It will do good...not so much for the family. It will force the agencies to do their job as they do not want another suit...at least that is what i would like to see.

Btw...It does not matter if the kid jumped or fell neither does it matter his bac or that he broke the law. The kid was in custody of the officer...meaning that the officer is responsible for the young man's well being. The kid did **** up bye getting arrested...the officer ****ed up bye cutting corners and not fastening the jacket properly. Sadly it doesn't look like he will be reprimanded. Oh well he has to live with his conscience.

It's nearly sickening to me that people are concerned about a minute percentage of their tax dollars being spent when another family lost their 20 year old son at the hands of a state employee. As you mention, what about the possibility that the settlement $$ being spent on additional WP training? To me it's worth it if it improves WP policy and overall awareness.

For the record, yes, I'm a MO tax payer as well.

This is what infuriates me in thhis whole BUI-Death. This is from the Kansas City Star weblink provided i=earlier in this thread, "Toxicology results state that Ellingson had a blood alcohol content of 0.268 percent, more than three times the legal limit. He tested positive for cocaine.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/state...#storylink=cpy

Now if a alleged DUI/BUI defendant has a BAC of .268 he is clearly f*cked up, and for a patrolman with 18 years experience to not see this and take the proper precautions is a disgrace. Either he is lazy, stupid, or has not been properly trained in suspect transport on boats. My last assumption that the officer lacks training is evidenced by the fact that he has been a water patrolman for only one year plus a few months +/- out of eighteen years of law enforcement experience per the article, "Piercy is an 18-year Highway Patrol road veteran who was starting his second season helping on the lake.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/state...#storylink=cpy

I am done with this thread, the officer's actions in my opinion are not criminal, he is only as good as the training he receives, he made several errors, and it cost the suspect his life. He should have had better training, a second officer should have responded to the scene of the arrest or been with him at the scene on his boat and or for transport.

The Missouri Water Patrol needs to retrain and rewrite suspect policy and procedures, and train their officers with regards to suspect transport on the vessels/boats. This does not require a task force and investigatory committee to figure this out just common sense and it does require men with experience in boat/vessel handling, proper PFD selection and DUI knowledge to help rewrite this policy and procedure . Ask the US Coast Guard for advice as well as other states with a water patrol such as Florida, New Jersey, ect., then implement policy to avoid another error by the patrolman. I could write this policy & procedure if they want to pay me. It is not that complex or difficult, common sense, research, and experience go along way to solving problem(s). There is a problem, a young man drowned, he was impaired, it was preventable,.....solve the problem within your realm, and control. Prisoner transport. Officer training.

Don't even ask me on my legal opinion about Adrian Peterson or Ray Rice. Keep in mind I am a defense attorney....

Stephen "Smarty" Jones
boatless for now

My 7 year old granddaughter knows how to put on her PFD properly, even when she's in a rush to jump in the Lake or the pool, too bad this WP officer didn't have the common sense of a 7 yo, truly sad tragedy.

Smarty, I agree with you on most parts of your post. I believe the officer knows how to fit a pfd to a person as he puts one on for his job...his dumb ass needs to be trained in what the repricusion is if he fails to do a certain task correctly.

I have needed them before and they weren't there in time to do anything. The only thing they've been good for is costing me thousands of dollars in legal expenses for doing things that caused no harm or loss to any other person. I'd prefer to take care of myself and not have to worry about them.

Doesn't that illustrate the point? I have more to fear from law enforcement than from criminals. That's ****ed up.

If you want answers to the questions surrounding this tragic event. Take 38 minutes and listen to this audio. This is an interview of Sgt. Randy Henry of the MSHP just hours after the event...
http://whotv.com/2014/09/12/recordin...gson-drowning/

The only point that you illustrate is the fact that you are an embarrassment to the law abiding boating community. Your attitude towards law enforcement sickens me.

Yes. If everyone who take the time to listen to this, this thread would be done. Its 40+ pages on MWBP now and I would bet less than 10% have taken the time to listen.

Cliff notes?