Posted on 08/17/2006 11:55:11 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
Since 1985, there have been more than 350 accidental discharges by LAPD officers. There also have been more than a dozen so-called friendly fire incidents.
Though the resulting wounds tended to be less serious than in gun battles with suspects, scores of officers and more than two dozen suspects and bystanders have been injured in incidents that department officials blame on careless handling of firearms.
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One off-duty officer shot himself in a leg as he sat behind his desk and, according to department records, contemplated "a complex mathematical problem." Another officer inadvertently pulled the trigger when his African gray parrot flew into his face.
One officer accidentally shot his girlfriend in a leg while trying to retrieve a cartridge from his handgun as a "memento" of their date. Yet another officer admitted that he accidentally fired his gun because he was startled by a woman holding a teddy bear. Two officers accidentally discharged their weapons as they handled them at home while watching themselves in mirrors.
Even officers from the department's elite SWAT unit have accidentally fired guns while on duty.
In one case, officers had just completed a highly dangerous operation in which they entered the home of a barricaded suspect. Though they emerged from the house unscathed, one of them errantly fired his shotgun while unloading ammunition from another weapon. Shotgun pellets struck the ground between his feet, with metal fragments ricocheting into his partner's upper leg.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I kept hearing the 3 Stooges theme while reading this....weird.
This is funny
In all fairness does anyone know how many range accidents happen each year? Some of the incidents cited do sound nutty at best.
Personally I feel police should not be putting a bead on a suspect that has no visible weapon. Keep the pistol aimed at the ground.
How many times was a suspect on the receiving end of one of these accidental firings?
..."I am the only one in this room professional enough to be carrying a Glock .40" (DEA agent shortly before shooting self re-holstering the firearm).
Are they still carrying Glocks? If they're not going to train their cops in safe gun handling, they'd better pick a weapon with a positive safety, or carry an empty chamber.
20 years ago you couldnt admit to smoking a joint to apply....now they are accepting people who have smoke pot "up to 75 times" or cocaine twice, more than 10 years ago.
I swear detective...I only smoke pot 74 times!
Glocks kill.
"Personally I feel police should not be putting a bead on a suspect that has no visible weapon. Keep the pistol aimed at the ground."
Somewhere there's video of a cop doing just that and still discharging her weapon without cause.
"I only smoked pot 74 times!"
I have the video you're talking about saved to my hard drive. It sure scared the crap out of the suspect!
I think it scared her partner too. But she said she was sorry so it was all better.
Yeah,I bet she even got the 3 day paid vacation also :>)
I was actually looking for that video to link to as well but couldn't find it. In that case the suspect was on his knees and handcuffed, she should have had her weapon holstered.
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