After the LA Times scathingly called out “armed and drunk” off-duty officers, the Los Angeles Police Commission said they’ll THINK about changing their policy to prevent officers from carrying weapons while intoxicated.
But they didn’t have a clear policy to begin with!
In the past few years alone, intoxicated LAPD officers: drove vehicles, shot an unhoused person, threatened people while armed, and accidentally shot friends!
Back in 2010, they created a “policy” saying off-duty officers can’t be so intoxicated they’re “unable to … exercise reasonable … control of the firearm.” So, it’s no wonder from 2011-2019 they still had dozens of alcohol and firearms violations!
A clear policy to prevent police from mixing alcohol and weapon use is crucial when about 25% of officers have a substance abuse problem. Researchers say it’s because they’re coping with all the violence they encounter regularly.
But this seems to imply something scarier about our law enforcement system.
Officers kill hundreds of people a year. Then they drink to cope. But, while impaired and armed, they’re even more dangerous than before. So, if we have hundreds of killed people and thousands of traumatized officers, how is policing about safety?
This isn’t about criminalizing people with substance addictions – police do that on their own. It's about the system’s consistent, double-edged failure to keep us safe.