NJ corrections officer thwarts armed robbery attempt - thug killed.

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Looks like a righteous shoot, unfortunately, the other goblin got away.

One thing about the incident angers me though... If Mr. Czerwinski had been an ordinary citizen, and not a CO, the state would have denied him the right to arm and defend himself (after all, the incident did take place in NJ), proving once again that some animals are more equal than others.

Pleasantville has its occasional problems. But those problems don’t normally emerge in Harris’ neighborhood, as they did Thursday, when authorities say an off-duty Atlantic County corrections officer fatally shot an Atlantic City man trying to rob him. The group was sitting on the porch, enjoying the weather, when the shooting happened.

“And then we heard the shots: bang, bang, bang, bang,” she said.

They walked across the rail line that divides the streets and saw a police officer performing CPR on a person lying on the ground. That man, Richard Roe, 20, of Atlantic City, was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus in Atlantic City, where he was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m.

The shooter, Sean Czerwinski, 25, of Egg Harbor City, has been a county corrections officer for two years.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said Roe tried to rob Czerwinski and a second man during the purchase of headphones arranged through the classifieds website Craigslist.

A grand jury will decide whether that death was justified.

Complete article...

[Euromutt]

1. Why would an off-duty corrections officer need to carry anyway?

Or, more specifically, what reason is there for an off-duty corrections officer to carry that doesn't also apply to private citizens? How, in this instance, was Czerwinski's carrying of a handgun in furtherance of his job?

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2. According to a few of the people posting comments...

"Say what? Corrections officers are the same as police officers. When off duty they are authorized to carry weapons and effect arrests. This convict just picked the wrong person to rob.-- Joshua Dickinson

"No he was not off duty. As a Corrections Officer or as a Law Enforcement Officer he is on duty 24/7 buy state law to uphold the law at all times no matter where or when a violation of the law happens. To not do so could place his job in jepoardy and him or her in the position of going to jail for that failure." -- Bill Hurley Sr. Det.Sergeant Retired ACPD

And...

"When you accept a law enforcement position you also accept certain risks. These come both on and off duty. This is one of the reasons that law officers are given the very rare privilege, especially in New Jersey, of carrying firearms when not working. While we all don’t exercise this privilege all of the time, it’s nice to be able to put on a weapon when going out with your family to an area where you just might run into persons with whom you have dealings during the performance of your duties.

Corrections officers, by far, have the most dealings with not just the criminally dangerous but the criminally insane of our society. They deal with them every day they go to work. The ridiculous part of this is that they are the only group that is not, as a whole, permitted to carry weapons when off duty.

We have all run into bad guys when not working, and most of the time nothing happens. However, there are times where things can go bad. By New Jersey statute, corrections officers are allowed to carry weapons off duty, but in certain counties CO’s are prohibited from exercising this privilege.

http://www.njlawman.com/editorials/corrections-carry.htm

In defense of Mr. Czerwinski (and all other LEO's/CO's who carry firearms off duty), I fully support his right to carry a concealed firearm, not as an off duty LEO, but as a civilian.

My grievance with NJ's (and other states as well), "may issue" firearms law, is that ordinary citizens are routinely denied CCW permits.

[Euromutt]

4. Yeah; where I take issue with such statements is that...

...I don't consider corrections officers to be law enforcement officers. They may be part of the criminal justice system, but their job is specifically to provide for care, custody and control of individuals who have been detained awaiting trial or are serving jail/prison sentences. Unlike police officers and sheriff's deputies, their function is not to maintain public order and safety (other than by keeping their charges away from the public).

Sure, there are reasons to allow corrections officers to carry off-duty, but as I said, those also apply (albeit not necessarily in equal measure) to private citizens. Why are "the criminally dangerous <and> the criminally insane of our society" behind bars? Usually for offenses committed against members of the general public, and insofar as any of them present a threat to a corrections officer after release, they present that same threat to any private citizens who pressed charges or testified against them. The New Jersey courts, in their supposed wisdom, have decided that such reasons are insufficient to permit private citizens to carry, and have thereby in effect turned New Jersey from a "may issue" into a "no issue" state: the CCW license exists in principle, but in practice, no private citizen can get one, regardless of circumstances.

I do not begrudge Mr. Czerwinski the ability to carry a firearm; evidently, he needed it, though not for reasons relating to his function as a corrections officer. What I take issue with is the fact that state of New Jersey denies that same ability to private citizens who may find themselves in the same situation as Mr. Czerwinski found himself in.

[spin]

3. Because an ex-con might have a grudge against the officer ...

and seek revenge.

Of course, I favor the right for any honest citizen to carry a firearm.

edited to add comment

[ileus]

5. interesting considering the craigslist angle...