The official "Ask a cop/deputy anything!" thread

[Fly320s]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

There's a shooting/killing nearly every night here in central florida in the morning paper. Is that normal nowadays?

What goes on overnight that most of us sleeping are unaware of?

Do you think home alarms should be set every night?

Stupid people doing stupid shit. Sometimes it escalates.

Yes, set your alarm. Why have it if you don't use it?

[Esteban]

I don't have a home alarm but I want to get one. Been in my home 31 years this December. Nice, quiet neighborhood but bad shit happens everywhere.

[bayarea328xit]

LA homeowner shoots, kills armed burglar after he and his wife hear footsteps overnight: deputies

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said a Walnut resident shot and killed an armed burglary suspect after he and his wife heard footsteps overnight.

Link

It will be interesting to see what happens (if anything) with the homeowner (shooter).

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

You are observing a culture shift where good cops no longer want to put themselves at risk and are choosing to preserve and safeguard their livelihood over the objective that made the large majority of us enter this profession in the first place (…e.g….taking bad guys to jail). When you don't feel supported, morale suffers. When morale suffers, you do the bare minimum or little to nothing at all. When you do the bare minimum, complacency sets in and you simply stop caring. When you stop caring, buoyed by laws that are too lax/pro-criminal, the community suffers as criminals run amuck. It has become a lawless free-for-all in every blue state/city in the union.

I witnessed this first hand last week.

I was in the loading dock at work which is in scummy downtown Seattle alley. Always reeks of piss and shit. Across from me on the other side of the alley was a doorway with some junkie zombie camped out. I see an SPD officer walking up the alley just as this guy pulls out his pipe. I'm thinking "we'll this should be interesting." No shit, the guy is actively holding the lighter under some tinfoil and sucking up the smoke though his glass pipe as the office walks past him. To my shock she asks him how he's doing and if he's OK, then continues on her merry way. WTF?!

I can't imagine how mentally beat down and unsupported you have to be as an officer to do that. It's crazy to me.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

I witnessed this first hand last week.

I was in the loading dock at work which is in scummy downtown Seattle alley. Always reeks of piss and shit. Across from me on the other side of the alley was a doorway with some junkie zombie camped out. I see an SPD officer walking up the alley just as this guy pulls out his pipe. I'm thinking "we'll this should be interesting." No shit, the guy is actively holding the lighter under some tinfoil and sucking up the smoke though his glass pipe as the office walks past him. To my shock she asks him how he's doing and if he's OK, then continues on her merry way. WTF?!

I can't imagine how mentally beat down and unsupported you have to be as an officer to do that. It's crazy to me.

It's a pointless endeavor to arrest for meth/crack, especially when you have cities in my state handing out pipes and Narcan.

[Esteban]

Does the Sheriff's Department recommend any particular home alarm system?

How about you, Sedan_Clan? Which one do you think is best?

[Jklotz]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

It's a pointless endeavor to arrest for meth/crack, especially when you have cities in my state handing out pipes and Narcan.

Narcan I can understand. It can save lives. But pipes? They hand out drug paraphernalia? Man, that is nuts. What city is that if you don't mind me asking?

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Does the Sheriff's Department recommend any particular home alarm system?

How about you, Sedan_Clan? Which one do you think is best?

I don't have a preference personally, but any of the well known companies will do. Add some CCTV cameras and you're set.

Originally Posted by Jklotz

Narcan I can understand. It can save lives. But pipes? They hand out drug paraphernalia? Man, that is nuts. What city is that if you don't mind me asking?

https://nypost.com/2022/05/12/crack-...en-report/amp/

https://thenationaldesk.com/amp/news...ocaine-crystal

This one flew under the radar, so I'm not surprised you didn't hear about this when it was first revealed. Biden's administration later backtracked, but people weren't fooled. It's about as stupid as cities paying money to criminals in exchange for choosing not to murder/assault people (…as if that would truly be effective)….


….yet, that's what liberal politicians put in place in some liberal cities like San Francisco, California.

P.S. Seattle tried the crack pipe approach in 2015 too.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...0NZ11U20150514

[Dang3r]

Just out of curiosity and because some movies or TV shows are triggering my question... If some cops are appearing to a person with drawn guns aiming at it and told them to lie down with face down and the person refuse it and is obviously unarmed; do you guys are really shot the person down or do you use a taser instead to a temp disable or what other options except of lethal force?

[Jklotz]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I don't have a preference personally, but any of the well known companies will do. Add some CCTV cameras and you're set.



https://nypost.com/2022/05/12/crack-...en-report/amp/

https://thenationaldesk.com/amp/news...ocaine-crystal

This one flew under the radar, so I'm not surprised you didn't hear about this when it was first revealed. Biden's administration later backtracked, but people weren't fooled. It's about as stupid as cities paying money to criminals in exchange for choosing not to murder/assault people (…as if that would truly be effective)….


….yet, that's what liberal politicians put in place in some liberal cities like San Francisco, California.

P.S. Seattle tried the crack pipe approach in 2015 too.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...0NZ11U20150514

That is absolutely preposterous.

Reminds me of a joke I heard:

How to win the war on drugs in 2 easy steps:

Step 1: Legalize ALL drugs

Step 2: You have to go through Comcast customer service to get them

[Murf the Surf]

Originally Posted by Jklotz

That is absolutely preposterous.

Reminds me of a joke I heard:

How to win the war on drugs in 2 easy steps:

Step 1: Legalize ALL drugs

Step 2: You have to go through Comcast customer service to get them

Toronto has "safe injection sites", the crime rate is through the roof in the surrounding neighbourhoods, the folks that live there and some are in well off communities are pissed off, human waste everywhere, dirty needles everywhere, can't take their kids to the park or school yard. Street crime and drug dealing and what does the city want as the next step, decriminalize all drugs. What could possibly go wrong? I grew up and lived in Toronto for much of my life, I liked living in the city but I am so glad I'm a 2 1/2 hour drive away in the country now.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...rime-1.5232876

[paquet]

Originally Posted by Murf the Surf

Toronto has "safe injection sites", the crime rate is through the roof in the surrounding neighbourhoods, the folks that live there and some are in well off communities are pissed off, human waste everywhere, dirty needles everywhere, can't take their kids to the park or school yard. Street crime and drug dealing and what does the city want as the next step, decriminalize all drugs. What could possibly go wrong? I grew up and lived in Toronto for much of my life, I liked living in the city but I am so glad I'm a 2 1/2 hour drive away in the country now.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...rime-1.5232876

Damn - I wasn't aware things were that bad in Toronto.
I recall Vancouver trying that safe injection site (nonsense, I call it) - with the same issues - crime up, needle litter etc.
What's that definition of madness again - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...

[Murf the Surf]

Originally Posted by packet

Damn - I wasn't aware things were that bad in Toronto.
I recall Vancouver trying that safe injection site (nonsense, I call it) - with the same issues - crime up, needle litter etc.
What's that definition of madness again - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...

Toronto has been going down this path for a very long time, it just seems to be picking up speed in it's race to absurdity.

[paquet]

I believe you. You and Sedan_Clan see the entire spectrum of human behaviour.
Apparently now violent car-jackings are 'normal' too - saw that news item about some hockey player kid getting his range rover stolen.

PS: Not trying to suck up, just genuine appreciation this morning from north of Toronto where I accept my limitations on dealing with people (as I try to move about on 2 hours of sleep, and coffee) - which in turn makes me appreciate how you folks deal with that shit day in and day out, while being berated by the populace etc (saw that post above about the SPD)

[Jklotz]

We've got 3 - 4 shootings a week here (lot's of gunplay), insane lawlessness, a constant parade of dodge chargers with no muffler blaring rap, car jackings, etc, but jeez, a government mandated junkie free for all zone? Man, that is crazy!

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Dang3r

Just out of curiosity and because some movies or TV shows are triggering my question... If some cops are appearing to a person with drawn guns aiming at it and told them to lie down with face down and the person refuse it and is obviously unarmed; do you guys are really shot the person down or do you use a taser instead to a temp disable or what other options except of lethal force?

We don't just go around shooting people. If the person isn't armed we would use a less lethal munition (…40mm projectile, pepper ball, bean bag shotgun round, etc.). If the person is armed with a firearm then we stay the course and hope he/she doesn't raise that firearm in anybody's direction. At some point compliance is necessary, but often the person ends up shot because they point the firearm at someone.

