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Vin Suprynowicz
Do we think twice about calling police?
Charlie Mitchener, the Las Vegas business owner who was handcuffed and disarmed after presenting a concealed weapons permit along with his driver's license to a police officer responding to a burglary call at his place of business Jan. 3, has provided me with his Jan. 19 follow-up letter to Metro.
Mitchener says he decided to write police about his ordeal, detailed in this space on Jan. 10, lest his "silence may put someone else at risk."
"Shortly before 5 a.m. Jan. 3, the alarms in my office sounded and notified TSI, our security provider, that a break-in had occurred," Mitchener writes. "They ... dispatched a security guard.
"My wife, Peggy, and I arrived at the office about 5:15 a.m.; the security officer had arrived just before us. ... The security officer informed us that he had called Metro and they told him not to enter the building. ...
"The security officer said, 'I don't want to tell you what to do, but I'm familiar with situations where the bad guys will come busting out and your vehicle may provide them cover, so I suggest you move it away from the building.' "
The Mitcheners moved their vehicle.
"Approximately 5:30 a.m. the Metro officer arrived. ... The officer exited her vehicle, the four of us walked to the broken window; the security officer identified himself, and introduced me to officer Rogers. She informed us that she had called for backup to clear the office. The officer asked, in the meantime, for my identification. ..."
Mr. Mitchener handed over his driver's license and a concealed carry permit.
"Officer Rogers immediately asked if I had a weapon on me, to which I replied yes. She asked me to turn around, spread my legs and place my hands behind my back, to which I complied. As she attempted to handcuff me, she said that she was doing this because she 'wanted everyone to be safe.' ..."
The officer was so short she had to keep asking Charlie to bend his knees to make himself "shorter" as she struggled to get the job done.
"After the handcuffing experience, it was time for the trained officer to disarm me. ... I feel Officer Rogers begin to grab my weapon by the handle grip. I am wearing an excellent inside-the-waistband holster secured to an operator's belt. Incidentally, in addition to an IWB holster, I am wearing ... a longer than normal sweatshirt concealing my weapon. I am 100 percent confident that had I not volunteered my CCW, my weapon would never have been exposed.
"As I feel officer Rogers on the handle of my weapon, I tell her not to remove the weapon in that manner because it is 'ready to go.' In other words, there is a round chambered. ... I told her to remove the holster with the weapon in it so that the trigger was not exposed; I was concerned that the officer did not know what she was doing. ...
"Thankfully the officer listened to me; unfortunately she then had difficulty figuring out how to remove the holster. ...
"Seeing that the officer was struggling to remove the holster and weapon, my wife, Peggy, volunteered to help. Remember, officer Rogers had never asked who Peggy was, what she was doing there or if she had a weapon. ... It is one of those situations that, if it were not so serious, we would fall on our face laughing.
"The weapon, with the assistance of Peggy ... is removed and taken by the officer Rogers to her patrol car. She returns and removes the handcuffs. ... The two officers clear the office and the backup officer leaves. ... A CSI officer arrives and very professionally begins looking for fingerprints, etc. ...
"Officer Rogers sees Peggy and gives her my driver's license and CCW card. I would think that the correct protocol would be to hand me directly my license and CCW. But at this point, why should we think that anything would be done correctly or professionally? Officer Rogers also informs me that she has secretly placed my weapon in the second drawer on the left side of the receptionist desk. ..."
It would be hard to come up with a better test case to demonstrate the absurdity of any one-size-fits-all police doctrine that "everybody out there is presumed to be a 'bad guy' till proven otherwise" -- or of the inappropriateness of placing on patrol duty women so small they have trouble handcuffing even a cooperating "suspect," and who feel threatened by calm, law-abiding citizens whose only offense is to be tall. Why wasn't the armed security guard ID'd, handcuffed, and disarmed? Couldn't a "bad guy" steal a security guard uniform?
Many readers have asked the obvious questions:
Metro backs up the officer. Given that this is the way a law-abiding citizen can now expect to be treated in this clear-cut a situation, after doing everything right, should we call in such crimes to police, at all?
And if you find yourself dealing with a police officer, might it not be wiser not to mention you have a permit or a weapon, as many readers have suggested?
Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie called me back Wednesday.
"It's not standard procedure, Vin. A young officer went out on that particular call. We've taken a look at it, and her captain has spoken to her and they're dealing with it from a training standpoint," the sheriff said. "But our officers also have discretion.
"For it to be thought that our policy is that every time we encounter someone with a CCW we disarm you and handcuff you, there's many people that that doesn't happen to. ...
"I had concerns when I read your (Jan. 10) article, Vin. My direction was take a look at it. ... Your questions are valid; I'm not going to say that they're not. ... As far as a written reprimand, no, but they're dealing with it through a training component. ...
"There's not a change, Vin. ... There's no policy here that's that what we do, that if you tell Officer Doug Gillespie that you have a CCW that I immediately put you in handcuffs and disarm you. You can't policy-ize everything so everybody does everything exactly the same."
Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Review-Journal and author of "Send in the Waco Killers" and the novel "The Black Arrow." See vinsuprynowicz.com.
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Your.Wrong wrote on November 24, 2010 08:24 AM:
In Response to January 31, 2010 03:35 AMposting, the full story is that the single mother had actually kidnapped the daughter. The father of the child had custody and did not kidnap the daughter. The mother had returned to Las Vegas after fleeing the state with her daughter and neglectfully allowed the child to wander away at the church. The single mom pursued the father and slammed her vehicle into the pickup truck. The mom, who admitted she knew it was the child's father in the vehicle, was arrested and charged with child endangerment and vehicular assault. The mother is the owner of Your Right.
