I'm pretty sure New Orleans police stole my pistol

[22_Shooter 1,560]

It's a common misconception that "free states" are "free" in regards to gun laws and only those "commie states" on the coasts have dumb gun laws. You would be very surprised to see how many states also have pistol permit laws or very draconian restrictions on CCW or have hidden "good character" clauses in the legislation. Sure, they're much better off than a guy in NY, but they've got a lot of bull to deal with in a lot of states.

 

As gun-friendly as SC is, I hate how you can't CC in any establishment that serves alcohol. That pretty much rules out every restaurant down here, aside from fast food joints. I also wish we could OC (even though there's very few times I would probably OC, myself).

[elvis christ 451]

Personally, I'll carry wherever I can. Sometimes, I even carry a pistol on me in the post office. Oh, the horror!

 

Seriously, the issue here isn't about how/when I was carrying a gun, the issue is that I was stopped and relieved of my property, which now can't be located. On top of that, It's a gun, so conceivably it could be mixed up in a some sort of violent crime.

 

 

Also, I've been trying to call the numbers the shift supervisor gave me, but surprisingly, neither one of them work, and one is a fax number. I'm going to make a call to the NOPD public integrity office this afternoon, since I don't have to go to work today, on account of the snow.

[DogMan 2,343]

Personally, I'll carry wherever I can. Sometimes, I even carry a pistol on me in the post office. Oh, the horror!

 

Seriously, the issue here isn't about how/when I was carrying a gun, the issue is that I was stopped and relieved of my property, which now can't be located. On top of that, It's a gun, so conceivably it could be mixed up in a some sort of violent crime.

 

 

Also, I've been trying to call the numbers the shift supervisor gave me, but surprisingly, neither one of them work, and one is a fax number. I'm going to make a call to the NOPD public integrity office this afternoon, since I don't have to go to work today, on account of the snow.

 

It's funny how many people are totally missing the point, or maybe just choosing to ignore it. Personally, I don't care where you carry. If you had gotten busted for that I would have said you brought it on yourself, but you didn't. You got robbed by thugs in uniform. I think what some people are missing is that if this cop can steal your gun, he can steal their gun too, whether they had previously walked into a bar with it or not.

[elvis christ 451]

Exactly

[22_Shooter 1,560]

Personally, I'll carry wherever I can. Sometimes, I even carry a pistol on me in the post office. Oh, the horror!

 

Seriously, the issue here isn't about how/when I was carrying a gun, the issue is that I was stopped and relieved of my property, which now can't be located. On top of that, It's a gun, so conceivably it could be mixed up in a some sort of violent crime.

 

 

Also, I've been trying to call the numbers the shift supervisor gave me, but surprisingly, neither one of them work, and one is a fax number. I'm going to make a call to the NOPD public integrity office this afternoon, since I don't have to go to work today, on account of the snow.

 

It's funny how many people are totally missing the point, or maybe just choosing to ignore it. Personally, I don't care where you carry. If you had gotten busted for that I would have said you brought it on yourself, but you didn't. You got robbed by thugs in uniform. I think what some people are missing is that if this cop can steal your gun, he can steal their gun too, whether they had previously walked into a bar with it or not.

 

QFT

[MT Predator 2,294]

I do get it. Thing is you put yourself in a situation where is the crooked cop was able to steal your property. Yes, it should have been logged into a property logbook and locked away for safe keeping. I would be cautious in your endeavor. If the cops thinks he can get away with stealing your pistol, he probably could get away with making some charges as well to justify confiscating it. All he has to say is you were under the influence. I still don't think you'll get the pistol back though. Good luck, hope you get to the bottom of it.

ETA: Forgot they charged you with public intoxication so there is the charge to go with the confiscation. If the police department is keeping it they could at least admit they are keeping it.

Edited January 10, 2011 by MT Predator

[elvis christ 451]

The public intox charge has been dismissed. Therefore I should get my property back, there was no conviction.

