Cop fired for refusing to slaughter suicidal man

[Guinevere]

So, the consensus is that whenever someone wants to commit "suicide by cop" the police should just oblige him...?

Nope, never said that. Not saying it now.

[Guinevere]

So, the consensus is that whenever someone wants to commit "suicide by cop" the police should just oblige him...?

Ja, they should all chust follow orders like good little officers.


yrs,
rubato

That *is* the point of a paramilitary organization with a chain of command like a police department. We all have free will. Don't follow orders, fine, but understand the consequences.

Of course, this is also a red herring. The letters do not indicate that the probie didn't fail to obey an order, but that he used poor judgment which constituted conduct unbecoming (and that this was not his first judgment issue). That's a different standard, as I explained above.

[Guinevere]

We also know that the chief withheld vital information about the incident from the press for several days, then stalled an investigation into the incident by appointing an investigator who immediately went on vacation, then lied to the press about the status of the officers involved. That makes him objectively untrustworthy and calls his judgment into question.

You are making some huge leaps of faith, without adequate facts to do so, that seem to me to be very much colored by your own perceptions. Withheld information? I don't know about West Virginia specifically (and I'm wagering you do not either), but in Massachusetts discipline is not necessarily public information. That's personnel record information and subject to some privacy protections.

Secondly, "stalled an investigation." So the investigator had a vacation scheduled. It happens. Sometimes their crystal balls don't tell them exactly when a new situation is going to arise -- nor are investigators available at the drop of a hat, especially for a small community like this one. The investigations take time, too. I cannot get back to the documents because my "free" looks have been capped, but as I recall it wasn't a huge period of time between the incident and the dismissal. I've worked on investigations that have taken many many months.

I'm not so sure he lied to the press either, but I understand that's the picture you're trying to paint.

[Joe Guy]

I am directly addressing your response which said he had "a history of not following orders".

Thank you for admitting that you are unable to substantiate that claim.

After a quick review, I realized that I wrote the following:

He was fired because he had a history of not following orders and/or proper police procedure and this was his third strike.

Just for the record, Scooter the Italian Canadian Nitpicker...

[Scooter]

Withheld information? I don't know about West Virginia specifically (and I'm wagering you do not either), but in Massachusetts discipline is not necessarily public information.

I'm not talking about personnel information. I'm talking about the fact that they withheld the name of the summarily executed suicidal man for three days.

Secondly, "stalled an investigation." So the investigator had a vacation scheduled. It happens.

So you appoint someone else to do the investigation. You don't allow a week or more to lapse after the incident so that the implicated parties have a chance to concoct a good story.

I'm not so sure he lied to the press either, but I understand that's the picture you're trying to paint.

Yes, he absolutely lied to the press, because Mader's termination letter was dated June 6 and he told a press conference on June 8 that all three officers were back at work.

[Scooter]

I cannot get back to the documents because my "free" looks have been capped

You can get around that by using the anonymous or incognito feature of your browser - for example in Chrome, Ctrl+Shift+n opens an incognito browser window which does not store any cookies, you can view what you want and when you close it there is no record of that window's browsing history.

[BoSoxGal]

Cool tip, thx!!

[RayThom]

... for example in Chrome, Ctrl+Shift+n opens an incognito browser window which does not store any cookies, you can view what you want and when you close it there is no record of that window's browsing history.

Firefox allows the same browsing privacy. Click on the Menu button at the top far right and then select "New Private Window."

You're welcome.

[Econoline]

Just came across this, and it seemed relevant to this thread: