[Peace-discuss] re Police response in Garden Hills -- A bull horn would have been better than bullets

Sun Jul 8 20:12:21 CDT 2007

I attended a CU Citizens meeting yesterday and one of the participants has
been in contact with Ms. Davis.  The police shot into the house when there
were innocent bystanders both inside and outside - a window was shattered
and when the officers entered the home they ransacked her belongings
including dumping the contents of the refrigerator on to the floor. 

One of the questions asked by another participant is why did the police not
treat this as a hostage situation and bring someone out to mediate the
situation. This is a good question and it would be interesting to see what
protocol is established in this matter. 

  _____  

From: Jenifer Cartwright [mailto:jencart7 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 4:10 PM
To: John W.; Marti; peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net; 'CU at yahoo.com
Subject: [Peace-discuss] re Police response in Garden Hills -- A bull horn
would have been better than bullets

John W. asked me 2 questions --

<If you wouldn't or couldn't do any better in the officers' position (which
implies that you would have had their training, etc.), how can you expect
better of them...

We humans are individuals w/ vastly different talents, temperments and
interests. Ideally we choose/train for-/and work in careers/professions that
are a good fit for us and avoid those that aren't. Society needs our various
and specialized contributions, so it's an advantage that we are not
interchangeable cogs. We all strive for excellence working in our chosen
fields, and we expect and are entitled to excellence from others working in
theirs... We don't take it for granted that this will always be forthcoming
without some vigilance on our part, whether we're asking friends to
recommend doctors, teachers, roofers, or restaurants... or voicing concerns
when we feel we've been short-changed.  By the same token, we all continue
to admire, appreciate, and pass on information about a job well done...

All professions require expertise, intelligence, and dedication, but some
require all that and more... Some professions (police work, in this case)
also demand great courage, and -- in the face of unpredictable/life and
death situations -- the ability to remain calm and rational, to think and
act decisively and wisely (sometimes within a fraction of a second), to use
authority respectfully, to choose and use tools (weapons and others)
appropriately. 

Police work is work meant for an exceptional few -- most of us (myself
included) could not begin to provide services of this quality, nor do we
want to live in a society without them. We do nevertheless need, deserve,
and support (with our hearts and minds, as well as our tax dollars!) an
outstanding police force, and -- beyond roofers and restaurants -- we also
have an obligation to be vigilant, and to do what we can to enable the
exceptional men and women who provide this necessary service for us to
perform at the very highest possible level.

<What should they have done differently?

Hmmm... what should the police have done instead of blindly shooting at- and
into a building where the suspect was not in sight, but 2 occupants were in
full view on the porch and more were known to be present inside... Well, it
occurred to me that (while other officers ran to cover the exits) one
officer could have grabbed a bull horn and warned the occupants that an
armed and dangerous man had entered their house... and then told the suspect
that the police had him surrounded and that his best bet was to surrender
his weapon and exit the house... 

But that's just off the top of my head -- I'm not knowledgeable about the
various prodecures, tools, and options at the officers' disposal. And
although I'm very grateful for- and respectful of- those on the force -- and
aware of and extremely sympathetic about the challenges they face -- I do
think their performance that night in Garden Hills was dangerous and rash
and should not be repeated... and that the community should be reaassured
that things will be better. So in the first place, I think Capt Finney
should have acknowledged that his officers' performance would be reviewed,
assured the community that it would be addressed as necessary because the
police are committed to their protection and safety. After that, he should
have met with/reprimanded his staff and suggested other/better responses to
be used when encountering these and other likely (and unlikely) situations
in the future. (I assume staff training is on-going, so this would have been
a special session.) 

Jenifer

"John W." <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:

This comment is interesting.  I admire your honesty, Jen, but it raises an
important question.  If you wouldn't or couldn't do any better in the
officers' position (which implies that you would have had their training,
etc.), how can you expect better of them, and what should they have done
differently?

Having been a firefighter for 16 years, I speak from some personal
experience.  Making quick decisions with insufficient information while
under intense pressure is far from simple or formulaic.  Hindsight is
sometimes 20/20 (not always), but one does not have the luxury of hindsight
while in the midst of the emergency situation.

And yes, police officers are trained that, if they draw their weapon they
should be prepared to use it, and they should shoot to kill.  They shoot for
the trunk, and more specifically for the area of the heart.

You raise some excellent points, though - it's hard to shoot to kill if you
can't clearly see the target, or if other things intervene between yourself
and the target.  If I'm not mistaken, police officers are also trained to
NOT shoot in situations where there are a number of innocent bystanders
present.  So the police may indeed have made some significant mistakes in
how they handled the situation.  It'll be interesting to see what other
information comes out.

John Wason

At 08:33 PM 7/3/2007, Jenifer Cartwright wrote:

Thanks for sending this Marti -- I'd missed this one entirely -- and Thanks,
News Gazette for getting the headline (and story!) right -- Resident Rips
Police for Shooting Into House. This was outrageous!!!. I can't believe the
Chief of Police is defending such sloppy and dangerous police work! Randomly
shooting into the house had every chance of hurting or killing someone
innocent, and almost no chance of hitting their intended target!! (It's
another question as to whether or not the police should have been shooting
at the man at that point anyway, before at least warning him. I think I
heard/read a local officer's statement that they're trained to - and  always
shoot to kill, that they don't do the Roy Rogers thing and try to wing the
guy, shoot his leg to stop him, or shoot out his tires, etc, and that's a
scary thing, if I got it right.) 

I caught city council mtg last week (I think) on TV. Several officers
presented information on increased patrol in certain areas of town, and it
sounded reasonable and appropriate to me, something that residents would
appreciate having, something that would increase their safety and
well-being, which is what we all want (and which most of us on this list are
fortunate to have). I am still persuaded that the plans were and are
reasonable and appropriate. 

But if this is the way officers handle situations that make it necessary to
have increased police presence -- and worst of all -- if Capt Finney is
going to defend THIS case as reasonable and appropriate behavior, I've got a
HUGE problem w/ it. Would I do any better if I were in the officers
position? No. Do I expect better from them and their supervisors? Yes. 

Jenifer

Marti <tvchick at insightbb.com> wrote:

Recently residents of the Garden Hills subdivision received a letter in the
mail regarding the increased amount of police activity which would be taking
place.  This was done with the 'good' of the residents in mind.  One of the
results of this increased patrolling is the story below.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2007/06/29/resident_rips_police_over_
shots_into 

According to the resident of this house the man who ran into her place was
not firing his gun at the moment, yet police officers maintained open fire
and caused damage to the property.  Now if I decided to damage the property
of my neighbors they would be well within their rights to charge me with
vandalism, yet our police chief defended the actions of his officers when
they caused damage to someone's house.

I wonder if the City of Champaign will pay for the repairs in this instance.
At this point that would be the proper thing to do. 

Peace, Marti 

  _____  

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