Should this officer be disciplined?

As sad as it is, I believe he has disclipined himself. .45 to the foot probably hurt like hell and will take some time to heal. He rightly must feel like crap after such a bonehead ND.
 
One possible outcome: the insurance company tells the chief: "fire him or your rates will go up even more".
 
Disciplined for what? He didn't do anything that broke the law or was reckless. Carrying without a holster is ill advised and he probably learned his lesson, but I'm not in the business of disciplining people or telling htem how to carry their weapons.

Although I'm curious what he was carrying if he was able to have a .45 fit into his pocket.
 
He will probably be disciplined if he violated any of his department's general orders. For example, his department might allow only certain handguns to be carried off-duty, or might require a holster off-duty.

There is a joke that "every general order has a story behind it." If this officer didn't violate any current orders, he might be responsible for some new ones being written.
 
Disciplined for what? He didn't do anything that broke the law or was reckless. Carrying without a holster is ill advised and he probably learned his lesson, but I'm not in the business of disciplining people or telling htem how to carry their weapons.
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With all due respect . . .

Wrong.

I knew of exactly zero agencies, offices and/or departments that did not have a disciplinary process for negligent discharges--be they on or off duty. Maybe times have changed since I last toted a badge, but I sincerely doubt--and I hope like hell they haven't.

As far as carrying without a holster, we did it all the time in our undercover roles. In the circles we worked, holster meant cop and getting tagged as a cop meant getting hurt or dead. But there are effective ways to carry concealed without a holster that minimize your chances of having an accidental or negligent discharge.

I don't know the cop (in question) and I doubt any of us do. That has no bearing. He screwed up and he needs to be reprimanded. It shouldn't be a career killing reprimand, but it should disqualify him for promotion at least one cycle.

It's a serious business being entrusted to carry a badge and gun. There are too many things on the job you can't prevent or control. Negligent discharges due to careless handling of your weapon are absolutely within your realm of control.

Jeff
 
STAGE 2, He might not have purposefully broken the law (discharging a firearm in the city limits IS against the law unless it is for SD). However in many states, such an incident is grounds to revoke (possibly permanently) a non-LEOs CHL.
 
He screwed up and he needs to be reprimanded. It shouldn't be a career killing reprimand, but it should disqualify him for promotion at least one cycle.
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Sounds about right to me.

Everyone keep screeching that we would lose our carry permits if we did the same thing, but I have never heard of anyone losing theirs because they shot themselves, much less get locked up for it. I'm not saying it has not happened, but I need examples before I buy this line.
 
I always thought everyone should be treated exactly the same under the law, but of course by now anyone that thinks cops politicians or lawyers are subject to that same laws as the rest of us still believes this is a free country.
 
With all due respect . . .

Wrong.

I knew of exactly zero agencies, offices and/or departments that did not have a disciplinary process for negligent discharges--be they on or off duty. Maybe times have changed since I last toted a badge, but I sincerely doubt--and I hope like hell they haven't.
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I wasn't referring to what his employer would do, I was talking about generally.

However since we're on that topic, why would someone be reprimanded for something that occured off duty that doesn't involve reckless or stupid behavior.
 
However since we're on that topic, why would someone be reprimanded for something that occured off duty that doesn't involve reckless or stupid behavior.
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One of the things you accept when you get your badge and credentials is that you are never off-duty when it comes to your conduct and actions. Right, wrong or indifferent, that's just the way it is.

The general public, who pays your salary, expects your conduct off-duty to be consistent with your conduct on-duty. Virtually every municipality that employs law enforcement agrees.

And in this case, a negligent discharge DOES involve reckless or stupid behavior and the cop should be disciplined. Again, it shouldn't be a career killer by any means, but it should also make the point unmistakably clear.

Jeff
 
However since we're on that topic, why would someone be reprimanded for something that occured off duty that doesn't involve reckless or stupid behavior.
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TexasSeaRay is spot on. But I'll add some more information here too.

If the gun is a department issued firearm, there is explicit liability on the dept's side if the officer discharges that firearm in a negligent, reckless or careless manner, on-duty or off-duty.

Even if the gun is the officer's personal property, the dept's policies probably require him to carry while off-duty as a general rule. Thus, there is liability by the dept if his actions result in injury or damage while off-duty with his own carry gun (because he must follow policy).

Although I'm curious what he was carrying if he was able to have a .45 fit into his pocket.
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I'm guessing it was a GLOCK or M&P with the trigger-based actuator (I really can't call it a safety) and no external safety. Just another reason to avoid those designs, IMO.
 
IMHO what he did WAS stupid and reckless. Anyone who just throws a pistol and their keys in their pocket is NOT being responsible and respectful of firearms.

I would like to think it was a one time brainfart. Maybe he just needed to run out quickly to grab something at the auto parts store and didn't want to bother holstering up and didn't have a pocket holster, so he just dropped it in there. Maybe this being a one time thing he forgot and dropped his keys in his pocket. Sorry if I can't make myself believe this though... peoples mistakes rarely catch them on the first offense.

Either way, he is lucky he didn't injure himself more seriously or worse, injure someone else.
 
As a retired LEO who has seen most of it, I say why waste the paper work on a disciplanary action. The Officer has been punished and will no doubt be the safest man on the planet in the future. I believe most of us have placed a gun in our pocket a time or two.
 
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