NC police chief can't shoot straight, loses gun and badge.

[powderman]

http://www.whas11.com/news/national/146971505.html
 
 
NC town's chief can't shoot, loses gun and badge   Associated Press Posted on April 11, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Updated today at 10:32 AM        RICHLANDS, N.C. (AP) — The police chief of a North Carolina town has been prohibited from carrying a badge and gun because he couldn't shoot straight.
Police Chief Thomas Bennett was suspended as a law enforcement officer after failing his recent annual firearms qualification exam.
The Daily News of Jacksonville reports (http://bit.ly/HxsaeC) that Bennett has been police chief in Richlands, near the Atlantic coast, since 1999 and plans to retire in July.
Bennett's suspended certification also means he cannot turn on the blue lights on a police cruiser or make a traffic stop.
Bennett says he is still able to perform job duties related to managing the police department.
Town Administrator Gregg Whitehead says Bennett has been asked to take the firearms test again.

[Siskiyou]

That is the way it should be.  If he cannot carry he is a liability to officers in his department.

[Old Fart]

We had a county sherif (an elected position) who forgot to finish his certification courses in a timely manner. They booted him out. Can't do the job, don't expect to keep it.

[Cuts Crooked]

I fail to see any reason this should be a controversy. Fail to be able to do the job, you don't get to keep the job.

[jlwilliams]

  Maybe.  Then again, maybe there is some extenuating circumstance we are unaware of.  Could be he's having a medical issue and will be able to do the job after his treatment is finished.   If he's ben in that job since '99, and chief isn't likely his first LE job, one would think that he's pased this same sort of test in the past.  Maby he can't do the job... period, maybe he can't do it for a while.  It just strikes me as a piece of 'news' that lacks some likely critical details.
 
  I know that when I have read or seen coverage of news that I had first hand or close knowledge of; there was always something missing or inaccuate in the story as reported.  It's axiomatic to me that there is always more to any story.
 
  Is this guy incompetant?  Maybe.  Is he temporarily capable of restricted duties?  Maybe.  Do I know? No.
 
  I hope that he and his employers make the decisions that put the people he serves and protects first.