[Murf the Surf]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

We don't just go around shooting people. If the person isn't armed we would use a less lethal munition (…40mm projectile, pepper ball, bean bag shotgun round, etc.). If the person is armed with a firearm then we stay the course and hope he/she doesn't raise that firearm in anybody's direction. At some point compliance is necessary, but often the person ends up shot because they point the firearm at someone.

The gun point arrest dilemma. Canada has less firearms on the street than the US, however we do come across them. We would often get criticism for gun point arrests of people that weren't armed or didn't appear to be armed. The problem is if you have your firearm out and on target you have the advantage. Action is quicker than reaction. I've gun pointed people and they just run....that sucks, certainly less lethal options fill the gap, I wish we had more of them when I was on the road. Every time we drew our pistol we were required to fill out a Use of Force report, not the end of the world but a pain in the ass and came about as a result of complaints that we did it too often.

Retirement is good.

[Jklotz]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

We don't just go around shooting people. If the person isn't armed we would use a less lethal munition (…40mm projectile, pepper ball, bean bag shotgun round, etc.). If the person is armed with a firearm then we stay the course and hope he/she doesn't raise that firearm in anybody's direction. At some point compliance is necessary, but often the person ends up shot because they point the firearm at someone.

To me, the scary part of that (other than the obvious) is you have a split second to make that decision. And it had better be the right one or your career is over. Plus the people you are dealing with are most likely high on God knows what, and I'd imagine highly unpredictable. Glad you guys are out dealing with that so the rest of us don't have to.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Jklotz

To me, the scary part of that (other than the obvious) is you have a split second to make that decision. And it had better be the right one or your career is over. Plus the people you are dealing with are most likely high on God knows what, and I'd imagine highly unpredictable. Glad you guys are out dealing with that so the rest of us don't have to.

…and that is why community support is so critical. Everything seems easy & simple in hindsight (….and with CCTV footage played at a snail's pace), but in the moment you have milliseconds to make a decision. The time it requires to blink your eyes once is about all the time you have.

[erickonphoenix]

Originally Posted by Jklotz

We've got 3 - 4 shootings a week here (lot's of gunplay), insane lawlessness, a constant parade of dodge chargers with no muffler blaring rap, car jackings, etc, but jeez, a government mandated junkie free for all zone? Man, that is crazy!

Sounds like Houston lol

Seriously, there's a task force out trying to police the youTuber's around here shutting down intersections to film donuts at 2 am. But from my balcony on the corner of Montrose and Midtown I can hear them going at it all night. That is one thing that's changed, when I was a yut we tried to avoid drawing police attention when we were hooning around town.

[Dang3r]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

We don't just go around shooting people. If the person isn't armed we would use a less lethal munition (…40mm projectile, pepper ball, bean bag shotgun round, etc.). If the person is armed with a firearm then we stay the course and hope he/she doesn't raise that firearm in anybody's direction. At some point compliance is necessary, but often the person ends up shot because they point the firearm at someone.

Just to clear this up: I'd written intentionally unarmed, because I wanted to know your reactions, a possible hidden or just pulled weapon is triggering some certain action with no doubt
Thinking about a situation where an unarmed foreigner got yelled by the cops to lay down for some reasons and shouting back to get the reason why and refuse this has a very small comedy into it.

[Murf the Surf]

Originally Posted by Dang3r

Just to clear this up: I'd written intentionally unarmed, because I wanted to know your reactions, a possible hidden or just pulled weapon is triggering some certain action with no doubt
Thinking about a situation where an unarmed foreigner got yelled by the cops to lay down for some reasons and shouting back to get the reason why and refuse this has a very small comedy into it.

I was working in downtown Toronto in the early 2000's and got a call for a man with a gun on Yonge St. near Gould, I was right there and don't we see the suspect running on the sidewalk, I pulled the Scout Car right up on the sidewalk and my partner and I got out and were making a gun point arrest, lights on, other officers responding lights and sirens, lots of noise etc. This was early afternoon on a sunny warm weekday. I kid you not a couple of tourists walk right down the sidewalk directly between us and the suspect, we are just getting ready to approach him, yelling commands at him and this couple just stands right in the middle of it. People do the strangest things. It's also not uncommon in Canada for people to ask why your pointing guns at them and then there is also every single "citizen journalist" who will get right in the middle to film with their phone.