CHP Chief Seeks to Reassure Officers

VALENCIA —  Citing the death of his own brother in the line of duty, CHP Commissioner Dwight “Spike” Helmick offered a message of reassurance and hope Tuesday to officers mourning the death of one colleague and praying for the life of another.

“You put your lives on the line every day,” Helmick told about 30 officers at an afternoon briefing at the Newhall office of the California Highway Patrol. “You’re making a difference out there.”

In somber tones, Helmick discussed the July 13 fatal shooting of CHP Officer Don Burt in Fullerton and the wounding of Rafael “Ralph” Casillas in Granada Hills a week ago.

Helmick, the top-ranking official of the CHP, came to the area Tuesday to visit Casillas and talk to his shaken colleagues.

Casillas remained in critical condition at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he was returned to a respirator Tuesday. He is under heavy sedation and doctors warned that the 31-year-old officer is not yet out of danger, Helmick said.

Casillas was shot by Terry James Parker, a 25-year-old ex-convict who fled rather than stop for officers who wanted to cite him for speeding. Parker led officers to his father’s house, where he shot Casillas on the doorstep. Parker then ran away. According to the autopsy, Parker shot himself before he was shot by pursuing police and died of his wounds.

A memorial service for Parker was held Tuesday in Mission Hills.

In a grimly blunt reminder, Helmick told officers that no matter how much training or equipment they have, they still face extreme danger daily.

“We’re still very vulnerable to someone like Parker,” said Helmick, who toured the scene of the shooting.

Helmick, whose brother was killed in a 1989 traffic accident while on duty, said he was on a 20th wedding anniversary trip to Carmel with his wife last week when he received word about Casillas.

He said he took a three- to four-hour walk on the beach and then “cried like a baby.”

“Don’t let this eat away at you,” he said. “It’s something you have to look at, talk about. . . . We’ll do anything we can to help you.”

The shooting of Casillas has resounded through every CHP station in the state, coming just two weeks after the death of Burt, Helmick said. “Is there a pall over the state?” Helmick asked. “Absolutely.”

Helmick said he received calls from Burt’s wife and father, who is a CHP sergeant, offering their help and support for Casillas. And Helmick said he has been buoyed by the public outpouring of concern for Casillas.

In the intensive care unit, a couple stopped Helmick to ask about Casillas. “When [Parker] hurt your officer, he hurt us all,” Helmick said he was told.

“It says volumes about how much they [the public] care,” Helmick said.

At the Newhall station, where Casillas has worked for the last two years, officers listened as Helmick described his visit to the hospital Tuesday.

In one of the few lighter moments, an officer asked Helmick for a contribution to a fund he is collecting to pay for a paint job on one of the classic cars Casillas restores as a hobby.

After the briefing, patrolman Rick Miler praised the CHP commissioner for visiting. “It was good to see the boss man does care and that he took the time to spend with Ralph’s family,” Miler said. “They need to know we do care.”