SummerlinCC wrote on September 30, 2010 02:35 PM: I wonder if Doug Gillespie has ever stopped and thought to himself, "How come other departments don' have the same problems Metro does?" If you were to look at every major city in the US, I doubt that there would be many that have as many widespread problems as Metro. Sure, there are departments that have had AN issue. Like the accidental shooting of the little girl in a Detroit drug raid. Yet, that resulted in the resignation of the police chief and a revamping of department policies. In Vegas, Trevon Cole gets killed while on his knees without a weapon and Officer Yant goes free. Ubbens and Carpenter disobey orders from a superior officer and kill someone. Yet they're still on the force. When a department accumulates the budget and power that Metro has, everyday citizens and even political leaders should worry. Mark.Stevens wrote on July 12, 2010 11:38 PM: I am a well known businessman(?) I have quit contacting the police after another "call 911 one more time and I'm booking you. That was after I caught four construction employees tearing my property fence down... After catching the neighbors tormenting my dogs, After having four guys force their way into my closed bar. I am permanently disabled after being attacked by one of two cops "investigating" a car that didn't have a front plate. That cost me $20,000 in attorney fees to have the cops in court admit to assault, trespassing, and lying on the report. They said it was reprisal for my complaining to the county council about police conduct!! O-my-Stars wrote on February 20, 2010 10:48 PM: This is a Field Training problem. LVMPD needs to do a better job selecting Field Training Officers. Sylvan wrote on February 12, 2010 08:53 AM: Be very thankful that it was not some "officer of the law" that Janet Reno had sent as they have no problem shooting an unarmed child in the back and then having his unarmed mother killed by sniper. Only in America can one settle out of court calling a cold bloody murder a wrongful death and settle out of court. Dear Scott wrote on February 05, 2010 09:39 AM: Police have discretionary power ONLY when they stay within the confines on the law and Constitutional restrictions. In order to frisk a person they MUST have a articulable reasonable belief that the person has or is or is about to commit a crime. It cannot be a hunch. THEN they must ALSO have an articulable reasonable belief that the person is both armed AND dangerous. It cannot be a hunch. The Cop must be able to tell a judge why he/she thought that this person was committing a crime and why he was armed AND dangerous. That is NEVADA LAW. No discretion is allowed except within those restrictions. METRO Breaks those laws EVERY DAY just like this officer that was not fired BROKE THE LAW. Every time they break the law people have their rights violated and police should be fired. If not the whole department/county needs to be sued until the department has no money to pay the law breakers that violate Nevada law and the 4th Amendment. The standard is even higher if a person is in their fenced backyard/home. The Cop must have probable cause and obtain a warrant. One more thing. If a person JUST has a pistol on their hip an officer has no more right to stop and pat that individual down than if that person had on a hat or a pair of gloves. There are now lawsuits all over this nation where the Cops are getting sued and paying out to people that were lawfully carrying pistols that were not concealed. One of the best examples was recently in New Mexico where a man wore his pistol non- concealed to a movie. The police DID NOT have discretion to detain him but they did have to pay him a lot in cash for their wrongful discretion. Scott wrote on February 05, 2010 08:11 AM: I am a retired Deputy Sheriff with 26+ years service. It amazes me that people are so ignorant that they do not see something as obvious as the following. A police officer has much much wider discretionary power than is ever perceived by the general public. The very nature of their job makes this not only necessary, but vital. Every Policy and Procedure manual I have seen is limited in the use of the word "Shall" and liberal in the use of "may". They are guidelines representing "desired" procedures. But every officer will encounter situations on a daily basis that are not covered by "the book". This is where the rubber meets the road. I have asked this question time and time again. You have less than a heartbeat to answer. {I draw my pistol and point it at your face} How much is it worth to you for me to make the right decision....too late decision made!!!! The most important characteristic of a police officer is not marksmanship, muscles, a J.D. in law. It is common sense and the strength and courage to do what your conscience, training and experience tell you is right. A police officer may only be faced with making that life and death decision once ever 5 years. But that is the one moment that he/she earns every penny he/she is paid...and more. Bill Smith wrote on February 05, 2010 07:51 AM: Never trust a jack booted thug. Their only goals in life are collecting revenue and asset forfeiture. They do NOT protect and serve. Dear Don wrote on February 03, 2010 10:10 AM: I have gone to the METRO Citizen's Review Board. They are a rubber stamp for METRO that does not take testimony and they keep no records. It is a joke. I talked to the FBI. They may still be interested but want to see what happens in my lawsuit that is currently on going. I did put up. I have 6 Cops under oath telling me that Sheriff Gillespie is lying about what METRO's policy is. Their policy is, according to the Cops: Patting someone down doesn't have anything to do with whether or not there was a crime involved. It has to do with whether or not they may possess a weapon. And: For officer safety, whether it be, whether the gun is being held in a lawful manner or not, whether they have a permit to carry the gun, whatnot -- again, it would be standard practice not to allow someone to be holding a firearm while the police are there. I was not even suspected of a crime when they violated the Constitution time and again. And I have worked actively to stop illegal immigration. But that does not change the fact that the illegals still pay taxes. I don't take drugs. I have never been arrested for a gross misdemeanor or a felony. I have been married to the same woman for 3 decades and none of my children are in jail and all have jobs. So any attempt to use the standard Cop stereotypes don't work on me. And I sued local law enforcement once before because they violated my rights and they had to pay up. Local law enforcement are so ignorant of the law that it is amazing they don't trip over their ignorance every morning. Tell me Don. Is there a STATE law that requires pistol registration? Cause Officers think so. SamT wrote on February 02, 2010 11:53 PM: @Paolo: Well Said! Well Done! Read More Comments |
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