Chicago fuzz (courtesy wikipedia.org)

In yet another example of exemplary gun-handling – not to mention stellar emergency preparedness – an (always) un-named Chicago Police Departemt sarge had a mishap with his service revolver Monday morning. “The gun went off around 9:40 p.m. Monday in the Chicago Alternative Policing (CAPS) office at the district station at 18th and State streets,” chicagotribune.com reports. “No one was injured, but officers noticed a trickle of water from the first-floor ceiling that turned into a gushing stream. The downpour ruined computers and desks, but a damage estimate wasn’t immediately available” . . .

Workers for the City With Big Shoulders didn’t manage to stanch the flow until later that night, by which time the bankrupt city had incurred a huge repair bill. The deluge also forced the CHI Town po-po to transfer the station’s 15 prisoners to dryer ground. The Trib assures Chicagoland that the fumble-fingered sergeant will face department discipline as a result of his negligent discharge, but that’s about as likely as the likelihood of disclosing his name.

Do CPD sergeants undergo 16 hours of mandatory firearms training? Just wondering.

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82 COMMENTS

  2. Sarge needs to step into the modern world and get a semi. The only Cops you see nowadays rocking wheelguns are the dinosaurs with 25+ years on.

      • It’s probably his plain clothes or off duty concealed carry piece. My bet is fumbling in/out of holster.

        Bad gun handling + any gun = ND. Doesn’t matter if it’s a flintlock or a M4.

      • Agreed, a N/D with a wheeler requires some effort. But remember, this was a trained professional. Any word on whether the water pipe will be charged with obstructing police operations or the Sarge’s pending transfer to SWAT?

      • its very possible that it was not, in fact, a revolver but a standard issue glock or other semi auto. There have been multiple occasions of journalists calling anything a cop is carrying a ‘service revolver’.

        • In many television and movie productions from England, and Europe in general, although Russia not so much, it is common for every pistol to be referred to as a revolver.

          Not surprising that MSM journalists who have an agenda against weapons and yet know absolutely nothing about them would make the same ignorant error.

      • Probably just a “desk pop.”

        C’mon, who hasn’t negligently discharged a 11-14 pound double action trigger pull every now and then?

  3. Taking hours to stop the flow of water is a result of the guy in the dickie’s work clothes and the jangly ring of keys having to be called in from off duty to turn the valve to shut the water off. Saw this I don’t know how many times in federal and state service. Water pipes get damaged or fail and nobody except the janitor knows how to locate the valve, let alone turn it off.

    Saw water damage to a federal building that extended to 7 floors before the old guy with the green work clothes unlocked one door and spun one valve.

    Truly priceless watching the over educated prove how worthless they are. After 30 years I had to relearn how to walk without that ring of keys.

    • You’d think they’d at least have written emergency instructions near the maintenance area or something. I wouldn’t expect everyone in the building to know those things, but it should be easy enough for anyone to figure out if they needed to.

      • Pyro, you have no idea at how deeply imbedded the whole”It’s not in my job description” mantra is in the government service.

        I actually witnessed an entire meeting delayed for more than an hour til the properly qualified AV person was found and plugged in the overhead that was going to be used in the presentation. Hand to God.

        We’re a first world nation. We need services and civil servants. But a little common sense and streamlining would not be amiss.

        • Not to mention Chicago is a union stronghold. You so much as touch that valve and the plumbers local will have your head on a pike.

        • Unions…bingo.

          Also for places that don’t have unions…”liability.” If you scratch your finger while closing that valve when it’s “not your job,” someone in the organization is going to get their knickers in a bunch and not know how to fix it.

        • Sounds like it’s a good thing I don’t work around those people, I’d probably get myself into trouble lol

    • It’s also highly possible that such things have to be accomplished by a UNION plumber and that for anyone else to attempt to shut off the water valve the result would have been a grievance filing against the City of Chicago.

      • Stinkeye,
        Thanks for the laugh. I lived near NYC and every time there was a news story of a cop shooting someone I couldn’t help but wonder how many bystanders where hit. Remember the guy that shot a coworker at the empire state building? The cops shot at him 15 times hitting 12 bystander’s and the perp 3 times. I think the 3 to the perp were probably ricochets from the building he was near. And that deranged guy in times square they shot at 3 times hitting 2 bystanders and someohow managing to miss one with the third shot and they were only lile 5 yards from him. Guess they were warning shots.

  8. Cop NDs gun, police station trashed.

    “Boy, that escalated quickly!”

    Just goes to show you you can never be too careful.

    • They didn’t mention a lockdown – shouldn’t a few blocks have been cordoned off while they searched for the unidentified shooter?

  9. Ha, anyone else think of the scene when Will Ferrell pops his first “desk pop” in “The Other Guys”?

    • I especially liked this part:

      Police used CAPS literature to try and soak up water.

