Police Rifle Left Unattended As Student Walks By
BY Herschel Smith
6 years, 10 months ago
Authorities plan an investigation after a video posted on Facebook on Thursday showed a Kentucky police officer’s rifle leaning up against a car unattended as a student walks past.
“It is unfortunate that this accident happened, but we as police officers are human and do make mistakes,” Dayton, Ky., police Chief David Halfhill said in a statement Thursday, Cincinnati.com reported. “We hold our police officers to a higher standard and be assured that this mistake will be fully investigated.”
Multiple officers can be seen in the video engaging with a suspect on the opposite side of the street, while what appears to be a rifle rests against a parked car. At one point, a student walks by the weapon but doesn’t seem to notice.
One police officer then walks a person down the street, while two other officers walk the opposite way with a person of their own – the weapon still left alone.
It’s not until a voice can be heard in the video yelling, “there’s an assault rifle left unattended,” that an officer saunters over to reclaim the gun and take it back to his patrol car.
Ha. I hate it when that happens to me. I remember the last time I laid one of my guns out on the sidewalk in my little town, and later when I went to pick it up the cops talked to me about the Youth Handgun Safety Act. We all laughed and laughed and laughed.
I told them I just did it for fun and they understood, but said they expect better of me and will “fully investigate” if it ever happens again.
On January 29, 2018 at 10:29 am, Blake said:
The focus of the “investigation” will be about the rifle left leaning against the car.
Of course, no one will ever ask why the officer thought it necessary to take the weapon out in the first place.
Obviously, the situation was not serious enough to warrant the rifle being out to begin with because, A, it was left leaning against a vehicle, and B, a student walked right by the rifle.
Or, if there was reason for the rifle to be out, why are the cops allowing people to wander aimlessly through an area where a gun battle may take place?
This is a massive failure all the way around.
On January 29, 2018 at 10:55 am, Fred said:
Not to worry, an internal investigation is well underway. All is well.
On January 29, 2018 at 11:51 am, moe mensale said:
Bellevue Police Dept.
“An internal review by the department revealed a Bellevue police officer did not leave his rifle unattended, nor was he aware it was left alone, according to the statement.”
Dayton Police Dept.
“Unfortunately, during the course or the incident another agency’s patrol rifle was accidently set down when the officers were going “hands on” with the suspect.”
It appears that the Bellevue PD needs to up their game on internal reviews.
On January 29, 2018 at 12:01 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@Moe,
Finger pointing for blame. He did it! No, he did it!
On January 29, 2018 at 12:04 pm, moe mensale said:
@Blake: “Of course, no one will ever ask why the officer thought it necessary to take the weapon out in the first place.”
I don’t know. Maybe I’m just old fashioned but has reading comprehension become archaic in this country? Do details not matter anymore?
“Both Dayton and Bellevue police were responding Thursday to a domestic violence incident with possible shots fired, the paper reported, citing a statement from the Bellevue Police Department.
The suspect, who was eventually taken into custody without incident, was willing to cooperate with an officer from the Bellevue department on the condition he didn’t bring his rifle, according to the statement.
“To establish a rapport, and end this situation peacefully, the Bellevue officer handed his patrol rifle to a Dayton police officer for safekeeping,” the statement read.”
On January 29, 2018 at 4:41 pm, Gryphon said:
Note: With ‘homeland security’ Funding, almost every Police Vehicle in the U.S. now has a “Personal Defense Weapon” (Full-Auto M4) and plenty of Mags and Ammo in the Trunk. Observation that most piggies are too Lazy to un-ass this stuff into their Homes at Night leads me to see them as “Mobile Resupply Points” (For Future Reference, of course.)
On January 29, 2018 at 4:43 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@Gryphon,
I passed a cop going into Lowe’s near where I live one time a while back, and they were looking for something to secure their rifle case to the trunk of the cruiser. They told me, “You’d be surprised how many rifles get stolen out of cop cars.”
I said, “No I wouldn’t.”
On January 30, 2018 at 10:49 am, Blake said:
@Moe.
You could have just as easily pointed out my error without the gratuitous insult.
On January 30, 2018 at 10:51 am, Blake said:
@moe,
However, the rest of my comment stands: The officer took the rifle out in a potentially dangerous situation, yet, the cops let people wander through an area they thought had the potential for a gun fight to take place.
On January 30, 2018 at 12:54 pm, moe mensale said:
@Blake,
Not a gratuitous insult at all. It just happened to come from you. I was pointing out that many times people on forums quickly skip through an article and then post something totally unsupported by the article.
Someone who doesn’t empathize with our positions sees those responses and gets a more unfavorable view of us.
On January 30, 2018 at 12:58 pm, moe mensale said:
@Blake – “However, the rest of my comment stands:”
No argument from me there. The cop was an idiot. Hell, I’m surprised the guy that took the video didn’t casually pick up the rifle and casually disappear.