Plano family suing SureFire because of inept Plano officer

[svauto-erotic855]

That sucks...he should've kept his ass at home instead of thugging out on the streets.

Or maybe the officer should be prosecuted for killing an innocent man by mistake.

They were at a Jack in the Box in Plano TX; how much "thugging" could the guy have been up to?

[Mr_Fiux]

I don't understand how that design is faulty? You hold or depress the light switch with your middle finger, not with your actual trigger finger, it allows you to rest your trigger finger either on the trigger, or along the slide. Only an idiot (in this case this police officer) pulled it with his action finger.

[JP135]

Clearly unintentional but negligent - you don't intend to fire, keep your booger-hook off the damned trigger.

But they've got a lawyer and he's going after the (presumed) deep pockets of a big company. After all. big companies are evil, right? Effin' lawyers. No different from prostitutes.

[ceyko]

the sergeant was demoted to the rank of officer and suspended for 90 days, according to Plano police.

Glad I'm not the only one who did not miss that. Mistake or not, I'd be in jail.

[Dacotua]

The cop should be facing murder charges. If anyone else pointed a gun at someone and killed them, then said I was trying to turn on a light, they'd be getting 20 years to life.

[mikec]

That sucks...he should've kept his ass at home instead of thugging out on the streets.

Sure hope you don't end up on a jury, as you know jack and squat about the guy killed, yet are fine with his murder. Excuse me, his 'Involuntary Manslaughter'. Ever hear of Dallas PD and the sheetrock scandal? You don't think for a second this could be a variant of that?

The man who was killed did not have any drugs on him.

He was banging the cops girl for all we know.

The cop should be facing murder charges. If anyone else pointed a gun at someone and killed them, then said I was trying to turn on a light, they'd be getting 20 years to life.

This.

[mikec]

I just find it hilarious that the cop didn't lose his job. His negligence killed someone and he is still working. What a fucking joke.

The lawsuit is bullshit but they will settle.

Yet two Border Patrol agents shoot a known dealer, carrying drugs, in the ass and are sentenced to prison.

No rhyme or reason to the system.

[GhostTX]

I just find it hilarious that the cop didn't lose his job. His negligence killed someone and he is still working. What a fucking joke.
...

The cop should be facing murder charges. If anyone else pointed a gun at someone and killed them, then said I was trying to turn on a light, they'd be getting 20 years to life.

Exactly

X2

[GeorgeG.]

I don't understand how that design is faulty? .....

IMO, because you can have all the training, procedures, protocols etc and you're sill prone to human error. I can only hope that I'm never approached in this manner. There are too many variables that can affect an officers mind to take a chance with a flashlight switch that close to the trigger.

Sure hope you don't end up on a jury, as you know jack and squat about the guy killed, yet are fine with his murder. Excuse me, his 'Involuntary Manslaughter'. Ever hear of Dallas PD and the sheetrock scandal? You don't think for a second this could be a variant of that?



He was banging the cops girl for all we know.



This.

People on the jury are not suppose to know jack and sqaut about the guy killed. That would most likely give them a biased opinion. It's up to the atty's to portray the individual as well as present the evidence.

Unless the officer just didn't have any other flashlight, I'd like to give a little benefit of the doubt that the officer had a reason to draw his weapon other than to just use the light. Everytime I've been stopped at night, the officer has a flashlight shining in my face. Not once have I been approached with a gun pointing toward me...why? Because I don't do shit that would give the cop any reason to do so.

Now, I know that there are some bad cops, or at best, untrained cops and if this proves to be a case of negligence/fabrication and the dead guy was just asking for directions, then I hope it'll be proven in court and the cop gets more than just a demotion.

[svauto-erotic855]

The man that was killed was not an upstanding citizen. He had a prior arrest for drugs and was in the company of 2 other men who were in possession of drugs. The killer was an undercover officer who had set up a drug buy (think very small quantities of smack) and had agreed to met with the seller at the Jack in the Box just north of Parker Rd on the east side of the tollway in Plano. The deceased was just a young dumb ass who deserved to be arrested, not killed. The officer in this case is not taking things well; he knows that he fucked up and regrets it deeply. Personally I would start calling him "Trigger" if I were in the Plano PD.

[GeorgeG.]

HA! if this is the story, then I stand by my previous statement and don't feel bad at all! He should have kept his dumb ass at home.

[ceyko]

It's not a good situation either way. However, we want to justify his actions based off his job and the situation we're in. Well, even if no one else does - I always want to say "it's different."

However, if a regular citizen where in a similar stressful situation and accidentally shot some low life - if would almost definitely mean prison time. At a minimum with a great/expensive lawyer there would less jail time with a less offense. Based off what I read in the article, there are no charges being pressed. Simply a demotion and 90 days suspension. Granted, that could be considered extremely harsh considering he was likely a career cop and worked hard to get there.

However, for a civilian all the jail time and other things that would happen with a similar accident would probably mean, loss of job, record (unable to get new job), loss of home, and everything else. Along with any mental anguish that this officer is suffering for the mistake.

I guess I could better live with the officer receiving relatively minor consequences if I felt like a regular citizen would be treated the same way. However, I have more confidence that a regular citizen who did the same would be royally screwed in comparison.