Update: Gloucester Township Police Station Shooting
How does a suspect obtain a gun after entering a police station in handcuffs? A tragedy of errors, perhaps. From ABC:
The man who “unleashed a barrage of gunfire” on three police officers this morning in New Jersey was an employee of the New Jersey Department of Corrections who had been arrested for allegedly stalking his ex-girlfriend’s home.
The suspect was arrested for stalking his ex-girlfriend and was taken to the police station for processing. At one point, he was left alone with the female officer on a room, and his handcuffs removed. (During fingerprinting? The police electronic fingerprinting system is like a large scanner/copier. Being a sensitive part of the booking procedure, this machine is often given its own room. In order to obtain a professional license, I’ve been through this.)
The local Gloucester Township Patch reported that the shooting occurred over four hours after the suspect was taken into custody. The suspect tackled Ruth Burns and grabbed her gun, after she removed his handcuffs. From ABC:
When the officer, identified as Ruth Burns, called for help, Sgt. James Garber and Sgt. Kevin Thyne, who were right outside the room, rushed in to help.
Burns was shot in the foot. Thyne suffered a laceration to his abdomen after a .40 caliber bullet ricocheted off his duty belt, and a gazing wound to his chin. Garber was shot in the chest (stopped by duty vest), and also in the abdomen below his vest. He’s in stable condition after surgery.
From the Patch:
The police chief noted the ongoing investigation will include a review to determine whether Burns should have been armed at the time she removed the handcuffs from Jones and was attacked.
Should a female officer with perhaps one year on the job be left alone with a man possessing potentially violent tendencies towards women?
Don’t question the rules with common sense, rightwing extremist! The public service police union demands gender equality and it’s racist to suggest otherwsie!
Hmm…was a policewoman’s gun responsible for the gunfire? Did this .40 cal leap into the criminal’s hands of its own volition? Maybe guns in the wrong and right hands perpetrate violence…Time to disarm the police…?
Well they are looking into a procedural change because maybe she shouldn’t have been armed when doing whatever they were doing in that room at the time.
Brian Gene Nichols (born December 10, 1971) is known for his escape and killing spree in the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia on March 11, 2005. Nichols was on trial for rape when he escaped from custody and murdered the judge presiding over his trial, a court reporter, a sheriff’s deputy and later a federal agent. The rampage began when Nichols overpowered a sheriff’s deputy while changing clothes, stealing her gun.
John Lott discussed this issue in an article entitled Affirmative Action Has Mixed Results for Cops.
The rampage began when Nichols overpowered a 55 year old 5’2″ sheriff’s deputy while changing clothes, stealing her gun.
This is what happens when you send a woman to do a man´s job ….
…or put an affirmative action hire in a “safe” job where nothing could possibly go wrong.
This would not have happened in an Indian police station.
Fingerprinting implies booking. Booking implies an arrest. And an arrest implies an opinion upon the part of the police that a crime has been committed.
Given a substantial body of evidence in the Indian press over the past several years, there would have been no such opinion.
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It depends on the female, I suppose. This particular female should not have been left alone with a man possessing potentially violent tendencies towards women, apparently. Or, even, with a man who simply really didn’t want to go to jail.