Archive for the 'Police' Category

Editorial at Toledo Blade:

Police officers in Ohio already face too many threats to their safety when they take to the streets to protect their communities. They should be able to know whether someone they are approaching is armed.

But the Ohio House approved a measure last week that would weaken the state’s concealed-carry laws. It would ease penalties on motorists who fail to promptly alert officers during traffic stops that they have a weapon in their car. The bill is now headed to the Ohio Senate.

What is proposed instead is that a person stopped by authorities could simply hand over his concealed-carry permit with his driver’s license.

The bill also would reduce the severity of the charge for failing to notify the officer from a first-degree misdemeanor to a minor misdemeanor.

The original version of the bill would have eliminated entirely the responsibility for concealed-carry permit holders to notify officers that they were armed, which is disrespectful to law enforcement, and simply reckless.

The bill’s proponents say that law-abiding concealed-carry permit holders should not have to alert anyone to the fact that they are armed. That is also disrespectful, and arrogant.

Advocates for the bill say it would only clean up ambiguous language by removing “promptly,” which can be arbitrarily interpreted. But why not define the term instead of removing a reasonable requirement?

Considering how quickly an interaction between law enforcement and any armed civilian can escalate, it seems more logical that the law-abiding permit-holders would want to immediately alert officers to the presence of a weapon.

Many gun owners who seek out concealed-carry permits do so because they believe carrying a weapon makes them safer. But no one is safer in a situation when police are surprised by a gun.

What the editorial should have said is “We advocate informing cops about weapons because we like to see goober cops shoot weapons carriers.  We like to see that because we have weapons carriers.”

It’s simply insulting to claim that criminals or someone bent on danger to someone else would inform cops of their weapon.  “Why yes, officer, I have a concealed firearm, and I intend to use it to ensure you don’t get home safely at the end of your shift.”

Anyone who informs a LEO about weapons cannot possibly be the real concern, and LEOs know that, and so does the editorial board of the Toledo Blade.  And since the criminal won’t inform a LEO about weapons, everyone really knows that informing LEOs is not relevant to anything at all.

This is really all about being, as the editorial put it, “disrespectful” to LEOs.  Because statists will be statists, and they will always have their armed enablers.

The Ohio Senate should pass this bill.  Why would anyone carrying a firearm want to voluntarily put himself or family in danger from some trigger happy buffoon?

The Denver Post:

The couple had moved to their house on Arroyo and Bohmen avenues less than a month before. The former tenants included a known gang member, Timothy Tafoya.

Four days before, Tafoya had shot and killed 32-year-old Ricky Muniz as he confronted Tafoya and another man as they spray painted gang-affiliated graffiti behind his house.

Pueblo police identified Tafoya as a person of interest and obtained several search warrants, including one to look for evidence of graffiti material, devices that hold photos and messages, gang paraphernalia and jewelry — but not a weapon — at the house that Tafoya hadn’t lived in for about two months after his family had been evicted, according to the lawsuit.

Police watching the house said they had seen Tafoya, who was wearing an ankle monitor, outside the residence, according to the lawsuit. But they did not see him enter or leave the house. Officers and SWAT were given a description and photos of Tafoya. Then, they surrounded the house.

But instead of a 21-year-old man walking out the front door, they were met face to face with a 60-year-old man with a bad back.

Officers shouted for Duran to put up his hands, which he did.

He exited with his hands up and was told to back up toward the SWAT officers, which he did until he backed into the barrel of a firearm at the back of his head, according to the lawsuit. He was then handcuffed and given to Officer Jackie Torres.

She forced him to bend over and walked him to a police SUV, putting him in the back. Duran has previously had surgery on his back and said he was screaming, “My back! My back! I’m disabled,” according to the lawsuit. Deborah Duran was also handcuffed and detained.

About 10 minutes later, Det. Glen Fillmore uncuffed William Duran, taking him out of the car, and saying, “Obviously, you are not the people we are looking for,” according to the lawsuit.

Good Lord.  The guy they were after was wearing an ankle monitor.  How much easier can this get?  Do they have such things as detectives in this part of the world?

But hey.  Most 60 year old and 18 year old men look the same to me too.  The good news is that even though the cops violated the most basic rules of gun safety and reduced margin in the defense in depth to killing someone by pointing the muzzle of their weapons, at least they got to go home safely at the end of their shift.

As far as I’m concerned, nothing is more important than that.  Not constitutional rights, not the fourth amendment, nothing.  I know you all feel the same way.

Capital Gazette:

Leyland — a member of the Naval Academy’s 2017 heavyweight crew team — entered a woman’s house during the night by breaking in through a side patio door, police said.

When he was confronted by the woman, police said he refused to leave and locked her out of the home when she walked outside.

Police surveyed the home with guns drawn and found Leyland in the master bedroom, Miguez said. At some point while officers were in the home, Moore fired his gun, but the bullet did not hit anyone.

Miguez said in August that Leyland was shirtless and unarmed during the alleged burglary.

Police said Leyland jumped out of a window, sustaining minor injuries, and resisted arrest after officers caught up with him outside.

