Perez

BACKGROUND

Marvin Cabuntala was an officer with the Department. The Department issued officers a “primary” firearm and also allowed—but did not require—officers to carry a secondary firearm when on duty, if that firearm had been approved and qualified by the Department. The Department also authorized officers to carry loaded handguns when off duty, as long as they had their Department identification and star with them. In 2015, the Department issued a bulletin governing firearm security in vehicles. The bulletin provided Department officers “are responsible for knowing the location of firearm(s) under their care and control; and ensuring those firearm(s) are secure at all times, whether on or off duty.” The bulletin set forth specific guidelines for securing firearms in an unattended vehicle and directed that, if an officer could not secure a firearm in accordance with the guidelines, the officer “shall not leave a firearm in an unattended vehicle.”1 Cabuntala had a primary firearm issued by the Department. He also owned a personal gun that the Department had approved and qualified as a secondary firearm. Cabuntala regularly carried this secondary firearm on duty, as was common…