Spota's turn to step up in Laffer gun case

The Suffolk County Police Department Wednesday extended its silence on its handling of a police detective's warning to take David Laffer's guns away -- five months before he killed four people.

Now it is time for Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota to step in.

The circumstances demand a thorough investigation -- and public airing -- of what happened in the department's pistol licensing bureau after Det. Kenneth Ripp, who is assigned to the department's Identify Theft Unit, called in to inquire whether he could take Laffer's guns.

Ripp and a partner, Det. William Peeker, had gone to Laffer's mother's house in Medford on Jan. 12 after she told police someone had taken $8,220 from her bank account; when Ripp arrived, she said her son had confessed to taking the money. After the arrests of Laffer and his wife Melinda Brady, police described them as prescription pill abusers.

Ripp's attorney, Jeffrey Goldberg of Lake Success, told Newsday the detective was told by the Pistol Licensing Bureau that the guns could stay with Laffer and that the bureau would follow up with its own investigation.

But did the bureau ever investigate? And if so, how thorough was that investigation?

Had police followed up Ripp's visit and gone to the Laffer house and inquired about the theft from the mother's bank account, might they have learned enough additional information to justify a seizure of the guns? On Father's Day, Laffer would use one of those guns to murder four people inside a Medford pharmacy.

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Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, in releasing a statement last week defending the pistol bureau, did not say whether the bureau did any follow-up investigation. Nor has the department said how many guns the bureau has found reason to confiscate over the years.

On Wednesday, despite two requests for comment, the department's silence continued.

That will not do. An open airing of all the circumstances surrounding this case is essential for the families of Laffer's victims, two of whom already have indicated their intent to sue Suffolk. A fair airing also is essential for the police department so its leaders can know whether the department failed to act proactively months before Laffer walked into Haven Drugs on a quiet Sunday morning.

An independent investigation into pistol licensing procedures is essential for Suffolk County residents too. In Laffer's case, guns and drug addiction ended in the worst murder-robbery in Suffolk County history.

There are other licensed guns in the county. And because of a spike in heroin and prescription drug abuse in the county, an increasing number of addicts. This is a potentially dangerous situation.

Jack Eddington, who chairs the Suffolk County Legislature's public safety committee, has sent a letter to police officials asking for details about the Laffer case.

Eddington, who has had a contentious relationship with Dormer and County Executive Steve Levy over department staffing levels, has asked police brass to appear before the committee next Thursday so he can get some answers.

"The legislature wants to know what happened, and if there were issues, so we can correct them," he said.

But Eddington believes there will be no answers, especially since victims' families have filed their notices of intent to sue. "I'm expecting to see a county attorney walk in and say, 'We can't tell you anything,' " Eddington said. "That's what usually happens."

Which is why Eddington, when I asked, said he'd "love to see" an investigation by the district attorney's office.

It's your move, Mr. Spota.