BART police sergeant shot and killed by fellow officer during search in Dublin

[alp227]

Source: Oakland Tribune

DUBLIN -- A veteran BART police sergeant was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow officer during a search Tuesday afternoon at a robbery suspect's Dublin apartment -- the first officer killed in the line of duty in the transit police department's 42-year history, authorities said.

The friendly-fire death sent a chill through the law enforcement community, who turned out in large numbers to salute the fallen officer at a Castro Valley hospital. Late Tuesday the Alameda County Coroner's office confirmed that he was 42-year-old Sgt. Tom Smith Jr., a 20-year law enforcement veteran.

"This is a shocking thing for a BART officer to be killed in the line of duty," said elected BART Director Gail Murray, of Walnut Creek. "But like all peace officers, our BART police risk their lives when they go out to work in the stations and cities. We feel very saddened for the family, who would not expect (this to) happen to their loved ones."

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, a group of four members of BART's detective unit and several members of Dublin Police and Alameda County Sheriff's departments, converged on the Park Sierra Apartments, at 6450 Dougherty Road. Wearing bulletproof vests, the group were there to search of an apartment belonging a suspect in several robberies on BART property, authorities said.

Read more: http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_24962934/bart-police-sergeant-shot-and-killed-by-fellow

[pothos]

1. trigger happy BART cops

they just can't wait to unload, even if it is on one of their own.

[brett_jv]

2. SERIOUSLY? WTH???

They're friggin' BART COPS ffs?!? Why are they off-site, trying to act like actual police detectives? What, because the theft's took place on 'BART Property'? Are you kidding me??!?

I mean ... I'm sorry this man lost his life, I've known a few BART cops in my day, in fact a good friend who was an ex-BART cop passed away recently, but ... these guys are not ... should not ... this is not 'their job'. Just because stuff was stolen on BART property doesn't mean they should be busting into apartments elsewhere ...

It really seems to me that something like this should've just been the Sheriffs and the Police, guys who do this sort of thing as part of their daily work ... they don't need the BART cops there, c'mon ...

[Demenace]

18. Just what I was wondering!

Why are these Transit Authority Cops conducting normal Police department duties? Even if this was a BART property related crime, why is the city not taking the lead on this and the BART guys there to identify subject or property? Which should mean, BART cops should be standing back until this is over and the scene secured!

[Arugula Latte]

19. That was my first thought, too. What the ...???

I had no idea they left the stations when on duty. Weirdness!

[CreekDog]

3. horrible. what on earth happened???

[NYC_SKP]

4. Good question. What the hell are transit police doing bursting into a Dublin apartment?

Note the term, "forced entry".

And then people ask why we have ten (thinking second and fourth) amendments.

(01-21) 22:12 PST DUBLIN -- A seemingly routine mission by BART police to gather evidence at a robbery suspect's apartment in Dublin went horribly wrong Tuesday when one of the officers who forced entry into the home accidentally shot and killed another officer, authorities said.

The death of Sgt. Tom Smith, a 42-year-old agency veteran whose wife is also a BART officer, sent grief through the Bay Area's law enforcement community.

But how such a tragedy could happen during a probation search - one involving the empty apartment of a suspect who has been in custody since last week - was not immediately clear.

The shooting was the first on-duty death in the history of the BART Police Department. It happened about 1:45 p.m. at the normally quiet Park Sierra Apartments at 6450 Dougherty Road. Smith was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he was pronounced dead.

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/BART-officer-shot-in-Dublin-5163548.php

No idea....

[seattledo]

5. And what in the hell are they doing with guns?

Too many cops in this country have those things.

[brett_jv]

7. Oh, those? That's to execute people in cold blood who are lying face-down on the platform ...

See: Oscar Grant

[pothos]

9. see also:

charles hill, jerrold hall, bruce seward...
i guess at least this time the person that was murdered was actually armed...

[brett_jv]

6. They are complete wanna-be's ... for the most part ...

Don't get me wrong, they're (usually) not bad people, but they're mostly yahoo's, and mostly guys who couldn't get in with a real police/sheriff's dept (though many are also retired PD) ... I appreciate them keeping the peace within the system but I really can't fathom why they'd be needed for an investigation in some apartment building ...

[msanthrope]

15. Don't need a warrant for a probation search. nt

[DFW]

8. This is a total tragedy

It was also probably 1.) bound to happen sooner or later, given police attitudes toward what is permitted in the course of duty, and 2.) probably far from the last time cops in the USA get so trigger-happy, that if they find no perps or housepets at a hot raid, one or more of them will start firing on one of his fellow officers.

