Probe: Murfreesboro officer lied to obtain gun

[QuietDan]

This in the news:

Probe: Murfreesboro officer lied to obtain gun | The Daily News Journal | dnj.com

I hate to see an LEO toss his career for something stupid. What't the deal about the "Jennings Firearms .22-caliber pistol" that he was allegedly hot for? It sounds like a piece of crap Saturday Night Special. Someone fill me in??

[daddyo]

As has been said here so many times, "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes".

He made the choice to throw his career away and because of that, I don't feel sorry for him at all.

[Guest bkelm18]

Such a stupid thing to do for a $100 gun.

[Jonnin]

I noted this gem farther down: "had two previous violations related to untruthfulness and other violations."

He needs to be arrested, not just fired, sounds like a bad cop, habitually misusing his position. Zero tolerance, is that the term the officers like to use with us regular folks?

And yes, it would appear he was spending a great deal of energy to get a free pistol of dubious quality. He could have had the same for just a small amount of cash at a gun show.

[hipower]

How very sad that someone placed in a position of trust should violate it, especially in such a clumsy fashion and for so little gain, when he has so much to lose from it.

[R_Bert]

hmmmmm....

perhaps an TBI audit of returns from the evidence storage is in order ?

This sort of sounds like an endemic "trick", not one-off.

edit - it's too stupid of a scheme to pull off without long term committed assistance.

Edited January 27, 2012 by R_Bert

[E4 No More]

What...an...IDIOT!!!

[mikegideon]

It sounds like a piece of crap Saturday Night Special.

That's exactly what it is. What an idiot.

EDIT: Is there an echo in here?

[hipower]

hmmmmm....

perhaps an TBI audit of returns from the evidence storage is in order ?

This sort of sounds like an endemic "trick", not one-off.

edit - it's too stupid of a scheme to pull off without long term committed assistance.

You know, that just makes the whole situation worse. Means there's more clumsy, inept crooks.

Edited January 27, 2012 by hipower

[JAB]

I noted this gem farther down: "had two previous violations related to untruthfulness and other violations."

He needs to be arrested, not just fired, sounds like a bad cop, habitually misusing his position. Zero tolerance, is that the term the officers like to use with us regular folks?

And yes, it would appear he was spending a great deal of energy to get a free pistol of dubious quality. He could have had the same for just a small amount of cash at a gun show.

Yep. What the article actually states is:

At the conclusion of the department's investigation on Jan. 13, Hudgens recommended Fowler be terminated.

He based his decision, he wrote, partially upon a review of Fowler's disciplinary record, in which he found Fowler had two previous violations related to untruthfulness and other violations.

"The most recent resulted in a 10-day suspension and six months of disciplinary probation," Hudgens wrote.

This definitely sounds to me like a case of a crooked cop. Further, my immediate 'gut reaction' is that there was nothing 'innocent' about his intentions in getting that gun. If Ms. Lewis had gone along with the scheme then Fowler would have ended up with a perfect gun for a 'throwaway' or for planting on a 'suspect'. My money says he would have later altered the paperwork so that there would be no record of the serial number - or maybe even no record of the firearm, at all. Or maybe there is a 'body' on that gun and someone wanted him to make it disappear before anyone looked too hard at it. IOW, because he was putting so much effort into getting the gun and taking so much risk to do so, I think he had something specific and illegal planned for that Jennings.

Edited January 27, 2012 by JAB