Woman almost shot in a warrantless invasion of her home by police. (Check out the police response.)

[Project Grudge]

The Herald Tribune

Goldsberry was terrified but thinking it just might really be the police. Except, she says she wondered, would police talk that way? She had never been arrested or even come close. She couldn't imagine why police would be there or want to come in. But even if they did, why would they act like that at her apartment? It didn't seem right...More than two dozen officers, maybe more than 30, were bustling around, many in tactical jackets.

It was like nothing he had ever seen.

“It was a Rambo movie,” Dorris said.
---------

Here's the kicker: The cop tasked with talking to the press about the incident said that because she "wasn't arrested or shot" then "She sure shouldn't be going to the press.”

I love how he's intimidating the victim even further after the incident. Classy.

[NYC_SKP]

1. There need to be huge fucking lawsuits when this happens.

Against cities or counties and their police or sheriff's departments.

It's the only thing that would stop this fucked up shit.

That and maybe criminal charges.

Dammit!

[RedCappedBandit]

2. Odd how so many bad apples would be concentrated in one place at the same time.

Incredibly unlikely considering 99% of cops are really just good guys! I guess it was just bad luck.

[Warpy]

3. That damned cop just doesn't get it

Police departments have got to stop treating the innocent like they're frothing at the mouth terrorists. They get these takedowns wrong too many time for them to continue on as they are.

They're going to see public will defunding their deprtments, refusing to pay them wages for oppressing honest citizens. They will have to look to the Feds who militarized them for funding and that is unlikely to be forthcoming as the public mood slowly changes from "slap those other people down" to "my gawd, they're coming after people like us!"

It's going to be a long slow process but this is just not going to last forever. Either the government will change the culture or people will overthrow the government. That is how it's worked throughout history and that is how it will work now.

[Paulie]

10. There are ED-209 prototypes ready to go

[LarryNM]

13. +1 n/t

[Pretzel_Warrior]

4. This shows the problem with police being over amped. Yes, catching a child rapist is a serious thing

but scaring the shit out of regular citizens by having the wrong address? Wrong tip? Bullshit.

On the flip side, this is what everyone here on DU is talking about re: mo' guns mo' problems. This woman came within a hair's breadth of not walking away from this incident because she is so quick to point a gun to solve her fear problems.

[defacto7]

7. Both sides of your response

echo a circle of events that escalate each other. It's a stupid circle each ramping up the other until something breaks. It's not worth it for either side yet it's the bread and butter of the gun lobby, the gun business and the gun crazy.

[PDJane]

5. Sorry, that cop is out of line.

I don't give a damn that they were going after an armed child molester. Giving the police this kind of training and firepower is an ominous step in the direction of a police state.

[lpbk2713]

6. Yet another instance of law enforcement out of control.

They do whatever they want and worry about the consequences later.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. thugs

[defacto7]

9. I've been wondering lately

what percent of law enforcement are graduates of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. If the percentage is high, Is the psychology of war that they learned in those theaters the motivating force in their actions with common US citizens? Makes me wonder if they haven't resolved their own personal wars.

[bluedeathray]

11. Thoughtful note

And spot on.

War changes people. Some aren't affected too deeply. Some are able to assume "normal" lives (assuming that life in America is normal) with counseling. Some are permanently scarred, and then manifest their sickness in different ways.

So far this year, there have been more suicides than combat deaths among the war fighters of America and England.

[Lunacee_2013]

12. Jesus, that poor woman must have been terrified!

I might be able to understand this kind of response (by the cops) if they actually had the child rapist in their sights, but they never actually saw him at her apartment! They're really lucky she realized they were cops and didn't fire her gun at them.

[tblue37]

15. She didn't realize it. Her boyfriend did--but she was so panicked he couldn't at first

even get her to drop the gun--even though the thug cop had his pointed at her.

[tblue37]

14. The head cop on that raid is a real thug.

Even though the tip was not about her apartment but about the whole complex in general, the cop still justified the way they invaded her home:

[font color = "blue"]

<snip>

But when the people in Goldsberry's apartment didn't open up, that told Wiggins he had probably found the right door. No one at other units had reacted that way, he said.

Maybe none of them had a gun pointed at them through the kitchen window, I suggested. But Wiggins didn't think that was much excuse for the woman's behavior. He said he acted with restraint and didn't like having that gun aimed at him.

“I went above and beyond,” Wiggins said. “I have to go home at night” <emphasis added>.

