I make seven predictions and one educated guess

[tellner]

Before revealing the link to today's bit of asshattery I make the following seven predictions and one W.A.G.

1. He will not do time
2. He will not be convicted
3. He will not be indicted
4. He will not be arrested
5. He will not lose his job
6. Most of the police officers here will leap to his defense and say we don't know enough to judge
7. A couple of those will accuse me of being "anti cop"
8. If it weren't a cop most people here would be thinking about how they could have shot him while his back was turned

Here is the link:

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- A Vancouver police officer is on paid administrative leave after witnesses said he flew into a rage and pulled out a gun at a local butcher shop.

Vancouver police were called to a butcher shop on Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard around 4 p.m. Friday to investigate a disturbance involving an off-duty officer.

The owner of the Top Choice Meat Market, Mike Brannan, said the off-duty officer was upset because 4 pounds of his deer jerky was seasoned incorrectly.

Brannan said he told the officer he didn't have to pay for the jerky, but he continued to yell in the store.

When Brannan gave the officer his meat and told him never to come back to the shop, that's when he pulled out a gun, according to Brannan."At that point, he jumped back with the gun and says if I come any closer he'd shoot me," said Brannan.

"I turned around and ran for the door. All of the customers were freaking out and trying to hide.

"According to police, the officer at some point felt threatened by the actions of the employee and that is why he pulled out his handgun.

The name of the officer has not been released and the case has been turned over to the Clark County Sheriff's Office for investigation.The officer is on paid-administrative leave, which is part of standard operating procedure

.

These guys know how to game the system. They know exactly what to say and have been coached in how to give the right answers. A regular citizen would have been interrogated and arrested for pulling a stunt like that. And his name would have been all over the papers.

Cops are definitely held to a higher standard. They raise the bar for any sort of justice to unheard of heights if it's one of their own.

 

[grydth]

I agree with #6 at the present time.

 

[Big Don]

I'd go with number eight, deleting the portion about "if he weren't a cop"...

 

[jks9199]

Right now, there's not a lot to judge by. If the account presented is accurate, than the guy, may well need to be fired. But I'll reserve my judgment somewhat

There's only one side being given, beyond a single sentence. It's clear there was an argument; would your opinion be different if the butcher was raising his voice, and waving a a butcher knife around -- or even simply had it in his hands during the argument? Just how many knives did the butcher have available, immediately to hand?

With that said -- I can't imagine why this got to be such a heated discussion.

But... What should he be charged with? (You actually have 1-4 in reverse order. If he's not charged and arrested, he won't be indicted, and if he's not indicted, he won't be convicted, and without a conviction, he won't do time. So you've kind of stacked your odds there...) Brandishing? Maybe... but if he (just like if you were in a similar situation) articulates why he was in fear, or didn't wave the gun in a threatening manner -- there may not be the evidence to make that case. Reckless handling? Same issues... Nobody got shot, so anything that requires a discharge of the firearm is ruled out. The butcher's own account suggests that the guy wasn't threatening, but was afraid of the butcher...

I suspect that he'll be facing departmental discipline; this may well not be publicly released to the press, by policy or by law. Internal discipline is not generally considered a public matter.

Like I said -- there's not really enough here to assess for certain. It doesn't look good -- but it also doesn't look automatically unreasonable, either.

It does look like the guy, at least at that moment, is a bit of a hothead, and that may be enough to require that he be assessed for psychological fitness for duty.

 

[Tames D]

I'll go with #1.

 

[shesulsa]

I'm very interested in how this turns out as it's my town.

 

[MA-Caver]

I doubt the officer will get away "clean" with it. Like JKS said:

I suspect that he'll be facing departmental discipline; this may well not be publicly released to the press, by policy or by law. Internal discipline is not generally considered a public matter.

But to go say he'll not get in any trouble... You're not being anti-cop but you are being cynical.
Cops are human/people too. They're subjected to the same laws as everyone else.
It would be nice to see the resultant outcome of this story (like many others).

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

If it happened like in the report I imagine he will be in big trouble one way or another. That however is for others to figure out and only time will tell!

 

[grydth]

If I had a quarter for every time it did NOT happen as in a media report, my location would read Tahiti and I'd have an assistant typing these for me.

