SSCC #391 & #392 –Little Rock

This one there is way too much in the way of fishy going on for it to be acceptable.

A man police say shot himself in the head while his hands were cuffed behind him in the back of an Arkansas patrol car tested positive for methamphetamine, anti-anxiety medication and other drugs, according to an autopsy report released Monday that listed his death as a suicide.

Two officers patted him down and didn’t find a weapon.  He was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car, he pulled a stashed weapon out and shot himself, in the head, while in handcuffs with his hands behind him.  No I’m not making this up, this isn’t from The Onion either.

Know what’s interesting about that video, in every officer they didn’t have the cuffs cinched down.  There was a lot of play and free movement ability with the cuffs up the forearm.

So at minimum what this department is saying is that our officers are so inept at their jobs that two of them could not find an expertly hidden firearm that was easily within reach of someone in handcuffs.

Further our officers are incapable of properly securing said handcuffs as to maximally limit movement while not causing issues with circulation.*  Further we have even more problems that cause it to fail the smell test.

The autopsy report comes days after police released dashboard camera video recorded the night Carter was shot in Jonesboro, about 130 miles northeast of Little Rock. Part of the video showed Carter being patted down and ended before officers found Carter slumped over and bleeding in the back of a patrol car, as was described in a police report. Police later released additional video they said was recorded after Carter was found.

If you looked that up in the dictionary you would find it under “convenient”. No matter how you cut this story the officers were at a minimum inept, at worst cold blooded killers.

Could this man have actually killed himself?  Possibly, especially given the following if true:

Carter was searched twice, and police said they found a small amount of marijuana, but no gun. After the first search, an officer put Carter into a patrol car without handcuffing him. He was later searched again, handcuffed and returned to the same car.

He could have removed the weapon and stashed it if that is true.  Stashing anything and everything in the car is a good idea if you can make sure you’re prints aren’t on it.  Once he was in cuffs maybe he figured it was over and gave up.  Who knows, but that is yet another example at a minimum of police ineptitude at minimum that cost a man his life.

State Sponsored Criminals #391: John Doe

#392: John Doe

*I have been placed in cuffs by officers for demonstration purposes and every time those cuffs weren’t going to go half way up more forearm, at most you got 1/2 inch of play.

h/t JayG and Weer’d

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About TMM

TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms. Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.

One Response to SSCC #391 & #392 –Little Rock

  1. ProdigalSon says:

    What’s interesting is that when I was up in Canada the other day, I was watching CBC and they ran a story about police misconduct. A Vancouver PD officer had kicked a handcuffed suspect. As a result, he was suspended, is under investigation by an outside police force (probably the RCMP), may be charged with assault, and made NATIONAL NEWS. Here in the states, police forces investigate themselves and rarely find themselves guilty. Not only that, but it’s also not really considered newsworthy (other than the Otto Zehm case, which I’m sure you’re familiar with, being so close to Spokane).