A Phoenix police officer who mistakenly shot an armed homeowner during a search for an intruder was cleared of wrongdoing this week by a committee that reviews such shootings. [More]Let's review:
Citizen's home is invaded.
Citizen confronts intruder and holds him at bay, using a gun to deter violence. If he'd deployed with anything else--a kitchen knife, a fireplace poker, a Louisville Slugger--chance are there would have been blood.
There was anyway.
An "Only One" comes barging in with his gun blazing without knowing what the hell the situation is and f***s everything up, shooting the homeowner in the back.
All according to official protocol, mind you. He did nothing wrong.
I guess if that's the way they want things to go down, we must adjust our home defense protocols accordingly, to where no one uninvited under our roof gets out moving.
No one.
Pity--most of us were prepared to trust our judgment to determine situation-appropriate responses. Looks like our options have been blown away...
[Via Tony F]
15 comments:
The "untrained non-only one" in this incident seems to be the one who seems to have had the situation under control and who didn't panic and shoot someone who didn't need killing.
On the other hand; the "trained professional" misinterpreted the situation and did shoot someone who didn't need killing.
I wonder how the Phoenix police department would have reacted if the homeowner had shot the intruder, left him lying in the floor, and been watching Days of Our Lives in the living room when the responding officers arrived?
Easy answer. At the very least the homeowner would have been transported "downtown" and subjected to interrogation. His firearm would have been seized for ballistic testing leaving his family defenseless until his weapon was returned, if ever.
Woody [W-III]
Yet another situation that clearly proves that cops are not citizens as the rest of us are.
I have been told that police departments now hire people with lower IQ's so they can be trained to be goons and do not have the critical thinking skills that will have them question orders as right or wrong. These losers that are now making up most of the police departments around the country. Know very well that they have it made as a cop and will never no matter what, earn that kind of living outside of being a cop. They do not by the training they receive, see themselves as citizens as the rest of us are. These kind of programs are funded by the federal government.
Again, this is yet another situation that clearly shows the raw truth and that is, these cops are not held to their out of control conduct because we the citizens are seen as collateral damage in such matters. A price that is part of "their" game in having low IQ's goons as cops in our world today.
Judgement: Cop forfeits all his worldly goods and money, including retirement, health, and other benefits, to the man he shot. Cop is hung by the neck until dead, in the town square. Chief of Police publicly apologizes to the man and his family, and loses half his pay for one year.
I don't know if the cop should be killed, but if you had negligently shot a god- uh.. I mean cop, your life would be over.
What the hell kind of protocol requires that you open fire on the first person you see? The homeowner’s attorney made it clear the idiot officer could NOT see the gun in the homeowner’s hand! Was it protocol that made the cop shoot the guy while he was on the ground? What kind of jackass does this? This fool has NO business owning a gun, let alone being a cop!
Waco rules, every time.
I did notice in the article that the review board does not consider the shooting of a law abiding homeowner tragic, only the shooting of a police officer would be tragic according to Mr. Gannon.
It would appear that if one apprehends an intruder in one's home he needs to incapacitate him so he can shoot the cops when they arrive or he needs backup to shoot the cops when they arrive, otherwise it appears that if anybody attacks you in your home somebody is going to shoot you,regardless.
This is actually worse than it seems from David's blurb. The 911 operator was allegedly informed that the homeowner had the intruder held at gun point. However, 911 did not bother to pass that information on to the responding officers. Thus the 911 operator shares culpability.
wv: "recur" Well, yes this type of thing will recur until the responsible parties start to be held responsible.
You "civilians" need to remember who your betters are. When the coppers arrive, ya give up. That is it. The guy with the gun is the bad guy. Period!
You civilians need to understand there are certain people who just don't NEED to have guns. This means you! If you want to have a gun, join the military or become a policeman.
Oh hell, rights, rights, rights....Is that all you can say? What about the right of the cop to go home at the end of his shift? Don't you think that trumps your "so-called" right to keep and bear arms? You civilians think you have so many rights. See what happens? You may think you are exercising your rights and may even think you are protecting your family, but when someone gets shot, you need to think that it might not have happened if you hadn't been waving a gun around when the cops arrived.
When the cops arrive, even if you are sure you are right, lay down, whimper like a whipped puppy, and act submissive. It might help if you pissed on yourself too. Then..."everything should be fine".
People go F*&^ing around with the law and all hell breaks loose.
"Remember, folks: police officers are nature’s perfect miracle. Rainbows shoot from their hindquarters after a baked bean banquet. Their every action, without exception, is an example of judicious, sanctified transcendence so pure in its beauty that the angels themselves are overcome with emotion and weep torrential tears of ecstatic joy.
They should never be questioned. Just as you – not being a trained gourmet chef – are unable to tell rotten eggs from fresh ones, so too are you, the civilian, simply incapable of determining whether a police officer’s actions are justified or not.
Nay! We must ensure that police officers are always held apart from the common riff-raff. They should not be burdened by our silly laws or troublesome regulations, nor by our primitive notions of ethics and civility. They are truly the master race, and it is our duty to bow down to their infallibility."
- JOEJOEJOE via "Puppycide" at Balko
It's all about 'policy and procedures' folks. If the only ones follow p&p they are free and clear, and you realize that neither law nor reason will interfere with p&p.
This story further supports the proper home defense protocol against all intruders, uniformed or not: shoot, shovel, and shut up.
Learning from this poor homeowner's experience... my new Policy & Procedure (should I ever apprehend an intruder - alive or dead)... will be to lock my front door until the police arrive. That will slow them down long enough for me to identify myself and let them know that not only am I the homeowner... I am armed and they had better not be when they enter.
Tony F.
Here's the learning point: Go ahead and kill the intruder/perpetrator at the outset - make sure they're truly dead so there is no further threat from them. Then, and only then, call the cops. Immediately put your gun away and settle into your favorite chair and watch "Dancing with the Stars" until they finally arrive.
Paladin
Bad advice above. If you should ever have to shoot someone to save your life or a family member. Call for medical help and make darn sure you state there is no danger at this time. Then get off the line telling 911 that you must provide medical help to the injured person. Do not say, "shooting victim". But make it very clear that there is no danger and only medical help is needed.
This story clearly make it clear that we are dirt and the system can do as they wish because they make up the rules as they go.
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