Drizzt
Member
The Columbian (Vancouver, WA.)
January 28, 2003, Tuesday
SECTION: Clark County/region; Pg. c1
LENGTH: 620 words
HEADLINE: Sheriff's office assessing gun rules, safety
BYLINE: STEPHANIE THOMSON, Columbian staff writer
BODY:
Clark County Sheriff's Cmdr. Jack Foyt said he has spoken with about 30 law enforcement agencies across the nation and has found that most do not have a specific policy on how weapons should be stored when officers are off duty.
"The vast majority are in the same boat we are," said Foyt, who is studying what weapons policies should be adopted in the wake of the Jan. 13 shooting death of Sgt. Craig Randall's 10-year-old daughter by his 13-year-old son.
Randall had left his department-issued, loaded pistol in his bedroom and was not at home at the time. Foyt said he's reviewing the department's current policy on training and considering improvements such as providing gun safes. He also plans to speak with more law enforcement agencies.
"It's something we want to do as methodically and thoroughly as possible," Foyt said. "(Sheriff Garry Lucas) feels the public has a right to expect us to be as thorough as possible."
Matthew Randall, who was on probation for a weapons violation, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
He has pleaded not guilty and has a trial set for Feb. 19.
Last week, 15 of Randall's Battle Ground neighbors sent a letter to Lucas and other county officials urging a new policy on weapons storage.
Neighbors said they repeatedly warned the sheriff's office of problems with Randall's sons three of whom have convictions for weapons possession getting their hands on their father's service pistol.
Each time they were told the department has no policy on how weapons are stored.
Foyt said he plans to meet with the Randall's neighbors.
He wants to hear from other community members as well.
In about a month, proposed policies will be available on the sheriff's Web site (www.clark.wa.gov/ sheriff/inter.) for the public to read and comment on. Foyt said the Sheriff's Citizen Advisory Board will also have input.
"It's a more complex issue that what it might first appear," Foyt said.
"As the sheriff has said, 'How are you going to monitor such a policy?' With something like this you're talking about an activity that's happening behind the closed doors of someone's private residence."
Of the approximately 200 deputies, reserve deputies and custody officers who carry weapons, about half own their own, Foyt said.
The sheriff can't tell officers how to store personally owned weapons, even if the officers use those weapons on the job.
"Currently there's no legal authority for the sheriff's office to dictate what they do with their personal weapons," Foyt said.
However, Senate bill 5317 was introduced last week and it addresses gun storage, Foyt said.
Legally, there could be a policy on storage of department-issued weapons but there isn't one.
"We've told them what to do, and there has been some training, but technically there's no policy," he said.
As for the agencies that do have polices, they vary from simple to detailed.
A few agencies say all guns must be secured when the officer is off-duty but don't specify between department-issued and personally owned weapons.
He has also found a few policies that say every department-issued weapon must be secured and that trigger locks or gun safes will be provided; a few policies say weapons have to be secured but don't provide the safety equipment.
The Clark County Sheriff's Office makes trigger locks available at no cost to deputies, but does not require them.
Foyt said one option may be to emphasize gun safety and provide gun safes at no cost.
"We don't want to focus on one single solution (training), because that's what we've done in the past," he said.
January 28, 2003, Tuesday
SECTION: Clark County/region; Pg. c1
LENGTH: 620 words
HEADLINE: Sheriff's office assessing gun rules, safety
BYLINE: STEPHANIE THOMSON, Columbian staff writer
BODY:
Clark County Sheriff's Cmdr. Jack Foyt said he has spoken with about 30 law enforcement agencies across the nation and has found that most do not have a specific policy on how weapons should be stored when officers are off duty.
"The vast majority are in the same boat we are," said Foyt, who is studying what weapons policies should be adopted in the wake of the Jan. 13 shooting death of Sgt. Craig Randall's 10-year-old daughter by his 13-year-old son.
Randall had left his department-issued, loaded pistol in his bedroom and was not at home at the time. Foyt said he's reviewing the department's current policy on training and considering improvements such as providing gun safes. He also plans to speak with more law enforcement agencies.
"It's something we want to do as methodically and thoroughly as possible," Foyt said. "(Sheriff Garry Lucas) feels the public has a right to expect us to be as thorough as possible."
Matthew Randall, who was on probation for a weapons violation, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
He has pleaded not guilty and has a trial set for Feb. 19.
Last week, 15 of Randall's Battle Ground neighbors sent a letter to Lucas and other county officials urging a new policy on weapons storage.
Neighbors said they repeatedly warned the sheriff's office of problems with Randall's sons three of whom have convictions for weapons possession getting their hands on their father's service pistol.
Each time they were told the department has no policy on how weapons are stored.
Foyt said he plans to meet with the Randall's neighbors.
He wants to hear from other community members as well.
In about a month, proposed policies will be available on the sheriff's Web site (www.clark.wa.gov/ sheriff/inter.) for the public to read and comment on. Foyt said the Sheriff's Citizen Advisory Board will also have input.
"It's a more complex issue that what it might first appear," Foyt said.
"As the sheriff has said, 'How are you going to monitor such a policy?' With something like this you're talking about an activity that's happening behind the closed doors of someone's private residence."
Of the approximately 200 deputies, reserve deputies and custody officers who carry weapons, about half own their own, Foyt said.
The sheriff can't tell officers how to store personally owned weapons, even if the officers use those weapons on the job.
"Currently there's no legal authority for the sheriff's office to dictate what they do with their personal weapons," Foyt said.
However, Senate bill 5317 was introduced last week and it addresses gun storage, Foyt said.
Legally, there could be a policy on storage of department-issued weapons but there isn't one.
"We've told them what to do, and there has been some training, but technically there's no policy," he said.
As for the agencies that do have polices, they vary from simple to detailed.
A few agencies say all guns must be secured when the officer is off-duty but don't specify between department-issued and personally owned weapons.
He has also found a few policies that say every department-issued weapon must be secured and that trigger locks or gun safes will be provided; a few policies say weapons have to be secured but don't provide the safety equipment.
The Clark County Sheriff's Office makes trigger locks available at no cost to deputies, but does not require them.
Foyt said one option may be to emphasize gun safety and provide gun safes at no cost.
"We don't want to focus on one single solution (training), because that's what we've done in the past," he said.
