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Cop fired!
alledan
Member Posts: 19,541
Accused of pulling a loaded gun on fellow officers.
A Maumee cop is off the job tonight. He was fired this morning. The Maumee police chief says the officer pulled his loaded gun on several other officers, over the course of a few months. The sticking point in this case is this: Maumee police tell us the officer never pulled out his gun in anger. They say it was all in fun. But it is simply against police policy to do what he did.
Jeffrey Strzesynski patrolled the streets of Maumee. But he is now off the streets and off the force, following a more-than-month-long internal affairs investigation. He has cleaned out his locker, and cleaned out his file drawer, and he is not to return to the police station. Police administrators say Strzesynski pointed his loaded gun at himself and fellow officers, while engaging in horseplay, several times inside police headquarters. It's just banter between officers. It goes on all the time. It was just unfortunate this officer chose to escalate it to the point of pulling out his gun and pointing it at people.
That news from inside the Maumee police department is slowly reaching the people the officers protect and serve and their opinions are divided. Strzesynski faces a number of internal charges for violating police guidelines. Those charges include disobeying division regulations and negligence in the care of public property. Officials say his conduct was unbecoming of an officer. Maumee's police chief suggested that Strzesynski be fired. He can appeal that recommendation.
A Maumee cop is off the job tonight. He was fired this morning. The Maumee police chief says the officer pulled his loaded gun on several other officers, over the course of a few months. The sticking point in this case is this: Maumee police tell us the officer never pulled out his gun in anger. They say it was all in fun. But it is simply against police policy to do what he did.
Jeffrey Strzesynski patrolled the streets of Maumee. But he is now off the streets and off the force, following a more-than-month-long internal affairs investigation. He has cleaned out his locker, and cleaned out his file drawer, and he is not to return to the police station. Police administrators say Strzesynski pointed his loaded gun at himself and fellow officers, while engaging in horseplay, several times inside police headquarters. It's just banter between officers. It goes on all the time. It was just unfortunate this officer chose to escalate it to the point of pulling out his gun and pointing it at people.
That news from inside the Maumee police department is slowly reaching the people the officers protect and serve and their opinions are divided. Strzesynski faces a number of internal charges for violating police guidelines. Those charges include disobeying division regulations and negligence in the care of public property. Officials say his conduct was unbecoming of an officer. Maumee's police chief suggested that Strzesynski be fired. He can appeal that recommendation.
Comments
If I was his fellow cop, the second time he pointed that thing at me I would be ready to beat his *, but it would be better to just report it to the supervisor.
Over the course of a few months? He should have been fired the very first time.[:(!]
....................
Whenever I see a cow eat grass, I am reminded that "This too shall pass."............ Baxter Black
I'm sure there will be others on this forum who will try to stick up for this poor, misunderstood minion of the law by arguing how excessively harsh the treatment was, and how the "rules" simply aren't the same for cops and scumball peasant non-cop civilians, owing chiefly to the rigorous training police receive in firearms handling as opposed to the average unskilled, ham-*, reactionary person on the street who can never be as dilligent or experienced in the proper handling of firearms. Oh, boy, I can hardly wait to see what they come up with, too....
Mateomasfeo
"I am what I am!" - Popeye
An ordinary "scumball peasant non-cop citizen" would be thrown in jail and prosecuted for pointing a gun at someone, regardless of whether it was in jest or not. I find this sort of equality before the law---albeit rare---to be quite refreshing. He got what he deserved for being a retard and endangering others with his horseplay; why should he get a pass just because he's a cop?
I'm sure there will be others on this forum who will try to stick up for this poor, misunderstood minion of the law by arguing how excessively harsh the treatment was, and how the "rules" simply aren't the same for cops and scumball peasant non-cop civilians, owing chiefly to the rigorous training police receive in firearms handling as opposed to the average unskilled, ham-*, reactionary person on the street who can never be as dilligent or experienced in the proper handling of firearms. Oh, boy, I can hardly wait to see what they come up with, too....
Gee, seems your theory is back-firing. (pun intended) You don't give charible contributions to the Police Benevolent Association do ya?
JC
Ted Kennedy's breath has killed more people than my car.
LEO's should be led to higher standards than...
"An ordinary "scumball peasant non-cop citizen"
This has gotta get fixed.