[yakdung 2,926]

The public intox charge has been dismissed. Therefore I should get my property back, there was no conviction.

 

That's great news but I would not take a verbal on that from NOPD. I would want to get and retain a hard copy for my records. I would like to suggest that you take digital pictures of all of your firearms including the serial numbers. I would also scan and create PDF files of the receipts as well. If there is ever a question you now have it in electronic form that can be transmitted.

 

Good luck to you,

Yakdung

Edited January 10, 2011 by yakdung

[patriot 7,197]

You could post the arresting officer's name(s) all over the Web......

[Kliegl 304]

[yakdung 2,926]

Hey Elvis, this might be a good time to go looking for your gun. They are all so much in shock as my underdog Seahawks just knocked off their world champion Saints that they might actually tell you the truth. Who Dat? Well, we dat.

 

BTW, no offense to my N.O. saiga brothers down there

 

Just watched the end of that game at the bar. WITH ONE OF MY OTHER PISTOLS!

 

 

Seriously, where I'm from, we carry pistols pretty much all the time. You never know when someone in Birmingham is going to try to rob you, and the projects are intermingled into the decent parts of town, so you can't really get away from it, unless you move out to the suburbs, which I'm not willing to do, yet.

 

One of my main beefs with this whole situation is that I wasn't proven to be intoxicated, so I don't feel like the charge should have been made in the first place. They didn't follow protocol. I'm sure there are procedures in place for this sort of situation.

 

Elvis, This may be of interest to you...

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/03/yearlong_justice_department_pr.html

 

Yakdung

[beefcakeb99 572]

Routine constitutional violations? no way! post this on that bayou shooters maybe that will shut them up...

[redsoldier 7]

are you implying that the NOLA PD is shady? say it ain't so....

[elvis christ 451]

Still chasing this around, I've talked to about 5 different people at the NOPD, one of them even told me not to report it stolen, because if they find it, I'll be charged with making a false police report.

 

Finally spoke to a detective who seemed like she was worth a shit, and she told me to call the Public Integrity Unit, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm also going to report it stolen to the local police, as it will all go into the same database.

 

I have received stamped paperwork that verifies that the original charge was dropped, so that's a plus, but still no pistol. I did buy another PF9, so I'm alright on my carry piece, but I'd still like to get the other one back, or at least nail the fucker that stole it.

[yakdung 2,926]

Still chasing this around, I've talked to about 5 different people at the NOPD, one of them even told me not to report it stolen, because if they find it, I'll be charged with making a false police report.

 

Finally spoke to a detective who seemed like she was worth a shit, and she told me to call the Public Integrity Unit, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm also going to report it stolen to the local police, as it will all go into the same database.

 

I have received stamped paperwork that verifies that the original charge was dropped, so that's a plus, but still no pistol. I did buy another PF9, so I'm alright on my carry piece, but I'd still like to get the other one back, or at least nail the fucker that stole it.

 

 

You have more patience than I my friend. I believe you are spinning your wheels with NOPD and are getting the run around. Have you considered these folks? http://www.justice.g...ut/spl/nopd.php

If you did, I'm certain fur would fly.

 

Good luck,

Yakdung

Edited March 17, 2011 by yakdung

[dobravery 49]

The OP's sobriety when the gun was taken is a moot point since the charges were dismissed.

[elvis christ 451]

Got an update for you guys. I finally got in touch with someone at the NOPD who gives a fuck, he helped me out immensely. This particular Sgt (who I will be commending in a letter to the NOPD) worked over the officer who took the gun off of me. He asked the arresting officer what had happened to it, and he assured him that he had documentation that the gun had been registered into property, although there was no record of it on the property item number that I was given upon release. Long story short, the Sgt called me back after a few days and gave me a new item number. I called the property dept and gave them the item number, and they verified that there was a pistol registered under that number. I'm going to be in NO next week for my buddy's bachelor party, so I'm going to swing by and try to pick it up. I'll let y'all know when I have it back in my hands.

