I’m frankly appalled to read of a New York Police Department lieutenant who’s suing the city to get back his badge and his gun.
A police lieutenant who once reported seeing a “demon” at police headquarters is suing to get his gun and shield back, claiming supervisors took them from him because of his religious practices.
Dominic Maglione, a desk officer at Brooklyn’s 90th Precinct, says in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court that he is a Christian who worships at two Queens churches and prays and fasts regularly.
Maglione, 44, acknowledged in interviews with psychiatrists after he was admitted to a hospital 2 1/2 years ago that he was praying as much as 10 hours at a stretch and fasting twice a week, court papers say.
At the hospital, Maglione told a medical professional that he had seen a demon at police headquarters, according to a police board medical report dated Dec. 19, 2008, that was included with Maglione’s court papers.
The report also says the lieutenant lost 40 pounds in six months by fasting, and urinated on himself because he refused to stop praying to go to the bathroom.
The medical board report said there are “significant psychological findings precluding the officer from performing the full duties of a New York City police officer.”
“The Medical Board believes that the lieutenant cannot be allowed to be in possession of any weapons since he feels subject to God’s will to do what God wants him to do even if he destroys himself,” the report says.
The report also says Maglione was given the anti-psychotic drug olanzapine, usually prescribed for people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It says he took it once and refused to take it again.
The 22-year police veteran says that because of his allegedly “excessive” religious beliefs, police officials have “wrongfully and illegally” confiscated his gun and badge and compromised his ability to do his job.
*Sigh*
You know, I’m a retired pastor. I’m a firm believer in the freedom to worship God in the way one chooses, whether or not I find it sensible, healthy and wise. As such, I acknowledge Lt. Maglione’s right to follow his conscience. However, the thought of someone who’ll actually pee in his pants, rather than interrupt his ‘prayers’ to go to the bathroom, is just too weird for me to handle. I’m sorry, but I’d feel profoundly unsafe if such a man had a badge that allowed him to legally exercise his discretion in matters that might involve life and death. That goes double for allowing him a gun!
I don’t think this is a matter of religious discrimination, or Second Amendment rights, or anything like that. It’s a matter of when one’s personal, elective conduct crosses the line between private practice and a threat to public safety.
I hope the courts find that the NYPD’s actions were justified. Lt. Maglione may well need professional help . . . but in my otherwise respectful opinion, he doesn’t need his badge and gun back!
What say you, readers? Should personal religious conviction and practice be used as grounds for such action, or has the NYPD overstepped the mark? I’d be interested to hear your opinions in Comments.
Peter
I agree with your assessment, I wouldn’t want him back on duty due to his behavior. He sounds like trouble waiting to happen.
On the other hand, I’ve got to admit that a NYC precinct room wouldn’t be a terribly surprising place for a demon to be. I wonder if by “police headquarters” they meant the actual main HQ at One Police Plaza? In that case, there’s another problem, because you have politicians and career officers that are essentially politicians themselves… how would you be able to pick out a demon in that mess?
If a grown man feels the need the piss him self, except for maybe at work where i might have to interact with him, meh i could care less. However visual hallucinations have been reported and i would think that those would disqualify him instantly.
on a side note my father in law is a PATH police officer and thinks this guy deserves a permanent padded room reservation.
Unless the department is allowing cops with non-religious hallucinations…er…visions to remain employed, I don’t see the religious aspect of this.
The guy is a self-admitted hallucinating wackjob… and I both commend the NYPD for taking away his badge and weapon, and thank God that I myself live several states away from said wackjob.
You know, I’ve been preaching through Matthew lately, and I’m always amused at Jesus’ reactions to the Pharisees and others.
But I just kinda wonder what He’d say to somebody who prays so much he can’t take a five minute time out to do his business. I kinda imagine Jesus saying “Dude, lighten up.”
The third option:
Clearly Mr. Maglione is not in a position to be reliable as a police officer. If he can’t even interrupt his prayers for a head call, will he be able to interrupt them when the radio squawks?
That said, his religious beliefs do not appear to present a threat to others, so he ought to be allowed to possess a gun as a private citizen. Until he demonstrates himself to be a threat to others, we haven’t the right to deny him arms.
New York still needs to work on that one.
I used to live in NYC, and there are already enough people in the NYPD who can pass the psychological exams that you and I wouldn’t want armed. This guy needs to give up LE, and enter the cloister.
I wouldn’t trust anyone who’s having visual hallucinations, possibly scizophrenic, to ever possess a firearm…
And the badge… well I’ll go with what dave said, if he can’t interupt prayer to go to the bathroom, don’t expect him to interupt it for police business either.
I’m in agreement here, too.
The man is willing to pee himself, rather than take a five minute break in his prayers. He’s willing to fast to the point where he’s losing serious amounts of weight and may be experiencing hunger-induced hallucinations.
He admits to having seen a ‘vision’ of a demon in the HQ, and his actions state that he is willing to do whatever he feels God’s will is.
What everyone else has mentioned about how if he’s not about to interrupt prayer for bodily functions, he’s not going to interrupt it for police business either, is valid. But I think an equally important point is being over-looked: he’s seeing demons in everyday situations.
What’s to keep him from deciding that the Lord wants him to take out the next one he sees?
If he doesn’t have a gun, as either an LE or a civilian, the amount of damage he can do is limited.