Miguez said officers having their weapons drawn when called to a report of a burglary is “common when we’re searching any building we think there might be someone in that has been broken into.”

“It’s easier for someone lying in wait to initiate an action than for us to react to what’s in front of us,” she said.

Moore incorrectly had his finger on the trigger while surveying the home, Miguez said, and not removed from the trigger to prevent such misfires.

Moore, with no history of such incidents, will go through retraining to reinforce proper gun safety, she said.

Gosh, I hate it when that happens to me.  I remember the last time I pulled my gun on someone at the grocery store and put my finger on the trigger.  I almost shot somebody, but thankfully, the cops came along and wanted to coach me on the rules of gun safety.

All is well now.  They left feeling like I had learned my lesson.  No charges, no harm, no foul.  Except for the glass I shot out and the people I almost killed.  Thank goodness all I had to do was get a little schooling from the good guys.

Via David Codrea, who has some followup information you will want to know.

Harless is an idiot.  He isn’t capable of bagging groceries well, much less interacting with the public.  The Canton, Ohio police must hire down, or in other words, hire the dumbest people alive to do the job.

Harless doesn’t speak well, he doesn’t present himself well, he seems incapable of reasoned, logical or complex thought, and it’s a wonder that he passed any of the written examinations to become a LEO (unless the examinations are designed to exclude the smart candidates).

More than that, he appears to have broken the law.  He appears to be guilty, according to the clear testimony of this video evidence, of assault with a deadly weapon, false arrest, verbal and physical harassment, threatening a citizen with bodily injury and even death, and conspiracy to commit crimes.

His partner, Mark Diels, is simply a nincompoop and a boob.  He is a goober.  He appears to have no morals or scruples, and he appears to have intentionally went along with the apparent crimes being committed, meaning that he is not only complicit in them, he appears to have been guilty of conspiracy to commit these crimes and cover them up.

Tell me again about how most cops are just good guys trying to do a good job?  Let me hear it again.

Jacob Sullum at Reason:

The fatal shooting of Philando Castile last year by a Minnesota police officer reinvigorated an old debate about how people who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon (CCW) should handle interactions with the cops. The officer, who was acquitted of manslaughter in June, panicked during a traffic stop after Castile, a CCW licensee, told him he was armed.

Some gun owners argue that disclosure is considerate and prudent, while others worry it will escalate a routine traffic stop into a tense, unpleasant, and possibly life-threatening encounter. But virtually everyone agrees it’s important to know the relevant legal requirements, which vary from state to state.

Jacob has included a nice graphic with his article outlining what states require immediate notification of LEOs that you’re lawfully carrying.

That phrase may be important, and if you ever have to inform a LEO that you are carrying a weapon, you should use the phrase “lawfully carrying.”

I’m interested in reader reaction to this question.  I don’t believe that a LEO has a right to know that.  Whether something is legal has no bearing on whether it is moral, and informing LEOs that you are carrying can keep you out of a world of problems.

On the other hand, informing a LEO that you’re carrying can also cause a world of problems due to the paranoid schizophrenic culture that is ubiquitous through police departments today.  Even if a LEO doesn’t think you are out to kill him, he may want to do something completely ignorant and “take possession of your weapon to ensure safety.”  No one should touch their weapons, not you, not him.  It isn’t safe for him to touch your weapon.  He also shouldn’t unholster and point his weapon at you, as both actions violate rules of gun safety (having to do with muzzle and trigger discipline).

The police have created this problem.  We live with it.

Via David Codrea and reader David Dietz:

A small Ohio news organization says one of its photographers has been shot by a sheriff’s deputy who apparently mistook his camera for a gun during a traffic stop.

The New Carlisle News reports photographer Andy Grimm had left the office at around 10pm Monday to take pictures of lightning when he came across a Clark County sheriff’s deputy performing a traffic stop in New Carlisle, north of Dayton.

Grimm tells the news organization that he decided to take pictures of the traffic stop on Main Street, noting that he was not the one being pulled over.

He says he got out of his Jeep and started setting up his tripod and camera in full view of the deputy performing the traffic stop when he heard, ‘pop, pop,’ and then realized he’s been shot in the side.

Grimm was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He is expected to recover.

The wounded photographer later said Deputy Jake Shaw gave him no warning before opening fire on him.

Hmm … [with chin resting on fist contemplatively] … I hate it when that happens to me.  I remember the last time I did that.  I shot up some old dude walking with a cane, and I thought it was a gun.

Fortunately, the cops did an “internal investigation” and found that I was entirely within my rights.  No harm, no foul.  Except for the old guy I shot up.  Too bad for him.

Reader David Dietz sends this along.

A New York City police officer hunting for a fugitive in Jersey City accidentally shot a U.S. marshal in the foot while firing at a dog on Thursday morning.

The officer from the warrants task force was with members of a fugitive task force looking for a 25-year-old man wanted on robbery charges, according to the police report.

As they reached the door where they believed the man was hiding at about 6.40am, a pit bull charged at them and bit one of the officers.

