Archive for the 'Police' Category

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?

WFLA:

LAKELAND, FL (WFLA) – A 2-year-old child was burned by a flash-distraction device when Lakeland Police Department SWAT team members executed a search warrant on a home known for continuous drug activity on Thursday.

According to police, members of the SWAT team executed a high-risk search warrant at 1103 West 9th Street.

Once at the home, SWAT officers knocked and verbally announced that they were executing a search warrant, as per protocol.

Officers entered the home and cleared the room, not seeing anyone inside.

The small room was cluttered with clothing and furniture items, including old mattresses leaning against a wall.

With no one in sight, a less lethal distraction device was deployed by an officer.

Officers used a noise-flash diversion product.

As the officer was backing out of the room, a 2-year-old child, who is believed to have been hiding in the mattresses, began walking toward the device as it was activated.

The officer immediately grabbed the child and took him outside to the SWAT team medic.

The child suffered third-degree burns and was taken to Lakeland Regional Health, then Tampa General Hospital.

There is a very small set of circumstances in which I believe that a military raid is warranted.  One such example would be a hostage situation, but even then I prefer to see men employ their wits and negotiate their way to a peaceful resolution.  And any team that ever attempts to do something like this should be a professional team who has trained day and night with the other team members in shoot houses for a couple of years.

My own son told me that he spent so much time with his own unit – living with them, eating with them, shooting with them, room clearing with them – that they didn’t even have to speak to each other and they all knew what the other team members were going to do next.  His NCO told them all if one of the Marines in a fire team gets into some kind of trouble then the whole team had better be in trouble because the fire team had better not be split up.  Ever.  If you’re not trained to that level of proficiency, then you shouldn’t be doing this sort of thing – ever, under any circumstances.

Finally, I am a Christian libertarian.  I don’t believe in a militaristic police state or SWAT raids or the so-called “war on drugs.”  Evidence gathering and taking people into custody isn’t a good enough reason to breach the doors and force your way into property that doesn’t belong to you.  Old fashioned police work with detectives is good enough to gather evidence the classic way and also to ascertain whether children or the person of interest is in the domicile, when they come and go, and when is the best time to effect arrest.

This wasn’t it.  As for the Lakeland police SWAT team, it’s my hope that you see the toddler every day for the rest of your lives in your mind, and in your dark dreams during sleepless nights.  I hope not a day goes by in your miserable lives that you don’t hear the screams of a burning child.

Via reader Ned, Fox31:

DENVER — An FBI agent allegedly dropped his gun at a bar and another patron was shot in the leg early Saturday. Investigators said it appeared to be an accidental shooting.

Denver police said they were called to a report of a shooting at 2201 Lawrence Street at 12:45 a.m.

A woman who said she witnessed and recorded the shooting with her cell phone said it happened at Mile High Spirits Distillery and Tasting Bar.

In the video, a man can be seen doing a back flip, during which a gun falls out of the back of his waistband. The gun appears to fire when the man picks up the weapon.

“It appears an off-duty Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent was dancing at a night club when his firearm became dislodged from its waistband holster and fell onto the floor.  When the agent retrieved his handgun an unintended discharge occurred, another patron was struck by a bullet in the lower leg,” a statement from Denver police said.

The woman who recorded the video, who wanted to only be identified as Julie, said she smelled gun powder and saw a person bleeding.

“Everyone was kind of shocked after it happened because [the agent] kind of put his gun back away and then he walked away,” Julie said.

The video is remarkable.

I hate it when that happens to me.  I remember once I was dancing at a bar, all liquored up with a loose, unholstered gun stuck in my drawers, and I was creating a new dance called “Herschel’s Grabastic Getdown.”  Well, as the story goes, I jumped way up in the air to Van Halen’s “Jump,” grabbing my ass on the way down every time.

When I did it the last time I shot some dude.  I say it was the last time because I didn’t dance anymore after that.  I just walked away.

Sadly, the dance never hit it big.