food rationing???

[JVM225]

I was a PA State Constable for 6 years (1 elected term). As such we are considered a private contractor and we are our own agency. We are sworn law enforcement and fit the definition of peace officer and have arrest authority. We were governed by the PCCD (Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency). I served from 2004-2010. We had a card issued by PCCD that indicated if we were firearms certified and insured. Many PA constables only run with the intention of working the polls on election day. They do not have to be certified or insured. If you wanted to serve warrants and actively work you were required to be certified and insured but the firearms certification was optional.

Anyway, shortly after HR218 was passed a constable was in NYC and was arrested and jailed over the weekend for carrying, NYPD would not accept his card and could not contact PCCD until Monday morning. As far as I understand the constable sued the NYPD and won.

So based on that I am not eligible for HR218 as a former LEO but when I was I was able to carry in all 50 states and the U.S. owned entities. My step-son is a current Corporal detective with a local PD and head of his FOP chapter. Back around 2010 he was in about his 2nd year and was forced to fire at a suspect. They were pretty sure he hit the guy. There were about 5 cops there and the guy came out with a shotgun in 1 hand and a handgun in the other. He pointed the shotgun at my step-son so he fired. The suspect then fired a shot up as he flinched back. The other officers fired after that. The suspect was hit in the chest and in the leg (2 hits total). The bullet in his chest was in a place they did not want to remove it so they aren't certain who actually hit him there but based on the guys body reaction they are pretty sure he was hit that first shot. It was about 3:00AM and me being a constable I had a 2 way radio that was on 24/7. My wife heard the call and jumped up and called our daughter-in-law and she confirmed that he was involved. He got home about 5:00AM and later said he thinks he was in shock. He couldn't sleep and she said when he got home he had a blank stare. The DA and the CO were onsite and took his weapon and issued him another one right there on the spot. He was on desk duty about a week and had to go to counseling but in the end he says he would do it again if he had to. A few years later they were in a police chase and a neighboring township cruiser was t-boned by the suspect and the officer in the passenger seat of that car was killed. Nobody knew there were 2 officers in the car cause the 2nd one had finished his shift earlier but decided to ride along with the next shift. When the 1st officer got out my step-son was first onsite. He went up to that officer and asked if he was ok. That officer looked over my step-sons shoulder so B turned around and saw the other officer laying on the ground. He went over to check on him and half of his head was missing. He said that had a bigger impact on him than shooting at the bad guy.
Turns out it was a female driver with no license and thats why she was running. This wasn't the first time she had ran from the police but she is in prison now.

Alot of people outside of law enforcement don't know what these guys go through. Not an easy job.

Not surprised that the Constable’s card wasn’t recognized in NYC.
NYS defines police officers and peace officers as two distinctively different groups.
When it comes to active people LEOSA pretty much only covers full time police officers that work for 24/7 governments or equivalent federal law enforcement officers. Retirees must meet specific criteria too.
NYC recognizes that lots of places around the country hire part timers or gives peace officer status to meet certain specific needs.
NYS itself explicitly distinguishes between police officers and peace officers. Peace officers generally have no arrest powers or permit to carry when not actually at work or when not physically on the grounds or in the geographic area of their employment. Many don’t have any kind of carry permit at all, or if they do, a lot of them have to leave their assigned weapon at work.
Example: Large Department stores in NYC have what they call “Store Detectives” to combat shoplifting. Some of them, but not all, are qualified for “Special Patrolman” status when at work so they can make arrests while at work and process them. Basically peace officer status. No weapons, no powers outside the store.
Other Large private complexes, both residential and commercial, have their own security forces. Some are armed, others are not. They too have arrest powers only at work and are considered peace officers when working. But it all ends when they leave work.
Some government agencies in NY like Health and Hospitals Corp, the City University system, etc, do the same thing. They dress like police officers, look like police officers from a distance, some are armed when in uniform at work, but they aren’t police officers as defined by State Law. They’re peace officers and arrest powers and the ability to carry a gun ends when they leave work.
Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority guys were the same way. Before it all went automated, the people at the toll plazas looked like police officers but they were peace officers and couldn’t carry or make arrests when they left work.
I also don’t doubt that the Constable sued, but suspect that he got a settlement as opposed to a win in court. NYC is self insured, gets sued all the time, and like most insurance companies they make business decisions. If they can settle a case, dispose of it quickly and for less than it costs to fight it, they do it all the time.
I was sued several times, including once by a nut who described me as a female, and the city settled all of the suits for a couple of thousand bucks each.
The lawsuits themselves were all hand written by the plaintiffs themselves, including misspelled words and incoherent sentences, while they were in jail upstate. All asked for tens of millions for crazy stuff.
In all cases the city settled for less than it would have cost to bring the prisoner back down to NYC for the case,

 

[boatman37]

Yeah we had fit the definition of police officer but were more recognized under peace officer. We were allowed to carry 24x7 as we were always 'on duty' as long as we were firearms certified and had professional liability insurance, which you had to have if you were certified. When i started we were trained by the same folks that trained the PA Act 120 (police officer training). After a couple of years they changed to state police firearms instructors. The police academy actually wanted to use our firearms course because it was more involved that heirs was, maybe because it was newer. We were told that by the police academy instructors that taught both.

Our main roles were to serve warrants and transport prisoners for the local magistrate. We also server civil papers, evictions, etc. The warrants and transport fees were set by the state but most everything else we could charge what we wanted. I did a PFA stand-by one time. Charged $100/hour. The husband and wife had PFA's on each other and a sworn law enforcement officer had to be there for them to be in the same place. Local police didn't want to do it because they couldn't charge extra and the Sheriffs dept didn't have the manpower or didn't want to waste their time so it was usually a constable.
We also would assist the local police if we were around. I assisted them quite a few times but i did not get paid any extra for that.