Detroit groundskeeper fired after finding loaded gun, handing it to cops

Oh for F#@ck's sake!!What the hell is wrong here??!!

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Detroit groundskeeper, who turned in a loaded handgun he found hidden in weeds while working, was fired by the Wayne County Department of Public Services, MyFoxDetroit.com reports.
John Chevilott, who is just two years shy of retirement, found the loaded snub-nosed revolver on May 3 when he and his crew were mowing a lawn in Wayne County. Chevilott secured the gun, waiting for police to drive by so he could hand it over to them.

'They said I did the right thing getting it off the street.'
- John Chevilott

But, according to the station, the Detroit police never did pass by, so Chevilott finished his work that day, drove the gun home and later that same evening turned it into his local police department.
He says the cops ran the gun and discovered the weapon had been stolen from St. Clair Shores in 2005.
"They said I did the right thing getting it off the street," Chevilott told MyFoxDetroit.com.
However, Chevilott's superiors at the Wayne County Department of Public Services had a much different opinion. His foreman, who had knowledge of the situation, was suspended for 30 days, and after 23 years on the job, Chevilott was fired for violating department policies.
According to a Wayne County spokeswoman and the rules, employees aren't allowed to possess a weapon on work property.
Chevilott says he didn't bring a weapon to work. He found it on the job.
"There is no policy. I've never seen a policy what to do if we find a gun out here. So, all I did was secure the situation to make sure nobody else got hurt or killed."

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There's a video at the Source page.


Where's the outrage?? Are people so desperate to fire personel that they a clutching at straws like this??

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so Chevilott finished his work that day, drove the gun home and later that same evening turned it into his local police department.

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Sorry, but that ain't how it's done. By doing that, he's tampered with evidence. There might have been something else in that area that police might have found. Also, by handling it, he's contaminated any possible fingerprints or DNA.

Exactly how did he 'secure' the weapon? Put it in his pocket? Vehicle? If so, that is possession and would be grounds for disciplinary action.

Professionals who used to be in Personnel have gone goofy ever since they changed their name to Human Resources.

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Originally Posted by Meddle

Sorry, but that ain't how it's done. By doing that, he's tampered with evidence. There might have been something else in that area that police might have found. Also, by handling it, he's contaminated any possible fingerprints or DNA.

Exactly how did he 'secure' the weapon? Put it in his pocket? Vehicle? If so, that is possession and would be grounds for disciplinary action.

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LOL CSI Detroit? I don't think so.

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Originally Posted by Wheels

LOL CSI Detroit? I don't think so.

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I'm with Meddle on this. I find a gun or any other inappropriate item, I tell my direct supervisor.

One thing I will say is that I think termination is probably overboard unless he's got a personnel record filled with a mile long worth of written warnings.

Evidence for what?

Only crime here was the 2005 theft. Any evidence from that is long gone.

He did the responsible thing. If the cops don't show, what was he supposed to do leave it laying there? If this was in Detroit proper the precient house is closed after work!

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Originally Posted by Wheels

LOL CSI Detroit? I don't think so.

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Exactly what I was thinking. If the DPD ran a fingerpring check everytime they found a gun in Detroit Detroit would REALLY be broke. It just doesnt happen. The whole CSI show and the like makes it look like fingerprints are as easy to track down as looking up someones local traffic record. Does the DPD even have access to a fingerprint database on a federal level? I would think so but not sure.

I dont know the full story but damn, that long on the job and hes fired. Finding a gun in the bushes in Detroit is not exactly a million in one. Is he supposed to wait all night long for the DPD to show up if they show up at all. We all know the deal when we call the police here they are way overburdened as it is without having to come check out a little snubnose someone found in the bushes. Will dude lose his pension too?

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Originally Posted by Django

Will dude lose his pension too?

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If he doesn't get his job back, he will lose it. Personally, I think he should've called the Wayne County Sheriff's Office to come pick it up.

Unless there is more to this story, the guy is getting shafted.

Amazingly enough some people actually think that the need for labor unions is behind us.

Ummmm....I don't think he'll lose his pension. With that many years on the job, surely he is vested. Might lose a small percentage of it, though.

Guess they're getting creative in how to get rid of people. Kind of strange when you think how Bob Ficano's buddies are running things in the front office.

He may have not done exactly what he was supposed to do, but there are a couple things to consider. He appears, by the story at least, to have acted in complete good faith. Secondly, the guy cuts grass for a living. I'm not saying that makes him or anyone else in such a position stupid. However you don't necessarily always expect your janitor, groundskeeper, or Meijer greeter to know crime scene procedure, for example.

I've had a similar situation happen to me, on my own street, and I acted pretty much as this groundskeeper did.

A few years ago I found a pistol lying in a puddle at the corner of my block. There was a clip in it, so it could have been loaded. Since I wasn't carrying a cell phone back then, and since children play nearby all the time, I carefully picked it up and walked home with it.

As soon as I got home I called 911. Nothing happened So, the next morning I called a friend who worked at the local precinct. A DPD car finally showed up late that evening, more than 24 hours after I found the gun, and they took it [[the clip had, in fact, been emptied, but there was still an empty shell in the chamber) and also took a brief statement from me about where I'd found the gun, etc.

I may not have done precisely the correct thing under the law, but I'll be damned if I was going to leave a gun out there where children could find it. And the fact that I had to wait more than a day for police response says to me that I did the right thing. I would not have forgiven myself if I went back there the next day and that gun was gone. Good thing this was on my personal time though, and even better for me I guess that I wasn't working for some by-the-book idiots at Wayne County at the time...

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Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

I'm with Meddle on this. I find a gun or any other inappropriate item, I tell my direct supervisor.

One thing I will say is that I think termination is probably overboard unless he's got a personnel record filled with a mile long worth of written warnings.

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I'm on the fence here. I don't think this individual should be fired since there's obviously a lack of training on the procedures when dangerous materials are found. That a flaw on the management and administrative staff.

At the same time, the person should have called the police ASAP....then informed supervisors immediately after. The area could have been secured until the police would arrive, and the gun would remain in one place, not in someone's pocket. It's risky to carry around a weapon, especially one that's not yours even if your intentions are good.

Corrective employee training is the right course of action here, not firing.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Evidence for what?

Only crime here was the 2005 theft. Any evidence from that is long gone.

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Well, we may never know now. Even if they check ballistics and find it was used in some other crime, any chance of tying it to a person is probably gone.

Maybe the firing was a lucky coincidence for the city? Detroit has to thin the ranks, this was an easy way to do that. One down, coupla thousand to go...

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Originally Posted by Jimg

Maybe the firing was a lucky coincidence for the city? Detroit has to thin the ranks, this was an easy way to do that. One down, coupla thousand to go...

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He did not work for the City of Detroit. He worked for Wayne County.

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Originally Posted by Johnnny5

Unless there is more to this story, the guy is getting shafted.

Amazingly enough some people actually think that the need for labor unions is behind us.

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This man was in a union. What is your point?