Category: Police

In the pages of the Washington Post, our long-time friend, Alex Horton writes about his adventures with the Fairfax, Virginia County Police. His building manager moved him into an unoccupied apartment while repairs were being done on his own home. Some of the neighbors of that new apartment were unaware of the arrangement and called the police.

An unspecified number of police officers busted in on an unsuspecting Horton, cuffed him in his boxer shorts and then conducted their investigation of the situation finding Horton completely innocent of squatting in an empty apartment.

Of course, they could have done that before they charged into the apartment, guns drawn and at the ready arousing Horton from his party-induced stupor. However doing it that way would have robbed the officer of rushing into the home of an innocent man and cuffing him.

Alex went to the patrol supervisor later;

I asked why his officers hadn’t contacted management before they raided the apartment. Why did they classify the incident as a forced entry, when the information they had suggested something innocuous? Why not evaluate the situation before escalating it?

Rhoads defended the procedure, calling the officers’ actions “on point.” It’s not standard to conduct investigations beforehand because that delays the apprehension of suspects, he told me.

I noted that the officers could have sought information from the apartment complex’s security guard that would have resolved the matter without violence. But he played down the importance of such information: “It doesn’t matter whatsoever what was said or not said at the security booth.”

Well, yes, it does matter. Horton recounts his experience as an infantryman kicking down doors in Iraq and how being on the trigger side of similar confrontations prevented him from acting a fool and endangering himself and the officers. The officers could have contained Horton in the apartment while they checked on his presence in the apartment without him even knowing they had been there as long as he remained in the apartment.

People who know me, know that I support police officers, generally, but there are incidents like this and some of the encounters that I’ve had, which make me question their training. Yes, I want them all to go home at the end of their shifts in the same condition that they left their homes, but I also want them to respect the rights of all Americans.

The Fairfax County police chief, assures us that there will be an investigation of the incident to determine “if the conduct by the officers involved was in compliance with our policies related to all operational conduct in this matter”.

If the officers’ conduct was in compliance with the department’s policies, they need to take a hard look at those policies and start coming down on the side of human rights, but not at the expense of officer safety. In this case, at least, officers were needlessly placed in danger by their own actions, or lack of action, not to mention the pointless exposure of Alex Horton to danger.

Andy11M sends us a link to ABC News which tells the story of police dog, Lucas, who rescued his deputy sheriff handler, Todd Frazier who stopped at a remote, deserted rest stop to check on what looked like an unresponsive driver. The deputy was then ambushed;

“Two individuals surprised Deputy Frazier from the shadows and an altercation ensued,” Adam said. “One cut him across the forehead with a razor, one choked him, and one grabbed his legs to carry him to the edge of the woods.”

Frazier was able to hit a button to release his K-9, Lucas, a black Belgian Malinois, from his car, Adam said. Lucas bit the attackers, who then tried to flee in their car.

As they drove away, Lucas was still hanging onto the leg of one of the assailants, Adam said. As a result of the altercation, Lucas chipped a few teeth and bruised his shoulder.

According to the article, both officers have returned to duty.

Jesse Kidder, a Purple Heart-awarded Marine veteran who had been on the job as a police officer only a year, was confronted by an idiot in Richmond, Ohio. Kidder was wearing a body camera that family and friends bought for him after the Ferguson problems last year. You can see from the video that he remained cool and didn’t shoot the double murder suspect, Michael Wilcox, after a nine mile high speed chase, because he didn’t see a gun;

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Kidder could be seen repeatedly backing up as Wilcox approached him. The officer said he watched Wilcox’s hands, making sure he wasn’t reaching for a weapon. At one point, Kidder fell backward, but the suspect relented as other officers arrived, laying down and extending his arms as police took him into custody.

Following the encounter, Kidder tried to downplay his actions.

“I’m not a hero. I know officers everyday want to go out and protect their communities and save lives,” he said.

I have to say that he has more control than me. Good job, officer.

Last night a protest outside the Ferguson police station turned ugly when two police officers were shot. According to Reuters, they’ve both been released from the hospital. By the way, neither were members of the Ferguson Police Department;

A 41-year-old officer from the St. Louis County Police was struck in the shoulder and a 32-year-old officer from the nearby Webster Groves Police Department had a bullet lodged near his ear after it passed through his cheek, Belmar said.

“This is really an ambush, is what it is,” Belmar said. “You can’t see it coming. You don’t understand that it’s going to happen.”

The shots rang out as a rally in front of the city’s police headquarters was dispersing hours after the local police chief resigned. After months of criticism, Police Chief Tom Jackson quit in the wake of a scathing U.S. Justice Department report finding his force was rife with racial bias.

I guess this is what happens when the evidence doesn’t support public opinion’s conclusions in some circles. Of course, the police have even more reason to be cautious in law enforcement situations which will only anger the public even more, in turn.

The New York Police Department seems to be on strike. According to the New York Times, last week, officers issued 347 criminal summonses compared to the same week last year, they wrote 4,077. Traffic and parking tickets are virtually nonexistent these days. The Times editorial staff and the DeBlasio administration are pretty angry;

Call this what it is: a reckless, coordinated escalation of a war between the police unions and Mr. de Blasio and a hijacking of law-enforcement policy by those who do not set law-enforcement policy. This deplorable gesture is bound to increase tension in a city already rattled….

Yeah, well, tough. Any other union standing up to The Man would have the Times’ unwavering support. They would delight in the antics and gleefully report the anguish suffered by the union’s target. But, it’s Bonnie Prince DeBlasio who is being picketed, so it’s not quite as much fun.

I’ve had my problems with how the NYPD does their job at times, but I don’t have to live there. I sympathize with them, having to do their job in that environment, though. The mayor wants a crime-free city, but he doesn’t want the criminals to be inconvenienced.

If I was a New Yorker, I’d make other living accommodations, though, what with the police on strike, and no way to protect myself, and the police are the only ones allowed to have guns in the city. But my 5 acres here is crime free.