Officers assigned to protecting Congress are now undergoing additional training after three separate reports of U.S. Capitol Police leaving guns in, of all places, bathrooms.
Cops and Robbers
Capitol Police to Get Potty Training After Leaving Loaded Guns in Bathrooms
Rule number one of gun ownership: know where your gun IS at all times.
Simple, right?
You would think so, but the officers assigned to protecting Congress are now undergoing additional training after three separate reports of U.S. Capitol Police leaving guns in, of all places, bathrooms.
Three incidents have led to the call for additional training:
- On January 29, a member of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s security detail left his Glock and magazine stuffed in the toilet seat cover holder of a Capitol Visitor Center bathroom stall. A worker found the gun.
- On March 24, a young child visiting the Capitol with his parents found a loaded Glock lost by a dignitary protection officer. A member of the security detail for John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, allegedly left the firearm in the bathroom of the Speaker’s Suite.
- On April 16, a third Glock was found by a janitor cleaning the Capitol Police headquarters building on D Street NE. The weapon was left in plain sight.
“I unequivocally understand the concerns regarding the recent issues related to the mishandling of weapons by some of our officers,” U.S. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine told the House Administration Committee on Wednesday. “There are no excuses for these mistakes.”
How often these incidents actually occur is not known, because Capitol Police are not required to disclose the information.
Dine said that each case is or will be in the process of a thorough investigation. In the meantime, he’s considering increasing the penalties for officers who leave their guns where they shouldn’t.
Typically, a Capitol police officer who mishandles a weapon receives a minimum five-day suspension without pay for the first offense. But Dine said he is considering increasing the minimum penalty for the first offense to a 30-day suspension, and that termination is another possible option.
In light of the recent reports of gun mishandling, Dine also said the agency is creating online training “that everyone will go through once a year.”
Online training? What is that going to consist of? Dine didn’t say, but comedian Jimmy Kimmel has some ideas:
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Contributed by Lily Dane of The Daily Sheeple.
Lily Dane is a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple. Her goal is to help people to “Wake the Flock Up!”
