Wednesday, December 1, 2010

To Serve And Protect (And Drunkenly, Accidentally Shoot The Wrong Person And Get Away With It)

InsolvenCity has settled a lawsuit founded on these allegations:
Mr. Miller had said in his U.S. District Court complaint that an off-duty Mr. Abel grabbed him by the shirt, ordered him to the ground, put a pistol to his head, struck him with the gun, and accidentally shot him in the hand. Mr. Abel, who had been drinking, apparently mistook Mr. Miller for someone who hit him earlier.
Why would the city pay to settle such a case after Judge Jeffrey Manning found no crime in the underlying circumstances (maybe the judge couldn't find his glasses that morning?) and an arbitrator returned this loser to the force (maybe the arbitrator is a pathetic hack?) in a proceeding in which the city police union fought to welcome this joker back to their ranks (which seem quite rank)?

It appears the best hope citizens have for protection from their law enforcement system is this: The next time Paul Abel drunkenly, mistakenly and recklessly discharges his weapon, the person he accidentally shoots might be himself.

4 comments:

The Badger said...

Danny O'Hara should be ashamed of himself

Anonymous said...

Danny O'Hara and the young city solicitor.yes-man should be ashamed - not only did he lose the termination hearing, he uses taxpayer money to settle a case that didn't even occur while this jerk was working for the taxpayers? What's next: Able will file a workers comp stress claim.

Infinonymous said...

The line between when an officer is and is not on duty long been blurry in Pittsburgh, at least from the perspective of a citizen being confronting by a guy who acts like a police officer. Whether the officer is in uniform, issuing order, waving a gun around or claiming the right to control public parking spots does not indicate whether that officer is working for the public, taking orders from some strip club manager, an after-hours operator, or another private economic interest, or acting as a private jackass.

Anonymous said...

http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20030311dixon0311p4.asp

It appears that his brother, Matthew (a former Mount Oliver police officer) who along with Paul Abel, was involved in the death of Charles Dixon, is now on the City force. What a frightening thought! Two brutal brother in Pittsburgh blue.

Any city police applicant who was previously employed with the Mount Oliver Police Department should receive a higher level of scrutiny.

The "MO Mounties" don't exactly enjoy a pristine reputation.