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Leo Conflict Resolved
About two a weeks ago I posted about an officer over reacting to seeing a gun in our car
I kind of let the tread get away from my question about how to deal with the officer and what the consequences would be to him would be depending on what we did. Never really did get that info but did get some other pretty good insight generally. Anyway, as I think I said on that thread, I first did due diligence to see if we were in fact on solid legal grounds.
We were.
We opted to not start by filing a complaint or do anything that could have a permanent negative affect on the officers career. So I called and talked to the officers supervisor. That was a great conversation. He had already heard the story by the time I had called, He in fact did not present any objection to our filing a complaint. I got the impression he may have some other concerns about this officer but he never said that, so I do not know. On the flip side he seemed pleased that we did not want to file a complaint.
What we decided to do was to meet with him (the CO) and the officer. We were supposed to meet last Saturday but this that and the other thing it never came to pass for a formal apology from the officer. Instead we met yesterday. To be honest I did not expect that to get an sincere apology. Figured I would get the official sorry you were offended by our necessary and justified conduct kind of thing I tend to expect from government agencies. I was not to far off of the mark but I was also pleasantly surprised.
The officer did say he was sorry. He in fact did say quote "I am sorry I blew it I should not have treated you like I did" end quote. He went on to explain he was from Seattle and that he had been a University Police there and that the laws are different there. He started telling us how we were lucky he had given us a break in Seattle he would have had us on the ground.
That is where my surprise came in the CO stopped him and put him in check. In effect told him get it through your head this is not a college campus, its not Seattle, this is the real world, you pulled a gun on these people for no reason you are lucky that they are not suing you and the department. If you do anything like this again you will see disciplinary action. I about crapped not at all what I expected I figured the CO was there to be sure the officer covered the departments rear, the blue wall and all of that.
To be honest before that I was about ready to leave. Do the polite thank you for your time deal blah blah and leave. But when he said that I was very impressed and pleased to see a government official lay it out on the table. Honestly it shocked me. The only thing was we did not get to see the tape, and the officer denied putting his finger on the trigger. The CO kind of supported that but did not go so far it did not happen. He did say that the officer had "volunteered" to do some ride along training to see how we do things over here, In our previous conversation he had also said that the department was going to all get some training or something, about local open / concealed carry laws and the departments policies SOP about dealing with armed citizens but that is not going to happen.
Said the topic came up but it was decided that most of the officers know the deal and this is an isolated incident. I asked what the departments SOP is for dealing with armed citizens, and was told the officer is to secure the gun not the citizen until everything is verified and resolved. He also said the officers are given wide latitude and encouraged to can use their discretion since all stops are different. We do have alot of meth heads holed up out here in the sticks.
Oh the first time the CO and I talked I told him the story pretty much as I had posted it here. He about fell out of his chair laughing with the jumping bean leprechaun comment. The Officers nick name is now "Leaps" short for The Leaping Leprechaun. So looks like Leaps may be on his way to being a better officer. I could see feel that chip / attitude under the surface but was not to bad considering he was in the hot seat. I kinda felt like he was aware of it and might be working on it. Hard to call it with just an hour or so talking.
He did stop on the way out to shake my hand and say thanks like he meant it. So we will see, as small as these towns are we are sure to meet again.
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red in the face over this. This is a case of "Little Man" or "Newbie" syndrome. I would like to apologize for his actions. I am a Field Training Officer and have the honor to train a newbie now and again. Your situation will now become one of my training scenarios. I hope to keep this from happening again.
Originally Posted by BlackBear
