Question for you other cops

[jbull380]

Something I see on a lot of cop shows bugs the heck out of me. Now Ill be the first to tell you if its on TV it's probably garbage but.......do any of you guys work for a department that makes you put your pistol in your desk or lock up at the station? I know of no department in oklahoma that does this. Entering a jail is another matter. Talking about the police station or sheriffs office etc.

 

[ringo1597]

Only entering the jail and Internal Affairs, no weapons.

 

[da gimp]

I've been retired for some years now........ but as early as the mid 1980's, the Cole County Sheriff's Dept in Jeff City, Mo. had lock up/security boxes for their officers duty weapons & visiting officers at the main office/jail. We had stopped by to say howdy after dropping off a prisoner at the main penitentiary which was located in Jeff City. We figured when in Rome, do as the Roman's....... neither of us gave up our hideout/BUG guns though........

 

[Bajadoc]

Television is entertainment, not reality. TV is a fake world, you are in the real world. LEO's should not pay attention to such nonsense.

 

[Lt JL]

Nope. Only when booking someone into the jail. The corrections deputies were unarmed anyway.

 

[jbull380]

Television is entertainment, not reality. TV is a fake world, you are in the real world. LEO's should not pay attention to such nonsense.

Yea but I bet it's done somewhere. Just wanted to know why.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Certainly not anywhere around here that I know of.

I dropped somebody at the nuthouse recently and they wanted me to come in and complete the paperwork. No problem.

Her: "Oh, you'll have to leave your gun in your car!"
Me: "Nope. He's in your place now, so he's your problem. Have a nice night."

 

[rwsmith]

I'm not an LEO, but......

To be politically correct on TV they'd probably have the guns locked up all the time, only to be gotten out when needed.

 

[Fishinfool]

When I was in uniform, your side arm was considered part of your uniform, and stayed on your hip from beginning to end of shift. The only exception was when escorting a prisoner into a secure jail / lockup, for obvious security concerns. When entering the troop or station, what security concern could there be that you would remove and store the weapon that was under your direct control? If anything, I could see that leading to the increased chance of an accidental discharge.

Larry

 

[dave holl]

Television is entertainment, not reality. TV is a fake world, you are in the real world. LEO's should not pay attention to such nonsense.

Except for the show, "ALASKA STATE TROOPERS". Now that's a good one!

 

[pawncop]

Nope, just when we enter the detention area of the Sheriff's Office.

We do not have our own jail, they all go to the SO.

 

[Shark Bait]

The other place we had to lock them up here in Albuquerque was a courthouse. I always thought that was stupid, but it's the way it was. And probably still is.

Another annoying they do on cop shows is chamber a round after drawing their weapon. I guess it's meant to be dramatic.

 

[Arik]

It seems like only detectives do it in movies.

 

[KLYDE]

Lock boxes outside the entrances to the cell block / booking area. No weapons inside there. Other than that no restrictions.

 

[dougb1946]

The other place we had to lock them up here in Albuquerque was a courthouse. I always thought that was stupid, but it's the way it was. And probably still is.

Another annoying they do on cop shows is chamber a round after drawing their weapon. I guess it's meant to be dramatic.

Apparently they only shoot BGs in the leg, per dept training. This was said on a TV show with a straight face by a person playing a NYC cop. Fine actress. good show, but apparently nobody on the writing staff has ever shot a hand gun.

 

[Frank237]

How else could we have the inevitable negligent discharges if they were locked up?

Don't think I have ever been in any Station house with any time on it...without a few holes in it.

 

[Jim1392]

No, the only time we surrendered our weapon was when we did a prisoner transport to the County jail. As we checked in our weapons were put into a lock box. After leaving the secured area we opened it and took them out. I couldn't even imagine being in uniform in a District station unarmed. You just never know who will come into an open front door. In those days the the front door was never locked. Later when I was promoted to a Detective we still remained armed throughout our tour. We also were required to carry off duty since they had a residency requirement at that time to get hired.

 

[cndrdk]

Did make a quick stop at a service station outside entry restroom without checking out. Of course got a call and had to rush. Casually drove to the fight call about 40 blocks away. Got out, walked up to call, and noticed my my swagger was off, seemed about 5 pounds lighter on right side. Had left my Mod 58 on tank of toilet. Yelled at the two fighters to "work it out yourself" and sped off with lights and siren. M58 still on toilet tank and I still had my job.

 

[CO_Kid]

Only when at the jail or in the holding cell areas of our stations.

The one stupid gun rule my department has is in regards to light duty. Light duty officers have to be in business casual clothes. They are usually at the front desk (behind bullet proof glass) or somewhere in the back taking phone reports. Light duty officers are not allowed to be armed. I think it's stupid to keep someone who is on light duty for a knee injury from carrying a gun because their injury doesn't affect gun handling. Thanks to a pocket holster and a 442, I didn't really follow that rule my stint on light duty.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

We have all rolled our eyes at cop shows for many years.

My favorite gripe was watching cops on shows doing nothing but work one case from beginning to end, never an interruption. When I was a working detective I always had 50 or more active cases at any given time, and that was pre-cell phones so I had to spend hours and hours every day doing nothing but making calls and returning calls. One of the indispensable pieces of equipment was always a pocket full of dimes for pay phones.

No matter how good the chase was or how hard the bad guy resisted there was never any snappy background music.

As difficult as it may be for some of the younger folks to believe, we actually did all of our reports with paper and ink or a typewriter. I was just tickled to death when we got pocket tape recorders and a secretary to type our reports.