When Strangers Show Up

[deere755]

I think one of the problems with rural areas is funding for the sheriffs office. I believe our sheriff would love to have more deputies patroling but the money isn't there. A property tax increase would never pass so they are limited on what they can do. I think there should be more help though.

 

[LMTC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( but never without adult supervision until they were at least 16. )</font>

First let me say that I 100% support you having the right to make that decision regarding your children.

Now...what is magical about 16? What is magical about adult supervision?

Do you lock up the knives? Everything else someone could use as a weapon against another person? What it really comes down to is that we all draw our line at different places, and that is fine with me.....but it doesn't seem as well tolerated by those who need to make their points with absolute statements and multiple exclamations.

 

[BlueRidge]

<font color="blue"> The police are NOT there to protect you. Wow, sounds kind of insulting to men and women of law enforcement. I personally take exception to that statement. </font>

You can take all the exception you want and it won't change the fact. As Bob pointed out, they get to the scene much too late to do any protecting. And that is also the LEGAL reality. Many PDs have been sued because they didn't respond quickly enough to prevent an injury or death, and invariably, the courts have held that police have no legal duty to protect any individual.


<font color="blue"> As far as response time goes in Baltimore County Maryland response time is usually around 10-15 minutes or less. Even calls to the country response time is no where near 45 minutes. </font>

Good for you! Are you under the impression that your experience represents the whole country? Response time varies greatly across jurisdictions. In Los Angeles on a Friday night, it's not unusual to wait 30 minutes JUST FOR A 911 OPERATOR TO PICK UP THE PHONE.

10-15 minutes is enough time for you to be beaten to death and your wife and daughter raped.

NOWHERE are they instantaneous. NOWHERE are they fast enough to save your bacon if you have an intruder intent on doing harm. You will have SECONDS to do the right thing, not minutes. Depend on the police and you are defenseless.

Protecting you is not their job, and even if it were, they couldn't do it. There aren't enough of them. They can't be everywhere all the time.

And none of this has anything to do with the dedication, courage, or ability of any police officer.

It's just reality.

 

[LMTC]

Ditto on what you said.

And the reality here too is that every single one of us is very very glad the original poster's children were not harmed. Certainly don't want to lose that sentiment in all the differing views about how to address potentially dangerous situations.

 

[monkeymonk]

Where i live it's about a 2 hour response time the best would be an hour and a half if a sheriff was over the hill somewhere?? or even on duty somewhere?? Not many anyways.
WE all look out for each other all 250 of us. Never much trouble or theft round these parts anyways.But i would surely call our local fire and rescue, its all locals dispatched from central via repeater way outa town and all fire and rescue folks have a beeper/com unit.Even if we dont call dispatch hours away and call just one fire and rescue member all near are notified coming from all directions on our 3 ways in 3 ways out road CB's blazing. It would be worse to run into fire and rescue than the sheriff if someone was in physical danger. Now if i were in town there may be fines for that.Here you would most likely be commened for a job well done. As has happened in the past

Sure is a scary situation, predators on your property lurking about.

 

[goodoleboy]

I recently read a story where a home invasion occured where four suspects entered a home.They chased the homeowner but he managed to arm himself with his ak47.
As they entred his locked bedroom he fired his gun, killing three. Injuring one suspect with a collasped lung and losing a leg. Now that heavy breathing young kid is crippled for life & in jail, over hundred dollars he may have gotten.

In such a situation there was no time to call the police. Only time to retreat and protect his life.Even if he time or the chance to call for help who says the phone lines would be not cut or the power was out? Then what?

Just like staying healthy, its only up to you to protect yourself.

 

[turnkey4099]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think in that situation, 45 minutes is horrible and you should raise a ruckus about it. There is every reason to believe your children could have been in immediate danger. Around here dispatch is centralized and towns work together to provide immediate assistance in times of emergency. It works and I can't imagine a 911 system that is set up to allow such a delay in response as you experienced. )</font>

This is a very delayed respons and it isn't directed at you so much as just an add-on to the discussion.

I was a dispatcher for this very rural, sparsely populated and large county in WA (Whitman). Coverage for the county was a hopeful 2 officers per shift plus 1 or 2 state patrol. Everyone went off-duty at 2 a.m. We aimed for a 30 minute response but it wasn't unusual to catch the only deputy on at one end of the county when he was needed at the other. My worst case was 3 a.m. Homeowner holding 3 burglars at gunpoint just as far awy as one could get in the county. Had to call out two officer's with 45 miles to drive over crooked narrow roads. My fall back method was to ask the neighboring county for assistance (much closer to the scene). Nope, they were off-duty also.

As others have said - it is not uncommon to have long delalys. It is also an upleasant truth that cops are not there to "protect you". Multiple court rulings have made the clear. It is also impossible to supply LE coverage at a level that one would feel "safe" in at a reasonable cost.

Even living in town, quick response is not a "protection" thing. They still will arrive after the fact even if it is a matter of minutes.

It is up to the person to handle the situation however he decides until LE arrives be that by weaponry or hiding in a closet.

Harry K

 

[BlueRidge]

Aye, there's the OTHER part of the equation - the dispatchers. Harry, I'm sure you know that dispatchers span a wide variety of people.

I've done quite a bit of work verifying E911 call routing to make sure when you dial 911 on your cellphone you get connected to the correct PSAP. I've done it in several states, from California to Tennesee. 911 operators run the gamut from good, sharp, dedicated people to brain dead twits who care only about the next coffee break, or worse, their own (erroneous) sense of importance.

 

[jim_wilson]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> 45 minutes.... ridiculous. </font>


45 minutes.... COMMON.


Don't bet your life on 911. The police are NOT there to protect you. They'll be there in time to take a report.

That's YOUR job. )</font>
The police are NOT there to protect you. Wow, sounds kind of insulting to men and women of law enforcement. I personally take exception to that statement. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif As far as response time goes in Baltimore County Maryland response time is usually around 10-15 minutes or less. Even calls to the country response time is no where near 45 minutes.

It's not meant to be an insult - just a statement of fact. The 2nd amendment/pro firearms ownership people will tell you that multiple court rulings have said that the police cannot be held liable if they fail to protect you from a crime. This is just common sense - as well as court upheld law. It is simply impossible for the police to be everywhere and get to every possible crime scene in the nick of time to stop your property from being stolen or your person from being harmed. In the end the only thing the police are really good at is hunting down and arresting criminals -AFTER - the crime has been committed. Any crime prevention before that is the responsibility of the individual citizens.