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These guys are an endless ball of laughs
Deputy ‘inadvertently’ shoots suspect with gun, believing he was using Taser
A Tulsa County reserve deputy is on
administrative leave after “inadvertently” shooting a suspect with his gun.
Police say Robert (Bob) Bates, 73,
thought he pulled out his Taser during an arrest, but instead shot the suspect,
who later died at a local hospital.
The shooting happened after an apparent
drug and gun selling operation by the Tulsa Violent Crimes task force Thursday.
Bates, a member of the task force, was part of a group of deputies trying to
arrest Eric Courtney Harris, 44, in the parking lot of a Dollar General store.
Police say Harris, a convicted felon,
sold undercover officers a pistol. When confronted by an arrest team, he fled
the scene on foot and police say they “observed him reaching for his waistband
area …causing concern for the deputies safety.”
After a brief pursuit, police say
Harris was forced to the ground, where he continued to resist arrest and
“refused to pull his left arm from underneath his body where his hand was near
his waistband.”
It was during this portion of the
arrest that police say “the reserve deputy was attempting to use less lethal
force, believing he was utilizing a Taser, when he inadvertently discharged his
service weapon, firing one round which struck Harris.”
Harris died at a local hospital and his
cause of death is under investigation. Police say Harris admitted to medics at
the scene that he may have been under the influence of Phencyclidine, a street
drug commonly known as PCP.
My father used to say "Well that will come back to bite you in ass"
Virginia bans asking job applicants
about criminal history
Governor Terry McAuliffe on Friday
signed an executive order making Virginia the latest U.S. state to prohibit
government employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history.
Virginia joins more than a dozen other
states in its decision to “ban the box” on job applications that prospective
employees are asked to check if they have been convicted of a crime.
An individual’s rap sheet may be
considered only if it “bears specific relation to the job for which they are
being considered,” such as child care workers, state troopers, court officers
and jail guards, said gubernatorial spokesman Brian Coy.
"In a new Virginia economy, people
who make mistakes and pay the price should be welcomed back into society and
given the opportunity to succeed,” McAuliffe said in a statement.
"This executive order will remove
unnecessary obstacles to economic success for Virginians who deserve a second
chance," the Democratic governor said.
While the restriction applies to state
hiring practices, McAuliffe said he hoped it would encourage private employers
to follow suit.
The National Employment Law Project
estimates that almost one in three adults in the United States has a criminal
record that will show up on a routine criminal background check.
The move was applauded by Virginia
Attorney General Mark Herring, who aims to improve job re-entry programs for
inmates released from jail.
"This is a responsible approach
that keeps initial background checks for sensitive jobs in state government
while ensuring that a youthful mistake or wrong decision doesn’t close the
doors of opportunity for a lifetime," Herring said.
Other states that have banned the box,
Coy said, include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii,
Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico
and Rhode Island.
