Yeah, what Matt just said.
one lady cop on a possible burglary in progress, wont call for backup or at least pick up a shotgun? Sounds pretty dumb to me.
I'm not beatin up on the lady, I just think she made a bigger mistake than the homeowner cause she knew the dangerous nature of her job and failed to be properly prepared. Or is that SOP for lone lady cops to do Burglary in progress calls alone?
Our SOP is one officer on a Burglary alarm. If you see anything fishy, call for another officer. Of course, if another officer is free, he will volunteer to go along if he is a good cop. I work with a lot of good cops, so the most common thing you hear on the radio after the knuckleheaded dispatcher sends a singleton is "Ma'am, if you're not holding anything else, I'll go with him on that alarm." The
vast majority of alarms are false, but every now and then there is the real one, and that is the one that will kill you. I've gone on a couple that were actual burglaries, but we did not arrive in time to actually catch anyone. Remember that when you see those stupid-arsed Brinks commercials.
I
strongly suspect that the dogs were not visible from the officer's vantage point prior to entering the yard. Believe me, no one wants to shoot a homeowner's dog, and no one wants to willingly enter a back yard containing 5 bulldogs. One of the first things you learn to do is to jiggle the back gate, whistle once, and look for clues like doghouses, food bowls, land mines (if you follow me) and chains. Once you observe a pack of dogs in the back yard, we are allowed by SOP to declare the rear of the building secured and proceed about our tasks.
War Story:
I'm dispatched with another officer on a burglary alarm in the High Rent area of my precinct. We arrive at this veritable mansion of a house, and we both pick a direction to check the perimeter. I end up going around by the garages and immediately find an open door. I mark on radio that we have an unsecured door, and I push it open, announce my presence, and do a quick peek. I can see that it is a completely empty garage, no hiding places for bad guys, and there is an interior door to the house, closed. I proceed through, go up to the interior door, and try the knob.
Unlocked. Darn.
At this point I hear my backup jogging back around the front to assist me, so I swing the interior door open, step aside, announce my presence, and start to take a quick peek-
-and am immediately confronted by the largest and most startled German Shephard I have ever seen.
Hmmm.
We have a little mexican stand off for a moment where we're both just looking at each other, him eyeing me steadily with his ears up, tail motionless, and expression unsure, and me doing much the same in response, with the sights of my .45 aimed at his head. About this time I'm noting that the door swung
inward and there is no way I can reach it to pull it closed without really getting close to the dog. And its also an uncomfortably long way out of this garage.
Me: "Hey buddy! How ya doin? You sure are a purty dog."
Him:
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Well, standing there will not accomplish anything, backing up will probably get him to chase me, so I do the only thing I can...I start forward, gun first, yelling "BACK! GET BACK!" and I get ready to deliver my very best soccer kick to the mutt's head if he decides to add pork to tonight's menu.
The dog retreats, I slam the door, and hear my backup belly laughing. "You sound like you're going up against the Hit-Man. 'Get back! get back! Quit resisting!'"
*sigh*
Well, that house was unable to be secured, but I'm
quite confident that no burglar made it out alive.
Mike