[Divernan]

10. Rest of the story just as bizarre - pure Keystone cops.

From the OP link:

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, a group of four members of BART's detective unit and several members of Dublin Police and Alameda County Sheriff's departments, converged on the Park Sierra Apartments, at 6450 Dougherty Road. Wearing bulletproof vests, the group were there to search of an apartment belonging a suspect in several robberies on BART property, authorities said.

The suspect, whom officials did not name, was already in custody and was not inside the apartment at the time, according to Sgt. J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, which is leading the investigation into the shooting.

The officers began their search by knocking twice on the door. Each knock went unanswered, but the door was unlocked, so several of them stepped inside, Nelson said.

Not knowing whether anyone was inside the apartment, the officers followed protocol and entered with their guns drawn, Nelson said.

What a Chinese fire drill! (w/ apologies to the Chinese). A crowd of at least 6 law enforcement members from 3 different agencies, with at least 4 of them from BART, crowding through a door with everybody's gun drawn. Suspect already in custody. How confused and uncoordinated that must have been! Damned lucky that bullet didn't go through a wall and hit another occupant of the building. The SFgate story below includes info that none of the cops were SWAT. If the situation was perceived to be so dangerous that a swarm of cops from 3 different jurisdictions were on hand, isn't SOP to have a SWAT team gain initial entrance? And why does a transit authority need its own detective unit? What next? Mall Cop detective units?

The shooting comes as BART continues to try to move past a former officer's fatal shooting of unarmed train rider Oscar Grant on Jan. 1, 2009 - a shooting the officer called accidental.

Last month, an independent auditor praised the department's progress in overhauling a force that had been hamstrung by outdated policies, lax oversight and poor officer training.

Nelson said the shooting happened after several BART officers went to an apartment in a modern complex of three-story buildings to search a home connected to a man suspected of committing robberies on BART property.

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/BART-officer-shot-in-Dublin-5163548.php

My daughter commutes on BART between San Francisco & Oakland. I'm less than pleased to picture poorly trained but armed "police" patrolling the cars/buses/stations.

[marlakay]

21. I would have her carry pepper spray

My husband is retired 30 yrs Bart train operator and said for him most of the time cops were useless by the time he could get them to come on a train many stations later whoever caused problem was off or whatever happened no one one there to stop.

The Bart cops are good at the station they are at, but can't come quick enough on the trains to stop anything.

I have heard tons of stories. Mostly the last few hours.

[Downwinder]

11. Must not have been any pets to shoot.

[Th1onein]

12. I'm sorry that's funny.

May the officer rest in peace. But, really, they shouldn't be doing this. They are transit police. And, have you heard the latest? Campus police are now patrolling and policing areas around campus; not just the campus. How many sets of cops do we need to control us?

[Downwinder]

13. I wish I could say I was not being serious.

Give people guns and psych them up a bit, someone or something is going to get shot.

[Divernan]

14. Overlapping jurisdictions can translate into more cop-on-cop killings.

Particularly in urban settings where there are undercover police officers involved in drug operations.. This clusterf**k in Oakland sounds like a plot for a Major Crimes episode.

[onehandle]

16. Hey gun nuts, tell us more about how experts make the difference in gun ownership. nt

[penultimate]

17. Was the guy's apartment a train station utility closet?

Strange that transit police would be raiding apartments, even if it was due to a crime that took place on their property. Aren't BART police just glorified security guards paid by citizen's taxes? Imagine if mall cops took place in raids of people's homes who stole from stores at the mall.

[Aristus]

20. How did the other guy get shot?

Didn't he have a gun, too? I mean, isn't having a gun the best defense against getting shot by another gun?

Anybody?

Anybody?

[OnlinePoker]

22. To all who are asking why they are making an arrest off BART property

Here is the Law Enforcement Authority from the BART Police Policy Manual:

100.2 PEACE OFFICER POWERS
Sworn members of this department shall be considered peace officers pursuant to Penal
Code § 830.33(a), which specifies a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit
District Police Department appointed pursuant to Public Utilities Code § 28767.5, if the
primary duty of the peace officer is the enforcement of the law in or about properties owned,
operated, or administered by the district or when performing necessary duties with respect
to patrons, employees and properties of the district. The authority of any such peace officer
extends to any place in the State of California for the purpose of performing their primary
duty or when making an arrest pursuant to Penal Code § 836 as to any public offense with
respect to which there is immediate danger to person or property, or of the escape of the
perpetrator of that offense, or pursuant to Government Code § 8597 or § 8598. Those peace
officers may carry firearms only if authorized and under terms and conditions specified by
their employing agency.

http://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/PolicyManual20131025_0.pdf

I've boldfaced the pertinent authority.