God Bless America and...
NEVER Forget WACO
NEVER, EVER Forget 911
Perhaps it's just a predudice against LEO's in general!!
Read the story, it's not the officers divided over the firing....
It's the people the protect.
The guy was stupid...he should be fired..
No arrogance or LEO's holding themselves above the law. Just someone predudiced against cops reading their own agenda into an otherwise simple story.
God Bless America and...
NEVER Forget WACO
NEVER, EVER Forget 911
ME, contribute to the PBA? When it's the cops (here in Omaha) who keep coming out against any proposed CCW laws for our state? Not hardly, bucko!
Chris8161
Admit nothing, deny everything, demand proof!
There's your example of where he "expected to get away with it". He did it once and nothing happened to him, so he felt free to do it again.
quote:Those charges include disobeying division regulations and negligence in the care of public property. Officials say his conduct was unbecoming of an officer. Maumee's police chief suggested that Strzesynski be fired. He can appeal that recommendation.
Here's how he is not being held to the same standard. He's being charged with violating regulations and endangering property. Joe Citizen would get assault charges.
If you can't guess, I'm with TR on this one.[}:)]
Got a new gun for my ex-wife.....pretty good trade, huh?
Better late then never, I guess.
The gene pool needs chlorine.
I thought my former EMS led the league in not firing incompetent/stupid/reckless behavior, but that takes the cake.
Rugster
"Toujours Pret"
By the way, I don't condemn this special treatment for the police when no innocent citizen suffers. And I appreciate the men/women who put on the badge,uniform and gun and go out on the street every day in an effort to keep order and safety. So if you are going to flame me, don't accuse me of hating police.
Quote "When guns were invented everything changed. For the first time in the history of the world a frail woman had a chance to sucessfully defend herself and home. My dream is that one of the anti-gun nuts will need a gun for defense and be unable to have one because of their own actions."
The only thing worse than lawbreakers, are lawmakers.
I made it a habit not to do anything to catch his ire.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RIGHTS - GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY (this includes politicians)
Yes, this guy was an idiot. His buddies probably felt uncomfortable with him pointing a weapon at him, but as in any close-knit group, hoped he would pull over and get right.
Well, he didn't and word got up the chain of command. For whatever reason, (insurance, blood cleanup expense) he was terminated.
No mention of a warning was given. This must have been looked upon as a serious enough offence (it was) to negate that little "must do" employment requirement. Can you imagine his resume? Terminated for being a dumbazz with a loaded firearm.
I rag on cops that think they're above citizens too, because the only non-civilians are in the real military. This time everything seem to be above board.
The copshop shootout story really intregues me though. No arrest, no termination? The bosses REALLY dropped the ball on that one.
He obviously hasn't heard about ADs that happen to many people who handle guns a lot or he thinks he's infallible. In either case horseplay with firearms or tools in a shop has killed or maimed many. He doesn't deserve any slack.
One last thing and I will get off my soapbox. The general public does not understand the somewhat double standards that happen to a police officer. If one of you, I saw one of you was a bartender, a refinery welder, and I like this one Gun Shop Owner, Master of My Fate, and God of My World. Most civilians if charged with brandishing a firearm which is what this guy would be charged, unless it was in the paper you could probable keep this away from your work and nothing would happen. You could ask for time off and go to court and with a good attorney, may get a fine, maybe some jail time, depends on the circumstances, but my point is that most companies would not fire you if it did not affect the business. So you would still have your job to go to after you did your time and paid your fine. Not so with the PD, if you are charge with anything, there is the charge you have to face, then the department lets you go or suspends you and you also lose pay so you get hit twice. And if you are found guilty on something like this, don't even try to get your job back; will not happen. I have seen several officers really screwed on this issue but I have seen several that I was happy it happened to. NO law enforcement officers are not above the law, there are idiots all over the world in any occupation you can find but it is the police officers that make the news and gets discussions like this going.
Hey, this is just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Jim
I drive a forklift for a living. If I'm convicted of a felony or any crime punishable by at least a year in jail, I get fired.
Secondly, quote: get good attorneys and make it look like the offender was a victim, the department did not give him the proper training or didn't counsel him enough on his issues, should have sent him to a shrink before firing him it is clear, at least here, that the dept did NOT train or counsel him properly. No follow up until several occurances?!
