A TRAINED POLICE OFFICER? by Robert E. Downey, [February 10, 2002] [HollywoodInvestigator.com]  A report comes out of Philadelphia that a police officer [Vanessa Carter-Moragne -- ed.] was lecturing to her 10-year-old son's classmates at his school.  During her presentation, she took her gun from its holster, removed the magazine from the weapon, and handed the gun to the students to pass around and examine. When the gun was returned, she reinserted the magazine, and subsequently dropped the weapon.  It discharged, the bullet grazing the cheek of one student. No serious PHYSICAL injury resulted. The police officer's Department has placed her on desk duty, pending investigation which could result in her dismissal. Well, DUH!!!! Training?  Where would you start to outline the stupidity involved here?  Who in their right mind would hand a gun to a roomful of children just to examine it? Can you imagine what some of the parents are thinking and saying. What kind of idiot would hand a loaded gun to a kid? The gun had to be a semi-automatic.  She removed the magazine.  It didn't say she jacked a round into the chamber after she reinserted it. Therefore, the fired bullet had to have been in the chamber while the children were handling it. Is her dismissal enough?  Is it any wonder so many people are critical of our public safety officers?  So many of them give so much daily, and then someone like this comes along and boom, there goes the public relations. Of course, it wasn't done intentionally.  But can you really call it an accident? Copyright © 2002 by Robert E. Downey   Robert E. Downey's 40 years in law enforcement is described in his non-fiction book, Beverly Hills Detective.  He was interviewed by the Hollywood Investigator regarding the Case of the Missing Elvis Pipes. Police Blotter Archives. Tell Us What YOU Think! -- On Our Message Board! RETURN to The Hollywood Investigator! "Hollywood Investigator" and "HollywoodInvestigator.com" and "Tabloid Witch Award" trademarks are currently unregistered, but pending registration upon need for protection against improper use. The idea of marketing these terms as a commodity is a protected idea under the Lanham Act. 15 U.S.C. s 1114(1) (1994) (defining a trademark infringement claim when the plaintiff has a registered mark); 15 U.S.C. s 1125(a) (1994) (defining an action for unfair competition in the context of trademark infringement when the plaintiff holds an unregistered mark).