KEEP BELL ON ICE

February 2, 2004 -- Today is the deadline to ask the New York State Board of Parole to ensure that cop-killer Herman Bell - who next week will be pleading for his freedom - stays behind bars.

Nearly 1,000 of you already have submitted e-mails urging no parole for the one-time Black Liberation Army terrorist - one of three self-styled "revolutionaries" who in 1971 brutally gunned down NYPD Officers Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini in cold blood.

Together with the letters and e-mails we've already received, The Post will also be submitting to the parole board 800 petition signatures collected from across the country by Jack Coughlin, a retired NYPD detective sergeant.

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association has already sent in more than 6,000 signatures on its own petitions.

That response is heartening - because Bell's extremist supporters, who fancy him a "political prisoner" and a "prisoner of war," have for months been collecting their own signatures from those who want him free to walk the streets.

Remember, Bell and his accomplices - including Anthony Bottom, who gets another parole hearing this summer - murdered the two courageous young officers for no other reason than that they were cops. Indeed, Bell shot Piagentini with his own gun as the wounded cop begged in vain for mercy.

Make your voice heard now. This is your last chance to help keep Herman Bell on ice. Send e-mails today to: justice@nypost.com