Florida Police Chief’s Group Wages War For Incompetence In Command

By Bob Owens

Regular readers are familiar with the tragic death of retired librarian Mary Knowlton at the hands of the Punta Gorda Police Department due to gross incompetence and negligence by multiple officers before and during a completely unnecessary use-of-force scenario.

Officer Lee Coel, who shot and killed Knowlton with wadcutter bullets that he couldn’t tell from blanks, has been charged with 1st degree felony manslaughter with a firearm for her death. Coel was fired from the department after being charged, but is appealing his termination.

Chief Tom Lewis is being charged with 2nd degree misdemeanor culpable negligence for the incident, and it’s quite arguable, based upon the FDLE report on the incident, that more Punta Gorda officers should have been held accountable for the series of incompetent events that led to Knowlton being shot.

Amazingly, the Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) thinks that holding Chief Lewis responsible at all for the incompetence of multiple officers under his command and his own failure to understand and enforce safety training at his own event is completely unfair.

“The Florida Police Chiefs Association has been closely watching the situation unfolding in Punta Gorda, where a tragedy at a community demonstration in August claimed the life …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms