On-Duty Cop Shows Up Plastered Drunk For Target Practice, Will Not Face Any Charges.

A police officer in Red Bank, Tennessee showed up at a local firing range drunk last week. The officer was so noticeably intoxicated that he was actually pulled aside by other police department employees and given a blood-alcohol test. Detective Doug Millsaps blew a 0.114 and a 0.124 on the police department’s breathalyzer after attempting to participate in a firearm training drill, according to police Chief Tim Christol.

Initially, Millsaps was suspended with pay, pending an investigation, but just days later, the investigation was closed and he was forced to resign. Millsaps will not face any charges for driving while intoxicated, or using a firearm while intoxicated on government property.

Don't worry about it, he resigned. No big deal, I mean...it wasn't like he was smoking the EVIL weed or anything else horrible like that. Give the guy a break, maybe his drink was a bit too strong. [strong sarcasm, in case no one noticed]

No charges...wow. The lack of a DWI, I can understand. They didn't actually catch the guy driving and I can see the argument made here...

“To be able to develop reasonable suspicion for a criminal charge, the officers have to observe some indicators that would lead a reasonable person to believe this person may have been drinking prior to or while driving……This was a case where he was already at work and no one observed his driving to indicate anything like that,” Christol said.

That makes sense. However, this doesn't....

According to a report released by Christol, police department employees noticed a heavy odor of alcohol on Millsaps’ breath about a half-hour or so after the training had started. When he was given a breathalyzer test, Millsaps blew twice the legal limit, and was immediately taken to the nearest police station. However, when Millsaps arrived at the station for booking, he was given some special treatment. The arresting officers allowed the report to be filed without any of Millsaps information, which guaranteed that official charges would never be filed. Police Sgt. Dan Seymour allegedly failed to put Millsaps’ name into the computer system and instead typed “D, DD” as the name of the suspect. When asked why the booking process was so careless, Christol claimed to be entirely ignorant of the circumstances surrounding that aspect of the arrest. “I do not know why Dan did not put his name on there, I did not administer the test,” he told reporters.

"I don't know"..."I didn't do it"....lol
....but all is well and no charges is no big deal because.....

While multiple witnesses reported seeing Millsaps firing his weapon at the shooting range, Police Chief Christol denies their testimony. “The first hour-and-a-half to two hours is dry firing, there is no live ammunition. It is repetition of skills, drawing, moving, the basic skills to reinforce muscle memory. He never fired the first round,” Christol said in his report. Christol has continued to maintain this position, and since the incident has told reporters that Millsap’s gun wasn’t even loaded when they realized that he was drunk.

....his gun wasn't even loaded. See, safe
So give the guy a break.

Many other Red Bank residents are upset that the former officer will not be charged for crimes that the average person would face serious penalties for. In the state of Tennessee, merely possessing a firearm while under the influence of drugs or alcohol carries very steep penalties.

Yeah, well....quit worrying about it folks. This guy is so highly trained that regardless of the drugs, or in this case the alcohol, he is completely capable of handling his weapon in a safe and effective manner. You people just do as "the man" says and shut about about what "he" does. He deserves these breaks be "he" has a lot of stress to deal with and going to the range is like a day off. A mini-vacation...so, leave the guy alone!



On duty cop shows up plastered....(but don't worry, he wasn't stoned. Come on folks, it's just alcohol

Another link, for those who like their news with a different slant than what TheFreeThoughtProject typically puts on it...

....the double standards need to end, NOW
Accountability, where oh where have you gone? Meh...who am I kidding. Where have you EVER, accountability? Are you even real?

a reply to: Jakal26

I might not go as far as firing but he better damn sure be going to counseling sessions and other self help programs. Why not at least try to address the problem instead of kicking the can down the road?

Now you know why the FEDS have the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They are best when combined!

a reply to: feldercarb

Why not at least try to address the problem instead of kicking the can down the road?