 

[michaeledward]

Four pounds of incorrectly seasoned deer jerky.

wait ...

Four pounds of incorrectly seasoned dear jerky?

And that is sufficient to brandish a firearm. Wow.

Good grief.

 

[jks9199]

If I had a quarter for every time it did NOT happen as in a media report, my location would read Tahiti and I'd have an assistant typing these for me.

Hell...

You could manage Tahiti and an assistant if you had only a dime (and maybe a nickel... pennies would leave you in the Continental US)...

 

[Tames D]

Four pounds of incorrectly seasoned deer jerky.

wait ...

Four pounds of incorrectly seasoned dear jerky?

And that is sufficient to brandish a firearm. Wow.

Good grief.

Hey I know a guy that would have killed the meat vendor over that. He loves his jerky...

 

[thardey]

Makes me wonder what kind of a bad day the cop had been having to lead him up to this point.

 

[Xue Sheng]

A similar thing happened several years ago in NYS but it was a state cop that was part of the Governor's body guard that got in an off-duty argument over a basketball game. He left the court went to the locker room and returned with his duty weapon

It was surprising how fast he was taken of the job, condemned by the NYSP and later fired. I never heard about a court case however.

So on occasion they do pay (kinda), and quickly.

 

[thardey]

#8 Is making me think . . .

If he wasn't a cop, and some guy freaked out and started waving a gun around, would I have shot him?

First I would have gone for cover, since he wasn't threatening me, but shot him? I guess I would have to be there.

 

[jks9199]

When Brannan gave the officer his meat and told him never to come back to the shop, that's when he pulled out a gun, according to Brannan."At that point, he jumped back with the gun and says if I come any closer he'd shoot me," said Brannan.

"I turned around and ran for the door. All of the customers were freaking out and trying to hide.

"According to police, the officer at some point felt threatened by the actions of the employee and that is why he pulled out his handgun.

The name of the officer has not been released and the case has been turned over to the Clark County Sheriff's Office for investigation.The officer is on paid-administrative leave, which is part of standard operating procedure

Just a few observations; I haven't seen anything more on this yet.

With regard to the idea that nothing will happen... He's already on admin leave while being investigated. While he's still collecting base pay, in most places, he's not getting any overtime. That can be a pretty significant hit for a lot cops...

Also, I again want to draw your attention to the butcher's statements, as quoted. The butcher implies that he was advancing on the off-duty cop; the cop then draws a gun, and tells him not to come any closer. That still sounds like someone in FEAR, not irrationally waving a gun around.

As I said -- I'm definitely not defending blowing your stack over improperly seasoned venison. (To me, it's still venison... and I don't think I've ever had bad venison jerky!) Nor am I saying the cop was right or should be investigated. The incident definitely merits an investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation, two decisions have to be made. First, was there a violation of law? If so -- the question of prosecution comes up, as an entirely separate issue. Second, was there a violation of police? If so, the question becomes what agency discipline is appropriate.

 

[TrainHardFightEasy]

I'll go with #7. You did put the effort in to point this out to us all. Realy we dont know the entirte facts and underlying circumstances. Is odd though.

 

[Marginal]

Four pounds of incorrectly seasoned deer jerky.

wait ...

Four pounds of incorrectly seasoned dear jerky?

And that is sufficient to brandish a firearm. Wow.

Good grief.

Not everyone's a fan of jerk seasoning, some are really into making jerk a lifestyle...

 

[TrainHardFightEasy]

Classic! LMAO

 

[shesulsa]

Before revealing the link to today's bit of asshattery I make the following seven predictions and one W.A.G.

1. He will not do time
2. He will not be convicted
3. He will not be indicted
4. He will not be arrested
5. He will not lose his job
6. Most of the police officers here will leap to his defense and say we don't know enough to judge
7. A couple of those will accuse me of being "anti cop"
8. If it weren't a cop most people here would be thinking about how they could have shot him while his back was turned

Here is the link:

.

These guys know how to game the system. They know exactly what to say and have been coached in how to give the right answers. A regular citizen would have been interrogated and arrested for pulling a stunt like that. And his name would have been all over the papers.

Cops are definitely held to a higher standard. They raise the bar for any sort of justice to unheard of heights if it's one of their own.

The only update to this story I could find was this.