We buried (埋葬) Donald Brown in May. He was murdered (谋杀) by four men who wanted to rob the supermarket manager he was protecting. Patrolman (巡警) Brown was 61 years old. In just six months he and his wife had planned to retire to Florida. Now there will be no retirement in the sun, and she is alone. Donald Brown was the second police officer to die since I became Police Commissioner of Boston in 1972. The first was Detective John Schroeder, shot in a pawnshop (当铺) robbery last November. John Schroeder was the brother of Walter Schroeder, who was killed in a bank robbery in 1970. Their names are together on the honor roll (光荣榜) in Police Headquarters. When did the author become Police Commissioner of Boston A. In 1972. B. Last November. C. In 1962. D. Before 1970.
At least two of these police officers were shot by a handgun (手枪), the kind almost anyone can buy nearly everywhere for a few dollars. Ownership of handguns has become so widespread that this weapon is no longer merely the instrument of crime; it is now a cause of violent (暴力) crime. Of the eleven Boston police officers killed since 1962, seven were killed with handguns; of the eighteen wounded by guns since 1962, seventeen were shot with handguns.