City officer gets 15 years for fatally shooting Marine veteran

[MikePapa1]

Gahiji Tshamba: Sentenced to 15 years in prison - baltimoresun.com

Sad story.

[Guest bkelm18]

So... 7 years for murdering a person. 10 years for a weapons charge. Makes sense.

[Curiousgb]

Alcohol and gunpowder are always a bad combination.

[hornett22]

too bad it's not for life!

[DaveTN]

Guns & Alcohol…. Bad ending.

[Guest clownsdd]

Maximum would still be not enough.

[Guest Zombie-Hunter]

He also called his defense "sincere," reiterating claims made during his weeklong trial in June that he was in fear for his life the night he shot Brown a dozen times

He still has no remorse, Gawd at the citizens who felt his wrath during his years of service.

Nah booze is fine, its the people who drink it thats bad......LMAO, sorry I crack myself up.

[Guest nysos]

Police records show that Tshamba was driving drunk in 2005 before firing his weapon at a group of men who allegedly tried to ram his car.

And they let him keep his badge, let alone the ability to carry a gun after that? A normal citizen and you would be lucky to buy/own a gun after that......

[Guest WyattEarp]

he called his defense "sincere", yet he pumped 12 rounds into an unarmed man? wow.

[Guest fastbilly1]

something REAL wrong with this outcome,

actually several things,

more time for the gun charge than taking a life? and he is still a LEO?

[Dolomite_supafly]

he called his defense "sincere", yet he pumped 12 rounds into an unarmed man? wow.

Also, he was so grief stricken with remorse he spoke to other officers about the "hot chicks" he had been with that night.

It is the administration that has failed both of these men with Brown paying the ultimate price for the systems shortcomings. Tshamba should have lost his career as an officer and a substantial part of his freedom over the previous alcohol fueled incident. But what likely happened is it was minimized by fellow officers and the administration which only empowered Tshamba even more. I would be willing to bet these aren't the only incidents in which Tshamba has pulled a firearm in a intoxicated state. People just don't wake up and do things like that.

The training rarely addresses how to deal with the misconduct of other officers. It deals with those things that can save your life but never those who cross that thin blue line.

Dolomite

[Dolomite_supafly]

something REAL wrong with this outcome,

actually several things,

more time for the gun charge than taking a life? and he is still a LEO?

No. He was on unpaid leave until his conviction and now he will be terminated. Everything related to that was done right. You don't really want to punish someone with loosing their livliehood until they are actually found guilty of a crime.

The disparity in the sentences is a hard to swallow for me as well. Especially considering his previous actions and the fact he had zero remorse over taking an innocent life.

Dolomite

[East_TN_Patriot]

Nevermind... Dolomite beat me to it.

[zapfbroad]

This is a tragic incident that I believe could have been mitigated had some greater consequences occurred during his 05 incident which seems to have demonstrated enough lack of judgement that it merited more severe punishment. This does a disservice to every leo out there, their life is hard enough without adequate compensation as it is, they don't need to suffer additional prejudice because of a few bad ones.

If he has to be housed separately because 'prisoners have access to computers' this just irritates me more though it is valid for any leo being housed in their state of service. Not to hijack but I don't think prisoners should be permitted internet access or television. It's infuriating to see the country club. err...prison that nutjob in Norway will spend his life in...looks like a freakin all inclusive resort. We spend too much money on food, medicine & wages to watch them(nothing against prisonguards..they should probably earn more money...but if we use different systems we may not require as many guards).

via EPIC4G SRF1.1.0 by Android Creative Syndicate

[Guest fastbilly1]

i stand corrected and rightly so. he is due a fair trial before losing his freedom and/or occupation.

[Guest Zombie-Hunter]

........................................

Edited September 30, 2011 by Zombie-Hunter

[Dolomite_supafly]

I totally agree but the problem coming to light more and more is that American citizens are starting to understand that LE like this guy is a hushed mouth thing in all depts. Not until something bad that is proven beyond the blue line will the bad apples be called bad. Not a minute before that time, no matter the years of bad behavior in front of his co-workers.

