Sharp as a Marble - When seconds count

<< If I had 4 more magazines | Home | Congrats to the Wizard family! >>

When seconds count

When Seconds Count

The 911 operator may forget to actually, you know… send the police

You can clearly hear the criminal in the background of the 911 call. Dispatch tapes obtained by CALL7 Investigators also shows a dispatcher telling Frei five times that police are on the way.

But they weren’t.

"We're sitting here watching somebody, who's this far away from getting into your house -- with a door that's got glass you could punch -- unlock the door, and walk in. And you expect the police to come and help you," said Frei.

I think I see your problem. You see, even if the 911 operator had successfully dispatched Officer Friendly, the thug was one fist full of rock away from gaining entry to you and your family. Officer Friendly obeys the laws of physics and cannot travel at the speed of light and reach you in time. What do you do during that long moment between when you realize the life of your family is in jeopardy and when the cops actually show up?

Me? I do a press check.

Hat tip montieth

posted @ 3/2/2012 11:59:07 AM

Incoming Links

QOTD | Captain of a Crew of One on 3/2/2012 12:05:48 PM

And “They” Want to.. « Freedom Is Just Another Word… on 3/2/2012 3:55:40 PM

The View From North Central Idaho - Quote of the dayâ€”Robb Allen on 3/3/2012 4:43:54 PM

SayUncle » Quote of the Day on 3/5/2012 9:20:32 AM

Comments

Sailorcurt says:

on 3/2/2012 12:24:11 PM

I'd like to say something about never going to Denver, but I fear that issues like this are common no matter where you are.

Great closing line by the way.

Jake says:

on 3/2/2012 12:34:41 PM

We, unfortunately, put him in a very uncomfortable situation, him and his family," said [Denver 911 operations manager] Franssen.

Uncomfortable? Uncomfortable!?

You "put him in a situation" where his life and his children's lives were at risk, you twit! That's not "uncomfortable", that's dangerous!

Stuart the Viking says:

on 3/2/2012 1:22:45 PM

Jake,

His life and the lives of his children were already "at risk" before he even called 911, the 911 op didn't do anything really to increase that risk other than give him hope that help was on the way (when, oops, it wasn't).

Either way, the police usually take an average of 23 minutes to arrive at any given emergency (that is IF the 911 op even bothers to call, and sorry, I don't remember where I got that statistic, feel free to believe or disbelieve at your leisure), so unless that guy is Lucky McLuckypants, he (anyone for that matter) should have a plan for dealing with a threat because it is likely to be all over by the time officer Friendly shows up.

On another note. Forget about suing 911 in cases like this. The Supreme Court has already ruled that the various LEO organizations are only responsible for protecting the citizenry at large, and are in no way responsible for the safety of the individual citizens.

s

That Guy says:

on 3/2/2012 1:48:10 PM

Press check, limber up, get good cover and a solid stance.

Panamared says:

on 3/2/2012 2:03:01 PM

That is when I rack the slide on my 870. If they haven't broken down the door yet I stuff one more in the magazine.

Jake says:

on 3/2/2012 2:57:33 PM

Stuart: Personally, I agree with you. I was really just riffing on Franssen's statement (thus the quote marks in my statement). The situation wasn't "uncomfortable", it was life threatening.

The proper response to a home invasion involves the rapid acceleration of high density metals on a vector terminating in the attacker's center of mass. Contact with the communications office of the local constabulary should occur at the safest possible moment, but no sooner.

TS says:

on 3/2/2012 4:11:36 PM

"Regrettably, at this point Denver 911 failed to provide Mr. Frie with adequate customer service."

I guess he wanted extra sauce with his 911 order...

gunshytourist says:

on 3/2/2012 7:55:24 PM

Robb says:

"Me? I do a press check."

Gun Shy agrees...I do press check(s)

And Stu the V makes a valid point (as he often does), and I wrote about that a few years ago. They have no real obligation to defend any individual citizen, so if they screw up as they sometimes do....oops...sorry.

MikeJ says:

on 3/2/2012 9:34:09 PM

At least Don Frei knows (and stated) what he should have already done, which is to take responsibility for his families protection.

45er says:

on 3/2/2012 10:06:52 PM

Yeah, I have to say that it would have meant that someone would have just laid on the lawn for a long time if the po-po would have taken that long to show up.

TS says:

on 3/2/2012 11:14:18 PM

45er, that , a dead or wounded criminal, would have insured a quite rapid response...

Sailorcurt says:

on 3/3/2012 9:02:30 AM

While I agree with the sentiments everyone expresses here, I still think its important for law enforcement to respond as rapidly as possible and, although the article claims that the 911 managers "took full responsibility" I find their cavalier attitude toward the severity of the situation a bit disturbing...if not unexpected.

