A contingent of St. Louis-area police union members have been providing personal protection for former Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, an unusual security arrangement that will likely continue indefinitely despite the officer’s recent resignation from the force, a top union official said Monday.
Jim Pasco, executive director of the national Fraternal Order of Police, said local FOP members have been voluntarily providing Wilson’s security that has included their involvement in shuttling the officer among undisclosed locations since his involvement in the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown.
“I don’t know how he can live a normal life,” Pasco said, adding that his “days as a cop are over.”
“We’ll work with him as long as necessary,” he said.
Neil Bruntrager, Wilson’s attorney, confirmed that union officers have been assisting his client since the shooting.
“This (security) arrangement is very unusual, but point me to a case like this one,” Bruntrager said. He declined to elaborate on the details of that security arrangement.
The attorney said Wilson has been the target of numerous personal threats since the shooting. But he said the officer’s resignation, following the St. Louis County grand jury’s decision not to charge him in the shooting, was prompted by recent threats against the department.
The grand jury’s decision prompted a wave of destructive protests in Ferguson and non-violent demonstrations in cities across the country.
Source: USA Today