The Sullivan County jail.

On the evening of Aug. 24, Sincere McNeal was arrested in the village of Monticello along with two other men during a traffic stop in which Sullivan County sheriff’s deputies allegedly found a handgun in their vehicle. Mr. McNeal then went through a police interview with unarmed interrogators — sheriff’s investigators and a State Police investigator — followed by a court arraignment and finally the intake process at the county jail, where he swapped out his clothes for jail garb.

It was only thanks to a fellow inmate’s tip that officials learned that Mr. McNeal’s jacket — at this point bagged up in the jail’s safe — contained a loaded .22-caliber handgun.

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If that gun had indeed been on the arrestee’s person throughout his arrest and processing, it means that at any point when he was not handcuffed Mr. McNeal could have pulled it out and shot someone, or several people. It’s a lucky break for all involved that scenario didn’t play out — but luck is not supposed to be........

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