Deterrence – Epic Fail

by Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (December 13^th 2014)

Capital Punishment

The death penalty is said by its supporters to be the ultimate deterrent. But is it? If anyone should think once, twice and be put off from committing a capital crime, it should be those working in law enforcement, especially police officers. But has it? On December 16^th 1950 Scottish police officer James Robertson earned the disgrace of being the only serving police officer to be hanged in Britain in the 20^th century (see Deterrence – The Ultimate Failure at http://fittedin.org/fittedin/?p=635).

If the death penalty was a deterrent, let alone the ultimate one, surely the message should have been clear to police officers, who brought criminals to justice and on occasion to the gallows. Surely, if deterrence worked, Robertson should have been deterred, but he wasnʼt and his is not a unique tale. Almost 47 years to the day before Robertson was hanged Brooklyn police officer William Ennis  earned a shameful distinction. He was the first serving police officer to die in the electric chair. 

Thug

On January 14^th 1902 a drunken Ennis committed two appalling crimes. He shot his estranged wife Mary dad and attempted to murder his mother-in-law. Mary was living with her mother at the time. She had left Ennis and secured a judgement against Ennis separating from him due to his cruel and inhumane treatment of her. Ennis had been ordered to pay alimony, but he resented both the judgement and his mother-in-law.

The judgement against Ennis had been ordered two weeks before he murdered his wife. Ennis had said that he would rather ʻrot in jailʼ, than pay. He demanded that she should come back and live with him. The irony of a police officer, sworn to uphold the law, threatening to ignore the law to bully his wife further seemed lost on him and his colleagues.

The court authorised the Sheriff to enter his home, seize property and sell it to pay the alimony. Ennis complained that Mary was under her motherʼs influence and should return to him. On January 14^th 1902 Ennis broke into his mother-in-lawʼs home and shot her – she survived – before shooting Mary dead. Ennisʼ rage had been fuelled by binge-drinking the night before. He had used his police-issue revolver to commit the crimes and then ran away. He was found by police sleeping in a nearby hotel a few hours later.

Brooklynʼs Finest

In May 1902 the now former Brooklyn police officer Ennis stood trial. He had admitted responsibility and shown some remorse when interviewed by police, but his defence at trial was insanity. Evidence of epilepsy suffered in childhood was put forward. His lawyers claimed that this, suffering from delusions and convulsions caused him to be violent. Medical evidence was provided, along with testimony from friends and relatives.

Even if all this was true, it beggars belief that such a person was deemed fit to be a police officer in the first place. Furthermore, it is astonishing that he was allowed to remain on duty after a court had ruled that Mary was entitled to separation and alimony due to his cruel and inhumane treatment of her. It was a tragedy waiting to happen.

Mary Ennis certainly deserved far better than she received from her husband and the police. Ennis had an acknowledged history of unacceptable treatment of Mary, but his employers saw no need to intervene, let alone remove a man who was clearly unfit to serve from the job. The tragic murder of Mary Ennis and subsequent fate of her murderer should have resulted in stringent safeguards to ensure that only those mentally fit to serve passed through training and onto the streets.

Judgement

The prosecution countered Ennisʼ insanity defence with a letter Ennis had written previously showing his intent to kill Mary. The jury accepted the prosecutionʼs claims that the murder was premeditated and rejected the insanity defence. Consequently, Ennis was sentenced to die in May 1902. Despite the verdict prison officers were concerned that Ennis was insane, but medical practitioners concluded that he was faking symptoms of mental illness.

His appeal was rejected in October 1903. That left commutation of the sentence by the then Governor of New York as Ennisʼ only hope of avoiding the sentence being carried out. A petition on behalf of Ennisʼ mother and sister was delivered by Judge Joseph Aspinall. Governor Benjamin Odell Jnr. declined to intervene. On December 14^th 1903 William Ennis became the first police officer went to the electric chair in New Yorkʼs Sing Sing Prison. He was the first police officer to suffer that fate.