[Bayoupiper 738]

Got an update for you guys. I finally got in touch with someone at the NOPD who gives a fuck, he helped me out immensely. This particular Sgt (who I will be commending in a letter to the NOPD) worked over the officer who took the gun off of me. He asked the arresting officer what had happened to it, and he assured him that he had documentation that the gun had been registered into property, although there was no record of it on the property item number that I was given upon release. Long story short, the Sgt called me back after a few days and gave me a new item number. I called the property dept and gave them the item number, and they verified that there was a pistol registered under that number. I'm going to be in NO next week for my buddy's bachelor party, so I'm going to swing by and try to pick it up. I'll let y'all know when I have it back in my hands.

 

 

And those people that supplied decent information?????

[yakdung 2,926]

Got an update for you guys. I finally got in touch with someone at the NOPD who gives a fuck, he helped me out immensely. This particular Sgt (who I will be commending in a letter to the NOPD) worked over the officer who took the gun off of me. He asked the arresting officer what had happened to it, and he assured him that he had documentation that the gun had been registered into property, although there was no record of it on the property item number that I was given upon release. Long story short, the Sgt called me back after a few days and gave me a new item number. I called the property dept and gave them the item number, and they verified that there was a pistol registered under that number. I'm going to be in NO next week for my buddy's bachelor party, so I'm going to swing by and try to pick it up. I'll let y'all know when I have it back in my hands.

 

Good news! I hate to say this but you got lucky. With Serpas taking over as Chief you are seeing movement. I hope that they fix NOPD but only time will tell.

 

http://www.fox8live....RewsXIWDUA.cspx

 

 

Good luck,

Yakdung

Edited April 8, 2011 by yakdung

[DogMan 2,343]

Got an update for you guys. I finally got in touch with someone at the NOPD who gives a fuck, he helped me out immensely. This particular Sgt (who I will be commending in a letter to the NOPD) worked over the officer who took the gun off of me. He asked the arresting officer what had happened to it, and he assured him that he had documentation that the gun had been registered into property, although there was no record of it on the property item number that I was given upon release. Long story short, the Sgt called me back after a few days and gave me a new item number. I called the property dept and gave them the item number, and they verified that there was a pistol registered under that number. I'm going to be in NO next week for my buddy's bachelor party, so I'm going to swing by and try to pick it up. I'll let y'all know when I have it back in my hands.

I really hope you get your gun back. It sounds like they have just been playing games with "item numbers". It's probably a common practice in that scumsucking cesspool of a department to get people to give up and abandon their property. There's no down side to them. If someone puts enough heat on like you did they just "discover" their "mistake" and hand it over.

[Aeternus 7]

Got an update for you guys. I finally got in touch with someone at the NOPD who gives a fuck, he helped me out immensely. This particular Sgt (who I will be commending in a letter to the NOPD) worked over the officer who took the gun off of me. He asked the arresting officer what had happened to it, and he assured him that he had documentation that the gun had been registered into property, although there was no record of it on the property item number that I was given upon release. Long story short, the Sgt called me back after a few days and gave me a new item number. I called the property dept and gave them the item number, and they verified that there was a pistol registered under that number. I'm going to be in NO next week for my buddy's bachelor party, so I'm going to swing by and try to pick it up. I'll let y'all know when I have it back in my hands.

 

Bravo! Congratulations on standing up for your rights and not lying down like a slave.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

"I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees!" - Some dude.

[uzitiger 193]

I would be wary of going to New Orleans. They may be setting you up for a trap once you are on their turf. Have someone follow you there in another car in case the crooked cop has any friends waiting to set you up or worse. Ask the sergeant to have the gun sent to a local FFL dealer in your area and pay the shipping instead of going there. I sound paranoid but why take the chances.

