Old Dog
Member
Apparently, some of our cops have problems keeping track of their cars ... and their guns ... (I like the statement, "We could all learn to be more vigilant") From today's Seattle P-I:
Saturday, March 5, 2005
Police officers can fall victim to theft -- even of a squad car
'We could all learn' to be more vigilant, deputy says
By HECTOR CASTRO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Cars. And guns, and badges, and flak jackets. Those are among the things that Puget Sound law enforcement agencies and agents have had stolen in the past few months.
A Seattle police officer's car, taken Tuesday in Maple Valley, was found Thursday. The gun he left inside was missing.
It seems that officers are just as vulnerable -- and sometimes, just as lax -- as the public when it comes to theft.
"We could all learn from it," said King County Sheriff's Deputy Travis DeFries, whose agency had a patrol car and rifle stolen last fall.
The most recent theft took place at a gas station. Sheriff's deputies said an off-duty Seattle police officer stopped at a service station in the 21600 block of Renton-Maple Valley Road about 5 a.m. Tuesday.
He left his convertible Mustang unlocked with the keys inside at a service bay and went into the market.
A man walked up and drove the car away. The officer had left his Colt Commander semiautomatic handgun inside.
The Mustang was found abandoned Thursday afternoon in the 32300 block of 159th Avenue Southeast near Auburn. The handgun, which had been left loaded beneath the driver's seat, was missing.
Seattle police would not release any details about the officer involved.
"It was personal property. It happened outside the city. He was off duty," police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said. "There is absolutely nothing the department is going to do about this."
The theft follows several other cases of police property being taken in recent months.
On Oct. 26, a man used a crowbar to break into a King County sheriff's deputy's patrol car parked outside the Regional Justice Center in Kent. He then drove off with the car using a set of keys the deputy had left inside. The patrol car was loaded with SWAT gear, protective vests and a .308-caliber bolt-action rifle. The man later used the rifle to shoot another man in the arm.
On Nov. 15, a Kent police officer's car was stolen after he left the running vehicle to chase a suspected auto thief. The suspect doubled back and tried to drive off in the police car, but he spun out when the officer shot out a rear tire.
On Dec. 26, Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske's department-issued Glock 9 mm semiautomatic handgun was stolen from his department vehicle, parked at Sixth Avenue and Olive Way.
On Jan. 19, a man broke into a Washington State Patrol trooper's vehicle in a Bellevue apartment complex parking lot and stole a briefcase that contained a .38-caliber revolver. The gun was recovered the next month when police searched a stolen SUV recovered by Mercer Island police in a confrontation that involved the theft of one of their vehicles.
In that incident, on Feb. 1, a suspected auto thief drove off with a Mercer Island police vehicle after the officer stopped and got in a tussle with the man's accomplice. The thief drove off in the patrol car, which was left running, though the officer managed to shoot out both front tires.
On Feb. 23, burglars broke into a state Department of Corrections office in Mount Vernon and stole a handgun, body armor, a photo ID and a badge. A department vehicle also was stolen, but recovered the next day.
Law enforcement officers believe that these cases are exceptions, not the rule.
"I can't picture anything like that happening in recent memory," DeFries said of the October incident involving the stolen patrol car and rifle.
Particularly offensive, he said, was that the theft was not committed by a desperate criminal trying to flee, but rather someone who simply walked up to a patrol car, broke in and took it.
"You just don't hear about that happening," DeFries said.
Although the deputy involved in that incident had left a set of spare keys in the car, there was no disciplinary action.
Department policy, DeFries said, does not address the issue, and no efforts are being made to change that.
"He did not break policy," DeFries said. "It was just an unfortunate, crazy aberration."
Some of the more high-profile incidents have involved the theft of police firearms. Officials with both Seattle and King County said officers are expected to keep their firearms safe and secure.
"If they do carry their own personal firearms or department-issued handgun off duty, they're just asked to obey all laws and practice good gun safety measures," DeFries said.
But good gun safety measures should include better storage of a loaded firearm than tucking it under a seat, said Annie Merrit, who works with the gun safety organization LOK-IT-UP.
"That would not be safe storage," Merrit said.
Still, she said, she recognizes police officers are in a unique situation.
"It's hard with officers, because they're supposed to have their firearm with them," she said.
Merrit said she has suggested to some officers that they mount lockboxes in their vehicles and store their guns there when needed.
Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said he generally encourages everyone to lock all their valuables, including firearms, in the trunk of their vehicles so car prowlers don't see them.
"Out of sight, out of mind," he said.
"Stick it in your trunk, where there's no way they're going to know it's there."
