“The officer was cleaning out his trunk when he got sidetracked.....”
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SUSPENDED?????
This is definitely a firing offense.
Any LEO that can’t ‘keep track of his weapon’ doesn’t deserve or rate wearing a badge.
There is a big difference between a mistake and downright negligence, or better yet, stupidity - then again being stupid isn’t against the law, but negligence, in this case certainly should result in this guy being canned....
It's only a gun. It wasn't an armed nuclear weapon. If there is no history of negligence on this officer's part, then I would cut him some slack. There's a world of difference between losing a week's pay and losing a career.
Let's not forget that the community has already invested in this individual. Doing the wrong thing could waste this investment.
I would rather see a dozen officers with bad attitudes fired than see an officer with respect for the public lose his job over an error.