Hero detective who risked life to battle Mafia told to give up his gun by NYPD

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Hero detective who risked life to battle Mafia told to give up his gun by NYPD
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/01/10/2010-01-10_detective_hero_told_to_give_up_gun.html#ixzz0dTLW8DQB


An NYPD detective who risked his life to infiltrate the Mafia has been stripped of the right to carry a firearm because of a line-of-duty injury, the Daily News has learned.
Rick Cowan, a retired first-grade detective, posed as a recycling company exec named Danny Benedetto in the early 1990s to expose mob influence in the carting industry.
His work secretly recording mobsters and corrupt businessmen earned him one of the NYPD's top medals - honorable mention.
But now, with the NYPD refusing to let him carry a weapon for protection, he feels betrayed by the job he loved.
"The nature of the Mafia is these people are very vengeful," said Cowan, 52, who retired in December 2008 after 25 years on the force.
After suffering serious injuries in an on-duty car accident, Cowan had a shunt put in his head - a device that carries a small risk of complications if he suffers a blow to the head.
Department officials are concerned that if Cowan lost consciousness, he would be unable to safeguard his firearm and consigned him to its "no carry" list.
Cowan's lawyer said the NYPD medical division appears more concerned with liability issues than the safety of the detective and his family.
"He's being deprived of a firearm for no logical reason," said his lawyer, Jeffrey Goldberg of Lake Success. "He did a great job for New York City, and this is no way to treat a hero."
Cowan sued in Manhattan Supreme Court to get off the "no carry" list but a judge recently rejected his appeal.
He's hoping he can persuade the NYPD to at least remove the label so he can apply to carry a firearm in other jurisdictions.

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Just and fitting--if the people in NY cannot easily have or obtain a firearm or easily be able to carry one--then the police most definitely do not deserve to have one when they are off duty either.

If the people must be left defenseless--then every government employee and agent of the government should be left in that fashion as well. I have no sympathy for the fact he cannot carry a firearm now.

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suntzu wrote:

Just and fitting--if the people in NY cannot easily have or obtain a firearm or easily be able to carry one--then the police most definitely do not deserve to have one when they are off duty either.

If the people must be left defenseless--then every government employee and agent of the government should be left in that fashion as well. I have no sympathy for the fact he cannot carry a firearm now.

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Yup.

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suntzu wrote:

Just and fitting--if the people in NY cannot easily have or obtain a firearm or easily be able to carry one--then the police most definitely do not deserve to have one when they are off duty either.

If the people must be left defenseless--then every government employee and agent of the government should be left in that fashion as well. I have no sympathy for the fact he cannot carry a firearm now.

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+1

No special treatment for government employees.

It needs to be far more difficult to take away a persons right to a firearm, including police officers.

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Another plus from me too.

If this detective wants his gun rights he must be willing to allow all law abiding citizens of New York to have their gun rights too.

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The problem is he can't even leave NY!!!

"He's hoping he can persuade the NYPD to at least remove the label so he can apply to carry a firearm in other jurisdictions."

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No good dead goes unpunished...

Kind of makes you wonder who the gangsters REALLY are in NYC...

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yankees98a wrote:

The problem is he can't even leave NY!!!

"He's hoping he can persuade the NYPD to at least remove the label so he can apply to carry a firearm in other jurisdictions."

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??? Is this "no carry" list applicable to other states?

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buster81 wrote:

yankees98a wrote:

The problem is he can't even leave NY!!!

"He's hoping he can persuade the NYPD to at least remove the label so he can apply to carry a firearm in other jurisdictions."

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??? Is this "no carry" list applicable to other states?

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The article seems to say that this is an internal NYPD list. If he were to move to a free state, such as Virginia, he could certainly open carry, and probably even be granted a CHP.

But as the other posters have hinted... I'm not sure we want someone who is likely to be of the "cops only" mindset moving down here and ruining the neighborhood.

Just an assumption, if he supports the 2A and has no problem with our freedom down here, then let him come on down.

TFred

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TFred wrote:

buster81 wrote:

yankees98a wrote:

The problem is he can't even leave NY!!!

"He's hoping he can persuade the NYPD to at least remove the label so he can apply to carry a firearm in other jurisdictions."

Click to expand...

??? Is this "no carry" list applicable to other states?

Click to expand...

The article seems to say that this is an internal NYPD list. If he were to move to a free state, such as Virginia, he could certainly open carry, and probably even be granted a CHP.

But as the other posters have hinted... I'm not sure we want someone who is likely to be of the "cops only" mindset moving down here and ruining the neighborhood.

Just an assumption, if he supports the 2A and has no problem with our freedom down here, then let him come on down.

TFred

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That's kind of what I thought. Yankee said that he couldn't leave NY.

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I am rather ambiguous on this. On one hand you guys who say he should be just like any other private citizen have a point.

