrubbing, renovation, and new construction for higher-income new arrivals.

But even Foley was surprised to discover that her South Boston, where kids once went to the corner to buy milk and cigarettes for parents, has emerged with the city’s second-highest average income, even ahead of Charlestown and Beacon Hill.

Her first thought?: “I gotta start being nicer to my neighbors if that’s the kind of money they’re making.”

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What’s a household?

Decades ago, when “Good Will Hunting” was filmed in the neighborhood and Southie was known as a working-class area, there were more kids around and maybe just a single breadwinner in some homes.

Since then, Southie saw more two-earner households, fewer kids, and spiffier rental units where three or four roommates could contribute to a “household.” The changes, along with spillover from the adjacent, pricier Seaport, or South Boston waterfront, are factors in Census data showing more than 40 percent of Southie households earn more than $200,000 a year.

Staying put

Foley, 46, a photo shoot producer, considers herself lucky. She didn’t move out to the South Shore like many neighborhood longtimers. She’s living in a family home on a block with residents — oldtimers and newer arrivals — who aren’t flipping properties for big bucks.

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Another blessing, particularly valuable this winter? She has a driveway.

As a kid, she went to church and school at Gate of Heaven, St. Brigid, and St. Peter, and jokes that she’s “so sad I didn’t buy a three-decker with my First Communion money, because I probably could have.”

Waves of gentrification

She remembers the earlier waves of newcomers, when glassy sports bars like Stats Bar & Grille muscled in among longtime restaurants like Amrheins.

But now, even the popular Stats is moving out at the end of the month. The property owner is developing a five-story, mixed-use residential building at the site.

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A small silver lining

Foley notes that some of the onetime “newcomers” have been here for three decades — and in some ways, have stabilized the place. Many have raised kids, who, like her son, may return to the neighborhood as young adults (albeit splitting a rented apartment with friends). Stats, the sports bar, says it will also return to the neighborhood’s thriving food scene.

“We have a lot of great restaurants now,” Foley says, “and everyone cleans up after their dog.”

Read: These maps show Boston’s wealthiest and most populous neighborhoods — plus other key trends.


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‘Culture of secrecy’: In a scathing report, R.I. authorities accused the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence of decades of “inaction, concealment, and revictimization” in complaints of clergy sexual abuse of hundreds of children.

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🎥 Quiz: Test yourself with the Globe’s Academy Awards quiz.

⚽ Will $7.8 million stop the World Cup from coming here? Can Foxborough’s insistence on up-front security payments force the world’s soccer governing body to send matches somewhere else this summer?

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Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by Heather Ciras and produced by Ryan Orlecki.

❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.

✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy.

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📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.


Dave Beard can be reached at dave.beard@gmail.com. Follow him on X @dabeard.





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Pittsburg, PA

As his polarizing Pitt career winds down, a banged-up Cam Corhen has saved his best for last

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As his polarizing Pitt career winds down, a banged-up Cam Corhen has saved his best for last






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Connecticut

Hartford community grieves men killed in police shootings

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Hartford community grieves men killed in police shootings


The Hartford community is grappling with two police shootings that happened within eight days of each other. Both started off as mental health calls about someone in distress.

People came together to remember one of the men killed at a vigil on Wednesday evening.

With hands joined, a prayer for peace and comfort was spoken for the family of Everard Walker. He was having a mental health crisis when a family member called 211 on Feb.19.

Two mental health professionals from the state-operated Capitol Regional Mental Health Center requested Hartford police come with them to Walker’s apartment on Capitol Avenue.

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A scuffle ensued, and police said it looked like Walker was going to stab an officer. The brief fight ended with an officer shooting and killing Walker.

The family is planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

“All I will have now is a tombstone and the voicemails he left on my phone that I listen over and over again at night just so I can fall asleep,” Menan Walker, one of Walker’s daughters, said.

City councilman Josh Michtom (WF) is asking whether police could have acted differently.

“To me, the really concerning thing is why the police were there at all, why they went into that apartment in the way that they did, in the numbers that they did,” he said.

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The president of Hartford’s police union, James Rutkauski, asked the community to hold their judgment and wait for a full investigation by the Inspector General’s office to be completed.

A different tone was taken in a statement released about another police shooting on Blue Hills Avenue on Feb. 27.

Rutkauski said the union fully supports the officer who fired at 55-year-old Steven Jones, who was holding a knife during a mental health crisis.

In part, the union’s statement says that Jones “deliberately advanced on the officer in a manner that created an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury. This was a 100% justified use of deadly force.”

The Inspector General’s office will determine if the officer was justified following an investigation.

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The officer who shot Jones was the fourth to arrive on the scene. Three others tried to get him to drop the knife, even using a taser, before the shooting.

“It just feels like beyond the conduct of any one officer, we have this problem, which is that we send cops for every problem,” Michtom said. “I don’t know how you can de-escalate at the point of a gun.”

Jones died from his injuries on Tuesday.  

The union’s statement went on to say that officers should not be society’s default for mental health professionals. The statement said in part, “We ask for renewed commitment from our legislators to remove police from being the vanguard of what should be a mental health professional response.”

The officers involved in both shootings are on administrative leave.

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