Woman Disarms South Carolina Corrections Officer at Hospital; Shoots Self

This story makes me sick. I work security in a hospital which thank goodness nothing has ever happened like this. Hospitals don't care about ANY of their employees except for physicians and administration. Administration could care less about what happens unless it makes for bad press. Hospitals are not addressing anything when it comes to situations like these. Joint Commission is a joke also. Hospitals pay money for this association to come and rate your hospital. What a joke.

This article points, on multiple occasions, to the agency referring to the holster as being a Level 1 Retention holster. The level of the holster's retention is incidental to active weapons retention techniques or training. If an officer relies on his / her "Level III" holster instead of weapon retention techniques, this is an invitation to trouble. I am not meaning to imply that anything like this has occurred in this situation; however, the agency might be better served by doing more weapons retention training instead of focusing on holster levels.

Who is to say this woman was not a stranger to level 1 2 or 3 retention holster? avid gun fan there are a few! as a coment mentioned, there is no 100% full proof saftey measure the newspapers will show that fact. So before blame let us find out the facts and perhaps have the brass put a hold on the policy of firearms in hospital and who carries these weapons!

Sounds like that Correction Department was trying to save a few bucks. Now those dollars saved will be used to pay off the inmates family to settle the lawsuit. Good job S.C. Correction Dept. And what's the deal with having only one officer armed?!

Every officer who carries a firearm on a duty belt should know how to keep the upper forearm/elbow area locked against the butt of the weapon as needed, especially when transporting. And I cannot fathom why hospitals have all these "security" people, and not a one of them has a weapon. Apparently common sense has left all across America as it is that way in too many states.

Well, I work security at our local Hospital. I'll be the first to tell you, that many lazy, as well a absent minded officers do not think this type of stuff will ever happen. So what happens when stuff like this does happen? NEWS, MEDIA, breathin down our neck.

The hospitals cheif of security needs to stress and train retention tactics. The other thing that I feel is a neccessity is, if the Hospital police depts want good service, they need to make sure that all staff has good equipment and training.

If level 1 holsters are an issue, then hospitals need to make sure the staff is rigged w/ Level 3 holsters which cost upward $50 to $100 for a good brand.

Most officers get all this stuff issued to them. NOT HOSPITAL POLICE. they get *censored* pay, and have to buy their own equiptment which is usually low end, or bottom of the barrell equiptment to save a dollar.

TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN... TRAIN LIKE YOU"LL FIGHT, AND YOU"LL FIGHT LIKE YOU TRAIN

I work for a Hospital Police agency and we are provided the best of the best when it comes to training and equipment. WE are Calea accredited, and we always have some form of training going on. I guess it is very fortunate that our hospital administrators see that the need for us to have the equipment and training is crucial. Unfortunately not every police department is setup the same way. Here in North Carolina, the Prison guards only have one "armed" guard with the inmate as well. They do this for safety reasons, and the "unarmed" guard is the ONLY guard that is allowed to move, or approach the inmate while inside the hospital. The armed prison guard usually waits at the door, or a safe distance from the inmate but never has direct contact with them.

It seems some are throwing stones here. I am a Police Officer, and I am man enough to admit that I get complacent sometimes. I try to always be ready, but sometimes we make mistakes; we are human remember. I don't know the CO who this happened to, but I can deduce, as well as ya'll can, that he/she is feeling pretty low. I know I would. Its too bad, but it happens. Fault is arbitrary here. Let's all learn from it, and offer our thoughts to the CO.

This incident should not have happened. Having worked as a State Corrections Officer in Tennessee, I have volunteered to work overtime on "outside hospital" details, as they are called. In Tennessee, the state policy is a minimum of two armed officers with one prisoner. Unfortunately, weapon retention was not taught at the academy classes I completed. I have guarded various maximum security prisoners, to include those condemned on Death Row. The holster I was issued was Level 1 rated and the weapon a .38 caliber revolver plus two additional speed loaders of ammunition. As a good and disciplined corrections officer, you need to think safety and security at all times. Watch your partner, yourself, and the prisoner in your custody and care. This is serious business and common sense must be utilized. We can Monday morning quarterback this all day long however the fact remains that Corrections Officers should be provided better training and excellent equipment. Unfortunately, the southern states do not pay their Corrections Officers well which leads to morale issues and tired officers, not a good combination. Don't know if that was a contributing factor, however turnover in Corrections is very high nation wide. I place blame on the administration for not properly equipping and training their officers. Although you cannot prevent every unfortunate situation, you can and will greatly minimize risk by having a well trained, paid and equipped department. Like J.M. in Montana said, lets look at this as a learning experience that all agencies can learn from.

Yes, weapons awareness/retention is very important. But as a police officer, I can think of several times when I was engaged in a task, and my weapon was unprotected. Despite the fact that I try to remain conscious of my weapon at all times, there is always the chance that someone will seize the opportunity to take advantage of my complacency. If and when that day comes, it's comforting to know that I have a level III holster to buy me a precious few seconds. I believe they are life savers, as it is very difficult to get the weapon out of them unless you are familiar with the specific holster model.