Who's going to pay for it? Budgets pay out enormous sums to train, arm and equip police and military. I wonder what the comparative budget is for "rehab"?

Good thing there were PD employees who were willing to take him aside and test him. That's commendable, better than patting him on the back and telling him to go home and sleep it off, and no one ever learning it happened.

I'd prefer them smoking the evil weed than drinking alcohol.

gotta keep wondering exactly who they are here to serve and protect...serve the government, protect your own image and bust anyone who gets in the way of either.

We put the guns away at hunting camp when we start to drink. No guns till a person is sober again. I have gone out with a hangover in the morning and found a nice stump to sleep on or came back after everyone left to take a nap. Surprisingly, half the guys had the same idea as I did.

That was years ago. I found that I shot more deer if I wasn't hungover and sleeping in the woods. Guns and alcohol don't mix. It was good that the fellow cops stopped the drunk guy from shooting, that is what friends and co-workers are supposed to do. I don't think charges should be brought against this cop, what he got was appropriate in my mind. It also taught other cops how to handle this kind of situation. If the penalty is too strict, then the others may have just let it slide.

A thirty day suspension is appropriate, along with going to AA to meet some of the people he put there.

a reply to: rickymouse

a cop who doesnt have the discipline to avoid alcohol while wearing his badge or handling a firearm isnt a proper cop in my opinion, and im surprised you feel he got what he deserved. according to the article any CIVILIAN caught intoxicated with a firearm (loaded or not) gets pretty heavily punished.

this was a case of very special treatment and should not be tolerated for the same reasons they made it illegal to operate firearms or work while drunk. imagine if they continue to turn a blind eye to this and its not a shooting range the cop stumbles onto while intoxicated...imagine if he;'d still been at the bar and decided to answer a call or was stuck in a robbery. cops are trained to handle spontaneous trouble with all the professional skill a human law enforcement officer can muster but that wont amount to crap if you are twice the legal limit.

originally posted by: Metallicus
Now you know why the FEDS have the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They are best when combined!

Yep, just like a cigarette and a beer.

On a serious note, even though I'm disgusted with the hypocrisy, I'm not at all surprised.

a reply to: TzarChasm

They protect the government, local officials, "important" citizens. Along with collecting revenue, they enforce unconstitutional laws which they mostly choose to disobey.

Suspended with pay would be pretty cool. Now he can get plastered from the safety of his home. Good job Murica!

Anyone who can show up drunk at work should:

1. Be investigated to see if they drove that way and charged with DWI, no exceptions.

2. Be sent immediately into an alcoholic treatment plan; you can't do that without being an alcoholic, just no way..

I hope the citizens of that town raise enough hell and force the Police Chief to resign.

The point isn't so much whether or not any of us think "he got the 'punishment' he deserved" or not. It is the point of the double standard, first and foremost. Like others noted, there are stiff penalties for the "common slave" for possessing a firearm while being intoxicated.

Another point has also been mentioned by Tzar.

a cop who doesnt have the discipline to avoid alcohol while wearing his badge or handling a firearm isnt a proper cop

....and then Tzar said this (I know the post is more than likely right above this one but it merits repeating)

this was a case of very special treatment and should not be tolerated for the same reasons they made it illegal to operate firearms or work while drunk.

.......
I do commend the cops that took him aside and did arrest him but I have a inkling that he HAD to have been pretty damned hammered for this to occur. Either that or the guy just doesn't handle his alcohol all that well

I don't shoot while drinking and I damned sure don't shoot around/with other who are drinking. Been around TOO many drunks that LOVED to shoot guns while drinking (typical southern drunkard behavior...lol) to do all that. Hell, thinking on it a bit and wondering how I made it to adult-hood I remember those days as a child when the great-uncles and the younger alike would get together, moonshine fresh out of the still, and shoot. A thousand wonders no one was ever killed.

