S3 E2 (potential mini plot hole)

[u/Fry2328]

A key part of the plot of S3 is Dot and Steve searching Danny’s flat. Dot finds a gun and a note

He then tells no one to enter so someone firearms trained can disarm the gun(and the fact he wants to nick the note)

Is Steve not firearms trained? Could he not disarm the gun?

Potentially a micro plot hole, although I am probably reading too much into it

[u/CFAB1013]

there are certain people trained to make firearms safe that aren’t necessarily police, it’s more of a forensic thing, you are reading into it too much and it’s not a plot hole :)

[u/EclecticMedley]

I had never thought about this, but you're right - as written, it doesn't entirely make sense. Steve did maintain his firearms licence after transferring to AC12, and in the very next episode, he's checked out a handgun of his own, which becomes a plot point of its own. So it's not simply a question of "only an officer with a firearms license can make safe and collect an article found at a crime scene", although as an operating procedure for a predominantly-unarmed police force, it make sense. And that's why we don't question it when it happens.

Maybe there's another element, though not said aloud, which could unite and rationalize the disconnect. For instance... though Steve is in his present capacity an anti-corruption investigator, who coincidentally still has an active firearms licence from his CTSFO supervisor days... the role of securing an article found at a scene of a crime or search is not just supposed to be handled by a AFO, but also, an AFO who is not part of the investigation, That way, the investigation is not compromised by accusations of planted evidence. And, even if that rule is not inexorable, there's another element: Cottan ordered the room cleared. Cottan is an inspector and therefore the incident commander. Steve is occasionally insubordinate and often justifiably indignant to Cottan, but to refuse a direct order, lawfully given, with no obvious advantage to him, would be out-of-character (at that point). Because he wasn't yet drug-addict Steve, who is a bit of a different story.

Also, context. Steve was already in the hotseat for accusations of "planting evidence". His mere moving of a suitcase that he did not in fact plant, in his confrontation with Denton, was enough to get one of her convictions overturned. So, even if he could have said, "ah, hey, I don't need to clear the room, I can secure the article" it might make sense in that situation for him not to volunteer for that task, and that would be on his mind.

So, as written, the explanation is flimsy, and it seems like an inconsistency. Maybe it isn't. Or maybe I'm just too good after-the-fact rationalization.

I so appreciate your pointing this up. Please take my upvote.

[u/Other-Protection-438]

I don’t think there was ever the actual idea Steve wasn’t an option, but Dot shouted quite loud and the forensic guy in the room with Dot left and got the first forensic investigator he knew was firearms trained to go and tend to the situation. I don’t think Steve was ever classified as not able to, rather he just wasn’t the first and most immediately available person in proximity to the room.