I've been in government jobs before, and always the same thing. The management complains about how hard it is to actually punish/fire an employee, yet they don't follow up or act in a consistent manor.
No sympathy here, I reiterate my previous statements and agree with TR and Doug on this one.
Got a new gun for my ex-wife.....pretty good trade, huh?
Coming from a large police department I can tell you now that you can train and train an officer but you will still have knuckleheads out there like this one that does something stupid like this that gives the department a black eye. We were very adamant about firearms training, we did something every month and we still had officer having accidental discharges. Good officers, and if no one was injured we handled them in house and most of the time the public did not know about it. Of course you always read about this type of situation and just cringe because of the philosophers and armchair quarterbacks that come out and put their two cents in when they really don't know the whole story, but they have an opinion on it.
You said something interesting and I must comment on. You said that if you were convicted of a felony or any crime punishable by at least a year in jail you would get fired. Would you get fired if you got into an argument with a neighbor and you pointed a gun.The neighbor goes downtown and swears out a misdemeanor warrant on you (brandishing a firearm is a misdemeanor in most states). You go to court and the judge thinks that you were a little reckless with your actions, no previous arrest, so he finds you guilty, gives you a fine and suspended jail time, would you loose your job? Let me ask you another question, would you loose your job if you were arrested for drunk driving? If you answer yes to these then you must work for a government agency that has stricter rules that most other employers. I can give you dates, times and examples where people have been charged and convicted of felonies and their job allowed them back the next day. I have also seen high officials that broke the law every time you turned around, misdemeanors, and still maintained their position. I have seen officers charged with drunk driving and their employment terminated. Is that fair? Don't know you tell me. He is a great officer, goes out one night and ties one on and gets stopped, charged and the department finds out about it and he is fired. There is a case right now where a Florida off-duty police office pointed a gun at a guy, which stemmed from a road rage incident. The other drive swears out a warrant on the officer and he is suspended without pay until the case is over. Could you go without pay waiting for a court trail as long as they take sometimes? There are always two sides to each situation and until you walk a mile in a police officers shoes, don't throw stones.
I agree if the guy had been warned and warned about not pulling his gun then he should have been fired. I was a supervisor that recommended termination for one of my officers because he was a habitual liar. He didn't know how to tell the truth, do you think I wanted him to testify against someone when we caught him in lies about his personal life and other officers.
Police officers should be held to a higher standard than most individuals, I agree. But you have to remember that they are humans just like you, TR and Doug. I am sure you have idiots in your line of work that put people in danger every day. I drove a fork truck for a while and I saw drivers go off a ramp or drop a load and nothing was done. They would get warnings, just don't do it again and when they did, they couldn't drive a truck for a while but they didn't loose their job. If you want to put officers on that higher level then I feel the public needs to step up to the plate and be just as diligent in their actions.
Hey, these are just my opinions, I could be wrong.
Jim
"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain) ". . . And DemoCraps" (me)
quote "never judge a book by it's cover"
I'm only wearing Black untill they make something darker
[8D]--Thanx ALLEN-great submission by a WPOS-[}:)][}:)][}:)][:D]
I'm only wearing Black untill they make something darker
*cough* look at the date. *cough*
______________________________________________________________
FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com the best gun auction site on the Net! Email gpd035@sbcglobal.net
Rugster
"Toujours Pret"
Please point out to me in the story where the cop expected to go unpunished. And prove to me his state of mind was arrogance. He performed a stupid act..period!! He should be fired and was..There is nothing more to read into this without a separate agenda.
I'm sure the other officers reacted when he did it the first time. Their reaction should have been enough to clue this guy in. Doing it again was arrogant. I'm sure he had firearm instruction that taught him not to point guns at people. It's kind of arrogant to ignore the responsibility you have have been entrusted with.
At another area PD, there used to be a sergeant over personnel and training. He did a good job, thorough and fairly fast, so that there was always a pool of eligible applicants. Some efficiency experts told the administration that they didn't need a sworn officer in that position, so they put a mannequin in that office, and are having the results one might expect from a mannequin.
FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com the best gun auction site on the Net! Email gpd035@sbcglobal.net