Until LE start policing/reporting their bad apples, the public is going to grow more and more suspicious of the LE industry as a whole. Want to built trust? Be Truthful....That Simple.

+1

I have said it before and will say it again.

Officers will look the other way to protect their own. And if an officer does do the right thing by turning in another he is labeled a "rat" and is often treated far worse than the officer he turned in. The backlash from this is overwhelming for most, threats, no side jobs as well as other officers just not assisting. This often leads to the good officer quitting. Most often time the bad officer stays and gets some additional training and that is the extent of the punishment.

I have sat in offices as a supervisor called around to the surrounding jurisdictions warning them of a potential "rat" coming to apply. On the flip side the same supervisors will call around to vouch for the bad officer if they do have to resign. Which leads me to another disparaging fact. If an officer gets in trouble, I mean serious trouble, that warrants them being fired they are often allowed to resign rather than be fired. They are rarely turned in POST for their actions and in some cases even receive letters of recommendation in exchange for not fighting the administration. I have heard that come out of supervisors mouths as part of the negotiations over whether the officer will fight it or go "quietly".

It has gone from a point of being there to help like most officers were doing 20+ years ago to a "us" vs "them" mentality we see today. That is the reason why most officers will cover for fellow officers or at least look the other way because they are on the same side, the "us" side.

The reason this has happened is because there was a shift about 15-20 years ago to hire military over those who weren't. Along with those military personnel came the military mindset that many had. And then with the influx of military personnel came the influx of military tactics, ways of training as well as the "us" vs "them" mentality. This is the reason there has been a militarization of most police departments as well.

The "us" vs "them" mentality is how the military trains. There is always an enemy in the military and then when they transition to civilian jobs they keep the same "us" vs "them" mentality except those not in law enforcement are now the enemy. This is why the officers choose to cover up or look the other way because they do not want to help those that are now their new "enemy".

Dolomite

[E4 No More]

"Officers will look the other way to protect their own."

Incorrect! I am no longer a LEO because I reported the actions of a bad officer to the city council and the result was that I was just a troublemaker. Not all police officers cover-up bad things.

EDIT: I stopped reading your post too soon. Sorry.

Edited August 17, 2011 by SWJewellTN

[Dolomite_supafly]

"Officers will look the other way to protect their own."

Incorrect! I am no longer a LEO because I reported the actions of a bad officer to the city council and the result was that I was just a troublemaker. Not all police officers cover-up bad things.

EDIT: I stopped reading your post too soon. Sorry.

Same thing I witnessed time and time again.

Dolomite

[JAB]

While I do believe that the former officer deserves stiff punishment for his actions, I also find it disgusting how the friends and family of Mr. Brown seem to have tried to turn him into some kind of a saint. They talk about what a great father he was. His wife talks about what a great husband he was. Sorry, to me a great father and husband isn't out drunk off his ass, hitting the clubs and bars in the wee hours of the morning and groping a woman who isn't his wife, and who he doesn't even know, against her will. I'm not saying he should have been killed for it but Mr. Brown played his own part in the events that lead to his death. I'm also going to say something else that may not win me any popularity contests - simply having been a veteran of the Marines or any other branch of service really doesn't mean jack about his character any more than having been a cop is any testament to the character of the now former officer.

Edited August 17, 2011 by JAB

[Guest WyattEarp]

It is the administration that has failed both of these men with Brown paying the ultimate price for the systems shortcomings. Tshamba should have lost his career as an officer and a substantial part of his freedom over the previous alcohol fueled incident. But what likely happened is it was minimized by fellow officers and the administration which only empowered Tshamba even more. Dolomite

yep, and that's exactly the same thing going on with that out of control whack job cop up in Ohio who has had 16 previous investigations into his actions (although he hasn't shot anyone....yet). hopefully they get that maniac under control and off the force before he does something that gets an innocent civilian killed.