      Hit a water pipe, ruin a few thousand dollars worth of equipment, get a few days off.

  13. And, in a story that is sad in so many ways, if you google up a Seattle Times story today, “his gun killed daughter” you’ll find the story of a law-enforcement officer who was fired and then reinstated after arbitration after his gun, carelessly left unsecured in his personal vehicle, was found by his three-year-old son who shot it and fatally killed his seven-year-old sister. No verdict on the manslaughter charge, he was fired but his police officers association won a grievance case and he is back on the job this coming Friday.

    I have the utmost respect for law enforcement officers, I have trained with and I teach with many of them. But the common thought that they are the only individuals with the knowledge, skills, and attitude for safe firearms handling? Sadly wrong. Fatally so.

  15. After nine at night is in the “morning?”

    “Bankrupt?” That’s Detroit.

    Finally, he damaged the cop shop, which is “much more serious” than beating up a grandmother or shooting puppies, so he’ll likely get penalized – maybe a garnishment or some such to help cover repairs.

    • Nope. That’s a job for the taxpayers, again. And again, and again. Take it out of the police budget, and this crap will drop drastically. They need to pay for their mistakes, or they’ll never learn their lesson.

      Take it out of the effing budget, fer chrissakes!

    • But….but…the water line was just troubled. It was working hard to put it’s life back together….

  18. Laugh and joke all you want… That punk a$$ plumbing is going to show a lot more respect to The Man.
    “The Chicago Police… Putting “copper” into plumbing repair”
    (Rim shot )

    • Yeah, no doubt. as evidenced by the bullet coming out the end of it and wrecking stuff. The more important thing to discuss what the F the idiot’s booger hook was doing on the bang switch that caused it ‘to go off’.

  21. In response to this incident and to stay one step ahead of Chicago, look for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to call for the abolition of water pipes in all municipal structures.

  22. What infuriates me the most in this and similar stories is the phrase “The gun went off…” like it had a mind of its own. Guns don’t just “go off” on their own, but the expression is a great way to shift responsibility away from the guilty party. Just like my other old favorite, “mistakes were made”

  24. OK wise guys, when you ND your new toy at home, where you wont be embarrassed by the press reports, do you have the knowledge and skills to locate your water shutoff, gas and power shutoffs and where the building and street shutoffs are located, and do you have the tools to shut um off?

    Am betting some of you dont.

    we wont discuss the ability to make temporary repairs to same.

    • do you have the knowledge and skills to locate your water shutoff, gas and power shutoffs

      Absolutely.

      If I lived in an apartment it may be another story, but in that case you have bigger things to worry about.

    • It’s simple in my house to turn off the el, water, and gas. The fittings are all on one wall in the basement. That’s the first thing a homeowner should learn, or nearly so.

      As for what would happen if I ND’d in the house? I expect a neighbor would call and the PD would pay a long visit. Charged? Probably.

      It’s unfair to criticize the snark when the PD not only laughs and citizen ND’s, but charges them, as well.

    • Power? Yep.
      Gas? N/A
      Water? Yep.

      All part of being a responsible person to me. And I just have an apartment.

    • Please state your point clearly, and stop pretending like this happens to everybody, so no big deal.

    • Actually, I do. The master valve shut off is between the street and sidewalk in the front yard – just like in most cities. Ours was accessed so we could replace outside sprinkler plumbing. It was leaking, but not because it was shot.

    • What you mean – “temporary repairs”? I could build the whole damn house again from the foundations up if needed. Can’t you? 🙂

  26. “The gun went off…”

    Now THERE’S taking ownership for a negligent act.

    As everyone well knows (except maybe a hoplophobe) no gun just “goes off”.

    Looks like CPD is taking advantage of the antis’ rhetoric about inanimate guns just ‘going off’ on their own volition in order to shift or soften blame that should be directed toward the idiot who clearly needs more practice with their gun handling and safety skills.

    And what’s the “Alternative Policing (CAPS) office”; is that the skate and walk club?

    • “The gun went off…”

      Oops, busted. That wasn’t a quote from the Chicago Police, but rather editorial drool inserted into the story by the reporter at chicagotribune.com.

      mea culpa

  30. This story got very little play on the local TV news. Kinda like “eh-what else is new”. It will NEVER change. Democrats,unions and privileged minorities. All inept.

  33. Thats ok, this is a wonderfull person keeping the public safe. I guess cops aren’t public, run cop run./// If we ever get out of this with the hide still on our ass one of the laws I would really like to see is that a non LEO cannot be held to a higher standard than cops.

  34. “Sorry about that, Chief. The old pipe disguised as a dog trick…second time I fell for that this month.”

  35. 1) I don’t see anywhere in the link that it was a revolver, service or otherwise.

    2) My, but that’s an ugly patch.

  37. Why are they punishing the cop? According to the paper the revolver fired itself and the cope had nothing to do with it.

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