After watching that frightening and sad video of a lady bartender being badly beaten by an off duty cop, I have another that more accurately reflects just who are the men and women of the Chicago Police Department. You will see some early 1970s and before rare images of Chicago policewomen at work.
This video will show you the obvious cause of the accidental discharge of a Federal Flight Deck Officer's Service weapon. The cause was a flawed and dangerous policy requiring redundant and unnecessary firearm handling by the pilots and an equipment design disaster. You don’t place foreign objects next to a trigger of a loaded gun!
Comments
Nice montage. Although Abbate deserves a fair trial free of public speculation (like anyone accused of a violent crime) it is difficult to think of any mitigating circumstances that would justify his pummeling of a woman less than half his weight, unless it is the psychological pressure of a job that also has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. I hope he gets the help he needs.
Fortunately Abbate is not the face of the Chicago PD, or of law enforcement in general. The only thing that separates this story from similar stories that occur every day (besides the voyeuristic tendency to sensationalize anything caught on tape) is the fact that the public holds officials in law enforcement to a higher standard. Abbate's behavior is a rare exception to the vast majority of officers who do their jobs well without making the headlines.
Is Abbate a rarity? Guess it depends on how frequently a rarity can occur. While his attack was not typical, I don't think it should be characterized as rare, either. Paul, thanks for covering it.