When Strangers Show Up

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

LMTC.
I tried your link and the page could not be displayed.

What you say in your post is certainly true including this... ( Fact is most police work is follow up....some is deterrence. All necessary, and without it there would be even more crime.)
I'd like to add to that...
It is important to keep in mind it is not the cop's fault. Most cops I know bust their balls trying to do a good job and then get slapped when the criminal ends up with more rights protecting them from the cops than the cops do from the criminals...that sucks. We read about it all the time. It's the way the "system" works. In general you get the cops called "after" a law is broken, rarely "during or while" it's being broken and hardly ever, if never "before" the law is broken. In each case it's a response... it always happens after the fact...

That's why there are armed gaurds, body gaurds, bouncers, car alarms, house alarms, etc. and also the need for the individual to be prepared personally and IMO, a strong need to retain the 2nd amendment.

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

LMTC.
I tried your link and the page could not be displayed.

What you say in your post is certainly true including this... ( Fact is most police work is follow up....some is deterrence. All necessary, and without it there would be even more crime.)
I'd like to add to that...
It is important to keep in mind it is not the cop's fault. Most cops I know bust their balls trying to do a good job and then get slapped when the criminal ends up with more rights protecting them from the cops than the cops do from the criminals...that sucks. We read about it all the time. It's the way the "system" works. In general you get the cops called "after" a law is broken, rarely "during or while" it's being broken and hardly ever, if never "before" the law is broken. In each case it's a response... it always happens after the fact...

That's why there are armed gaurds, body gaurds, bouncers, car alarms, house alarms, etc. and also the need for the individual to be prepared personally and IMO, a strong need to retain the 2nd amendment.

RedRocker · Jun 10, 2006

Too bad your "son" the "scout sniper", home from Iraq, wasn't home to greet them. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Just fantisizing. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

RedRocker · Jun 10, 2006

Too bad your "son" the "scout sniper", home from Iraq, wasn't home to greet them. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Just fantisizing. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Iowachild · Jun 11, 2006

a strong need to retain the 2nd amendment. 

The Second Amendent....America's Orginal Homeland Security!

If a car was dispatched from the State Police barricks code three for my rural property, it would take at least 20 to 30 minutes, more if it was winter and the roads were bad. That's just the way things are. But I chose to not be a victum. I am never there without my 9 mm and often I have other firearms. I also pray I never have to use them for that purpose, but am prepared to if forced to.

Henro · Jun 11, 2006

I think a past experience of mine may relate to the response issue somehow, some way...

A few years ago I had reason to call the local police. I don't remember why, but I do remember it was not something that I would ever dial 911 for.

So I called the regular number, which I probably found in the local phone directory.

The officer that answered the phone told me next time to call 911. I still remember my shock at hearing that!

Gee...I THOUGHT 911 was the EMERGENCY number I should call... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif... for emergencies!

I honestly thought that if someone called 911 in a non-emergency situation that one would get into hot water for doing so. Now...stray dog...call 911.

Something is wrong with this picture in my mind and I can see how the response would turn into what it is...delayed...if the police now have the expectation that most calls coming in are NOT emergency in nature.

KubotaSteve · Jun 11, 2006

Let me start off by saying I am pro gun all the way, however I think it is a bad idea to have a child with access to a firearm at home when no one else is there. Regardless of how much training you give a child, they should not have to make a decision on when to retrieve a gun. Just way too many things that could go wrong in that scenario. Escape should be the number one priority on the kids mind.
I knew a kid who was in the same situation as yours and we were playing ball outside and he got in a fight. After getting stomped pretty good he goes into the house and brings out a 410 shotgun loaded and ready to go! His old man had went through training with him but his temper pushed the training outside.
As far as law enforcement, until you have walked in their shoes, don't even judge. I work with law enforcement officers everyday and most are underpaid but still do the job to the best of their ability. My hat goes off to the people that protect and serve and while there may be no constitutional obligation they take an oath to "Protect and Serve". The problem is all the bogus calls they have to respond to and not knowing which ones are truly a waste of time or serious.
Some larger metropolitan areas are coming out with a 311 non emergency number. Baltimore, MD was the pilot project and received rave reviews.
Remember material things can be replaced, but a child can't. Not trying to preach, but have heard way too many bad stories from Law Enforcement.

And for surveillence, I've all ways preferred the motion activated digital cameras outside complete with sound recording to a computer hard drive. With kids 3 & 9 and living in a semi rural location, unsure when I'll ever let kids at home by themselves.

InlineDieselFan · Jun 11, 2006

[

Our average response time is 12-13 minutes in my county. That's quicker than many large cities. I consider it my responsibility to protect the citizens of my county. It takes a certain type of person to make such an idiotic statement as he did.

If we wern't busy answering false alarms (approx 99% of all alarms are false alarms) or
explaining to Jane Doe that it is not a criminal offense that her ex-husband is 15 minutes late bringing little johnny home from visitation or
telling a neighbor his dog is barking and making his neighbors mad at 5:00 in the afternoon or
taking the drunk to jail that just hit his wife hard enough to put her in the hospital or
putting up some cows, before they cause an accident, because an owner is too cheap to build a decent fence or
removing a chicken snake out of a house for a 240# man who is standing on a chair and too afraid to do it himself or
responding to suspicious vehicles that simply drove by someone's residence and they do not remember seeing it before or ...
well most everyone else will get the message except him.

Stanley, I find that most people with his attitude have had a run-in with law enforcement anyway so he was probably, at one time or another, the CAUSE of a response delay by the police.

)

Absolutly true, the B.S. calls take up all the time and then take you out to the far corner of a patrol area, and then you have the real call at the opposite corner.

As I looked through the posts I noticed that many who were shocked and surprised that it took 45 minutes for the police to arrive seem to be from back East. Our here ther are some counties that are bigger than the New England states. With no where near the tax base and just a few (or one) deputies on duty.

Our new place is only about 10 miles from downtown and that is where the sheriffs office is. The state patrol office is even closer.

some places it will just take along time for help to arrive.

steve

Bird · Jun 11, 2006

( officer that answered the phone told me next time to call 911 )

You bring up a good point, and I don't have a good answer. In some places, 911 is the number to call for anything that might require dispatching a police officer. In other places, they have another number, maybe just a normal 10 digit number or maybe now they have the 311, for everything except "emergencies". And I'm not at all sure all police agencies even agree on what is or is not an "emergency" so I don't see how they can expect callers to know. Now I've not stayed in contact with law enforcement in recent years, but I've seen some things in the newspaper about people getting citations for calling 911 when they didn't have an "emergency" but I don't know the details or circumstances. The one thing I think everyone should do, and I haven't even done, is to contact their local police department and find out what numbers to use and when.

CDsdad · Jun 11, 2006

Glad your kids are OK and you should be very proud of them. I'm in the 3rd largest county in MS and sheriff response time to folks in my area is slightly less depending on when it is.

We had a similar incident, I was out of town, wife came home by herself with the front door open and turns out he was still there. Luckily, she left and so did he when he saw her come in. Sheriff made it about 35 minutes later, 15 minutes after my dad.

Too bad the type of scum your kids and my wife encountered can't come around when Poppa Bear is home instead of messing with the cubs. I guess I'm "off" because I would welcome the chance to meet that guy face-to-face. And I don't flee first, no matter what any law says. Like I say, I may be "off", actually I know I am and have the bullet hole to prove it.