P-I reporter Hector Castro can be reached at 206-903-5396
Saturday, March 5, 2005
Police officers can fall victim to theft -- even of a squad car
'We could all learn' to be more vigilant, deputy says
By HECTOR CASTRO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Cars. And guns, and badges, and flak jackets. Those are among the things that Puget Sound law enforcement agencies and agents have had stolen in the past few months.
A Seattle police officer's car, taken Tuesday in Maple Valley, was found Thursday. The gun he left inside was missing.
It seems that officers are just as vulnerable -- and sometimes, just as lax -- as the public when it comes to theft.
"We could all learn from it," said King County Sheriff's Deputy Travis DeFries, whose agency had a patrol car and rifle stolen last fall.
The most recent theft took place at a gas station. Sheriff's deputies said an off-duty Seattle police officer stopped at a service station in the 21600 block of Renton-Maple Valley Road about 5 a.m. Tuesday.
He left his convertible Mustang unlocked with the keys inside at a service bay and went into the market.
A man walked up and drove the car away. The officer had left his Colt Commander semiautomatic handgun inside.
The Mustang was found abandoned Thursday afternoon in the 32300 block of 159th Avenue Southeast near Auburn. The handgun, which had been left loaded beneath the driver's seat, was missing.
Seattle police would not release any details about the officer involved.
"It was personal property. It happened outside the city. He was off duty," police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said. "There is absolutely nothing the department is going to do about this."
The theft follows several other cases of police property being taken in recent months.
On Oct. 26, a man used a crowbar to break into a King County sheriff's deputy's patrol car parked outside the Regional Justice Center in Kent. He then drove off with the car using a set of keys the deputy had left inside. The patrol car was loaded with SWAT gear, protective vests and a .308-caliber bolt-action rifle. The man later used the rifle to shoot another man in the arm.
On Nov. 15, a Kent police officer's car was stolen after he left the running vehicle to chase a suspected auto thief. The suspect doubled back and tried to drive off in the police car, but he spun out when the officer shot out a rear tire.
On Dec. 26, Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske's department-issued Glock 9 mm semiautomatic handgun was stolen from his department vehicle, parked at Sixth Avenue and Olive Way.
On Jan. 19, a man broke into a Washington State Patrol trooper's vehicle in a Bellevue apartment complex parking lot and stole a briefcase that contained a .38-caliber revolver. The gun was recovered the next month when police searched a stolen SUV recovered by Mercer Island police in a confrontation that involved the theft of one of their vehicles.
In that incident, on Feb. 1, a suspected auto thief drove off with a Mercer Island police vehicle after the officer stopped and got in a tussle with the man's accomplice. The thief drove off in the patrol car, which was left running, though the officer managed to shoot out both front tires.
On Feb. 23, burglars broke into a state Department of Corrections office in Mount Vernon and stole a handgun, body armor, a photo ID and a badge. A department vehicle also was stolen, but recovered the next day.
Law enforcement officers believe that these cases are exceptions, not the rule.
"I can't picture anything like that happening in recent memory," DeFries said of the October incident involving the stolen patrol car and rifle.
Particularly offensive, he said, was that the theft was not committed by a desperate criminal trying to flee, but rather someone who simply walked up to a patrol car, broke in and took it.
"You just don't hear about that happening," DeFries said.
Although the deputy involved in that incident had left a set of spare keys in the car, there was no disciplinary action.
Department policy, DeFries said, does not address the issue, and no efforts are being made to change that.
"He did not break policy," DeFries said. "It was just an unfortunate, crazy aberration."
Some of the more high-profile incidents have involved the theft of police firearms. Officials with both Seattle and King County said officers are expected to keep their firearms safe and secure.
"If they do carry their own personal firearms or department-issued handgun off duty, they're just asked to obey all laws and practice good gun safety measures," DeFries said.
But good gun safety measures should include better storage of a loaded firearm than tucking it under a seat, said Annie Merrit, who works with the gun safety organization LOK-IT-UP.
"That would not be safe storage," Merrit said.
Still, she said, she recognizes police officers are in a unique situation.
"It's hard with officers, because they're supposed to have their firearm with them," she said.
Merrit said she has suggested to some officers that they mount lockboxes in their vehicles and store their guns there when needed.
Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said he generally encourages everyone to lock all their valuables, including firearms, in the trunk of their vehicles so car prowlers don't see them.
"Out of sight, out of mind," he said.
"Stick it in your trunk, where there's no way they're going to know it's there."
P-I reporter Hector Castro can be reached at 206-903-5396
). It may be embarrasing to him personally but to have it happen to other LEO's after the media puts it on regional TV is %^*&@% ridiculous. There should be some sort of immediate disciplinary action taken that is also reported to the media.
