15 Oct 99
From a friend in the Midwest:
“An officer from the local PD attempted to forcibly enter a vehicle yesterday. A teenager had locked himself inside and refused to come out. The officer struck a side window with the butt of his pistol (brand unknown) in an attempt to break the window. Unfortunately, he had his finger on the trigger, and the gun accidentally discharged just as the window broke. The round lodged harmlessly in the vehicle’s skin, and the teenager was eventually arrested without further incident.
There was no disciplinary action taken with the officer. The Chief said, ‘It was an accident; just one on those things’ ”
In August, my colleague contacted this very chief and invited him to send several of his officers to one of our courses in the local area, at no cost. He just wanted to expose this department to some advanced training. The chief’s response at that time was, “My people are already trained. We don’t need this.”
/John
