White Center's good knight

Every death in the line of duty is an emotional jumble of public tragedy and private sorrow. The fatal shooting of King County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Cox has an especially heart-rending dimension.

He was not only sworn to serve and protect the residents of White Center, but he also embraced his patrol area as a large extended family. The community responded with the same respect and affection toward Cox, who was slain early Saturday while investigating a shooting. Cox's murder was a personal loss for White Center, where his law-enforcement duties expanded into community advocacy as the elected president of the local council.

He had grown up nearby and the trajectories of his life, career and heart took him away to law school, work as a prosecutor and eventually back to the streets of a hardscrabble neighborhood that is always trying to catch a break. White Center lives with poverty, political isolation and, lately, a pernicious resurgence of gangs.

Cox was shot in the head by a young ex-convict who was being questioned by the deputy about an earlier assault.

The felon, Raymond O. Porter of Burien, died in a subsequent shootout with law-enforcement officers. Porter was still under the supervision of the state's post-release program for former prison inmates.

Gov. Christine Gregoire announced Monday that the state Department of Corrections would look at three recent cases of inmates on post-release supervision who were accused of causing the deaths of three law-enforcement officers since August.

Cox is survived by his wife and young son, and a stellar record of public service.

His mourners number in the thousands, and they include many, many admirers who felt they knew Cox as a friend and civic benefactor. That is an extraordinary legacy and accolade for a lawman.