MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The night Memphis Police Officer Sean Bolton was fatally gunned down, he was riding in his patrol car alone, which had some people wondering: Why, and is it a safety concern?
Officials told WREG that whether or not an officer rides alone is handled on a case by case basis.
Marcus Tucker with the Memphis Police Association said in the 17 years he’s been on the force, officers have routinely ridden in their squad cars alone.
“It just depends on that particular precinct and that particular shift’s staffing levels,” Tucker said.
MPD Director Toney Armstrong called it common.
“We have quite a number of officers that ride in one-man cars,” he said.
Tucker said some officers preferred to be alone, while others liked having a partner.
“Certainly officers also have the option to ask a lieutenant or supervisor [if] can he or she be doubled up with an officer on that particular day,” he said.
Bolton was working out of the Mt. Moriah precinct Saturday night when he was gunned down.
Tucker said he was on the delta shift, which is from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. He said that shift frequently has a large volume of calls, especially in the summer.
Right now it’s unknown if Bolton requested to ride alone Saturday night.
Tucker said it’s hard to say if the high number of officers leaving the department recently meant more officers have been riding solo, because officers often pick up overtime shifts. He said if there was ever a push down the road to make all officers ride with a partner, it would take some serious number crunching.
“Certainly we’ll have to examine the staffing levels,” he said. “Will that even be possible, because we have so many areas to cover?”
Tucker said even if Bolton had another person in his car, there is no guarantee he would have been protected.
He called Bolton’s killing was unnecessary and senseless, leaving him and his department with mixed emotions.
“Angry and sad at the same time,” he said.
