Andrew Rothman
Member
Heh. People bewildered by four- or five-digit numbers, obviously, have no business being police officers.
Police Respond To Alarm At Wrong House, Kill Dog (LAPD)
- Thread starter gunsmith
- Start date
- Status
Guys, This isn't exactly fair. You can not expect someone to be placed in a situation where they have to respond to a situation that involves life safety, give them limited info, a short time to get there etc, and then complain when mystakes are made. Cops are human just like the rest of us. I once went to the wrong door to pick up a date and I thought I was carefully checking the addresses... When you demand a police department that makes 0 mystakes the only thing you will get is a department that does nothing because that is the only way to make no mystakes. A former Commandant of the USMC said bluntly that he would not have any Marines under his command that didn't make mystakes because the only ones that didn't make mystakes were the ones that didn't do anything. He was right.
As long as the mystake was made in good faith and not as a result of gross negligence, move on and don't repeat it. Firing the guy was way overbord. He will now sue the dept for his job and all back pay, plus promotion pay that he would have gotten, plus dammages and maybe even the chief personally... He will win (they do just about every time, all he has to do is point out someone that did something worse and was not fired) and the taxpayers will have to pay up all to pacify the folks that called for his head. In the end, those people just cost all of us money.
As long as the mystake was made in good faith and not as a result of gross negligence, move on and don't repeat it. Firing the guy was way overbord. He will now sue the dept for his job and all back pay, plus promotion pay that he would have gotten, plus dammages and maybe even the chief personally... He will win (they do just about every time, all he has to do is point out someone that did something worse and was not fired) and the taxpayers will have to pay up all to pacify the folks that called for his head. In the end, those people just cost all of us money.
1. LAPD stated that they were not responding to burglary alarms, correct? This was a panic alarm.
2. Numbers. All I'm gonna say about this is that it was an honest mistake. Humans make them. They make them often. I sincerely doubt that any of the people smirking and sneering at this concept have always gotten every telephone number correct, every house number correct, every set of directions correct, and done everything properly, and never have made any errors that arise out of misunderstanding something that was printed or told to you. Right? I'm sure that I can do a search of the posts here and on TFL and your infallibility will be confirmed. Failing that, let me call your wives.
In the end, he probably inverted the last pair of numbers and went to 1268 instead of 1286, or some similar error. People, this happens. This happens a lot. Why? Because cops are people, and people make errors. When its an error of judgement thats one thing, but when its a simple clerical error we all look a little wild-eyed and silly calling down hellfire and damnation on the JBTs.
And before anyone jumps on the wrong-house no-knock bandwagon, I'll remind you that this is not a situation where you have time to research the scene, go get an affidavit, set up your team and double and triple check the address. This is one guy in a car running and breakneck speed through a dark neighborhood and pulling up to the house where someone's panic alarm is going off. He got the number wrong. Big deal. This doesn't mean that the homeowner is not owed a hat-in-hand apology and the city doesn't need to make it right financially, but in the end it was a simple mistake, of the type that we all make every day.
3. Why do we never see cops getting bitten? Simple. Thats not news. Cops being bitten by dogs far outnumber cops shooting dogs, if my own unofficial study into the issue is generalizable (meaning: my precinct has shot a few dogs, and gotten bitten many many many more times than that). If a cop shoots a dog, it makes the evening news. If a dog bites a cop, some paperwork is done.
4. Someone wrote:
5. Was retreat not an option? I'll bet you that retreat wasn't, based upon the fact that Fluffy is dead. If you're going on a panic alarm, your gun is out. If startled at close range by an angry (looking) Rott, your choices are pretty much shoot or open yourself up for a bite, if you're far from the gate. I wasn't there, but I'll bet thats what happened. He was too far into the yard to back out without becoming a chew toy.
Mike
2. Numbers. All I'm gonna say about this is that it was an honest mistake. Humans make them. They make them often. I sincerely doubt that any of the people smirking and sneering at this concept have always gotten every telephone number correct, every house number correct, every set of directions correct, and done everything properly, and never have made any errors that arise out of misunderstanding something that was printed or told to you. Right? I'm sure that I can do a search of the posts here and on TFL and your infallibility will be confirmed. Failing that, let me call your wives.
