Gary Howe, president of Hamilton's Local 1005, said a law that allows health benefits to be taken from retirees while the corporation sits on a huge cash reserve has to be changed.
About four months later, tragedy struck again, this time with officers Charles Randy Champe and Gary Howe experiencing engine failure while on routine patrol in a helicopter above South Los Angeles.
Gary Howe of Milford, Mich, listens to Mitt Romney during a gathering with Michigan tea party members in Detroit. Howe worked as a Michigan state police officer before retiring. He has not decided who he will vote for but says he likes Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.