"Goldsberry was at home," I said. "She had a gun pointed at her, too <emphasis added>, and she wasn't wearing body armor and behind a shield. She had no reason to expect police or think police would ever aim into her kitchen and cuss at her through her door to get in. It seemed crazy. She was panicked."

<snip>

[/font]

[snot]

16. Every cop involved, including their supervisors, should be FIRED.

But none will be.

[DeSwiss]

17. I guess you could say.....

...that this cop was genetically predisposed to say something stupid like this.

- He couldn't help himself if he wanted to.....

K&R

[bpollen]

18. Holey Fracking Jeebus!

'Here's the kicker: The cop tasked with talking to the press about the incident said that because she "wasn't arrested or shot" then "She sure shouldn't be going to the press.” '

I think my response to the intimidation would be: Cuccinelli me, asshole! How dare you try to deny me my First Amendment rights after what is, after all, an ARMED HOME INVASION!!!!!!

Remember that Florida is a stand-your-ground state and she coulda shot your dick into the dirt since she had every reason in the world to be in fear for her life (a hell of a lot more so than Zimmerman.)

[nolabels]

19. Yea, works REAL good with stand your ground

Our idiot government's need to play cops and robbers with army man in tow. React first, think about it latter, a society where contemplations of one's effect is only a secondary concern. Where getting Rah - Rah from daddy warbucks is the only accomplishment needed. Please be prepared for this, most people seem to operate in mode much of the time. I now live by the rule that is "Don't suppose they are thinking of the bigger picture, because hey probably are not".

[mercuryblues]

20. One thing that

struck me is that she had a gun and a concealed permit, it made her "feel safer" living alone. But when she thought she was being invaded she screamed, got her gun and froze. She could not shoot. If this was a real home invasion the second she froze, she would have been dead.

That is one thing people fail to realize when they buy guns for defense...if they could actually shoot a person without hesitation. No one ever knows that answer until faced with the situation.

[tblue37]

21. She also froze when her boyfriend tried to persuade her to put down the

gun, since the other guy (whom he was beginning to realize really was a cop) had a bead on her, so that whether she could get off a shot or not, she was sure to be shot and probably killed nevertheless.

She was so frozen in panic that she could not let go of her gun, even when the much better trained and positioned (peering around from behind a door that gave him more cover than she had) cop had her in his sights and was warning her to put the gun down or be shot.

Her gun would have done her no good with all those armed and armored invaders, but it definitely put her and her boyfriend in greater danger of being shot by them, and when she really, really needed to put the gun down to avoid being shot, she was too frozen to do so.

The only thing that saved her was her boyfriend's calm consideration of the whole picture and his willingness to raise his hands and approach the cop while speaking calmly and reasonably.

The cop, too, though supposedly better trained, was also unable to think beyond the gun.

All he could think of was to targeting the person in front of him and shout threats and obscenities. Unlike the calm and reasonable boyfriend, he could not lower his voice and speak in a nonthreatening way to deescalate and defuse the situation. Like the woman, the lead cop's entire response was embodied in the gun he held in his hand. (And his later comments strongly suggest that he goes into every police action with the same sort of unreasoning terror that the woman felt when her home was invaded by armed strangers--a clear indication that he should not be in law enforcement.)

One of the worst aspects of our present devolution into a police state is that police are apparently no longer trained or encouraged to deescalate the situation. Instead, whether because of pervasive TV and movie depictions of warrior cops, exposure to digital war games, the militarization of our police forces under the Patriot Act, roid rage, the pervasive perception of everyone who is not a cop as a less than fully human enemy, or a combination of all of these, today's cops seem unable to think of any tactic other than attacking with maximum force and ramping up the both the verbal and the physical violence, even when the police action is nothing more serious than serving a warrant or checking to see whether someone in the house might have half an ounce of weed on him for personal use.

[tumtum]

22. Is it just me?

Or is this becoming more and more of the norm? Cops thinking that they are above the law and can terrorize lawful citizens?
Sooner or later, if the cops aren't brought under control, there's going to be an uprising against police forces in this country, and, it's going to be tragic.

[Scurrilous]

23. K & R

Police need to be forced to purchase malpractice insurance out of their own pockets. If they @#$%-up and get sued, the insurance pays for any settlement. Maybe then, when stupid @#$% like this ends up taking a bite out of their paychecks, they just might start doing their job a bit more professionally.