They're better than you, you know

Here's a roundup of news stories highlighting the behavior of some of the "special people" who are the "only ones professional enough" to be allowed to carry handguns, according to many police administrators and "controlling every part of one's life" politicians. As always, we recognize that these individuals are but a tiny minority of the good, honest police officers out there. We only cite these cases to expose the hypocrisy of the powers-that-be who maintain that the only people qualified to be armed in public are individuals such as the following chuckleheads, and that the general peasantry cannot be trusted to refrain from performing stunts such as these:

--- A Fort Worth, Texas police officer, Clinton Wyatt, was arrested after he was allegedly found passed out behind the wheel of his marked cruiser at an intersection.

--- An Australian police officer admitted to drinking 18 beers before going on duty to, are you ready for this, administer a breath test to a suspect. Disciplined? Nope, they promoted him instead.

"Queensland Council for Civil Liberties vice-president Terry O'Gorman said the public had the right to have their breath tests carried out by officers who were not affected by alcohol."

You think?

--- As many as four Gary, Indiana police officers are suspected of being involved in a drive-by shooting there. One, Detective Corporal Steven Andrus, has been named officially as a suspect in the case.

--- This next one's really good. Chattanooga, Tennessee Police Chief Freeman Cooper continues to defend Captain Jeannie Snyder of the same department, claiming that she "has done nothing to deserve this harassment."

What harassment, you ask? Well, the fact that the media has been covering her strange antics, apparently. Captain Snyder seems to have been recently involved in three separate bizarre and disturbing incidents. The most recent one seems to be the most dangerous to the public's safety, because in February she "appeared drunk and a mall security officer knocked a gun away after she pulled it from her purse". Previous to this, there was the night that Snyder "was rushed to Erlanger Medical Center after she was found unconscious at her home. No explanation was given on that incident". Finally, "there was a widespread search for her in Marion County after she did not show up for work on Sept. 26. Late that night, she walked out of woods near some family property."

Now, the special treatment, which Captain Snyder seems to be getting in spades. Even though she "voluntarily gave up her police-issued gun", she continues to carry a weapon, with the blessing of the chief. She also "took the voluntary demotion to captain and her pay was reduced from $73,155 to $63,279". Why was she demoted and stripped of her issue pistol? We have no idea, as the chief, citing the HIPAA laws, refuses to give out any disciplinary information on Snyder, but helpfully maintains that "'she has "broken no laws, committed no crimes, and not violated any policies'", and that "'I'm not certain why there is a public concern about her. She has done nothing to harm the public.'"

Yet.

In fact, Chief Cooper is so enamored of the good captain, he states that "'I felt she at one day could be in my seat (chief).'"

Good Lord.

Can you imagine a peasant who had a similar track record of some sort of obvious substance abuse problem being given the same sort of leeway as Captain Snyder, particularly in regards to being allowed to carry a handgun in public?

I sure can't.