After reading all these posts I think there needs to be a little thought put into the reaction to this story.
1) There are hundreds of thousands of cops in this country from which we get a few dozen corruption scandals a year that make national headlines. Let's just say there are 500,000 cops and 5,000 are crooks, that's 1%.
2) Of the cops that are crooks, we are likely to hear about most every one of them via the news/internet/etc., but we are not likely to hear anything about the other 99%.
3) Your personal encounter with a cop, which for most law abiding citizens will be less than 10 incidents in a lifetime and likely for traffic violations, is a lousy indicator of what type of person they are. For example, your 10 mph over the speed limit might not seem like much to you but the cop writing your ticket may have scraped an infant out of a wrecked car the night before because of someone doing 10 mph over the speed limit. If you were in his/her shoes you might be a bit indignant about a drivers lack of concern too.
4) If all motorcycle riders were judged by the actions of the bad apples, bikes would be banned.

I'm not a cop and in fact I fancy myself a bit of a rebel but I respect the fact that in most cases encounters with cops are not personal. I believe they should be punished when they break the law and should not be shown leniency because they are cops, then again, most cops I know think that way too. Is Law Enforcement a community, yes. Should they get away with some of the crap they do, no. That said, if you are living right you are unlikely to end up in their sights. If you get a ticket you don't feel is fair, take your lumps and follow up in the court system. A pissing contest on the side of the road gets you nowhere except mad and possibly in more trouble. Likewise, if you get challenged by some A-hole in a bar, walk away. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose. If you get attacked anyway, help from the cops might arrive faster if some dillweed isn't holding him up arguing a 10 mph ticket on the side of the road.

 

Or, you could look at it this way. HA crossed the line and got shot. Oh by the way, seems to be catching. (refering to the San Fran incident)

 

Whatever. It has already came out that he shot the Hells Angel. And then they put out his name, and that he is from Seattle. Sooner or later, he will have a "come-uppance" with the HA's bro's.

Doesn't matter if you beleive it or not. He shot a guy who is a member of a 100% no bull$hit club.

As a cop you should be calling for this dumba$$es head, not protecting him behind the Blue Line.

There is a long line of folks who have learned the hard way that 1%er M/C's need to be left alone.....basically don't f@#k with them! One HA and 3-4 wannabe's....my money is on the fact that after a few bottles of liquid courage, they decided they were going to show this "tough guy" just who is really the man......poor fool.



~Joe

 

Did you read the actual article? Can you show where the law has ever been used? Personally, I think it is crap - Congress passes the law, the Prez signs it, should be end of story (unless the law is judged unconstitutional). But often a law will have a lot of mumbo-jumbo that tells whoever is responsible for enforcing the law what they are required to do in order to implement the law. If that mumbo-jumbo isn't followed/done, then the law becomes unenforceable. That is what the ATF spokesman was referring to.

Oh, and one article I read said the guy blew a .08. Is that under the influence in SD? Beats me.

 

That last statement is what leaves a bad impression.

It's pointing out that you can do something a lot of people can't, like be legally CCW, get out of a traffic ticket..... etc. Many folks will make a connection - if they can do that, what else can they do?

JMHO

Peace


................ Jim

 

There is a lot of sense in your post.

Unfortunately, it's something that many people are not taking into consideration. The LEO will have to spend a lot of time looking over his shoulder. That is just how it works.

It is what it is and, it ain't over 'till it's over.


Peace


................. Jim

 

I would take on a shotgun toting killer to save my own life or anyone elses in danger. The question is how much would this act cost me in court --not whether I would do it or not. But I am not a cop hater. I hate traffic citation writers and I hate traffic citations. I have had several run ins with the law over traffic, speeding, racing and my smart mouth. All misdemeanors in my younger days. Things could have been worse. We were wild country boys and we got lots of breaks from the LEO's but some of them were also chicken****. It all worked out even for the most part. I wish the carry laws were more universal. Don't know how the shooting will turn out and I am not sure if I trust the truth to come out. I think this was a dumb incidence and this police officer involved hurts the image of law enforcement. Screw up once and everyone notices and calls it the norm----do right a thousand times and no one remembers anything except when you screwed up. Learned that on the job years ago. No I am not a LEO but I do wear a uniform.

 

FYI...Insider Info will be dispenced...All cop haters, prepare for response...

The HA in question, McGuire, was upset because when he & his crew arrived at the bar, the IP were already there. And according to bar manager, the IP were respectable, quiet and decent guys enjoying themselves. Not causing any problems.