 

I heard Louisiana residents on talk radio talk about law enforcement professional levels in that state. Local cops do not have rigid requirements nor training that the parish officers do who are more professional and have tougher requirements and training. The state police are the true professional officers.

 

In 1995, I read about a parish near either Monroe, La. or Baton Rouge which made money off people traveling there from RICO. They would have a dog sniff an ashtray and claim the victim had illegal drugs, arrest them and confiscate their late model cars and money. The victims were usually given stiff fines in lieu of a prison sentence. The parish prosecutor (who drove a confiscated Corvette) and judges worked with the cops in this racket. In 1996 I was scheduled to go to Monroe to see a supplier to GM and I was afraid they would do something to me. The trip was canceled and I was thankful.

 

I would be wary of going to New Orleans. They may be setting you up for a trap once you are on their turf. Have someone follow you there in another car in case the crooked cop has any friends waiting to set you up or worse. Ask the sergeant to have the gun sent to a local FFL dealer in your area and pay the shipping instead of going there. I sound paranoid but why take the chances.

 

I heard Louisiana residents on talk radio talk about law enforcement professional levels in that state. Local cops do not have rigid requirements nor training that the parish officers do who are more professional and have tougher requirements and training. The state police are the true professional officers.

 

In 1995, I read about a parish near either Monroe, La. or Baton Rouge which made money off people traveling there from RICO. They would have a dog sniff an ashtray and claim the victim had illegal drugs, arrest them and confiscate their late model cars and money. The victims were usually given stiff fines in lieu of a prison sentence. The parish prosecutor (who drove a confiscated Corvette) and judges worked with the cops in this racket. In 1996 I was scheduled to go to Monroe to see a supplier to GM and I was afraid they would do something to me. The trip was canceled and I was thankful. That state reeks of corruption.

[elvis christ 451]

Well, I fucked up. I didn't take into consideration that today is good friday, and the property dept is not open. Damn it.

[volkov 318]

shite, you gonna be down long enough to get it?

[elvis christ 451]

Fuck no. i'll have to come back

[Black3 16]

Elvis, I spent a long career as a manager dealing with unionized commissioned officers and lived with the certain knowledge that practically every cop and correctional officer in my state would just LOVE to bust me or have me as a guest, so I know what I'm talking about; you have tempted fate and survived - so far. I don't know who's looking out for you; they say God takes care of fools and drunks, and you've been both in this matter. The price of breaking laws is that it makes it very hard for you to complain about other people breaking laws. All cops know this and all bad cops love it when bad guys give them an opening. You weren't really being a bad guy, but you were being stupid and you broke the law. Even where there is a pristine legal right to carry in a licensed establishment or when under the influence - BTW, that's not many places - the fact that you are drinking renders your judgement so suspect that should you actually have to use the weapon in self-defense, you're as likely as not to be facing assault or murder/manslaughter charges. So, even if legal, it is never wise to carry when you're drinking. That said, there's a reason for extradition laws and for having lawyers. You are foolish if you go back to NOLA over a $200 gun. First, if they just kept your bail, the charges haven't been "dropped;" you've essentially plead guilty or nolo by forfeiting bail and not appearing to defend yourself, and they've probably still got something they could hang over your head if they wanted. It may well be that the cop simply made a mistake. In government, incompetence is always a more likely explanation than conspiracy, but you were in a notoriously corrupt city that makes its living off shucking drunk tourists. If you really want the gun back, hire a NOLA lawyer to get it from the NOLA cops and send it to you. This is one where you should have either resigned yourself to paying for your stupidity by losing the gun and just reported it lost or stolen to protect yourself or you should have hired an attorney in NOLA to represent you in the first place if you wanted to make an issue of this.

