ND and department action

[stickle]

Gentlemen,

A rookie officer was cleaning his glock and pulled the trigger on a live round. The bullet went through the apartment and into the next.

He attempted to call his supervisor but got voicemail which he left. Tried to determine where the round went or if someone was hurt. Party in the other apartment reported the round entering their dwelling.

How much trouble is this kid in? They took his badge, car and gun while they investigate the matter. He is important to me and I want to help him and encourage him as much as possible ( he might be my son-in-law one day).

Department is back on the east coast.

Your thoughts?

[BoJackUSMC]

Two single most important question....

1) Did someone got hurt?

2) Is he off probation?

[stickle]

No and not sure

[P5Ret]

It's going to depend a lot on the agency policy, the size of the agency may play into it as well. Larger department's seem to be a bit more understanding of s&%^ happens, than smaller agency's are. Sounds like he is on suspension until the incident is resolved, which is probably common. There are too many unknowns to give a solid answer, did this happen in the city he works at, or some other city? Did he contact anyone, beside's the attempt to contact his supervisor, like the on-duty watch commander, or local watch commander? If he violated a notification policy on off duty incidents then all bets are off. As mentioned above it's going to depend a lot on his status in the agency, and any previous personnel issues he may have had.

[stickle]

He is a good kid and a good officer.

The notification policy worries me. I hope he crossed all his T's in that regard.

'Safe direction' is hard in a second floor apartment. Typical glock screwup. I have been told by other officers that almost everyone has an ND at some point in time.

I hope he will be ok.

[BoJackUSMC]

Honestly, if he is not off probation... he should be very worried.

[1CavScout]

He is a good kid and a good officer.

The notification policy worries me. I hope he crossed all his T's in that regard.

'Safe direction' is hard in a second floor apartment. Typical glock screwup. I have been told by other officers that almost everyone has an ND at some point in time.

I hope he will be ok.

I worked for a large agency. I only personally know of one ND with a Glock, and it was in one of our locker rooms. We also had an ND of a shotgun in a patrol car (took out the roof and light bar). Both were 100% human error. Keep your finger off the trigger unless you are sure the gun is clear, or you intend to discharge it.

[stickle]

He has three more weeks of probation. Not looking good.

You have to pull the trigger to disassemble a glock. If the chamber is not empty it goes bang.

[stickle]

You root for good people to be in LA. He is one and passionate about his job. I hope they retain and retrain.

If they do cut him loose, does that mean he has no chance of getting on with another department?

[j-shot]

He has three more weeks of probation. Not looking good.

You have to pull the trigger to disassemble a glock. If the chamber is not empty it goes bang.

The beauty of a glock, it always works.

Hope nobody was hurt and that it works out for your young friend.

"To err is human" it was once said.

[stickle]

Just heard. Another day suspended, test on policy and procedures then back to work on Tuesday.

I am truly grateful.

[5150ds]

They must like him, cuz if they didn't they would have used it as an excuse to can him.

[BoJackUSMC]

Lucky for him.... tell him to put game face on.... because he will be on the radar from now on.

[BigBC]

Yup

Lucky for him.... tell him to put game face on.... because he will be on the radar from now on.

Absolutely true. Sucks when good friends/good cops screw up and it happens.

IMO as "professionals" as in getting paid to do a job, it is expected that one is as highly trained and competent as possible, does this happen, we all know that one is a bit of a crap shoot depending on the person/their motivation to be the best they can. Just let your buddy know that if he gets passed up on a promotion/ app to a special unit down the line, it could be due to this incident. YMMV

[AdiosKali]

If he really wants to make an impression, tell him to put himself through an additional firearms class independent of the punishment training. When his eval rolls around he can explain that this incident had an impact and he wants to make himself better to avoid future problems. Another thought if they have briefing training would be to eat some humble pie and go over this with his teammates (help avoid rumors and put the facts out there). His shift supervisors would be impressed. He could even play this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YqcvuRRggM