HA McGuire becomes visibly irate and verbally confronts IP. (Someone in his crew made a call for more HA to respond)(At this time, bar manager also calls 911 requesting police presence be increased because of the agitated posture of HA McGuire's crew). IP's attempt to buy them beers as a gesture of the fact that they're not looking for trouble, they just want to enjoy themselves.(HA's are arriving outside) This enrages HA McGuire. IP's decide it's getting hot, decide to leave. IP says he needs to hit the head before departing, observes the pathway to the head to be clear of HA and he heads over to it alone, while his friends head toward the door. (extra police arrive outside) As IP is about to enter head, he's attacked from behind being hit in the head with an unknown object, he goes down. He's out of view from his friends as they head toward the door due to the crowd. They're unable to view the fight on the ground and think all is well. AS IP feels himself starting to go lights out from the choke, he pulls his firearm and fires 2 rounds from close contact distance around himself to his side and strikes McGuire in the abdomen and upper leg.

Straight from the State AG.....that's what went down in a nutshell...like it or not.
The HA had the beef and HE got gut checked because he thought he could bully another human being.
The DA is a local county DA. He's under immense pressure from multiple sides to be fair and not put forth a slanted view or appear biased. I could indicte a ham sandwich. I feel, based on my experience in LE and the court system, the weapons charges will eventually be unsubstantiated and dismissed. Now the assault charge, it will be dropped because he was defending his life. If he can articulate that he was in fear for his life, then he walks on that charge. I'm not privy to the correct details on the perjury charge. It could be one of a few things. So I'll reserve comment for now.

First I want to applaud those posting here that are LEO's and trying their best to remain calm and friendly while debating this topic. Apparently we are out numbered here so far, LOL.

Now, I applaud those on here that are trying to remain neutral. Even with the details I've provided. I understand noone here knows me from Adam, and to most of you, I'm just another dirty pig. I can live with that. I'm secure in who I am and what I do for a living. I've seen all manner of your attitudes, almost daily while I work. It seems the ones with such negative attitudes seem to be the ones I interact with most....LOL I can't seem to figure it out. Do I see a pattern here? I never claimed to be a detective, at least a good one, LOL

I can sit here all day, name profession and I'll give you the bad apples....sure there are some coppers with the wrong personalities and attitudes, who somehow slipped through the cracks. But like I said, I'd be hard pressed to find one profession that doesn't have it's rotten apples.

To all the other LE guys here, I only ask one thing. On other threads, there's a few instances of those of us in LE clubs naming which ones we're in and which ones are supposedly outlaw like or emulate 1% clubs. We need to stop bashing each other. No one club is any better then the other. Ive seen bonehead Blue Knights and Iron Pigs..and more often then not, I've also seen complete 100% professionals in both clubs. For the record, I'm in a national LEMC myself and have friends in many LEMC's across the nation.

And to the haters of LEMC's...I only say this. Believe what you will. But as I said earlier, I can find the bad apples anywhere. Are there badapples in LEMC's, sure there are, just as there are bad apples in all clubs, 1%'s and AMA clubs , you name it. Just as I'm also reasonbly sure there are some down right decent, hard working guys there too. But the bottom line, we're here to stay. We ain't going anywhere. The brothers of these clubs are just as dedicated to each other as any other club. The feelings of brotherhood, friendship and loyalty run just as deep. Believe that. As one of the posters here mentioned in another thread, my lifestyle and those of a 1%er, just might mirror each other in many ways....I know a few members of a international 1%er club. This is what they have told me. This is not just my thoughts. I understand it might be difficult for some to imagine that.

That's all from me for now. Please keep it clean..debate like men, not some keyboard commando badass biker dude. It defeats the purpose of this very forum.

Thanks.

 

Jim, I'm not a LEO but I'll be drinking the pepsi and packing.

Can you understand that LEOs, just by going to work, make a lot of enemies who are bad guys? They are on the line out in the open and I support them packing for two big reasons.

1. As said above, they have bad-guy enemies just by doing their job. They couldn't safely take their family to the mall without some protection.

2. If something bad goes down most of them would come back "on duty" in a heartbeat and they are trained to get the job done.

Some depts. require off-duties to carry.

I have met more than my share of bad cops, but I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't apply to most of them. I think they get somewhat hardened by their jobs, but who wouldn't?

Just as with bikers, ya just can't lump them all into the same box.

$.02.

JB

 

+1.....these LEO's have tough jobs. I wanted to be a cop when I was in my late teens early twenties and all it took was a few ride alongs to change my mind. I figured I did not have the stomach nor the temperment to play by the rules, so I opted out for another career. My cousin is a COP and he has no emotions, no temper whatsoever. He has the right temperment for the job. I know I would have lost my cool in the situations that these LEO's were put in. I still have some a few friends who are LEO's and have met some Choir Boys, and they are good guys all around and don't carry when drinking. Big no, no. There are some bad apples in the departments, but that is more the exception to the norm.