Archive for the 'Police' Category

Via TCJ Western correspondent Ned Weatherby, this sad, sorry tale.

Newly released body camera footage shows Las Vegas police officers pausing for several minutes in the hallway of the Mandalay Bay hotel — as mass shooter Stephen Paddock guns down 58 people on the floor directly above them.

“Holy sh-t that’s rapid fire,” officer Cordell Hendrex utters in the chilling video, reacting to Paddock’s gunfire — which he later described as “like thunder all around and above us,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The officer and his first-day trainee, Elif Varsin, stayed on the 31st floor for four-and-a-half minutes, even as they heard the shooter’s position reported as “the 32nd floor, room 135.”

“I’m inside the Mandalay Bay on the 31st floor,” Hendrex says in the video. “I can hear the automatic fire coming from one floor ahead, one floor above us.”

In a report, he later wrote that he “froze right there in the middle of the hall” after being terrified.

Eh, whether it’s a column or patrol car in Florida or hotel floor in Las Vegas, I’m just glad the cops had something to hide behind and that they went home safely at the end of their shift.  Officer safety first, of course.

And if things like this don’t dissuade you from the belief that the cops are there to protect and defend you, then you believe in fairy tales, myths and children’s story books.

The Gun Writer:

While traditional open carry is generally banned, Florida law allows the open carry of handguns while hunting or fishing.

To be clear, you can wear an exposed handgun in a holster if you’re fishing — period. It’s completely legal.

There are a few other exceptions.

This fishing exception was apparently unknown by Miami Beach police officers Sunday morning.

The results were almost tragic.

Thank God no one was killed or seriously injured.

Details are still emerging, but here’s what we know for sure:

A group of fishermen — who were lawfully open-carrying handguns — was fishing off of the South Pointe Pier in Miami Beach Sunday morning at around 10:40, when they were confronted by Miami Beach police officers.

At some point during the confrontation, a Miami Beach police officer pointed his gun at the group. At least one man was unlawfully detained and his weapon was confiscated.

Police injured one man’s shoulder when they took him to the ground. He was later transported to a hospital.

So now do you want to hear how the MSM reported this event?  Hold on to your breeches boys.

Six armed people who were fishing Sunday morning at the South Pointe Pier in Miami Beach were detained by police and then released.

The anglers, whose guns were openly displayed on their hips, cited a state law that allows people to carry a firearm while fishing, hunting, camping or attending a gun show, said Miami Beach Police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez.

Park rangers spotted the group about 10 a.m. Sunday and summoned police. The anglers were questioned by police but allowed to stay after mentioning the state law, Rodriguez said.

“Out of an abundance of caution we have assigned two officers to the pier while they remain,” he said. “We are encouraging visitors to use other portions of South Pointe Park.”

It all sounds so peaceful and well-intentioned, yes?  So here is a question for you.  Abundance of what caution?  Exactly what did the police think they were protecting?

Let’s pose a question. “Why officer, you don’t want us to see a weapon on the carriers, but carrying concealed is acceptable, then exactly what are you doing by recommending we stay away from these men?  They could be carrying anyway and it be legal, it’s just that we wouldn’t know about it?”

They would only have one answer.  “We don’t want you to see peaceable men openly carrying weapons because you may figure out that there is no difference between open and concealed carry except that you don’t know it if someone has concealed their weapons.  Then you may demand that these men be allowed to do that everywhere, or at least not oppose open carry, and we can’t have the peasants with the same rights we have, can we?”

But the MSM reporter doesn’t go there, because like all MSM reporters, she got her talking points from the cops.  The MSM is an organ of the state.  It always has been, it always will be.

One final thing.  Let’s stipulate that the cops were poorly bred, uneducated imbeciles for a moment (that’s usually a good approximation for cops).  The first thing out of my mouth if I had responded to this event as a cop would have been this.  “Hey boys, how’s the fishing?  Catching anything today?  Let’s talk about what you’re doing here, sirs.”

Unholstering a weapon and pointing it at someone who is peaceable and innocent is the most idiotic, irresponsible, dangerous and thoughtless thing a person can do.  The cops truly are morons of the highest order.

Shreveport Times:

A Shreveport police officer is under an administrative investigation after he accidentally fired his department-issued gun while teaching two summer interns about gun safety.

Cpl. Marcus Hines accidentally fired his department-issued .40-caliber Glock handgun around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 20, while inside his office, according to a police report.

Hines told the department that neither he nor the two public information office interns — a 21-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man — were injured.

Hines’s work assignment is to serve as a department spokesman. Calls to him Thursday evening regarding the incident were not returned.

According to police reports, Hines and the interns recently returned from watching the department’s special response team receive tactical training when Hines began to discuss department-issued weapons and gun safety.

During the conversation, Hines unholstered his gun, removed the magazine and then removed a round from the chamber. He was telling the interns how one should always point the gun in a safe direction when it fired, said Chief Administrative Assistant Ben Raymond in a statement.

The round penetrated the carpet of Hines’ office. Police later removed round fragments near Hines’ desk and took photos of the scene, police said.

