Usually, I don’t have a problem putting a blog entry into a category, but this one has me stumped. It seems that a female Sky Marshal used the bathroom on an overseas flight and left her gun behind. It was recovered by a passenger, who turned it over to a stewardess, who returned it to the Marshal. The Sky Marshal wasn’t done screwing up; she didn’t report the incident to her supervisor.  Air Marshal news/249891606-story.

This story would fit nicely into the category, “Nomination for a Hero Badge” which notes screw ups by public safety agencies and individuals above and beyond expectations. It could also fit in the category of, “Girls With Guns,” except she didn’t have one when she left it in the toilet. It’s been a slow week; I’m gonna double bang it and put it in both categories.

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) – A U.S. air marshal reportedly forgot her loaded gun in the bathroom of a Delta flight headed from England to New York and the gun was found by another passenger.

It reportedly happened on April 6 aboard a flight from Manchester to Kennedy International Airport.

Believe it or not, when I ran a basic police academy we included a block of instruction on, “How to take a dump while armed.” The conventional wisdom was if wearing a “Sam Browne” (the gunbelt patrol officers wear) to buckle the belt and hang the whole rig around your neck. If one was dealing with just a pistol, no gun belt, then place the gun in the crotch of one’s dropped pants. It was not advisable to hang the gunbelt on the door or place it on the floor because somebody could reach into the stall and steal the rig.

Her major screw up was not reporting the incident immediately. Had she made an immediate report she likely would have been suspended or docked three to five days of vacation time. By not reporting it, she could be looking at termination. Termination is one way to ensure she doesn’t do that again.