By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Over the weekend, an off-duty FBI agent in Denver made headlines when his gun slipped out of his pants on the dance floor and he accidentally fired it while trying to grab it. A patron was shot and wounded in the leg.
James A. Gagliano, a CNN law enforcement analyst and a retired FBI supervisory special agent, weighs in on CNN:
As a retired agent myself, I have mixed emotions about the dance floor incident.
Part of me sees a young agent out for an evening of innocent fun and electing to blow off some steam. It’s hard not to consider the fact that the bureau has been dealt a series of recent body blows — some self-inflicted and others pure partisan opportunism. With half the country calling for the agency’s head, who wouldn’t concede a harried agent a deserved night out to forget about things? Plus, I’ve always believed in the cautionary proverb: There but for the grace of God, go I.
Yet I also can’t help but be shocked at the poor judgment exhibited by a member of what is still the world’s premier law enforcement agency. Agents are expected to display sound judgment. This agent should have taken better care to conceal and secure his weapon. Even before he lost control of it, you can clearly see the weapon’s outline against his shirt in the video. That’s an egregiously unacceptable concealment effort.
And knowing he was armed, he may have elected to avoid the dance-off.