In the end, he probably inverted the last pair of numbers and went to 1268 instead of 1286, or some similar error. People, this happens. This happens a lot. Why? Because cops are people, and people make errors. When its an error of judgement thats one thing, but when its a simple clerical error we all look a little wild-eyed and silly calling down hellfire and damnation on the JBTs.
And before anyone jumps on the wrong-house no-knock bandwagon, I'll remind you that this is not a situation where you have time to research the scene, go get an affidavit, set up your team and double and triple check the address. This is one guy in a car running and breakneck speed through a dark neighborhood and pulling up to the house where someone's panic alarm is going off. He got the number wrong. Big deal. This doesn't mean that the homeowner is not owed a hat-in-hand apology and the city doesn't need to make it right financially, but in the end it was a simple mistake, of the type that we all make every day.
3. Why do we never see cops getting bitten? Simple. Thats not news. Cops being bitten by dogs far outnumber cops shooting dogs, if my own unofficial study into the issue is generalizable (meaning: my precinct has shot a few dogs, and gotten bitten many many many more times than that). If a cop shoots a dog, it makes the evening news. If a dog bites a cop, some paperwork is done.
4. Someone wrote:
Wrong. they'll seal off the area and call SWAT because, the vast majority of the time, doing anything else precipitates the hostage getting shot. The best hope of getting the hostage out alive comes from a trained negotiator or, failing that, a coordinated and rapid response from a team of cops. One or two cops playing cowboy, as you seem to suggest, will get the hostage dead. And then we can talk about how reckless they are on THR!
5. Was retreat not an option? I'll bet you that retreat wasn't, based upon the fact that Fluffy is dead. If you're going on a panic alarm, your gun is out. If startled at close range by an angry (looking) Rott, your choices are pretty much shoot or open yourself up for a bite, if you're far from the gate. I wasn't there, but I'll bet thats what happened. He was too far into the yard to back out without becoming a chew toy.
Mike
FedDC,
That reminds me of this guy who went to the wrong house for a date. He called her and she said to just come in, the door was unlocked, and have a seat. He goes to the house, opens the door and goes inside. Runs into a little girl and says to himself, "Wait, I didn't know Melissa had a little sister." He went to the house next door and was so embarrassed.
That reminds me of this guy who went to the wrong house for a date. He called her and she said to just come in, the door was unlocked, and have a seat. He goes to the house, opens the door and goes inside. Runs into a little girl and says to himself, "Wait, I didn't know Melissa had a little sister." He went to the house next door and was so embarrassed.
Andrew Rothman
Member
Sigh.
One more time.
Of COURSE people are fallible. But when you come into a flipping yard with your flipping gun out and ready to shoot, you better flipping well have the right flipping address. And with no flipping excuses.
Serious consequences REQUIRE serious care. Period.
One more time.
Of COURSE people are fallible. But when you come into a flipping yard with your flipping gun out and ready to shoot, you better flipping well have the right flipping address. And with no flipping excuses.
Serious consequences REQUIRE serious care. Period.
fjolnirsson
Member
FedDC,
Mistakes are one thing. It was clear from the statment made by the officers supervisor that he failed to check the address with dispatch. He did not misread the numbers. He went to the address he intended to go to, because he thought he heard that address. He was wrong, and it was his fault for not checking with dispatch. A radio call takes how long? 5 seconds? Sorry, this one is all on him. Now, if he was given bad info from dispatch, it would be on dispatch.
Point is, he had an obligation. He got a little amped, because you have to. Any "false alarm" should be treated as live, we all know that. Which is exactly why he should have verified the address.
Mistakes are one thing. It was clear from the statment made by the officers supervisor that he failed to check the address with dispatch. He did not misread the numbers. He went to the address he intended to go to, because he thought he heard that address. He was wrong, and it was his fault for not checking with dispatch. A radio call takes how long? 5 seconds? Sorry, this one is all on him. Now, if he was given bad info from dispatch, it would be on dispatch.
Point is, he had an obligation. He got a little amped, because you have to. Any "false alarm" should be treated as live, we all know that. Which is exactly why he should have verified the address.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked