Off-Duty Cop Who Shot a Man Gets Probation, Swipes at SLMPD Firearm Policies

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Ex-city cop Bryan Pour -- who got into a fracas on the east side two years ago and shot a man -- was sentenced to four years probation this morning in Madison County court. The hearing was extraordinary for two reasons:

1) "Technically, if you shoot someone, it is a non-probational offense," said Madison County States Attorney, Jennifer Vucich.

But in this case, she said, the state amended its charge to allow for probation because, among other things, Pour was a "good person" and the victim, Jeffrey Bladdick of Granite City (who survived), didn't want him to go to jail.

2) In his statement to the court, Pour then took a swipe at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police for instructing officers to keep their guns on them, even when they're out drinking with their buddies:

I was instructed [that as a law enforcement officer] to retain my department issued sidearm on me at all times, 24/7....specifically....at bars where alcohol was being served because those are the types of places at which trouble occurs....

He says the SLMPD taught him that, when somebody's trying to take his gun, to fire it and retreat.

From the second I discharged my weapon I knew I was wrong....[precisely] because I had acted in conformity with my training. I am unable to reconcile the policies I had been taught with common sense.

Sounds a bit like the Nuremberg Defense (i..e., "I was just following orders").

But Pour concluded with: "Mr. Bladdick should not have been on the receiving end of my gun, regardless of what I was instructed."