Posted on 01/22/2025 5:43:06 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
A police department in Florida is moving to fire an officer after she accidentally shot a man with his own gun during a routine traffic stop last month.
Officer Mindy Cardwell was called to assist with a traffic stop on Dec. 13 along with another cop after Jason Arrington, 39, had been pulled over by an officer for running a red light, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.
Arrington was fully cooperating with all three officers, the body camera footage showed. He had informed the cop who originally pulled him over that he did have a gun holstered in his waistband.
After he had exited his car, Cardwell went to remove his firearm, but while she was trying to take the gun, it discharged and Arrington was shot in his upper thigh.
It is unclear if the gun had its safety on or off before Cardwell tried to grab it.
The bullet had gone through his upper thigh and exited at his inner leg, causing an alarming arterial bleed that officers were able to stupor with a tourniquet.
Arrington was transported to a nearby hospital following the accident and is expected to make a full recovery, but filed a lawsuit against the JSO. He is specifically citing his lasting injuries which he says have impeded his ability to work as a crane operator.
An investigation by Internal Affairs found that Cardwell had been incompetent and moved to terminate her.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Valid point. Thank you for sharing!
One of the neat things about attending Citizen Police Academy is that you got a short session on the PD’s virtual trainer range. Think a big room with multiple projectors, all computer controlled, and blue Glock 21s (the department’s standard uniformed issue weapon) with lasers instead of bullets. You’re confronted with one of a few hundred scenarios, and act/react. Trainer cop operates the system and critiques.
Cop hands me the trainer pistol. It’s noticeably a real Glock 21 by weight and appearance, painted blue. So I pull the slide back slightly to confirm there’s a laser mechanism in there and not a .45 ACP round.
“What are you doing!?”
“I’m making sure this thing isn’t an operable gun with a round in it. You’ve just handed me a Glock shaped object that weighs the same as a real Glock, I’m making sure before I pull the trigger that there’s a laser in there.”
“Huh. Never had anybody do that before.”
“Really!?”
It was fun. I did some things right, did some things wrong. Useful training tool for sure.
There was a funny video of two female Chicago cops last year trying to bring down a big perp: he just stood up and shook them off like a big dog.
I spend 33 years in the business height and weight standards should apply
Which is why you must teach everyone to never finger a trigger. I do not care what kind of safety you use. The best way to prevent accidental fires is never finger a trigger.
A novice/kid is just as dangerous with a 1911 as a Glock or a Sig or a Walther regardless of the safety mechanisms if they finger a trigger.
Another victory for DEI hiring practices.
Female cops are mostly useless and at times dangerously incompetent. Many offenders will fight to keep from being taken into custody. The vast majority of female officers are incapable of winning that fight.
Glock pistols are inherently safe. Training is required, and the penalty for incompetence is injury. No mud flap on any other design is the slightest bit different, and a manual safety won’t fend off idiotic error.
Your logic is unsound, by such reasoning, which implies the only way to be safe is a safety, fails because even safeties fail, can not be fully engaged etc..
So really the only way to stop this is to not allow him to carry, that is the result of such logic.
A cop should absolutely know not to finger a trigger. That is the crux of this issue.
Safeties imho provide a false sense of security and when seconds count result in a failure of the Tueller Drill
“Retired LEO here who carried a Glock 17 as a duty weapon. They require 14 pounds of pressure on the trigger to fire the chambered round. She very likely put her finger inside the trigger guard (muscle memory?) when she grabbed the sidearm and yanked on it to unholster it. Gobsmackingly stupid of her.”
I don’t know of any inside the waistband holsters for semi-autos that DON’T fully cover the trigger. That means while she was removing the gun it was removed from the holster enough for her to get her finger on the trigger. Stupid indeed.
I do indeed appreciate the job police officers do. It's a job that I would NOT want. Especially nowadays.!
My wife and I often pass by the maximum security prison at Lucasville Ohio. Can one even began imagine what the guards must deal with in that place? NO THANKS!
And no, I’m not kidding.
> Can one even began imagine what the guards must deal with in that place? NO THANKS! <
A friend of mine was a police officer in an upscale municipality. The pay was good, and the folks were nice. He surprised me by quitting to become a prison guard.
It was all about the Benjamins (money), he told me. As a prison guard, he could double his salary due to all the available overtime.
To each his own.
“Correct me if I’m wrong but unless you apply the alec baldwin “the gun went of on it’s own” rule, she had to have pulled the trigger.”
Absolutely CORRECT!
Finger on trigger.
But she was removing the gun for everybody’s “safety”
Never had a LEO disarm me. Used to go over the scales, had inspections, in the scale house.
I can’t see a reason to not have a safety. If you don’t want to, don’t put it on. I have carried a Glock concealed for a long time, every issue with it involves holstering or unholstering. I always removed the holster to put it back in.
For quite a while I’ve carried a Sig P365XL with a safety, it’s in the traditional 1911 location so it’s automatic for me.
The large majority of law enforcement are below average gun handlers, with the exception of the ones who are ‘gun guys’ in general. Most are not any better than the average guy on the street, possibly worse.
JSOnwll not ay one thin dime!
The poor suffering Jacksonville taxpayers will!
I am a poor suffering Jaksonville taxpayer, and I strongly resent being on the hook for an inept JSO officer!
“Mindy” needs to never be a public servant ever again anywhere. She needs to be held criminally accountable for assault with a deadly weapon; she needs to be held civilly accountable for all of Mr. Arrington’s medical expenses, loss of work, pain and suffering, and punitive damages.
And cops who are afraid of armed citizens need to be fired, one and all.
And the phrase “officer safety” needs to be expunged from the language.
As a starter, this cop should lose her police certification. But I doubt if even that will happen. Instead… please see my post #31.
She won’t become a “gypsy cop” if she’s IN PRISON.
Jus’ sayin’ ...
On edit: JSO will not pay one thin dime!
Insufficient grip strength to overcome the clips strength. When she couldn’t remove the holster, she just pulled on the gun. With two fingers on the trigger. BANG!
Blindingly incompetent.
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