Help keep cop-killer Phillip Copeland in prison for life for the 1988 murder of Police Officer Eddie Byrne. Please help us oppose parole by sending a letter as soon as possible. We have included a sample letter below:
Parole Board
Attica Correctional Facility
639 Exchange Street
Attica, NY 14011
RE: Phillip Copeland, DIN #89A5229
Dear Members of the NYS Parole Board:
I strongly oppose the parole of Phillip Copeland, DIN #89A5229.
In the very early morning hours of February 26, 1988, NYPD Police Officer Edward Byrne, a 22-year-old rookie with only seven months on the job, was shot in the head and killed, in cold blood, by four remorseless, vicious, drug-dealing guns-for-hire while he was guarding a witness in a narcotics case. One of those killers was Phillip Copeland, DIN #89A5229. Officer Byrne was sitting in his car at the time when four men approached his vehicle, knocked on the window, and then opened fire at point blank range. Officer Byrne’s death was ordered by a jailed drug kingpin named Howard “Pappy” Mason. Mason’s sole motive was to exert his power by having a New York City cop murdered at will and at random.
Four criminals were cheaply bought by Pappy Mason for a few thousand dollars. They bragged, in graphic detail, to their friends and later to Investigators, how they murdered young Officer Byrne. They were tried and sentenced to 25-years-to-life on murder and weapons charges. They were all housed at different correctional institutions: including Copeland, who is still at Attica.
Almost three decades later, the law enforcement community still reels from this senseless crime. It’s hard to believe these criminals could ever be eligible for parole. I believe it would be a terrible travesty of justice if Copeland was released from prison. He brutally murdered a young, enthusiastic public servant who was dedicating his life to maintaining law and order. He tore apart the family of Officer Byrne, as well as those of his friends and colleagues. He terrorized the witnesses in the case, which shocked even the most hardened New Yorker and ripped the collective heart out of the City at a time when the entire nation was gripped in escalating crime, terror, violence, and death influenced by the 1980s crack epidemic.
Much has been written and publicized about this case, because of its callous brutality and senselessness. More than three-and-a-half decades after its occurrence, the death of Officer Byrne still defies imagination.
I believe there is only one answer to the question of parole for Phillip Copeland. That answer is “No!”
I urge the Parole Division of the State of New York to deny the parole petition of Phillip Copeland.
As far as I am concerned, this criminal lost his right to freedom the moment he agreed to stalk the streets of New York City in search of an honest young Police Officer to kill.
I believe cop-killers, especially those who despicably execute public servants in cold blood, should stay behind bars for life.
Thank you for considering my position.
Sincerely,