The officer fired at the dog four times killing it and hitting the marshal’s foot.

The dog was only doing what it is bred and trained to do, i.e., protect its master.  But remember boys and girls, only sworn law enforcement officers are endowed with the ability to recognize peripheral threats, know your backstop, and think through tactical situations quickly by utilizing their Ninja warrior stress control training.  You can’t be trusted with such things.

A federal marshal got shot.  The sad part of the story is that the dog died.

News from King County:

Randall’s GoPro camera on the chin of his motorcycle helmet captured video of the heated interaction with the plain-clothes deputy. Footage shows Deputy Richard Rowe, 53, approaching the motorcyclist at the intersection of 145th and Fifth in Shoreline with his gun drawn, and he yells at Randall demanding his identification.

Randall admitted he was likely speeding on 145th just before the traffic stop, but he insisted he wasn’t going 100 miles per hour, which Rowe accused him of. He estimated 45 to 50 m.p.h.

The plain-clothes deputy was in an unmarked car with flashing lights. Rowe didn’t identify himself as an officer until more than 30 seconds after drawing his weapon on Randall.

“From what I’ve seen, I don’t approve of his actions, so what comes next is an investigation,” said Sheriff John Urquhart.

“All things being equal you don’t pull your gun on a misdemeanor traffic stop. On a misdemeanor traffic stop, it’s against our policy. It’s against federal law,” Urquhart said.

Urquhart said he placed Rowe on leave and as of Tuesday had not spoken with him. The sheriff said Rowe was a hard worker with no disciplinary issues that Urquhart could recall.

Internal investigators have 180 days to review the case.

What we can learn from this case is that County Sheriffs will allow us to stop vehicular traffic and unholster our weapons when we get pissed off, since LEOs have no more rights than we do.  I hope I can rely on this Sheriff to come to my defense and demand an internal review rather than prison time for me when I do this.

I’m going to have to work on something though.  The last time I practiced with my handguns at the range, I did so presenting from the “low-ready” position to test time to get good sight picture and take the shot.  I guess I need to work on presenting from the “snuggle-with-the-belly” position instead.

KTVU.com:

A video showing the interaction between a Campbell police officer and two citizens during a traffic stop on Highway 101 is circulating on Facebook.

The video, filmed by the driver, is a little over nine minutes long and shows an officer pointing his gun at the passenger.

The passenger repeatedly asks the officer to stop pointing his gun, saying his hands are clearly visibly and he is complying with the officers orders.

The officer continues to point his gun into the car as he calls for backup.

According to Campbell Police, the vehicle was pulled over for speeding. The officer asked the driver for her license and additional paperwork. Police say the driver and passenger spent several minutes looking for the paperwork, when the passenger began reaching under his seat. That’s when the officer perceived a threat and withdrew his gun.

“We understand that it is never a comfortable position to have a gun pointed at you, regardless of whether it is a police officer. Unfortunately, the length of time that the officer’s gun was drawn lasted much longer than normal based on his location. If this same situation would have occurred closer to back-up officers, it would most likely have been resolved much sooner,” Campbell Police Public Information officer Gary Berg said in a statement.

Both the driver and the passenger were issued citations and were allowed to leave.

Watch the video.  Hahahahaha … that’s funny.  I hate it when that happens to me.

I remember the last time I pointed one of my guns at someone because I didn’t know what they were doing.  It was in a grocery store parking lot and two guys were standing around talking.  I didn’t really know what was going on.  For all I knew, they were making plans to go into the store and shoot up the place.

So I called my neighbor for backup, and he also pointed a gun at the two men until we found out they were talking about grilling out that weekend.  No harm, no foul.  They called the cops on me, but I told the cops that I just didn’t know what was going on and it was better to be safe than sorry.

He understood.  He told me I had as many rights as he did, and he would have done the same thing.

Fox News:

The Pentagon nearly gave over $1 million worth of rifles, pipe bombs and other military hardware to a fake police department — set up as part of a government watchdog’s sting operation, a new report reveals.

Using cloak-and-dagger tactics, auditors from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) created a nonexistent police department. They submitted requests to purchase from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) “controlled properties” like simulated pipe bombs, night-vision goggles, and explosive ordnance detonation robots.

“In less than a week after submitting the requests, our fictitious agency was approved for the transfer of over 100 controlled property items with a total estimated value of about $1.2 million,” the GAO said in a July 18 report.

The sting operation involved government auditors creating a website describing the fake agency and using publicly available resources to produce false police credentials.

“Personnel at two of the three sites did not request or check for valid identification of our investigator picking up the property,” the GAO said.

In its reponse to the findings, DOD concurred with four recommendations made by GAO and highlighted steps it was taking to improve internal controls and implement recommendations from past audits.

At no point during the application process did Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) staff speak with officials at the fake agency to verify the legitimacy of the application, according to the report. All authorizations were done via email.

I have a better idea.  Let’s not give any police any military weaponry or ordnance at all, ever.  For any reason under the sun.  Under any circumstances.

There.  Fixed it.