 

Whether it is notorious places like NOLA or TJ or just the sin dens that every town of any size has it is wise to follow the old drug dealer rule that if you're going to break big laws, don't break little ones. Everybody who goes to places like NOLA goes there for "sin," so if you're going to sin, you have to recognize that you lose some of your right to complain about other people sinning. And before you dismiss me as some prude for talking about "sin," it is a term of convenience, not of moral judgement and maybe sometime I'll tell you about having dinner at Galatoires with three NOLA strippers and the lovely evening that ensued - and if they'd stolen my money rather than just getting me to give it to them - I wouldn't have called the cops to complain.

[DogMan 2,343]

Elvis, I spent a long career as a manager dealing with unionized commissioned officers and lived with the certain knowledge that practically every cop and correctional officer in my state would just LOVE to bust me or have me as a guest, so I know what I'm talking about; you have tempted fate and survived - so far. I don't know who's looking out for you; they say God takes care of fools and drunks, and you've been both in this matter. The price of breaking laws is that it makes it very hard for you to complain about other people breaking laws. All cops know this and all bad cops love it when bad guys give them an opening. You weren't really being a bad guy, but you were being stupid and you broke the law. Even where there is a pristine legal right to carry in a licensed establishment or when under the influence - BTW, that's not many places - the fact that you are drinking renders your judgement so suspect that should you actually have to use the weapon in self-defense, you're as likely as not to be facing assault or murder/manslaughter charges. So, even if legal, it is never wise to carry when you're drinking. That said, there's a reason for extradition laws and for having lawyers. You are foolish if you go back to NOLA over a $200 gun. First, if they just kept your bail, the charges haven't been "dropped;" you've essentially plead guilty or nolo by forfeiting bail and not appearing to defend yourself, and they've probably still got something they could hang over your head if they wanted. It may well be that the cop simply made a mistake. In government, incompetence is always a more likely explanation than conspiracy, but you were in a notoriously corrupt city that makes its living off shucking drunk tourists. If you really want the gun back, hire a NOLA lawyer to get it from the NOLA cops and send it to you. This is one where you should have either resigned yourself to paying for your stupidity by losing the gun and just reported it lost or stolen to protect yourself or you should have hired an attorney in NOLA to represent you in the first place if you wanted to make an issue of this.

 

Whether it is notorious places like NOLA or TJ or just the sin dens that every town of any size has it is wise to follow the old drug dealer rule that if you're going to break big laws, don't break little ones. Everybody who goes to places like NOLA goes there for "sin," so if you're going to sin, you have to recognize that you lose some of your right to complain about other people sinning. And before you dismiss me as some prude for talking about "sin," it is a term of convenience, not of moral judgement and maybe sometime I'll tell you about having dinner at Galatoires with three NOLA strippers and the lovely evening that ensued - and if they'd stolen my money rather than just getting me to give it to them - I wouldn't have called the cops to complain.

Bullshit. Did you read the post that said all of the charges were dismissed? Anything he may or may not have done has been handled through the legal system. So do you take your gun out of your vehicle or all of your guns out of your house when you drink one beer? If you don't, then you're a hypocrite. It's not about him anymore. It's about his personal property that belongs to him that someone else tried to take. It's sad that you are so willing to accept that you and others deserve to be victims because of what you call "sin". Sounds like you need to say some "Hail Marys" or something.

[Black3 16]

Sounds like my dead dog is smarter and has better reading comprehension skills than you, dogman. Unfortunately, there are all too many gun owners whose IQ is less than the caliber or guage of their weapon; you and the OP appear to be among them. Now I know better than to actually try to argue with guys like you, but there might be some readers who have more sense following this thread.

 

The OP dodged one bullet and now seems intent on bareing his breast to the storm again. It was his own words saying that he failed to appear; sorry, prosecutors don't "dismiss" when you're charged and fail to appear. He said he made bail and didn't appear; that's a guilty plea and a forfeiture of the bail. If the NOLA authorities want to, they can suddenly rediscover that gun, rediscover the fact that he was drinking and carrying, and bring a whole new set of charges against him; if they're half smart, they'll have his confession from here to use against him. Even if they did dismiss and return his bail, they could still bring charges on other grounds. And you think I'm some sort of pussy for advising him to stay away from the police force he's publicly accused of stealing his property; you're dumber than he is.

