Kingman's Cop

[lurker]

Originally Posted by JohnWayne

Now Lurker, that is certainly what I would expect coming from a car chasing dog's point of view.

Duke

Nobuddy said anything about marking cars. That's my special-tee.

[Made in the USA]

You have to get permission from the shift supervisor to continue or cease the chase! Normally, if safety of the general public is a factor, the chase is discontinued. However, the officers involved normally have already confirmed information on who is the fleeing culprit.

[Firedog]

Originally Posted by Tee

This is not the "should I chase, should I not" argument.

This is the "should I fire my weapon out my door 30+ times in an attempt to kill a fleeing motorist" argument.

Bullets go much farther than your intended target and that's a lot of stray bullets whizzing through town.

Don't know the story, this is the first I heard about it. Was there shots fired??? May be he watched "COPS" one to many times. But I don't know the story and was not there.

[Tee]

Here is the story:

Bad deal


Plea agreement lets officer escape criminal charges

That a law enforcement officer who fired his gun 31 times in a chase that did not necessitate lethal force virtually walks away from the incident, free of criminal charges, is almost inconceivable.

But that is the case for former Kingman police officer James Williams, involved in a high-speed chase in September that spanned two counties. Though initially charged with a single count of criminal discharge of a firearm and two counts of attempted criminal discharge of a firearm, the Kingman County Attorney's Office last week dropped the charges.

Williams' punishment? He agreed to surrender his badge for three years. He can seek a job in law enforcement at the end of that period, and nothing currently prevents him from owning and using firearms.

Unquestionably, the public expects law enforcement to use lethal force when warranted. But the facts in this case show that Williams was more of a public threat than the suspect he sought.

On Sept. 10, Williams tried stopping a vehicle in Kingman driven by Hutchinson resident Clete Wiesz. When the suspect sped off, Williams gave chase.

During the 20-mile pursuit, which ended in Reno County, Williams fired his gun 31 times out of the driver's side window of his police cruiser. That means he twice changed the clip on his gun while driving, at times, 100 mph on a highway.

Williams recklessly and needlessly put himself and the public in danger by continuing the chase instead of relying on other law enforcement methods. He had radioed the vehicle's license plate number to 911 dispatch, and it quickly was determined the vehicle belonged to Wiesz. Williams simply could have allowed Reno County officials to arrest Wiesz later at his Hutchinson residence.

Kingman County's decision to drop criminal charges against Williams signals the public that this particular police officer is above the law. And that worries some area law enforcement officers who last week privately expressed dismay and surprise that Williams won't face criminal charges. Bad apples like him, they said, tarnish the images of officers who wisely and quickly assess a situation and use their best judgment in protecting the public and themselves.

Firing a gun 31 times while speeding down a highway reeks of bad judgment by a police officer.

At the very least, Kingman County prosecutors' plea agreement with Williams should have included a lifetime ban from law enforcement and restricted him from owning and using firearms.

Instead, an officer with bad judgment could be wearing a badge again in three years.


02/12/2007; 02:39:28 AM

The Hutchinson News

Not only did he shoot his gun 31 times, he admits his intended consequence was to kill the driver. He admits (in his letter) to believeing this instance constitutes the use of lethal force.

31 bullets in 20 miles...thats more than 1 1/2 bullets per mile. At 100 mph, and the time it takes to reload three times, that would be pretty much a constant barage of firing as fast as you can. Nothing strategeic about that. That is not how police officers are trained to react.

Not to mention he continued his hot headed pursuit and shooting rampage outside his jurisdiction (Kingman) and into Reno county instead of just letting Reno County handle it as required by law.

[Firedog]

That is not good. He should have never just been let off. That sounds like a cop that got hot headed and just was going to do what ever it took to stop this guy.

[TexKan]

It's not up to the courts to take away an officers right to be an officer. - It's up to the liscensing state........ they have agencies for that - a county court is not one of em. Doesn't the agency have to pick up ya'lls commission? In Texas you might be a certified officer but you are just another joe blow unless an agency picks your commission up and hands you a badge. You aren't entitled to carry a gun unless you have CC lisence......... the only other way is to be a commissioned peace officer with a badge. His agency (kingman) will fry his career - I wouldn't worry too much - he's probably pretty much out of law enforcement.

[Tee]

Yeah but this is a plea agreement. They can make anything a condition of a plea agreement. He has the right to sign it or reap the adjudication that he full well deserved. He signs an agreement stating that he will not practice/engage in law enforcement and as a result, the felony (criminal discharge of a firearm) is dropped. Such a felony would have totally removed any chance of him returning to law enforcement.

If he would violate the agreement, the original charges kick-in and he has no right to defend them, meaning...he is automatically guilty. That is the agreement he signed.

Instead of writing defensive letters claiming he got the shaft, he ought to be damn glad he got special treatment. If he had not been in law enforcement and found himself charged with the same or equal crime, he'd surely be behind bars right now.

[TexKan]

Perhaps - but even a first offender which I'm guessing he was would have been able to plea out............... so how special is his treatment? His career is in ruins, he probably won't be an officer ever anywhere except out of state - if you had done the same would you have lost your career? Probably not. I agree some folks don't need to be officers - he may be one of them - I don't know but I think when your livlihood is taken away from you - that's beyond the judicial scope............ just my opinion. It happens everyday - It is just my opinion.

[K C Muffin]

I don't necessarily agree, Texie - if I committed some form of larceny over my company's owned systems, then I would probably lose my job. The same here - the guy is accused of taking liberties with his "company" training to fire a firearm. Someone else has determined that firing the firearm is such circumstance is not in the public's best interest. So it gets him fired. Who'll hire him now?

Same thing - if I do something to my company's internal systems that get me fired and possibly lose my license, who else in this industry can I suppose will hire me?

No, I think we all have to know that irresponsible actions can and do cost us our jobs and our futures. Otherwise, why not? Just our good ol' conscience? Not too many of them left anymore.

[TexKan]

I keep forgetting that your cops are trained by you............ most ours paid for thier training.......... I don't think he should not be punished but I feel he has been punished enough. He has no livlihood now...... isn't that enough for folks? He is in his own prison. I don't think it's up to others to add to his sentence when he thought in whatever sick mind you feel he had - that he was doing what was right - my question tho is where was the back up - hard to have a chase across counties without lettin other agencies in on it. Certainly his dispatch knew what was goin on - most cops also have to have persmission from the shift Sgt for a chase........ I just don't see all the things in that article that should be there - course could be ya'll do pursuits different up there. If a vehicle altho is a public hazard while fleeing from a stop - they will give pursuit down here - we have had some nasty crashes and cops that got fired for speaking out - but it really is a judgement call. I wouldn't wanna make it and I doubt if there are many posters here that could.