Clarification.

It has come to the attention of the Bulletin staff that the article, "The Community Outreach Program: Putting a Face on Law Enforcement," which appeared in the September 2000, issue contained erroneous information regarding a 1989 shooting incident in Alexandria, Virginia. In the article, the incident is described as "a drug bust that had gone wrong, ending in a shootout between the police and the drug suspects that left two residents dead." The incident, in fact, began when a drug seller took a drug purchaser hostage, pointing a weapon at the victim's head. During a confrontation with members of the Alexandria, Virginia, Police Department's Special Operations Team (SOT), the suspect was killed by members of the SOT after he killed one officer and seriously wounded another. The second officer died shortly after the incident. No other individuals, including the hostage, were injured. Also, although a number of FBI special agents were at the scene of the incident, the FBI SWAT team was on standby during the inc ident and had not been sent to the scene. The authors of the article and editors of the Bulletin take full responsibility for this error and regret any confusion this error may have caused Bulletin readers and members of the Alexandria, Virginia, Police Department.