After the gun went off, Hines followed police protocol and contacted a supervisor. Hines was then taken to Willis-Knighton Work Kare for substance-abuse screening, police said.

Hines told police he was trying to make the weapon “safe” when the gun went off.

I know.  It just went off.  I hate it when that happens to me.

But here’s a tip that’s helped me a lot.  Take those dumb ass ear buds out when you’re on duty and trying to keep life safe for folks.

CBS Pittsburgh:

An investigation is underway after 17-year-old Antwon Rose was shot in the back by an East Pittsburgh police officer while Rose was running from a traffic stop.

KDKA-TV has now learned that the officer who is accused of shooting Rose, was only sworn into duty a few hours before the fatal shooting.

When a police officer shoots someone, even if they’ve been involved in a crime in a neighboring community as has been alleged here, Allegheny County homicide detectives step in.

“In accordance with police best practices in the aftermath of officer-involved shootings, Allegheny County police department homicide detectives were requested to assume the role of independent investigatory agency,” said Superintendent Coleman McDonough on Wednesday.

But it’s up to Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala to determine whether Rose’s shooting was justified or not.

“That officer has the same rights as any other citizen,” said McDonough.

I hate it when that happens to me.  I remember the last time I shot a man in the back.  I had seen him running down the sidewalk and thought that maybe he had just robbed my house.

Turns out I was wrong, but they found that I was entirely within my rights in assuming he was a thief.  They brought up Tennessee versus Garner, but I shut that down in a hurry by claiming it only applies to cops.

Sun Sentinel:

Many have called him a coward, but former sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson had no legal duty to stop the slaughter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, his attorneys say.

Peterson took shelter rather than confront the killer, but he did not act with malice or bad faith, according to his attorneys, Michael Piper and Christopher Stearns of Fort Lauderdale. Therefore he can’t be held legally responsible for the deaths, they say in court documents.

Allegations against Peterson suggest only that he “opted for self-preservation over heroics,” the attorneys wrote.

The statements came in a motion seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Andrew Pollack, the father of 18-year-old Meadow Pollack, who was killed in the shooting.

[ … ]

Peterson’s lawyers say police officers are responsible for injury only if the officer takes control of a situation and people are hurt as a result or if the officer creates risk.

A Florida statute gives immunity to officers for injury suffered as a result of what they do while on the job unless they acted in bad faith or exhibited “wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property, ” the attorneys say.

I told you so.  There is a difference between cowardice or irresponsibility and legal culpability.  An officer who does something like that isn’t a man and should be shamed until he leaves the earth.

But he isn’t legally required to assist.  Period.  We’ve seen that before with Castle Rock versus Gonzales and Warren versus the District of Columbia.  The attorneys didn’t even have to get there because Florida law protects LEOs.

Now.  I want every gun controller out there to queue up and tell me how I should relinquish my guns because the cops will protect me and my family.

Go ahead.  I’m waiting.  Let’s hear it.  Bring it.

WGN9:

Police raided the wrong home on the South Side and handcuffed the wrong people before they realized their mistake Tuesday afternoon.

Police raided the first floor of an apartment building on the 5200 South Wells Street in the Fuller Park neighborhood just before 3 p.m. Terricky Pender said her kids got caught in the middle of the incident. The family’s front door is now damaged.

“They put us in handcuffs and told us to sit on the couch,” Janell Island, one of Pender’s children, said. “I was confused. The police officer told me to shut up.”

Island was just getting into the shower when about 10 police officers breached the front door. Police entered the home, said it was a raid and said they were looking for drugs.

Island said she told them they had the wrong house. Island and her two brothers were the only people home at the time.

Jamell Island was closest to the front door, playing video games, when the door was busted open. He said the officers did not announce themselves as police. He said they just banged on the door.

He said he started to run.

“What’s happening now out here in Chicago, there’s too many bad things out here. You can’t trust nobody out here,” he said.

He said police knocked him down, put the gun to his head and handcuffed him and his brother. He said they took him to the bathroom, pulled his pants down and started checking to see if he had anything on him. He said he felt humiliated.

The warrant police had said they were at the correct address but the man they were looking for, named Deebo, lived upstairs. They had the wrong apartment listed.

After searching every corner of the apartment, police apologized and left the building.

Terricky said it was little consolation. She said she was left with a ransacked home, a broken door and shaken image of the police.

“I feel it was wrong that they came in my house and did this to my kids,” she said. “My kids had to suffer with guns in their faces, pulling their clothes down. They could have been running out the door and somebody could have shot one of my kids.”

Chicago police said they take these matters very seriously and will investigate the incident, including “the accuracy and reliability of information provided to officers.” They said they deeply regret the hardship caused to homeowners and have expedited the claims process to properly secure the home.

Oh, well good.  I’m glad they apologized.  That makes everything better.  The only thing that would make this outstanding is if the cops had all been shot.

Of course they should realize that criminals (in this case the cops) pose as cops using tactical gear and shout “Police, Police, get on the floor” in order to subdue their victims.  Yes, you cops know that.  Of course you do.

That means a man is morally justified in shooting anyone who comes in the door, cop or not.

