(Tulsa) Sheriff's spokesman: Parts of reserve deputy's training requirements might have been waived

[Newsjock]

Source: Tulsa World

Whether a Tulsa County reserve deputy’s training records even exist — let alone whether they can be found — might be irrelevant due to an exemption Sheriff Stanley Glanz could have granted his friend, a Sheriff’s Office official said Thursday night.

That reserve deputy, Robert Charles Bates, 73, thought he was holding a Taser when he fatally shot 44-year-old Eric Harris on April 2, according to a statement he gave the Sheriff’s Office four days after the shooting. Bates was charged Monday with second-degree manslaughter, turned himself in to authorities Tuesday morning, posted $25,000 bond, and was released.

... Sheriff’s Maj. Shannon Clark said it’s unclear how much of the supervised training Bates theoretically was required to have actually happened. That’s because Glanz can, as sheriff, waive any portion of Sheriff’s Office policy.

... Other questions have been raised about elements of Bates’ background. In his statement to the Sheriff’s Office, Bates said he became an advanced reserve deputy in 2007, although Clark said Thursday that Bates didn’t join the reserve program at all until part way through 2008. Also in Bates’ statement, he said he received “active shooter training” from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona. Lisa Allen, chief media relations office for the sheriff’s office there, said they had no record of Bates attending their training.

Read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/sheriff-s-spokesman-parts-of-reserve-deputy-s-training-requirements/article_f64077e4-13e8-57b0-9a1c-a88b72fb0226.html

[cosmicone]

1. How convenient /snark

[billhicks76]

2. Might?

This is a horrible story.

[Stuart G]

3. I like this part of the story:

... might be irrelevant due to an exemption Sheriff Stanley Glanz could have granted his friend, a Sheriff’s Office official said Thursday night. .....also these words stand out..."could have granted his friend...."

could????????????

[Lurks Often]

4. As the payout in the civil suit increases as new facts come out

Depending how it it is set up the Sheriff's department and the County or the insurance company that provides coverage is going to be paying out a lot of money.

[sendero]

5. "waived" is so much nicer than ..

.. "falsified".

But since officials in the dept came forward with false claims about the training he DID receive, I'm going with "falsified".

[Stuart G]

6. This is story is almost unbelieveable ..think about this.

A good friend of the sheriff is a volunteer cop who accidently kills someone because he gets utensils mixed in an arrest that he shouldn't even be part of. Now the volunteer cop, lies about the training for being a volunteer cop, and the sheriff approves a waiver so his buddy can become a volunteer cop. Volunteer cops in general do not take part in these kinds of arrests (according to info already posted) but this cop was some kind of special case so he could be part of such an arrest. And the sheriff says that the so called accident where the person was killed by the volunteer cop is similar to the mistakes made in an operating room. All the volunteer cop had to do was refrain from looking for his utensil, and let someone else inflict some kind of pain or restraint on the person being arrested. Let a cop with training deal with this. What a story. And this is a true story that happened right here in the good old U.S.A.

[csziggy]

7. One of the interviews the other day said Bates carried his gun from his car

IN HIS HAND. That Bates did NOT draw a weapon, that Bates had taken out a "snub nosed 357 Magnum" as he got out of his vehicle, carried it to where the struggle was taking place and shot the man. That Bates' taser was strapped to the middle of his chest and Bates would have in no way mistaken the gun in his hand for the taser he never removed from its holster.

That may have been on CNN or HLN a couple of days ago - I bounce around among channels a lot. I just caught part of the interview but if what that person was saying is true, Bates should be charged with more than just manslaughter.

In addition, some opinion pieces I have read said that a Taser was not needed to be used. The suspect had been running away with no indication he was carrying a gun and had already been apprehended and was being restrained by deputies. Even if Bates had used his Taser, the suspect could have charged the sheriff's office with unnecessary use of force.

[Downtown Hound]

9. A .357? That's a freaking hand cannon.

Most cops don't use those for one simple reason: they're too powerful. They're the type of gun that goes though somebody and then a sheet rock wall and accidentally hits somebody else. This wannabe Rambo should never have been anywhere near a badge.

[jalan48]

8. Big Game Hunting

This has the sound of some type of big game hunting excursion for wealthy people. They get to participate in a dangerous activity while being exposed to very little danger themselves. It's way more exciting than simply shooting a gun at a target at a rifle range.

[Sunlei]

10. really sad to see him answer questions on the interview. taser is in the vest. gun is at the hip.

He said both have the red laser site and couldn't really explain why he had the weapons mixed up.

IMO, police are to quick to shock people with the 50,000 volts and shouldn't use those tasers as frequently as they do.

Police also shoot their guns to fast. I think they are over trained using the 'military type' training facilities that have cropped up in the past 10 years. Extra fine training-Funded by all the billions from their drug war loots. Trained to treat everyone like we all are the enemy.