# Rate the bullshit level of this story of a man dying in police custody. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 3, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321 "2012-08-03T17:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/141 "2012-08-23T02:22:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I believe it was Loach who said that some cops are reluctant to poke around in another guy’s crotch. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Probably. As Loach said, not finding a gun the guy shoots himself with is a career breaker. Don’t get arrested in Jonesboro; I bet that for the next while searches there will be very, very thorough. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/142 "2012-08-23T02:40:33Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Don’t get arrested in Jonesboro; I bet that for the next while searches there will be very, very thorough. I wonder if any of those guys went into the high school when the kids killed a bunch of students. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/143 "2012-08-23T12:47:20Z")
A colleague that lives in Houston told me about a [similar situation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Joseph_Johnson) when a handcuffed suspect inside a police car shot and killed a police officer. The wife, also a police officer, made a lot of noise about the fact that the suspect was an illegal alien which got her to several meetings with the Governor and other state officials. She and others blamed the gun store, the government, and the suspects employer but did not consider the idea that this might have not happened if the suspect had been properly search. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/144 "2012-08-23T12:53:27Z")
AP is reporting that when he [called his girlfriend](http://www.kuar.org/news/71526-news-minute-here-is-the-latest-arkansas-news-from-the-associated-press.html)he told her that he had a gun and was frightened. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/145 "2012-08-23T21:25:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Okay, so everyone is sure that the cops didn’t murder/manslaughter him, but why is that leaving out option 3? Is it not gross negligence to arrest the guy and not make sure he doesn’t have a gun? Or do I expect too much out of cops? My understanding is that in a Terry Frisk situation, they are allowed to do a cursory pat down for weapons in obvious places like pockets, but not really a full complete search. Ergo, the initial search checked his pockets, but missed a small handgun, possibly in his waistband, or concealed in his sock, or something. They placed him in the squad car, talked to him, talked to the other two suspects, then pulled him out of the squad car to arrest him and search him a second time. Speculation: during the time in the squad car, he was unsupervised and probably relocated the gun from his person to some place out of sight. Second search is more thorough, but the gun wasn’t on his person. They placed him back in the car, then proceeded to chew out the other two suspects before letting them go. During that time, Chaviss was alone in the squad car, retrieved the gun, and shot himself. How negligent is the first search that missed the gun? Terry Frisk does allow to find weapons exactly for officer safety and preclude something like this, so missing the gun is bad form. But how thorough is a Terry Frisk supposed to be? I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/146 "2012-08-24T03:57:41Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Colt does make a [cobra .380 semi.](http://www.landrysguns.com/Pages/Handguns/images/Cobra%20380.JPG) That’s not a Colt. That is a Cobra Enterprises CA-380. There is, in fact, no such thing as a “Colt Cobra .380” because .380 designates an ACP round (Automatic Colt Pistol), whereas the Colt Cobra chambers .38 Special. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/147 "2012-08-24T18:46:40Z")
I’m glad to say I picked zero early on. I saw no reason that it couldn’t have happened. There was nothing presented that would lead me to believe that it was impossible. That’s not the same as “I believe cops, no questions asked” which is maybe what the OP meant. There’s always more to the story. There is a video out there of a young suspect being escorted to a police car, cuffed behind his back. He reaches around to a necklace with some sort of pendant and appears to to remove an item from the pendant. He later escaped from his cuffs (presumably with the key that he removed from the necklace) somehow got his hands on a knife and stabbed the transport deputy to death and escaped. That video is the first thing that I thought of when this story broke. The cop haters will blame the police for that deputy’s death (as well as the suspect’s - he was later shot to death after shooting another officer with the dead deputy’s gun). How about holding to account the people that do these things and not blame those on the front line doing their (imperfect) best to protect you? Full disclosure - I’m a retired LEO. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/148 "2012-08-24T19:11:08Z")
I watched a video a while back from one of our troopers’ cars. She had pulled over another vehicle and arrested a couple of people inside; the female, who was very skinny, stood right in front of the camera. Before the trooper took them to the jail, this woman, with her hands cuffed behind her back, was able quite comfortably to 1) make a cell phone call, without using speakerphone, and 2) _light and smoke a cigarette_. She acted as though being handcuffed hardly inconvenienced her. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/149 "2012-08-24T19:37:12Z")
Possible. I’ve seen a video on YouTube of a guy being questioned in a police interrogation room somewhere. The cop leaves the room for a moment and the suspect, dejected, pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head! The cop runs back, stares, and then yells to someone else, “Didn’t you search him ?!” So yeah, it does happen that the cops forget to seach someone. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/150 "2012-08-24T21:17:01Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Oh, ok. I haven’t been following. I just wanted to use the phrase. Plus, I always assume most cops are covering up something, somewhere. The only thing I try to cover up is my love for you.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321/151 "2012-08-30T14:21:10Z")
[Here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/luke-baber-marshall-bailey-dead_n_1840781.html?utm_hp_ref=crime&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl21%7Csec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D198989) is a new story about a person who shot and killed a trooper after being searched. Don’t think he was cuffed but the gun was missed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-the-bullshit-level-of-this-story-of-a-man-dying-in-police-custody/630321.md?page=7)