I know my limits. I know that I am capable of shooting while drinking a bit but "more than likely" is key wording in that sentence. Everyone who drinks and is familiar with the buzz knows that when you start to get right to that "good buzz" point, sometimes you are a bit "reckless" or attempt to "shortcut" things....(I'm sure the drinkers will know what I mean)....I'm just not willing to put others lives in my hands just to pop off some practice rounds. Apparently, this guy didn't give a snot. That isn't "cop worthy" material to me.....though, these days here in the U.S. the standards seem a bit low [understatement] and while I realize some "slip through the cracks" or "get lost along the way", it just seems all too familiar when stories like this and so many others are highlighted daily, here and abound.

a reply to: signalfire

you can't do that without being an alcoholic, just no way..

I agree. Unless this guy was a complete "newbie" to the affects of alcohol, he was an alcoholic. No one that isn't one of the aforementioned two shows up to work plastered to the point that co-workers are pulling them to the side. In this case, they pulled him to the side for selfish reasons (to be honest...in the end they feared for their OWN safety) and I would not doubt if some within the same ranks knew he was a heavy drinker. In fact, I'd almost bet on it....but that is just speculation and personal experience with a wide range of alcoholics over the years.

I won't knock the guy for having a disease. Alcoholism affects a wide spectrum of people. I know too much, too intimately, about addiction to hound him about that. But a good cop or a cop worthy of being a cop would get help before being this bad off, or would resign to protect others. Obviously, as we have all pointed out, he didn't give a crap about those around him. He made his bed, he should have to lay in it.

.....and I also agree about the DWI. If he didn't drive himself (off-chance) then he should have to prove that, otherwise DWI. He drove his self there, semantics is the game played to stifle the charge. Of course, they never logged his info, so it doesn't matter anyways.
....any involved in that arrest that helped cover it up by not following procedure should also be punished for not doing their job. In any other case where they mucked that up and subsequently the state didn't get to collect revenue from Joe the common slave and the arresting officer(s) would be reprimanded. Of course, this isn't the case when they are covering for their buddies in blue.

Anyone entrusted to enforce the law should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us, not a lower one. Their penalty for breaking the law should be double that of an ordinary citizen.

a reply to: Jakal26

thats exactly what it comes down to: professional integrity. if you dont have the integrity to take the appropriate steps in preparing to protect and serve the civilians of this nation, you arent worthy of that badge. that badge doesnt give you special powers, it gives you special responsibilities, and it seems a very concerning amount of officers have forgotten or disregarded that fact. and the rest arent bothered to correct them on it. this is why we need our own guns, because the people we are SUPPOSED to trust to use them appropriately in our defense cant be trusted to do it.

a reply to: TzarChasm

Agreed.
Though, if behavior/attitude is "trickle down", it is most certainly "trickling down".

and the rest arent bothered to correct them on it

....applies to what I am getting at above as well.

And I will never trust another, no matter who they be, to stand at my defense....not to the extent that I would give up the essential right to own my own personal weapons. Hell no! *I* will remain my last line of defense, so long as I can help it, have breath in my lungs, and barring unforeseen circumstances!

We need to remind the courts and cops alike that their job IS to serve and protect. None of the bs legal speak sh#t!
The policy directs the guys on the streets, the "low-level" guys.

.....and what we tolerate and allow for the sake of safety will always be taken advantage of by those seeking control. That is just the way it is/has been/will always be. Something about power corrupting and all that. What we [as a society] are tolerating now, I hate to even imagine the "norm" in another generation or two.

...I think at this point, the only solution would be to tear down the current established police force, start over, go from there with "common sense". However, this ISN'T a solution because...well, logistically and otherwise, it just ain't happenin' any time soon. SO.....

..............

This guy should, at the very least, be charged with some type of endangerment to others charge....something, anything. I mean, damn!

Meh.

I long for the day where something like this really matters.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

It already does. The guy could have easily made a careless mistake and gotten someone killed. That happens without people being drunk on occasion.