A Chorus Of ‘Hail To The Chief’ The Right Thing Police Chief Moved Quickly To Protect Wife, Property

Terry Mangan took care of some personal business the other night, just the way many fathers, husbands and other Spokane men would do.

The Spokane police chief saw a strange vehicle parked near his rural home. Three men were sitting in the truck. It was dark. The chief’s wife was on her way home. The situation demanded some attention.

So, the chief grabbed his shotgun and went out of the house to have a talk with the men in the truck.

Now, he’s being hammered for it.

What’s the fuss?

Morning-after thumb-sucking shouldn’t obscure the fact that the chief responded to a potential problem in a way, frankly, that fits Spokane and the times.

People say he should have called 911.

Hey, with only a handful of sheriff’s officers assigned to rural Spokane County, such a call about a parked truck would have been both a waste of time and money.

The chief’s neighbor was there as backup. They handled this thing together. Isn’t this the way neighborhoods are supposed to work?

Not everyone would feel comfortable or compelled to carry a shotgun on the way out the door. But Mangan is trained in how to use a gun. During his conversation with the men in the truck, the chief says, the safety was always on.

Owning a gun isn’t illegal.

Courts and common sense say protecting one’s property with the display of a gun is entirely acceptable when a person has reasonable expectations that a situation could be dangerous.

Mangan had reasonable expectations that there could be trouble.

He has helped put away thousands of punks, losers and delinquents over the years.

His list of enemies and people with grudges against him runs many pages, and he must assume he serves as a magnet for guys with a chip on their shoulders about cops.

In fact, one of the men sitting in that truck outside the chief’s house reportedly has threatened to sue police in the past and is described by an ex-wife as paranoid.

By asserting himself, the chief was able to determine quickly what was happening at his home.

His assertiveness led to no bad outcome.

No one was hurt. No shots were fired.

Being willing to take care of business isn’t a crime - only a necessity of modern life.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see headline: Chief’s actions frisky business

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