Thrown away with the trash? Give me a break. First off if they got cameras that saw the officer leave the bathroom at 8pm then they had cameras that saw every individual that went in after her. If the trash was dumped during the 6 hours no report was made then they have video of EVERY person that went in after her too so they should have some kind of lead somewhere. The only good that can come out of this short of the pistol being found is that this particular officer is fired with "no rehire" highlighted on her file and then that all of TDCJ revamps their requirements for officers assigned to work PST,hospital, transport, etc. positions. In other words put only senior, experienced officers in these positions and quit cowing down to those that say they won't work unless they get these positions. How many more times will an untrained officer be put in this kind of situation for something worse to happen?
First of all, I’m not trying to offend anyone or sound argumentative. You use the word “trained”, which puzzles me. This agency has NEVER provided anyone with one ounce of training. Sure they have a so called academy and so called In-Service, but they all fall WAY short of actual training.
Even if we were actually trained a substantial number of our employees would ignore the training just like many ignore policy, today. That’s because we hire anyone with a pulse. A lot of the people we hire are untrainable. Many can barely read and write.
Our physical requirements are almost nonexistent. Many of our revolvers are 40 years old. I always liked the tactical nail aprons that say “Home Depot” on the front. Speaking of which, has anyone ever seen a law enforcement officer wearing a nail apron? Well, I suppose the nail aprons are a step up from the tactical butt cans, where we used to toss our empty brass.
Folks please don’t let this agency con you in to believing you are trained. You aren’t, unless you have received some actual training elsewhere.
When I worked in the “training academy” I couldn’t keep a straight face and rattle off some of the things we were expected to say.
Lastly, there is no substitute for common sense. Anyone that is stupid enough to leave a firearm in a public restroom, is totally void of common sense, logic and sound judgment. You can’t fix stupid and there’s a lot of it at TDCJ.
It was seen on camera that she walked out of the restroom without the gun at 8pm. She started asking nurses “if they found anything” around 12 midnight but didn’t specify what. Then around 2am she reported it lost to onsite security/police. So 6 hours passed since it was left behind. It could have been stolen since the hospital was open to visitors at that time but tdcj is going with it fell in the trash can and is at a landfill. The gun was never recovered.
Frightening, dangerous and extremely embarrassing. Sadly, this gun will probably be in the news again, at some point. Let’s hope and pray it’s not used to murder a convenience store cashier or some other innocent victim of TDCJ’s incompetence.