On the other hand, people like Howard Stern and Don Imus have NYC concealed permits because they are public figures and are rich and have recieved death threats and are rich and are well known and targets for nutbars and are rich, besides just being rich. And they have a ton of money besides all that.

This cop went undercover and crossed up THE MAFIA. If that is not a "good and sufficient reason" for having a carry permit, what is? Being rich?

And NYPD's reason that he might not be able to secure the firearm? LAME. One stolen gun on the streets of New York City amounts to a fart in a fertilizer factory. I bet dollars to donuts that I could randomly corral 100 people in Times Square on a Saturday evening, shake them down, and find at least six or seven "illegal" weapons.

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Alexcabbie wrote:

I am rather ambiguous on this. On one hand you guys who say he should be just like any other private citizen have a point.

On the other hand, people like Howard Stern and Don Imus have NYC concealed permits because they are public figures and are rich and have recieved death threats and are rich and are well known and targets for nutbars and are rich, besides just being rich. And they have a ton of money besides all that.

This cop went undercover and crossed up THE MAFIA. If that is not a "good and sufficient reason" for having a carry permit, what is? Being rich?

And NYPD's reason that he might not be able to secure the firearm? LAME. One stolen gun on the streets of New York City amounts to a fart in a fertilizer factory. I bet dollars to donuts that I could randomly corral 100 people in Times Square on a Saturday evening, shake them down, and find at least six or seven "illegal" weapons.

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You're not conflicted, you just think you are.

The correct answer is that he should be treated like every other citizen. The fact that every other citizen (which now includes him) is treated like a "subject" and not a "citizen", entitled to their own self defense, is the true issue of this story.

The fact that it is considered "normal" that police officers' lives are apparently more worth protecting than the average citizen's life cannot be allowed to stand.

Here's the final point: If the subject at hand had been just an ordinary citizen who was in the right place at the right time to later became a mob informant, do you think that person would be granted a permit? All evidence seems to say no. That should settle it for you once and for all.

TFred

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Actually, this detective went further than a citizen "informant"; he infiltrated the mob and pretended to be one of them. A good bit more dangerous..

HOWEVER, I must say that when you put the one case on the one side of the balance and the other side on the other, the needle does appear to rest on the "just like any other private citizen" side.

Question is which any other private citizen? the rich famous private citizens I mentioned, or the common schmoe work-all-week-come-home-on-Friday-hand-the-paycheck-to-the-wife-grab-a-beer-watch-TV-until-dinner-is-ready private citizen?

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Alexcabbie wrote:

Actually, this detective went further than a citizen "informant"; he infiltrated the mob and pretended to be one of them. A good bit more dangerous..

HOWEVER, I must say that when you put the one case on the one side of the balance and the other side on the other, the needle does appear to rest on the "just like any other private citizen" side.

Question is which any other private citizen? the rich famous private citizens I mentioned, or the common schmoe work-all-week-come-home-on-Friday-hand-the-paycheck-to-the-wife-grab-a-beer-watch-TV-until-dinner-is-ready private citizen?

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My whole point is that the fact that this question even exists is the problem.

"May issue" inevitably guarantees a class society.

TFred

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Make that a "society based on class differences". If NYC had any class, open carry would be as common in Times Square as it is in Bumpass, Va.

(BTW: How would you like to be a cop in Bumpass, VA {a real town}; kncking on doors yelling "BUMPASS POLICE! and listening to the bad guys crack up laughing?)

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Alexcabbie wrote:

Make that a "society based on class differences". If NYC had any class, open carry would be as common in Times Square as it is in Bumpass, Va.

(BTW: How would you like to be a cop in Bumpass, VA {a real town}; kncking on doors yelling "BUMPASS POLICE! and listening to the bad guys crack up laughing?)

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Ha, yes, that's down in my neck of the woods, so to speak. But I don't think there is a police department, just the Louisa (or Spotsylvania) County Sheriff's Department.

TFred

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TFred wrote:

Alexcabbie wrote:

Make that a "society based on class differences". If NYC had any class, open carry would be as common in Times Square as it is in Bumpass, Va.

(BTW: How would you like to be a cop in Bumpass, VA {a real town}; kncking on doors yelling "BUMPASS POLICE! and listening to the bad guys crack up laughing?)

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Ha, yes, that's down in my neck of the woods, so to speak. But I don't think there is a police department, just the Louisa (or Spotsylvania) County Sheriff's Department.

TFred

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Yeah, and maybe it's a good thing there ain't no departmen t called "Bumpass Police". Just look at how it's possible to mangle "Fauquier County".:celebrate

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He doesn't need a gun. The police will protect him...

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Deanimator wrote:

He doesn't need a gun. The police will protect him...

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Outstanding!!:celebrate

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Alexcabbie wrote:

I bet dollars to donuts that I could randomly corral 100 people in Times Square on a Saturday evening, shake them down, and find at least six or seven "illegal" weapons.

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All from somewhere other than Virginia no doubt