The bottom line is, bravado aside, as hard as you try to defend your family in a situation like that, the fact remains that you may fail. If by some freak of fate you don't end up with a dead goblin lying on your doorstep, you are dead or wounded and your family is still in deadly danger.

Heck, even if you succeed, but you or your family members are injured in the effort and need medical attention. I seriously doubt that all the bravado expressed here makes any one of us bullet proof.

I'd still think it would be a good thing to have Leo backup on the way. They may or may not get there in time to be of any assistance, but any chance for help is better than none.

I'd like to think that if I call 911 in a situation like that, there's at least a possibility that they'll take it as seriously as it warrants. Statements like the 911 official's in the article tend to cast doubt on that hope.

Robb Allen says:

on 3/3/2012 10:36:25 AM

Sailorcurt, it's far from bravado, it's simply recognizing reality. If someone breaks into my house, my first and foremost goal is to protect my family at all costs. If that means my life, so be it.

We all know the gun is no talisman, able to ward off danger by simply holding it in our hands. In fact, it's quite the opposite, as when you place it in your hands, unless you're at the range, you are in a world of danger and it's about to get worse.

Much of what you might be construing as bravado is simple preparation. We need to mentally prepare for such events (heaven forbid they actually arise) as the worst time to realize you are unable to pull the trigger is the moment when you need it the most.

911 will be called. I don't think anyone here is saying we're going to wait until the whole event plays out before calling the police, but 911 is NOT as important as immediate defense.

Sailorcurt says:

on 3/3/2012 10:58:51 AM

Perhaps "bravado" was a little more harsh than I intended.

As I said, I agree completely that we need to take full responsibility for the safety of ourselves and our families and be prepared to do whatever it takes to defend them.

I don't think any of us disagree on first principles here. All I'm saying is that some commenters give the impression (and I very well could be misreading what they mean), that calling 911 is what you do AFTER the goblin is dead on the doorstep.

Of course there are some foreseeable circumstances where that's the only option available...if you don't have enough time to call for help, your first priority is to get into the fight. I agree with that completely.

But that wasn't the case in this story. In the circumstances as described, calling 911 absolutely was the correct reaction.

It sure would be nice to be able to believe that, when the 911 operator tells you help is on the way, it actually is. And, when they screw up, the people in charge take it a bit more seriously than asserting that the caller was placed in an "uncomfortable" situation.

Basically, I believe your witty, but oh so apt closing to your original post says it perfectly:

What do you do after you call 911, while you're waiting for the cavalry to arrive?

"Me? I do a press check."

Perfect.

Because, although it's not wise to depend on others for your safety and defense, no matter how willing, able and prepared we are to defend ourselves and our families, a little help might just be needed. Better to get them on the way as early as possible than wait until it's all over and hope that the bad guy is the only one that needs the attention of first responders.

Sailorcurt says:

on 3/3/2012 11:04:53 AM

Or it could be that I'm just an argumentative old curmudgeon that likes to stir the pot.

Either way...

Kurt P says:

on 3/3/2012 12:06:55 PM

Mr. Frie followed the direction given to him by Denver Police, called Denver 911’s non-emergency line and was transferred to an Operations Supervisor.

Regrettably, at this point Denver 911 failed to provide Mr. Frie with adequate customer service.

Actually Mr. Bureaucrat, it was the SECOND time they failed him.

Robb Allen says:

on 3/3/2012 12:15:45 PM

Works for me. Better than nothin' but an echo chamber ;)

Bubblehead Les says:

on 3/3/2012 12:34:23 PM

Of course, it's comforting to know that all future complaints will be promptly investigated by a Supervisor.

So who will the Supervisor deal with? The Cemetery or Intensive Care?

Gun First. Four Rules in Effect. Then 911 Second. Who knows, it could be just the Cat knocking over something on the Kitchen Counter.

Or you could have the Wonderful Experience like me of living through a Home Invasion where it took 11 minutes for the Police to show up, even though the nearest police Station was a 7 minute stroll from my Front Door.

Amazing how well a Loaded 10/22 works for Home Defense, and it's Legal almost everywhere; New York and DC and Chicago being exceptions, of course, but that's another topic.

But if you want to wait while 911 does it's thing.....

Jake says:

on 3/3/2012 2:50:51 PM

Sailorcurt, you're making my point far more clearly than I did. Stop that. :P

SPQR says:

on 3/3/2012 7:46:44 PM

Denver city's 911 service is notorious for its incompetence.

I actually knew one of their mid managers and there was a reason that they were so incompetent.

RandyGC says:

on 3/5/2012 12:56:15 PM

I look at 911 and the responding LEO/EMS the same way as I did Air and Artillery support when I was in the .mil.

I am more than happy to let them handle the issue if possible, but I'm not going to let my position be overrun waiting for them.

Comments have been closed on this topic.