Posted on 01/12/2008 7:03:54 AM PST by freemike
The Colorado sheriff who dispatched a SWAT team to break into a family's home, hold them at gunpoint and take custody of an 11-year-old boy for a medical exam sought by Social Services is defending the actions, saying the boy's father told officers to "bring an army" if they returned.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
‘And a lot of FReepers have selective outrage — one moment baying for the painful deaths of parents who kill their kids, and the next chiming in on threads like this one, proclaiming the evilness of cops or social service types who violate the absolute sanctity of parents to do as they like inside their home.’
If the sheriff had acted reasonable I would not have an issue with him I would instead focus on the out of bounds paramedic and judge. The Sheriff did not act reasonable.
The reports explain that he didn’t have the money to pay for treatment he didn’t think was necessary, and was afraid that any real examination would cost him money he didn’t have.
And yet, in this story, the police came to a house, and forcibly took a boy against his will away from his family, and dragged him off to a hospital against his will, subjected him to an examination against his will.
And remember, this child did not commit a crime. In fact, all this was done to him against his will “for his own good”.
Sure looks like government thinks they own our children.
from the one of the aritcles: Now I'm hunting for lawyers that will take the case … I'm going to sue everybody whose name was on that page right down to the judge," he said.
Oh, goody....a lawsuit.
Of course the authority would take the word of others who work for the authority over the person who homeschools his kid.
That’s probably why it was easy for them to get a warrant to steal the child against his will from the parents, even though there was no indication that ANYBODY had committed a crime.
They are eventually going to be internal paramilitary forces, as our regular armies are going to be absorbed into a global UN army, if the UN globalists are able to implement Public Law 87-297 (State Dept Pub 7277 from 1961).
http://www.hourofthetime.com/7277.htm
“Why do SWAT teams demonstrate such striking similarities in tactics, lack of good judgment, brute force, terrorizing citizens, and blatant disregard for liberty anywhere in the country?”
Things should improve in the future. Blackwater is setting up training facilities all over the country so you should see kinder and gentler SWAT teams coming to a location near you. :)
“No this guy is a Law EnFORCEment officer.”
You made the distinction nicely. Good on you.
I smell a rat here. WHO at every point escalated this situation? The father who now sees dollar signs.
Now if you saw a kid tumble, say head first over the handlebars of a bike, with no head protection for example, wouldn’t YOU be concerned if the parents didn’t seem to be seeking medical help?”
I did that more than once as a kid and my parents and myself were quite capable of determining if I needed “pro” medical help.
At the time, MOST parents were capable of determining if an injury was minor or serious.
Nowadays, if a kid has a runny nose or a scratch,off to the emergency room.
Why couldn’t the sheriff have taken the father’s word that he knew what he was doing?
The father had every right to refuse medical treatment (that he would have been billed for) if he determined his son did not need it.I suspect it was more on the part of social services and the sheriff of “How dare he tell us no”.
Do they have no insurance for their car? Does it not cover this? Insurance is essential to being a good provider, but if he doesn’t have it NO ER will refuse treatment. Medicaid is available as well.
But NOW he’s willing to take money in a lawsuit. Not shy of that is he.
True. But you are ruined in the process. When I had a Heart Attack the Ambulance cost was $500 for transport 3 miles to the ER. The ER, Testing, Surgery and Recovery totaled just shy of a million. I was a new hire 5 weeks short of medical insurance. Most of those Bills were written off in the Bankruptcy I was forced into. I have spent years trying to rebuild my credit from it.
Is this what you want for this family? To force them into Bankruptcy? Do the new Bankruptcy laws even allow Medical Expenses to be included?
That really stinks. But you didn’t chose to wait five weeks for treatment, YOU got help. This father wouldn’t even sign off his child with the medics. A simple thing to do.
Our agency provides free transport, a true blessing to our patients.
May God bless you with wealth and success and good health from here on out. I wish you well.
>>From the first article,I had the impression that they showed up with the SWAT team as a first resort.
I have to say - I didn’t see any obvious “tells” that there was more here - other than the source being WND.
In retrospect, I should have seen the story was a little too self serving to the only side that was quoted.
I dont blame the Sheriff here, he did what he had to do to protect his own folks.”
You know you’re full of crap, don’t you?
“Between 10 and 11 … a sheriff came to the door. My husband spoke with him and answered all his questions. The sheriff then said if Tom would just let him speak with Jonathan this whole matter would be closed,” Tina Shiflett wrote.
“Tom said, ‘You are saying if I let you speak to Jonathan this whole matter will be closed?’ Then Tom called for Jonathan to come to the window,” she said.
“As soon as Jonathan was visible to the sheriff, a SWAT team appeared shining lights on Jon’s face and others were bashing at the door with a ramming device.”
The sheriff had a perfect chance to observe and question the boy and decide for himself if sterner measures were needed.
He could have held off the swat while he talked to the boy and if it was needed, signaled with the ultra secret sheriff sign to break in and subdue the perps.
That last sentence was for all you police state lovers.
"Who in the world puts a stipulation on how adequate a person is to care for an injury?" Shiflett asked.
FreePress article County seizes son for medical care
Snip
Ross Talbott, who owns the Apple Tree Mobile Home Park and rents to Shiflett, said, "I thought it was an incredibly stupid power move by people who went in there misinformed and ill-informed. I think they violated their personal rights, their constitutional rights and their rights to family."
Talbott also writes a freelance column for the Post Independent.
"I've been (Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario's) longtime supporter, but I tell you what, to send a SWAT team down there was just absolutely over the hill," he said. "Inappropriate is not nearly strong enough a word. It was gross irresponsibility and stupidity. ... Is this Russia? I don't know what we're coming to when they think your kid needs medical help and they send a SWAT team."
Snip
A first responder with West Care Ambulance wrote in an affidavit that she and others in an ambulance crew also believed the boy needed medical treatment.
The responder wrote that paramedics left the residence for fear of their safety after Tom Shiflett refused to let them treat his son and became "verbally abusive" to the ambulance crew.
But Talbott said he was there when paramedics responded, and that Shiflett was not yelling or acting abusive. He only asked them to leave, Talbott said, and paramedics were in fact acting belligerent.
Interesting how the trailer park owner's veiw conincides with the families and not with the paramedics?
We thought we were lucky because we had insurance. Let me tell you, they fought that ambulance bill tooth and nail. It's my understanding that they fight all transport bills as standard operating procedure.
>>The social workers were allowed to see the boy, and he was taken out of a tub to be shown to the deputies at a window.<<
I’m not saying the order for medical care was valid.
But once that order was given to the the police, I’m not surprised they escalated until they fulfilled the order.
In Georgia, for example, it is ridiculously easy to get an order to commit someone - you need two witnesses to tell a judge they heard the person say something that indicated he was thinking of harming himself.
I know of a case where the two witnesses were the separated wife in the middle of divorce battle and the estranged daughter. Plus the guy was an attorney for the state and completely rational.
It didn’t matter, once the police showed up with the order they called more and more cars and made it clear they would escalate as far as it took to serve the order and take the guy to the hospital. There were almost as many reporters as cops but it still happened.
I’m not saying its right. But I’m saying its normal for the police to escalate to serve an order.
Sluggish pupil? Dear God........they offered to pay for this.......the 62 year old father of an 11 year old child refused? He is fathering a child at age 51 and he can provide NO medical insurance?
RE the Georgia example.........filing a false report like that IS illegal where I live.....and more than likely after talking to an ER doc he would have been discharged immediately.
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