D.C. Detective Pulls Gun At Snowball Fight

langelgjm writes "The Washington Post reports that during Saturday's record-breaking snowfall, hundreds of twenty- and thirty-somethings gathered in a mostly-empty area of the city and proceeded to have an enormous snowball fight. Things were all fun and games until a D.C. detective in plainclothes stopped in the middle of the fight, leaving his Hummer and confronting the crowd with his gun drawn. At first, D.C. police denied the claims, but the incident was caught on tape. The detective is currently on desk duty pending an investigation."

Both were at fault

[clone53421]

The crowd was wrong for throwing snowballs at cars (didn’t their mother ever teach them that?).

The detective was wrong for vastly overreacting when they threw snowballs at his vehicle.

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[Anonymous Coward]

"The detective is currently on desk duty pending an investigation." It was caught on tape. This detective is obviously a psycho and should be locked away, not taking it easy sitting at a desk getting paid...

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[Thinboy00]

Presumption of innocence. He is treated as though he were innocent until either a court or the internal investigation finds he acted wrongly. Then they need to figure out why he acted the way he did and whether he can still be trusted with a gun. Until that time, they need to treat him as though he were innocent while removing him from the streets for safety reasons (which is exactly what they did)

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[frosty_tsm]

I understand that completely. However, after he is found guilty of using excessive force or unlawfully using his weapon or whatever, is he going to pay back the wages he 'earned' while he was on desk duty?

That doesn't matter, really. Whatever pay he might receive while on desk duty before (possibly) being found guilty and let go is a drop in the bucket compared to how expensive it is to fire someone, especially if the organization goes out of its way to make sure it doesn't get sued (severance, legal costs).

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[PinkyGigglebrain]

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the only time an accused person is "presumed innocent" is when they are part of law enforcement or a politician?

Any other person and they would be sitting in jail, not behind a desk.

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[Sets_Chaos]

Yes. But, he was "more" wrong. You can't tell me that just because someone throws a snowball is grounds to pull a gun. Period. He was just trying to show them he has a bigger barrel than them. It was his "trump card". And that's just pathetic.

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[RebootKid]

We hold law enforcement, among other professions, to a higher standard. The detective in question did over-react, and had a multitude of better options available to him. The crowd was wrong as well, in egging him on, but he's the professional in this instance. He should have been the bigger man. Drawing his gun, even keeping it "safer" (I will not say he kept it safe. I own several firearms. He was not being safe with that weapon) He should have come out and identified himself, loudly, and asked people to

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[JWSmythe]

I don't blame anyone in the crowd for making that call. I didn't see him holding up a badge. I know the video doesn't start at the beginning of the problem, but it would have been better to be properly displayed.

He didn't have good control of what was in his hands. I believe it was his radio that he was digging in the snow looking for. What if he lost control of the gun instead? What if he slid on ice under the snow, and fell, accidentally shooting someone? That was a really bad call on

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[JWSmythe]

There were much better ways to mitigate the situation. He could have gotten out of his car with his **BADGE** drawn.

"I'm a DC Police officer. What you guys are doing is illegal, and a danger to drivers. Please don't do this here. Go play in a parking lot or somewhere else that's safer."

I'd suspect they may have been a little upset, but would have complied. The drawn firearm was beyond the required force for the situation. The police have a "Use Of Force Matrix", which s

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[jklovanc]

We have no way of knowing that the scenario did not start out just as you stated. What is not clear is the next step. Quite possibly what happened next was the officer was pelted with 50 snowballs in the next ten second knocking his badge from his hand and was continually pummelled until he drew his weapon.

A pistol does not become dangerous because it is removed from its holster. Standing in one spot with a weapon on safe and pointed at the ground gets the point across to stop what you are doing. Some peopl

Remind me to

[Archangel Michael]

Never bring a snowball to a gunfight.

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[JWSmythe]

Bring a super soaker. :) It's hard for someone to throw snowballs, if their arms are frozen in place. :)

    I doubt it was cold enough for that to happen fast though.