The Seattle Police Department Is "Very Embarrassed" After Leaving Unattended Semi-Automatic Rifle on Trunk of Patrol Car
posted by CIENNA MADRID on TUE, JUN 28, 2011 at 9:51 AM

*This post has been updated to reflect that a second witness, also a pedestrian, followed the driver of the patrol car—not the patrol car itself—around to alert an officer about the unattended rifle.

As Dan already posted this morning, Slog tipper Nick sent in this photograph, which he took "In front of the Roosevelt Hotel just after 9pm on June 27th. Left unattended, flagged down bike officers who were shocked as hell."

"The department is very embarrassed that this happened," says Seattle Police Department Sergeant Sean Whitcomb. "We’re incredibly grateful to the person that flagged down the bike officers and the woman who followed the patrol car driver around to let them know there was a rifle on the back of the car."

But were SPD officers driving around with an AR-15 rifle on the back of their squad car???? "I'm not going to comment," says Whitcomb, adding that the West Precinct has launched "an investigation into the circumstances that allowed this to happen."

Whitcomb says the department isn't releasing the names of the patrol officers. It's unclear at this point if the semi-automatic rifle was loaded or not. Regardless, Whitcomb says the officers didn't break any laws. "Really, it's just embarrassing," he says. "It most certainly shouldn’t happen at a police department level. People should expect more."

UPDATE: The department's Office of Professional Accountability is investigating the incident as well. "It is unacceptable that a rifle was left unattended on a patrol car and people should expect more from their police department," writes OPA director Kathryn Olson in an email. "I will monitor the investigation to ensure that all relevant facts are uncovered and that any lapse in procedure is appropriately addressed."

File this under 'operational procedure failure'?

File it under "People make mistakes - deal with it"

No harm done, procedures will reviewed and improved if necessary. Move along, nothing to see here.

Guys, it's not like a cup of coffee that holds the potential for a dry cleaning bill in it's future.
It's an AR-15 assault rifle.

Guys, it's not like a cup of coffee that holds the potential for a dry cleaning bill in it's future.
It's an AR-15 assault rifle.

Matt, if you were diving with a piece of equipment that had been treated with the same disregard, I can't imagine your reaction would've been the same.

The time for 'No harm done, procedures will reviewed and improved if necessary. Move along, nothing to see here.' is when you can't find a piece of work in a prompt manner and there's a mild inconvenience. Like buying a train ticket. Or an inept server at in a restaurant.
Large items of weaponry left lying about unattended - slightly more serious, no? I mean, I know it's the US and all, but still...

Yes it is more serious.

However it is impossible to devise any system that will prevent people making mistakes from time to time. It doesn't matter what the problem was with, sometimes it's just an accident. If you arm every police officer and every police vehicle in your country, you have to accept that sooner or later, someone's going to lose a weapon.