Posted on 01/14/2003 3:51:10 PM PST by tarawa
It depends on how the apartments are identified. If that is his actual address (and only his), then it's wrong. If that is the address of the complex, then no one knows which apartment is his. (We know there are at least eight--and most likely at least 8 more, since he's described as living in a "wing").
If that address actually identifies his apartment, it would also be an invitation for burglary, since they've already announced that he is unarmed :)
(On the bright side, if that is the case, maybe he can sue the paper for enough money to buy a new gun to replace the one he'll never see again :)
Your response makes my argument. It is dripping with the resentment of responsible citizens merely expressing an opinion. Good job deputy!
What I do for a living is really none of your business but I'll tell you anyway. I am NOT a Monday morning quarterback; I do this seven days a week IN ADDITION to running my own business! Which brings up another subject - overtaxation to support unnecessary SWAT teams in every little town.
I do not think for a moment that being a cop is easy, nor do I disrespect the vast majority of LEOs. I suspect the same percentage of good guys and bad guys are in law enforcement as in the general public.
Maybe he thought he'd be more likely to avoid charges and would be able to get his gun back in a little while.
LOL, believe me, I won't. I wasn't planning to buy a ready-made Dell until a year ago, when I started building a computer for a friend who is new to PCs. I thought it would be just as easy and money-saving as it's always been before. Oh, man, did I find out how wrong that was! I got it done for him, but my hair is now white and I'm shopping around for a nursing home to check into, LOLOL! Dell does an incredibly good job for the money and their packages offer sufficient flexibility in power/price/features options. The one I selected needed serious cooling, so I expected it to be loud. I was amazed to discover that it was whisper quiet. No regrets!
”When I was young and in high school I witnessed my high school literature teacher take a switchblade out of the hand of a local punk at a school dance.” you witnessed an act of foolishness.
”Your response makes my argument. It is dripping with the resentment of responsible citizens merely expressing an opinion. Good job deputy!” more like dripping with the resentment of a particular “business owner” who, from the comfort of his own office/house presumes to know better how to take down a “drug crazed” teenager wielding a knife. Great work Montana.
I agree with your stance on over taxation for unnecessary S.W.A.T. or S.R.T. teams. Hell I’d like to take it a step further and put some more money back in your pocket by doing away with the D.E.A. completely, however don’t pretend that were it you in an intense life or death situation facing a enraged knife wielding individual that you would one, be able to determine whether the blade on his knife was sharp, and two, handled it any better then those officers did.
I'm going to back up a little bit here and say that my original comment that started this discussion was an off-handed remark relating an incident that I am very familiar with and I did not provide the reader enough information. It was stated strictly in reference to the absurd article about the SWAT team and the man who wanted to shoot his computer with a pellet gun. If my reference to JBTs offends you, I am sorry. Your willingness to communicate your thoughts to me indicates that you are probably not one. However, in my humble opinion and experience, they do exist, probably a very small minority. The problem as I see it, particularly in small towns beyond the suburbs is that regular police officers do double duty as SWAT team officers. In other words, if a town of six to eight thousand deems it appropriate to have 12 to 15 uniformed officers, eight to ten of them will have had SWAT team training. This training leads to the use of excessive force in situations that often don't require it, i.e. more domestic situations ending with a body bag. The incident I made reference to involved just such an officer. He had just undergone SWAT team training and was responding to a complaint about a party. Now a teenager is shot dead in his mother's kitchen with a butter knife in hand. Blood tests showed alcohol and a small amount of THC. He was not an ecstasy crazed gang-banger, probably what I would refer to as a bonehead, not a kid who deserved to be executed. This is not a high crime or heavy drug trafficing area like the Florida Keys.
Your comment "you witnessed an act of foolishness" really puzzles me. This incident was one of the most impressive acts of courage I've ever witnessed. This milquetoast literature teacher won the respect of a score of students who witnessed and within hours, the respect of 99.9% of the school body and the community. Would a bloodbath have been more appropriate? Again, this was a small time, small town punk, not a hardened criminal and it may have been a turning point in his life because by the time he was 22 or 23 he was a productive law abiding citizen. I'm a realist, not an idealist. I judge by results, not by intentions. I expect common sense to be displayed by my family, by my friends and acquaintances and most importantly, by public officials and those in positions of authority and it's not who's right, it's what's right that is important to me. I could go on and on with stories of personal experience as well as those I have taken the time to investigate, but I won't.
I agree with your final paragraph wholeheartedly and I can see you are a thoughtful, intelligent professional. I sincerely hope it was just my comment that annoyed you and that you don't have a chip on your shoulder or an axe to grind with the public in general.