 

And as to the drinking generally; if you've had a few, a zombie shows up at your door, and you blow him away, if not the prosecutor then certainly the zombie's family's civil attorney is going to have some serious questions about your ability to form a reasonable conclusion that you or yours or even your property and privacy in one of the "castle" states was actually threatened. After all, even though the zombie had a criminal record a mile long and was armed at the time you blew him away, in this particular instance, he had recently become a born-again Christian, was lost trying to find his new church, he was exercising his Constitutional right to carry, and only came to your friendly looking door seeking directions when your drunken, stupid ass blew him away. You can bet they can find twelve morons with drivers licenses that will believe that story too.

 

Make no mistake, if I'd had a few and somebody came in my house, I would fire, but I know the risk and my first call would be to my attorney even before I called the cops. And if I were going out drinking, there is no way in Hell I would carry, though in a dangerous place I would probably have a weapon in my car. It's called having some sense and knowing that just because you at least theoretically can legally do something doesn't mean that you should do it.

 

 

[DogMan 2,343]

Sounds like my dead dog is smarter and has better reading comprehension skills than you, dogman. Unfortunately, there are all too many gun owners whose IQ is less than the caliber or guage of their weapon; you and the OP appear to be among them. Now I know better than to actually try to argue with guys like you, but there might be some readers who have more sense following this thread.

 

The OP dodged one bullet and now seems intent on bareing his breast to the storm again. It was his own words saying that he failed to appear; sorry, prosecutors don't "dismiss" when you're charged and fail to appear. He said he made bail and didn't appear; that's a guilty plea and a forfeiture of the bail. If the NOLA authorities want to, they can suddenly rediscover that gun, rediscover the fact that he was drinking and carrying, and bring a whole new set of charges against him; if they're half smart, they'll have his confession from here to use against him. Even if they did dismiss and return his bail, they could still bring charges on other grounds. And you think I'm some sort of pussy for advising him to stay away from the police force he's publicly accused of stealing his property; you're dumber than he is.

 

And as to the drinking generally; if you've had a few, a zombie shows up at your door, and you blow him away, if not the prosecutor then certainly the zombie's family's civil attorney is going to have some serious questions about your ability to form a reasonable conclusion that you or yours or even your property and privacy in one of the "castle" states was actually threatened. After all, even though the zombie had a criminal record a mile long and was armed at the time you blew him away, in this particular instance, he had recently become a born-again Christian, was lost trying to find his new church, he was exercising his Constitutional right to carry, and only came to your friendly looking door seeking directions when your drunken, stupid ass blew him away. You can bet they can find twelve morons with drivers licenses that will believe that story too.

 

Make no mistake, if I'd had a few and somebody came in my house, I would fire, but I know the risk and my first call would be to my attorney even before I called the cops. And if I were going out drinking, there is no way in Hell I would carry, though in a dangerous place I would probably have a weapon in my car. It's called having some sense and knowing that just because you at least theoretically can legally do something doesn't mean that you should do it.

 

 

So your dog died and you're a hypocrite. Try to resist the urge to write a novel to belabor a point. We're not all as mesmerized with your profound words of wisdom as you are.

[elvis christ 451]

just wanted to give you guys a heads up, I got my pistol back today. I woke up this morning around 3, and couldn't go back to sleep, so I drove to New Orleans and picked up my gun. It was a potentially horrible situation, apparently there is usually a waiting period for the background check to return your own gun to you, which I was unaware of, but the lady that does the check was in the office, so they gave me my gun. And I drove back to Birmingham, having visited New Orleans and not having a single drink. I feel like I really accomplished something today.