Just Dial 911? The Myth of Police Protection

The Freeman ^ | April 1, 2000 | Richard W. Stevens

[Q-ManRN]

Underlying all “gun control” ideology is this one belief.” “Private citizens don’t need firearms because the police will protect them from crime.” That belief is both false and dangerous for two reasons.

First, the police cannot and do not protect everyone from crime. Second, the government and the police in most localities owe no legal duty to protect individuals from criminal attack. When it comes to deterring crime and defending against criminals, individuals are ultimately responsible for themselves and their loved ones. Depending solely on police emergency response means relying on the telephone as the only defensive tool. Too often, citizens in trouble dial 911 . . . and die.

It’s not just that the police cannot protect you. They don’t even have to come when you call. In most states the government and police owe no legal duty to protect individual citizens from criminal attack. The District of Columbia’s highest court spelled out plainly the “fundamental principle that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular individual citizen.”

Government lulls the public into trusting it to provide everything, takes away the people’s means of providing for themselves, and then claims it has no duty to provide after all. Noting the fatal irony in the “gun control” context, James Bovard has written that “government has a specific, concrete obligation to disarm each citizen, but only an abstract obligation to defend the citizen.” “Gun control;” Bovard notes, “is one of the best examples of laws that corner private citizens—forcing them either to put themselves into danger or to be a lawbreaker.”

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Lake of the Ozarks here, surrounded by hardwood forests and many lanes into the back country that might hold a dope operation.
Not enough deputies...

[not2be4gotten.com]

I remember hearing, for the first time, that the On-star system had the ability to call the police if your airbags deployed.

I thought that the last thing I would want when my airbags deployed would be for the police to show up.

[lapsus calami]

 

government and the police in most localities....in most states the government and police owe no legal duty to protect individual

 

"Most localities", "In most states"? Think the author missed out with that, it's federal. NO locality could absorb the legal liability if they assumed responsibility to protect individuals and their property. Decades of case law explain that in detail -

 

Riss v. City of New York, 22 N.Y.2d 579, 293 NYS2d 897, 240 N.E.2d 860 (N.Y. Ct. of Ap. 1958)

 

Keane v. City of Chicago, 98 Ill. App.2d 460, 240 N.E.2d 321 (1968)

 

Silver v. City of Minneapolis, 170 N.W.2d 206 (S.Ct. Minn. 1969)

 

Simpson's Food Fair v. Evansville, 272 N.E. 2d 871 (Ind.Ct. of Ap. 1971)

 

Sapp v. City of Tallahassee, 348 So.2d 363 (Fla.Ct. of Ap. 1977)

 

Weutrich v. Delia, 155 N.J. Super 324, 326, 382 A.2d 929, 930 (1978)

 

Chapman v. City of Philadelphia, 434 A.2d 753 (Sup.Ct. Penn. 1981)

 

Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. Ct. of Ap., 1981)

 

Davidson v. City of Westminster, 32 C.3d 197, 185 Cal.Rptr. 252, 649 P.2d 894 (S.Ct. Cal. 1982)

 

Bowers v. DeVito, 686 F.2d 61 (7th Cir. 1982)

 

Morgan v. District of Columbia, 468 A.2d 1306 (D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1983)

 

Morris v. Musser, 478 A.2d 937 (1984)

 

Calogrides v. City of Mobile, 475 So.2d 560 (S.Ct. A;a. 1985)

 

[shankbear]

I say dial 1911 in .45acp.

[Ditter]

I have a panic alarm through my burglar alarm company. I pushed it by accident a while back. I had 2 big HPD cops at my door in less than 5 minutes. I was impressed.

[Bryan24]

Dialing 9-1-1 only accelerates the investigation of the crime.

[daler]

Oh, maybe the 9-1-1 caller demanding law enforcement response because McDonald’s was out of chicken nuggets.

[MUDDOG]

That is good. My impression is that the residential security vendors just call the police when you have a problem, so it isn’t much of an advantage over you yourself calling 9-1-1.

[CodeToad]

[FreedomPoster]

>> We put our lives at risk anytime we involve cops in anything.

The way I’ve seen that put here at FR, that I like very much, is this:

There are few situations so bad they can’t be made worse by the addition of a cop.

We see examples of this in the news here at FR almost daily.

[Ditter]

It would have been just as easy for me to dial 911. I was digging through my desk drawer and found a thing that looked like a garage door opener. Without giving it much thought, I pushed the button....... less than 5 or almost immediately the 2 cops were at my door wanted to know what my emergency was. I was so embarrassed and they did not even smile when I admitted I was a moron. Oooppsey! :]

[MUDDOG]

When something similar happened to me, I gave the cop a Ben & Jerry’s gift certificate and thanked him profusely. He didn’t smile either.

[Q-ManRN]

Thank you for the clarification.

[Ditter]

LOL! That was nice of you, I didn’t have anything like that handy. The city did charge me for my mistake.

[skinkinthegrass]

a responsible LEO person (or department) should do that anyways..

[jy8z]

Free people are better off taking responsibility for their own protection.

That is correct. This responsible person trusts S&W and Ruger for the people I care about.

[Vendome]

I dial 911 with a 1 in front of it and voila! 230 grain Jacketed Hollow Points HTP by Hornady dispatch my call for help and turn in agressor into a leaking sieve and a pile of useless meat.

[StaffiT]

Often repeated, but here it is again for the Low Info Boobs:

It’s 3AM, someone is breaking in…

Do you want to wait a Lifetime for the police to clean up and investigate a crime long since commissioned..

Or would you rather be able to defend yourself.

The gun grabbers don’t want you to have that lifesaving option, and make no mistake, they will not rest until the Commonsense Civil Right of self-defense has been eliminated.

[RWB Patriot]

“A Dictator? Why, he makes love to beautiful women, drinks champagne, enjoys life and never works. He makes speeches to the people promising them plenty, gives them nothing and takes everything. *That’s* a Dictator.”

Mr. Ixnay, “You Natzy Spy”

Sound familiar?

[FBD]

good article, and an eye opener for the liberals...if they would actually read it.