GunsNY DHS chief uses handgun’s laser sighting device as laser pointer during presentation
On 24 October, Jerome Hauer, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s director of homeland security, made a presentation to Swedish emergency officials about New York State’s preparations for man-made and natural disasters. At some point during the presentation, Hauer wanted to use a laser pointer to highlight an item on a map of New York displayed on the wall behind him, but could not find the pointer. Instead, he pulled a loaded 9-millimeter Glock, which he always carries with him, and used the handgun’s laser sighting device to highlight the item.
On 24 October, Jerome Hauer, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s director of homeland security, made a presentation to Swedish emergency officials about New York State’s preparations for man-made and natural disasters. The presentation took place at the emergency operations center below State Police headquarters in Albany.
The Times-Union reports that at some point during the presentation, Hauer wanted to use a laser pointer to highlight an item on a map of New York displayed on the wall behind him, but could not find the pointer. Instead, he pulled a loaded 9-millimeter Glock, which he always carries with him, and used the handgun’s laser sighting device to highlight the item.
Eyewitnesses say that the Swedish officials were “rattled.”
Here is the Times-Union’s report:
These officials, one of whom claimed to be an eyewitness, said that three Swedish emergency managers in the delegation were rattled when the gun’s laser tracked across one of their heads before Hauer found the map of New York, at which he wanted to point.
According to one person who witnessed the scene in the conference room, which has mid-wall-to-ceiling windows so that people can see into the meeting space, two people opposite Hauer at the table moved quickly out of the line of the laser when he brought out the gun.
Hauer, commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, was disabled by a stroke a few years ago and can be unsteady. He isn’t a law enforcement official. He carries the loaded 9-millimeter Glock in a holster into state buildings, an apparent violation of state law barring state employees from bringing weapons to the workplace, several witnesses say.
The incident with the Swedish delegation occurred during a two-hour briefing at the operations center concerning the state’s response to Superstorm Sandy, according to one of the officials.
Cuomo nominated Hauer as Commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services in October 2011, and he was unanimously confirmed in January 2012. Hauer is a recognized authority on bioterrorism. He is paid $136,000 a year in his post.
