# A Good Cop's Call Of Duty



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

By Brian McGrory | June 24, 2005

You think it's easy being a cop. You think they sit in station houses whiling away the time, eating doughnuts until their pension kicks in. The headlines say they shoot innocent kids with weapons they were never trained to fire. If they're not lazy, they're corrupt.

The truth is, that's maybe 1 percent of those with a badge. Today's case in point for the other 99 percent: Mark Colombo.

He's 43 years old, one of the renowned, football-playing Colombos of Brockton, a popular and highly lauded MBTA police sergeant who competes in triathlons and races bicycles. He's been on the force for 17 years.

The truth is, that's maybe 1 percent of those with a badge. Today's case in point for the other 99 percent: Mark Colombo.

He's 43 years old, one of the renowned, football-playing Colombos of Brockton, a popular and highly lauded MBTA police sergeant who competes in triathlons and races bicycles. He's been on the force for 17 years.

Tuesday evening, he comes walking out of the Back Bay Station when a passerby tells him that a man is breaking into a car on Stuart Street.

It's worth noting again that Colombo is a T cop. Stuart Street isn't really his responsibility. But that's never stopped him before.

When he rounds the corner, sure enough, there is a guy rummaging through the trunk of a parked car. As Colombo explained the next day, ''I walk up to him, and he immediately shuts the trunk, and he calls out, This is my car.' "

Sure it is. Colombo pulls out his radio and calls for backup. ''271 to control," he says, but before he can say anything else, the suspect lunges at him, knocking the radio from his hands.

What follows is a violent, terrifying, one-on-one brawl between a police officer and a crazed suspect in the middle of a city street in the midst of an evening rush hour.

The way Colombo and witnesses describe events, it was part boxing match and part wrestling match, with a bit of judo thrown in as well.

''It reminded me of 'Terminator 2,' " Colombo recalled with a laugh. ''He got me; I got him. I took him down. At another point, he got me down. We were bouncing against the car, against the wall, against the street."

How long did it last?

''I watched the videotape, and that was about three minutes long, and that was half of it."

Wait a minute: a videotape?

There were dozens of onlookers and, this being 2005, a woman pulled out a video camera and started recording the thing. OK, of course there's a videotape.

So let's go right to it. On the tape that police showed me yesterday, Colombo and the suspect are wrestling in a gutter. They are banging against parked cars. The taller, bulkier suspect is throwing roundhouse punches and jabs, his long hair flapping in his face. He is grabbing Colombo in places that few men like to be grabbed.

A pudgy guy in a blazer walks past the fight and keeps going. An MBTA bus drives past. The woman behind the camera is yelling for help into a phone.

What's most amazing is Colombo himself, the consummate professional even under attack. He can be heard on the tape constantly shouting, ''Stop resisting and get on the ground."

''If I was in a street fight as a kid, I would have done it differently," Colombo said. ''I would have been more violent. But as a cop, to make an arrest, we have to use the minimum amount of force required. We can't go over."

Colombo finally gets the exhausted suspect in a headlock. He tells some onlookers they could help if they want, and several men rush over and grab various limbs while Colombo places the guy in cuffs.

At the end of the tape, the restrained suspect, later identified as 40-year-old Ruben Delgado of Dorchester, is still kicking up a fuss, telling people he needs water. Colombo says to him: ''Negative, sir. Sit there and relax."

That's right: Sergeant Colombo called him ''sir."

Colombo was already back on the job yesterday, but it's too easy to imagine how this thing could have ended differently. So, if you see a cop today, give him or her a smile, a nod, or any expression of thanks. There are a lot more Mark Colombos out there than the public is ever led to think.

Brian McGrory is a Globe columnist. His email is [email protected].

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

Good guys=1
Shitbird=0

WE WIN!

:lol:


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## Irish Wampanoag (Apr 6, 2003)

Dont be affraid to punch, kick, bite, spit, grab the groin etc... The midevil stuff they teach in the academy is taught so your department does not get sued. Anyone who does not believe this is naive. If you want to live you better learn how to street fight an not hesitate to throw punches and kicks if you have too. The arm bar take downs and chicken wing holds are good but are useless in most cases with violent uncontrolable people hence the word uncontrolable. Anyone who disagrees have never been in a real street brawl when on duty. "Its better to be tried by twelve than to be carried by six" enough said!


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## fscpd910 (Apr 3, 2004)

Irish Wampanoag";p="67588 said:


> Dont be affraid to punch, kick, bite, spit, grab the groin etc... The midevil stuff they teach in the academy is taught so your department does not get sued. Anyone who does not believe this is naive. If you want to live you better learn how to street fight an not hesitate to throw punches and kicks if you have too. The arm bar take downs and chicken wing holds are good but are useless in most cases with violent uncontrolable people hence the word uncontrolable. Anyone who disagrees have never been in a real street brawl when on duty. "Its better to be tried by twelve than to be carried by six" enough said!


 =D> =D>


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## soxrock75 (Jul 26, 2004)

Great Job Sgt. Colombo, you made us all proud!!!


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