reply to post by ParkerCramer
The constitution was not violated. Why did they bring out the tank? Well I don't know if it was a tank, APC, or other armored vehicle. The SWAT team
brought it because they were told a woman was baricaded in a dwelling with a minor child, and fired at police. They wanted to be able to get as close
as possible with minimal risk to the responding officers.
How are the police supposed to know the back story on every warrant? When a warrant comes in it has allready went through some investigative arm. The
patrol guys that get them are usually so swamped with other duties that they have to trust the investigating person or agency. They do not have time
to go reinvestigate the issue. If a cop is handed a warrant that says, arrest person x for endangerment of a minor child and with holding vital
medical treatment, that is all they know. They react to that information because they reasonably believe the investigator did their job.
In this case it seems the investigator didn't do their job very well. That is not the responding officer's fault. He was attempting to help a minor
he believed to be in danger. He encountered a barricade situation with possible hostages. He then heard what he believed to be a gun shot. He called
in superior support to attempt a rescue of the minor child and anyone else that may have been there.
Trust me when it was all over he probably felt pretty bad. I know people hate to hear it but most cops are trying their best to uphold order and
protect people. I have began a project that allows me to work side by side with cops 48 hours a week. The men and women I have worked with are no
different than you or me. They have just taken the initiative to try to help others by enforcing the rules. Many of them use "officer discretion" to
actually avoid enforcing certain rules unless it would pose a potential risk to others.
Are there cops with control issues? Yes, I have ran in to them else where. Are there crooked cops? Yes, just read Serpico. Is the average cop a jack
booted thug attempting to rip up the constitution while taking bribes? Nope, not even close.
Now, I come down on both sides of matters involving cops here and in real life. You can read my other posts about cops on this site and see for
yourself how I feel.
I do understand though that the average patrol cop in a place like detroit probably responds to 4 or more calls an hour on a slow day. He does not
have the time to reinvestigate a case that has allready been investigated. He must rely on others to do their job properly. If he is serving a warant
and feels his life is in danger, he will call for back up. If he feels that the life of another is in danger and his acting alone would make that
worse he will call for people that can respond apropriately.
We may not like it every time it happens. The truth is though, most of the time you don't hear about it because they get the right drug dealer, gang
banger, gun runner, or what have you.