http://wjz.com/breakingnewsalerts/local_story_009042847.html
"(WJZ/AP)Baltimore, MD The funeral arrangements are set for Baltimore police Detective Troy Chesley, who was shot and killed early Tuesday.
The viewings are scheduled for 10 am until 6 pm this Sunday and Monday at March Funeral Home at 43-hundred Wabash Avenue.
The funeral will begin Tuesday at 11 am at New Shiloh Baptist Church on North Monroe Street in Baltimore.
Chesley was killed by a man who had been arrested 17 times in recent years. He was charged Tuesday with killing Chesley in an early morning robbery attempt, prompting grieving and angry police officials to express outrage that the suspect wasn't in jail.
As WJZ's Mike Hellgren reports, it was the third violent attack against a city officer in three months.
Brandon Grimes, 21, was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Detective Troy Chesley Sr. to death shortly after he got off work at 1 a.m. In the last 31/2 years, Grimes had been charged with handgun, drug and car theft crimes and mostly avoided lengthy jail time, except for a six-month sentence for violating probation in 2005.
Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm said agencies comprising the city's criminal justice system that are often are at odds with each other as they grapple with high crime rates must take a hard look at a system that allows people like Grimes to roam the streets.
"We need to stop being petty," Hamm said. "We need to put our egos at the door and concentrate on people like Brandon Grimes."
In March, Grimes posted $45,000 bail to get out of jail on one handgun charge. He then got out of jail again a month later on $100,000 bail. His trial on the gun charges was scheduled to begin Wednesday in Baltimore Circuit Court. On the second handgun charge, prosecutors had recommended $500,000 bail, citing that Grimes posed a danger to the community.
Col. Frederick Bealefeld, chief of the police department's detective unit, angrily pointed out that police had risked their lives twice before to take guns away from Grimes -- only to see him get another gun and murder "one of our brothers" a day before his trial.
"This is the sort of mayhem and craziness that we see all to often," Bealefeld said at a news conference at police headquarters.
Grimes and Chesley, 34, exchanged gunfire in front of Chesley's girlfriend's home in West Baltimore at 1:20 a.m. Grimes was badly wounded in the leg in the shootout, and police tracked him down at St. Agnes Hospital where he was being treated. Grimes was at the hospital Tuesday night under guard.
Bealefeld said there was no indication that Grimes knew Chesley was a police officer, and it appears he acted alone.
Chesley's death was the latest killing in a city that has seen an upswing in violence early this year. He was the 10th homicide victim in the first nine days of 2007 and his death was followed by two more killings Tuesday.
Grimes pleaded guilty in 2004 to auto theft, receiving a 10-year prison sentence. But the sentence was suspended, except for about three months of time he had already served, according to court records.He ended up getting a six month prison term in 2005 for violating probation, the only significant jail time he has received.
Grimes also was arrested in November for fourth-degree breaking and entering as well as two drug charges, according to court records.
Chesley leaves behind two sons, ages 12 and 14. The mother of one of the children died of a heart attack in 2004.
Lt. Paul Blair Jr., president of the city chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said officers need to be more careful. He said too many officers may believe they have "cheated death another day" when their shifts end, only to forget about late-night dangers on city streets as they go home.
"It just seems maybe our guys just can't stop dropping their guard when they finish up their day," Blair said.
Blair also said many criminals seem to have no fear of police, a condition he attributed partly to a reluctance to pursue death penalty cases against people convicted of killing officers in the city.
Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, D-Baltimore, said a lack of respect for police is "to the point now where you can't stand it anymore."
"In too many parts of our city, there seems to be a lack of respect for authority," McFadden said.
Criminals won't hesitate to kill, Blair said, even when carrying out petty crimes. "I've seen them kill for minor street robberies of $10, and they kill the person because they looked at them wrong," he said.
Last month, another officer was injured during what authorities believe was a robbery attempt. Momudu Gondo was wounded Dec. 5 as he got out of his car near his home in Northeast Baltimore. Police arrested a suspect about a week later. Gondo, who also returned fire at his assailants, was wearing a ballistic vest and survived the shooting.
In November, Sgt. Christopher Nyberg managed to disarm a would-be robber who held a knife to his throat, Blair said. Nyberg, a former Marine, then reached for his service weapon and shot two of the four people who tried to rob him as he walked home in the Federal Hill neighborhood.
Also, in September, Officer Robert Cirello was shot while on patrol in Patterson Park. He was wearing body armor and survived.
Chesley wasn't wearing a protective vest, police said, and he was in plain clothes. He was a 13-year-veteran who worked in the unit assigned to work in public housing.
Blair said unseasonably warm temperatures could be playing a role in the recent spike in homicides. "This is thug weather," Blair said. "It's a mild winter so far, and the thugs get to rob day and night."
Baltimore finished 2006 with 275 homicides, up six from the year before.
Chesley, who received a commendation in 1998 for leading several people from a burning building, also appeared in a 2005 police DVD called "Keep Talking." The DVD, which was distributed around the city, was designed to counter a DVD made by drug dealers titled "Stop Snitching." The street video was made to discourage residents from talking to police.
As police searched the scene of Chesley's death early Tuesday with flashlights, a woman across the street watched.
She described to a reporter how she heard a sudden, quick burst of gunfire and how she was afraid to look outside. Hours after the shooting, she still didn't want to give her name for publication. "I don't want anyone coming after me," she said."
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