”The problem as I see it, particularly in small towns beyond the suburbs is that regular police officers do double duty as SWAT team officers. In other words, if a town of six to eight thousand deems it appropriate to have 12 to 15 uniformed officers, eight to ten of them will have had SWAT team training. This training leads to the use of excessive force in situations that often don't require it, i.e. more domestic situations ending with a body bag.”I agree that having half of your department as S.W.A.T. members is a bit ridiculous, although I stress different reasons for it’s absurdity. I don’t agree with the portion of your quote that I’ve stressed in bold. I don’t think it’s S.W.A.T. training that incites the use of excessive force in situations domestic or non. In fact I think the exact opposite. It’s idiot officers full of testosterone who haven’t been educated or trained enough that escalate these molehills into mountains.
”Your comment "you witnessed an act of foolishness" really puzzles me. This incident was one of the most impressive acts of courage I've ever witnessed.” Many brave acts when looked back on can be considered foolish, however I realize that I’ve been a bit hypocritical. I’ve been razzing you about being a Monday morning quarterback, when it appears I’m doing the same thing. I wasn’t in class with you when your teacher disarmed that student, I don’t know the facts nor do I know her options at the time. I apologize for my hypocrisy.
”I sincerely hope it was just my comment that annoyed you and that you don't have a chip on your shoulder or an axe to grind with the public in general” No chips or axes here. I can best sum it up like this. I would be angry if you called my sister ugly, although I can call her ugly all I want because she’s my sister. Along the same lines I get disturbed when people who are not in Law Enforcement, or have no Law Enforcement experience, criticize officers who handled intense situations in a different manner then these people think best, especially when they’re able to examine the whole incident from the comfort of their easy chair, while having all the facts after the matter. Not that some officers don’t make mistakes, and I understand that a mistake made by an incompetent officer may cost someone their life, it’s just that if these people who criticize think they can do such a better job, then they need to come help us out and do it. My suggestion to you is to run for Sheriff, that way you can keep your business, maintain a good amount of income, and learn exactly what I’m talking about.
By way of introduction I will tell you a few things about myself. "Sitting in the comfort of my office/house" (paraphrasing) Not so! I've been in construction most of my life and self-employed through most of that. Don't confuse me for a yuppie computer geek. I have always worked very long hours, bundled up on sub-zero mornings, going off to play foreman, carpenter, engineer, sales rep, purchasing agent, shipping and receiving clerk, father confessor and child psychologist for my hired help, teacher, mentor and drill sargeant, payroll clerk, accountant/bookkeeper and janitor. If you divide my annual income by the hours, I don't make much money. I drive a twenty year old truck that in the want ads would be described as "good runner" and look like Joe Six Pack on his way to work at 7 a.m. and look 10 years older at 5 p.m. By the time I pay the insurance, the accountants, the taxes and for many years, child support, I was left with 23 cents on the dollar to support myself and my second family. I have seen death, maimings, limbs lost (in a profession that is statistically more dangerous than police work). It isn't a threatening job but it is a dangerous one. Most injuries are accidents or due to someone elses carelessness. I've had 15 broken bones including a fractured skull and a broken neck and over 300 stitches and can still tear the a$$ out of a grizzly bear with my bare hands if I have to, but I have had to take it down a notch since I'm well over 50.
I understand the point you're trying to make about the training and I do not disagree in total. My experience with apprentices is that some of them get it and some of them don't. No amount of training can turn those that don't get or don't want to get it into qualified journeymen. Your comments on testosterone were well taken.
It sounds to me like you don't want your rank and file held accountable after the fact. It's pretty hard to hold them accountable before the fact. I have never yet in my business not been held accountable for the quality of the work and the schedule deadlines as well as for the government regulations(IRS, OSHA, state, etc.). I could say OSHA was a Monday morning quarterback and you better believe they will hold me accountable after an accident, along with the insurance company. There are now so many laws and regulations it's like tiptoeing through a mine field to do anything, not just work. People who have owed me as much as $50 - 60,000 at the end of a big remodel job, while I've mortgaged my home to the hilt to meet payroll and pay taxes as well as eat and have gas to get to work, will hold a partial payment over my head while going over the house with a fine tooth comb looking for any flaws that they can hold my toes to the fire for. That's life! It's he!! out there, not just for cops but for everyone who takes any sort of a risk. If we as citizens and professionals and businessmen don't want to be held accountable we should go to work for Wal-Mart. So there you have it. The truth according to Ches.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.