Posted on 03/28/2010 12:00:42 PM PDT by marktwain
Police reports on a disgruntled Oregon Department of Transportation planner who surrendered to a police negotiator and SWAT team early March 8 indicate that the man hadn't made any threats, but people who worked with him were increasingly concerned that violence could erupt.
Incident reports from Medford police and the Jackson County Sheriff's Department describe verbal outbursts and "a declining state of mental health" seen in slipping personal hygiene and appearance, and a "somewhat disorderly and uncooperative" exit when the man was placed on administrative leave on March 4.
Fears of retaliation prompted electronic surveillance that notified authorities when the suspended planner, David J. Pyles, 39, bought three handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun and a semi-automatic AK-47 rifle over the next three days.
The purchases only heightened police concerns, prompting additional meetings, surveillance and, finally, in the pre-dawn hours of March 8, the intervention of a negotiator and SWAT team, who took Pyles into protective custody for a mental-health evaluation and seized his guns. He was released in about 3.5 hours and his guns were returned March 12.
"Given the circumstances, we decided to react to be on the safe side," Jackson County Sheriff's Lt. Rich Fogarty said. "I think we did what was necessary."
The seizure of the guns and Pyles' trip in handcuffs to Rogue Valley Medical Center for a mental-health evaluation sparked controversy among gun-rights and civil-liberty advocates.
"If the cops have an explanation, they should give it," Oregon Firearms Federation Director Kevin Starrett said in the days following the incident, which he called "chilling."
The Mail Tribune requested reports from Medford police, the sheriff's department and Oregon State Police in an attempt to piece together the details. The OSP hasn't provided its report yet.
(Excerpt) Read more at mailtribune.com ...
Nah, I am more that guy, the ship captain, on the show Dangerous Catch.
The account of the hang-up is confirmed by Pyles himself, who said he confused the officer (who had called a short time earlier and identified himself as a police officer) with a union official who has a similar name.
I’d be very concerned about all this if it wasn’t being investigated by law enforcement and publicized by the media. Given that both are occurring, and law enforcement has admitted at least one error already, and returned Pyles’ guns to him promptly upon request, I’m not too concerned. I suspect there are serious abuses of justice in completely unrelated cases/jurisdictions that aren’t hitting our radar screen, and I’d rather try to keep an eye out for those, than get overly worked up about this incident.
Psych holds must be “brief” as spelled out in the relevant state stuature, which is subject to some restrictions and limitations imposed by federal court decisions. The definition of “brief” is not just left up to the LE agency or psychiatrists involved in a particular case. Longer psych holds require a court hearing. Pyles was held for less than a quarter of a day, so I’m not concerned about any reasonableness standard being violated here.
Lot of that goin' 'round.
I think it’s one of the seven signs of the Apocalypse.
btr
decades ago, I had a job that allowed casual dress. A new supervisor required us to start wearing ties, so I did. Some of my Dad's 1940's howlers, complete with a large paperclip "tie clasp".
Also in the new rules was something about "neat" beards, so one of the chemists with a waist long, but undistinguished, beard first tried giving it a permanent wave; then he started braiding it. Others added to the resistive compliance.
It was, to say the least, strange; but an outside observer would been hard pressed to determine if our physical appearance had deteriorated, improved, or had simply remained the usual eclectic eccentric dress found in the labs all along.
Supervisors come & go, but productive employees remain.
Not that I would ever do such a thing, but I saw (not that I ever frequented such unholy events) many AKs & knockoffs being bought & sold at gun shows in the Medford Armory.
Also Tecs, ARs, HK93s & 94s; bullpups, Streetsweepers, and many other interesting arms, ammo & accessories; as well as the 'ordinary' hand & long guns. All private sales, with no background checks, or other such nuisance sane and reasonable regulations.
That was up until I left, about 10 years ago, so not sure that is still the case, but Medford is only about 25 miles past the CA border on I-5. ;-)
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