Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 4

4 Thursday. December 10. 1981 Philadelphia Daily News Death of a Cop Stunned Friends, Colleagues Remember Fallen Cop Ron Freisleben remembers the day Daniel said. Marek said he was sure the man planned tousethebadgetoposeasapoliceofficer. It was not the first time Faulkner had been recognized for his police workfle had received five formal commendations in his five years on the force, Marek said- The first award, a merit commendation, came in November 1976, the same month Faulkner graduated from the Police Academy.

Faulkner, then assigned to the 23rd District at 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue, had arrested a robber in North Philadelphia. ONLY A MONTH LATER, Faulkner received a letter of commendation, again for arresting a robbery suspect. He received a merit commendation in August 1978-for another robbery arrest, and in November 1979 he captured two robbery suspects and received his third merit honor. That month, he was tranferred to the 6th Police District. His latest letter of commendation came in April 1980, when Faulkner arrested three burglary suspects as they fled from a Center City store.

Marek said a letter of commendation is the first or lowest degree of commendation, while a merit is the next highest. The next level is a commendation for valor and the highest level is heroism. Continued on Page 17 Faulkner told him he wanted to be police commissioner some day. "He said he was going to move ahead as a police officer," Freisleben recalled yesterday more than 12 hours after the 26-year-old patrolman, a five-year police veteran, was shot and killed on a Center City street. "He just loved life," said Freisleben, who owns a bar in Southwest Philadelphia where one of Faulkner's brothers is employed.

"He was always involved in something." From 1977 until 1979, Freisleben's bar sponsored a Softball team that challenged other teams to compete in a Softball marathon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The challenged teams, including police, fire and other Softball squads, were charged a fee per player to compete in the marathon against Freisleben's Regent Tavern team, with the proceeds going to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. "WHEN HE WORKED in the marathon, he worked 60 hours straight, making sure the money was put away safely and taking care of security," Freisleben said of Faulkner. "He gave 100 percent every time he played, and he played to win." The 1979 marathon raised more than Reporters Scott Heimer, Jack McGuire, Joe O'Dowd and Valeria M. Russ contributed to this story.

It was written by Valeria M. Russ. 000 for the association. Freisleben said. Neighbors, friends and co-workers remember Faulkner as a "nice guy" who loved children and the outdoors.

He. took pride in his job as a cop and was decorated for his work in several arrests. Police said Faulkner served in the Army in 1973 and 1974 after attending West Catholic Boys High School and Bartram High School. He was taking courses in criminal justice at Community College of Philadelphia at the time of his death because he "intended to move up" in the department, one police official said. CAPT.

HENRY R. MAREK, Faulkner's commanding officer at the 6th District, 11th and Winter streets, said Faulkner "loved being a police officer. It was his life." "He was one of my best, aggressive, active officers." Marek said, noting that he had personally commended Faulkner Tuesday morning for doing a good job in a case. "He had made an arrest the prior evening, and the man was carrying a police badge that had been reported as lost or stolen," Marek Faulkner and his bride 13 months ago TheAccysed Friends Can't Fathom 'Brilliant' Newsman as Murder Suspect America Rodriguez am! Mumia Abu-Jamal. Thcv cover the ethnic communities far WtTHY iriiewiBin-new-s i ,1 i 111 snow.

91 fit-part, Ibeir elo quent. oOen passionate, and ai-wiivt insiehtfut interviews fcnng a special dimension to radio lboiifcb he vfoorc (. ottffee as-a psimter. I frm ri injrv ne ntiiwtufni Kcvt-s. Hivis in the ait From those who knew him, the adjectives were the same.

Talented. Brilliant. Compassionate. Those words kept recurring yesterday as friends and colleagues of Mumia AbuJamal tried vainly to divine what had happened. This much was clear: The 27-year-old radio newsman had been charged with killing a policeman, and Jamal himself was critically wounded.

But these facts offered no explanation, no answer to the question "why?" JAMAL'S ARREST for murder seems another contradiction in the life of a man remembered by friends as calm and peace-loving. He was an award-winning journalist of immense talent, yet was often in conflict with employers and moved rapidly through jobs. His work showed deep compassion and understanding of the city's minority community, yet some who worked with him questioned his objectivity. Because of his reporting, Philadelphia magazine named him as a person to watch in 1981, yet co-workers sometimes described him as unreliable. Mumia Abu-Jamal, activist, journalist and now murder suspect, has been a newsmaker since age 16 when, as Wesley Cook, his given name, he was communications secretary for the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panthers.

"Black people are facing the reality that the Black Panther Party has been facing: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun," he told a reporter at the time. It was heated rhetoric common to the period, but it illustrates the depth of his commitment to the cause of racial equality. Nick Peters, WUHY news director, said Jamal worked at the station from July .1979 to March 6 of this year, when he agreed to leave the station after a dispute with Peters. "HE LEFT AFTER a culmination of disagreements on how to cover stories Peters said. "On some stories, he would not show any objectivity, and I would have to pound him over the head to get the other side." Still, it was while at WUHY that Jamal's talents as a journalist and broadcaster became widely recognized.

"He had an incredible voice, he was a very good writer and an excellent producer," Peters said. "He could do wonders with sound." Jamal was a familiar figure in City Hall while at WUHY, and worked out of the press room across the hall from Mayor Green's office. He often reported on housing, prisons and other stories involving poor people and minorities. His work on the show "91 Report" won several local broadcasting awards, including one from the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi. America Rodriguez, who worked with Jamal on the show, said he "had a really finely honed analytical sense.

"He had a dramatic flair," she said. "It was a sincere dramatic flair He didn't make I his stories! dramatic. He could draw out the drama of an event." Joe Davidson, who replaced Jamal as president of the city's Association of Black Journalists and is the Bulletin's City Hall bureau chief, agreed. "He really gave his stories a sense of drama without sensationalizing them," Davidson said. "I considered him to be the best broad-Continued on Page 17 Reporters Dave Bittan, Stephen Braun, Kitty Caparella, Christopher Hepp, Frederick Lowe and Linn Washington contributed to this story.

It was written by Christopher Hepp. IN 1970, HE LEFT the Black Panthers to return to Benjamin Franklin High School. There he helped lead an unsuccessful student effort to change the school's name to Malcolm High School. At the time, principal Leon Bass referred to Jamal as a student with "great potential." That potential began to be realized when Jamal began his broadcasting career at the Temple University radio station, WRTI-FM, where through 1973, he did a commentary show on black affairs. In 1975, he was hired by WHAT as a broadcaster on Mary Mason's "Morning with Mary" show.

Taken by his resonant, baritone voice, Mason immediately recognized Jamal's talent. "He was one of the best in the business," she said yesterday. "He was an extraordinary news person. Jamal could have been a network anchor." As a man, he was very aware of his "blackness," she said, describing Jamal as a Malcolm Dr. Martin Luther King and the Rev.

Jesse Jackson rolled into one. Still, there was friction between Mason and Jamal, and their association ended when Jamal led a walkout of other WHAT employees. As a result. Mason's show went off the air for a time. Jamal left WHAT for a stint at WPEN.

From WPEN he moved to WUHY as a reporter and a commentator. nmlll. she er at trrd JT 'JmfK. lleadityupw f'Sf vc presi- UTj A Last January, Philadelphia magazine called Jamal someone to watch in 1981.