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Police act swiftly after gun purchases

ODOT worker who'd been put on leave is mentally evaluated after buying handguns, AK-47

Concerns about an Oregon Department of Transportation employee who purchased several guns after being placed on leave prompted law enforcement across Southern Oregon to step in.

Negotiators and a SWAT team from Medford police safely took a man — whose name wasn't released — into protective custody Monday morning in the 500 block of Effie Street, Medford police said in a news release.

He was taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center for a mental-health evaluation.

The man recently had been placed on administrative leave from his job and was "very disgruntled," the news release said.

ODOT Communications Director Patrick Cooney said there were administrative, personnel matters involved that limited what the department could discuss.

However, the state agency had reported concerns about the man to law enforcement agencies, who started monitoring him, officials said.

"We had concerning information regarding a personnel issue and were watching the subject," Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters said.

In two days, the man bought a Heckler & Koch .45-caliber universal self-loading handgun, a Walther .380-caliber handgun and an AK-47 assault rifle, Medford police Lt. Bob Hansen said. All of those firearms were purchased legally, with required record checks by the Oregon State Police.

Authorities were "extremely concerned" that the man may have been planning to retaliate against his employers, the news release said.

"Instead of being reactive, we took a proactive approach," OSP Sgt. Jeff Proulx said.

Douglas and Jackson County sheriff's departments, OSP officers based in both counties and police in Medford and Roseburg collaborated, he said.

Medford police watched the man's home overnight, starting at about 9 p.m. Sunday, Hansen said.

Because he was known to have weapons, police wanted to defuse the situation and ensure the man wasn't a danger to himself or others before the neighborhood awakened and people started their daily activities, Hansen said.

Medford's hostage negotiators and SWAT team were called in at 3 a.m. Monday and arrived on the scene at about 5:45 a.m., he said.

About a dozen officers responded. They closed the street for about an hour and evacuated three homes to protect neighbors and prevent bystanders from gathering, he said.

After a phone conversation with negotiators, the man — who was alone in the home — agreed to come out, Hansen said.

Police seized the recently purchased firearms, as well as another .45-caliber Heckler & Koch handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun. Police are holding the weapons for safekeeping, but no criminal charges have been filed.

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100309/NEWS/30
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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

Unfortunately, the authorities did bungle this one, on further investigation, full credit to Radley Balko for the update.

http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/16/pre-crime-policing/singlepage

Apparently the authorities once again skipped a single step which could have prevented the inevitable lawsuit - why not just have someone knock on the door and have an informal discussion with the guy while operating properly under the presumption of innocence ?

Or hell, call him on the phone and explain how it looks from their end so that he can help sort it out before someone has a fit over it.

Had they done either of these things and THEN been rebuffed, then there might have been a case for it, but skipping that simple common decency step has once again fouled things up, not only by costing the taxpayers money, but also by widening the credibility and trust gap between citizens and police, something that's really becoming a tremendous problem and a serious threat to the social fabric as a whole.

What *IS* it with police that they don't take the one investigative step which could prevent hassle like this - it's not like they aren't compensated to take the risk if necessary, and frankly, a knock on the door and an informal discussion can SOLVE much of this stuff without needless investment of resources, not to mention the legal issues.

-F

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Originally posted by Niki2:


PN, you are truly one


"I'm just right. Kinda like the sun rising in the east and the world being round...its not a need its just the way it is." The Delusional "Hero", 3/1/10

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