News from Tulsa:

In less than 24 hours, police made their first arrest in a rolling gun battle that played out on a busy Tulsa street.

Police booked Aundre Rogers into jail Tuesday.

Leaving his first interview with detectives, Aundre Rogers said he is innocent.

Sawyer: “Have you thought about what would happen if somebody had gotten hurt?”
Rogers: “I did get hurt. I’m the victim.”

But police aren’t so sure.

Officers arrested Rogers as he left the hospital Tuesday morning – his arm in a cast after being shot during a rolling gun battle near Jasper and MLK Tuesday afternoon.

“How our person in the hospital ended up getting shot in the arm…What we think is he is hanging out the window shooting at the car behind him,” Sergeant Dave Walker said. “It’s a shame he got a booboo on his arm, but he shouldn’t be hanging out the window shooting at people.”

The incident happened in the middle of a busy intersection Monday.

Police said a stray bullet hit the car of an innocent woman as she was driving home from work.

Officers collected more than a dozen shell casings scattered a half mile down the street.

“These bullets go somewhere, and they are not the best shot and they don’t practice, and so the chances of somebody else getting hit that is innocent is great,” Walker said.

“They aren’t the best shot and they don’t practice.”  For some reason this rolling gun battle comes to mind.

The more than 600 rounds that Stockton police fired during a rolling gun battle with bank robbers last year that left a hostage dead by officers’ bullets was “excessive” and “unnecessary,” an independent review found.

The Police Foundation, a research group based in Washington, D.C., released a detailed report Monday on how Stockton police responded to the July 16, 2014, armed robbery of a Bank of the West branch, where three gunmen took three women hostage and fired at officers from a speeding SUV.

The group found that 32 officers unloaded more than 600 rounds during the hour-long rolling gun battle, which spanned three counties, 63 miles of highway and reached speeds of 120 mph. One of the hostages, Misty Holt-Singh, was killed when she was struck by 10 police bullets, authorities said. The two other hostages jumped or were thrown from the vehicle during the chase and survived.

Police officials said they fired on the vehicle to potentially save lives because the men in the car were shooting indiscriminately. The gunmen disabled 14 police cars with gunshots, the report stated.

[ … ]

The report said that a few officers engaged in “sympathetic fire,” in which officers fired their weapons because others were shooting.

In some cases, officers opened fire while colleagues were in front of them. The report highlighted an example during the final standoff, in which one officer lay prone on the ground and did not shoot while an officer next to him, standing, fired “round after round.”

“‘What’s your target?’ the prone officer yelled, thinking he was missing something,” the report stated.

“‘The car!’ responded the officer,” according to the report.

Or if you wish, you could consider a much less dynamic situation.  Either way, insulting a thug’s ability with weapons isn’t really the best strategy at this point, sir.

Providence Journal:

A civilian observer was accidentally shot during police firearms training Wednesday, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office.

The district attorney’s office said the observer was accidentally wounded during a scheduled Athol Police Department firearms training session. The victim suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his upper rear leg area and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to the district attorney’s office.

State police detectives assigned to the district attorney’s office are investigating, with what the district attorney’s office described as full cooperation of the local Police Department. The town will conduct its own internal review, the office said.

In a press release issued Wednesday, the district attorney’s office did not identify the victim or the person who fired the shot.

I don’t like the term “civilian” when distinguishing from cops (I just parroted the article title).  It assumes too much, but aside from that, I hate it when this happens to me.

I remember the last time I shot a LEO who was a range officer that day at the range.  They did an internal review at the range.  No harm, no foul.

Ammoland:

The Virginia State Police are way, way behind on entering CHP holder information into the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN).

What that means is that if you are stopped by law enforcement, who for some reason doesn’t trust the validity of your CHP, and the officer queries VCIN, he might be told incorrectly that your permit doesn’t exist (if new) or has expired!

Supposedly the VCIN system puts up a message warning officer’s that it’s data is not to be blindly trusted, but I’m hearing some officers are doing so anyway and there have been arrests. If the VCIN information isn’t 100% accurate, why are the State Police even providing it? That’s a recipe for disaster.

What an awesome way to lose the mandate of heaven (to recapitulate a phrase MV used so often)!  Impose an unconstitutional system of people to have to get state permission to exercise a God-given right, fail to catalog that permission, and then arrest them anyway.

I don’t want to hear one word about sympathy or support for LEOs.  LEOs in Virginia have either [a] done this themselves, or [b] allow their colleagues to do this with impunity.  Thus either way they are responsible for this evil act, each and every one of them, individually.

NY Daily News:

“I was trying to figure it out,” Peterson said. “I was scanning for the shooter, looking over the windows, the sidewalk, the rooftop. I thought maybe it was a sniper like in Las Vegas. I just didn’t know.”

Peterson said he took a tactical position because that is what he was trained to do. While he was trying to locate the shooter, multiple people from inside the school were calling 911.

Hey, here’s a hint for you.  People keep saying you did nothing because you did nothing.  And I find it disgraceful that if you had just heard more shots you might have been able to locate the shooter.  What are you saying – that you actually would have chosen for the shooter to have discharged his weapon more than he did?