Des Moines Police Chief Michael McTaggart says they are reviewing videos posted online that show a police car driving with a rifle on its roof in the downtown area of the city.
The Chief’s statement says one of their officers made a serious mistake that has caused an “understandable reaction of disappointment and concern, both in our community and in our department.”
The statement says officers are human and make mistakes, and it says they will follow department procedure to investigate the mistake and take action. The spokesman for the department says the rifle was left on the roof by the officer of the previous shift, but was not discovered when the next officer took the vehicle out on patrol.
