“We had a break-in and we shot him.” Uh, well, no. More like “There’s been a shooting at XXXX. My life was in danger. Please send a police car to XXXX. My name is XXX and I’m wearing XXX.” Then STFU/hang up. Not only can anything you say to the 911 operator be used against you in a court of law but the way you say it can be a problem too (e.g., “I don’t see him getting up [nervous laugh]”). You often get stupid advice too, like “step out of the room.”
“Step out of the room” was meant to get her away from viewing the now ventilated suspect so she can calm down and talk.
The operator didn’t know if the threat was over. How could she? What if there were multiple perps?
Robert is right. Another example. Friend of mine recently had a break in. He armed himself, went downstairs. Called 911. Stayed in living room. 911 operator told him police were coming and to put down his pistol. He said no, perp was in the house. She asked his intention. He said he would shoot if the perp entered the room. Perp heard police arrive, fled the house.
Yeah, make the call and tell them to come then hang up. Real simple. Because if you start to “bond” with the 911 operator you are going to need a high priced attorney. The mere fact we are hearing this tape says even things you don’t remember saying are going to be made public. A civil trial can be just as bad as a criminal one, imagine the perps family taking your house.
And a 911 operator is in no position to tell you to unload a gun, leave a room (or the house) or even stroll out front to face pumped up LE who think a shootout is going on.
Also, hide the dog.
That’s exactly it. “I’m under attack, send help” click.
And always hide your dogs. At least 3 more incidents of puppycide by cops last week. They had to actively chase 2 of the dogs around the house before murdering them on a small-time pot bust. One they shot on the other side of a fence.
Killing the dog(s) has become a standard part of kicking in your door, or even going on a call. Even to the wrong address. Dog nearby, on the other side of a fence? Shoot it. You’ll be ruled to have “followed procedure.”
So, good cops who visit this site, there’s somewhere to start making your co-workers better this week. When dressing out before the shift, share your horror about one of the needless dog executions last week alone, and remind your fellow officers that only complete psychos and pussies shoot dogs that aren’t attacking you.
Up there with dealing with naked high kids, it’s part of the job and killing either one means you’re likely in the wrong line of work.
Rather than hang up, put the phone down so that there will be an audio recording of everything that happens until the police take control of the situation. Although it’s not as good as video, it still helps prove what really happened if the bad guy starts lying.
Unless you guarantee me that every word, let alone nuanced intonation is recorded, I’d rather play “Intruder. Castle Law. Feared for my life. Are we done, or shall I call my attorney?”.
Obviously call ’em as you see ’em, I just personally have my deep doubts that a half-done audio recording will be a potential benefit that outweighs its serious potential downsides. That and I’m worried about my/family life right now, not talking to some 911 flunkie.
“911 – how can I help you?”
“OMG – OMG – I’m out hunting and I just accidentally shot my friend! I think he’s dead!”
“OK sir, please calm down. Now, are you sure your friend’s dead?”
“I … I think so. What should I do?”
“OK, it’s important. I’m going to walk you through this. First, please make sure your friend is dead.”
“Uhhh. Ok” shick-shick BOOM. “Ok, he’s dead. What now?”
LOL………
I was a little confused until I realized there had to be an accompanying media clip with this post. If you’re using the plugin “Ghostery” to keep companies from tracking you from site to site and logging every frickin’ thing you do, you’ll need to disable the blocking for the tracker “Clip Syndicate” in order to play the video. And if you’re not using Ghostery, you might want to seriously consider it. It’s free/FLOSS and works on every browser out there. http://www.ghostery.com
In a related note… 9 trackers on this site? Seriously, RF?!
Read the follow-up story. To add insult to injury, the relatives of the newly ventilated criminal show up at the victims’ house the next day to confront them about why the owner blew away their dear, sweet loser of a dirtbag! Uh, maybe ’cause he’d broken into their home in the wee hours? A whole clan of devil’s rejects there. Too bad they all can’t be made good like this guy was. As to the 911 caller, I’m not gonna armchair quarterback a call like this like some TTAGers. Play that in front of a jury and all twelve will be patting the homeowner on the back, not indicting or convicting.
Don’t use the AR15 with skulls on the receiver for home-defense. Jus sayin’
This is a good point, that’s why I don’t have anything that says zombie on it either.
That 911 operator was doing a pretty good job in my opinion but I do not understand why they are being treated like criminals because they have firearms (make sure your husband isn’t holding one, where are they?” we have them for the same reason the police have them, to protect ourselves. it just rubs me the wrong way.
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