Family and community members gathered Saturday, July 2, to honor the memory of retired Army Major Gulia Dale III, tragically killed by Newton police officers last July 4th.
They staged a memorial in Newton where Dale lived with his family and held a procession to his resting place to honor the decorated army veteran on the first anniversary of his death.
Dale had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which became apparent to his family during his return from several tours in Iraq. Family members said they believe fireworks from neighboring homes may have caused flashbacks of combat that triggered a mental health crisis, which led his wife Karen Dale, who feared he would harm himself, to call the police for help.
Family and community members gathered on Saturday, July 2, 2022, to honor the memory of retired Army Major Gulia Dale III, who was tragically killed by Newton police officers on July 4, 2021.
Three Newton police officers arrived outside Dale’s home. Their body-worn cameras were activated and recorded the events that transpired. A rapid exchange of commands was shouted at Dale, then officers Steven Kneidl and Garrett Armstrong fired their guns, killing the 61-year-old decorated war veteran outside his home. A .45 caliber Glock 21 firearm was recovered near Dale.
Valerie Cobbertt is Dale’s sister. She says her brother worked for the Pentagon and owned a legally registered weapon. “They never asked who made the call,” she said. “They should have responded in a different way. They should have given him more than seconds and allowed him the same time they gave to Edwin Green.”
Just six months earlier, Edwin Green, a veteran suffering from mental health issues, also had an interaction with police after a 911 call. Green fired two shots at the responding officers, but he was not fired upon by the police. Instead, surrounding businesses and schools were shut down. Newton police worked to de-escalate the situation. Green was taken to Overlook Medical Center in Summit for mental health treatment before any criminal charges were filed. The 80-year-old veteran lived to see another day. Dale only had seconds left to his life when the police showed up at his residence.
Veterans in New Jersey suffer disproportionately from mental health issues. Thirty percent of military personnel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have mental health challenges. Dale was one of those veterans.
The police kill a significant percentage of Black men with mental illness. A report released last year stated, “mounting evidence shows that deaths at the hands of the police disproportionately impact people of certain races and ethnicities, pointing to systemic racism in policing,” according to The Lancet.
“The police are untrained in de-escalation and unfamiliar with symptoms and presentation of severe mental health,” according to a report by Dr. Brooke Stroud from the Center of Cognitive Therapy. “Police escalate already agitated people with techniques that rely on force and attitudes primed for action.”
Dr. Matthew Barry Johnson, a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The City Univerity of New York Graduate Center, has joined ranks with the Dale family in a fight for justice.
“Preventable police fatalities are a recurring problem in New Jersey. Gulia Dale was killed in 2021 after his family called for help,” said Johnson, who also represents the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists. “Dixon Rodriguez was killed by Perth Amboy police in 2013 under the same circumstances. Omar Perry was killed by Maplewood police in 2007. On that occasion, a Star-Ledger editorial on July 13, 2007, called for authorities to prevent this loss of life.”
“It just should not have happened,” said Lawrence Hamm, the founding chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress. “No one should call the police for help only to get killed by the police -- and certainly not a decorated combat veteran on the 4th of July of all days."
When there is an officer-involved homicide, the Attorney General’s Office must be brought in to investigate.
“We are with the family and we will support the family any way we can because the situation still resonates with injustice,” said Rick Robinson, who is chairman of NJSC NAACP/Newark and co-chair of the state’s NAACP Criminal Justice Committees. “We are going to contact U.S. Attorney Sellinger regarding the matter and Attorney General Matthew Platkin regarding the status of the investigation. We feel the family has suffered and there has been no justice for them.”
Korean War veteran Nathaniel Williams says he attended the memorial because Dale is a fellow veteran who should not have lost his life at the hands of police after giving so many years of service to this country.
Dale’s sister has spent the past year working on projects to help veterans with mental health issues, including starting a hotline for family and community members to get immediate feedback and referrals for mental health services. She says the family will also set up a scholarship fund for students, who like her brother, are studying business administration and suffering from a mental health issue or PTSD.
Army Major Gulia Dale III was a true son of New Jersey who served his country throughout his career. He attended Montclair public schools and graduated from Orange High School in 1979. Immediately after high school, he joined the United States Army and served at Fort Devens until 1982. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Kean University in 1987.
After receiving an honorable discharge from the Army, he joined the U.S. National Guard and served for 25 years, retiring in 2004. Dale was activated for combat after 9/11 and served three tours in Iraq.
He went on to earn his Master of Science in Management from St. Elizabeth University in 2008. and worked as an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Officer at the Pentagon and Picatinny Arsenal.
Dale was married, had a family and owned a house in Newton for 30 years where his life ended on July 4, 2021.
Ande Richards is new to New Jersey. She wants to hear from New Jersey’s communities of color, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ communities, and those who feel underserved by traditional media. She may be reached at arichards@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anderichards.
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