Peter Cukor Killed After Police, Allegedly Busy With Occupy Protest, Failed To Respond To Call

[Judi Lynn]

Peter Cukor Killed After Police, Allegedly Busy With Occupy Protest, Failed To Respond To Call
First Posted: 02/21/2012 3:25 pm Updated: 02/22/2012 11:31 am

A tragic murder in Berkeley has stricken two families with grief and led to serious allegations against the Berkeley Police Department, the mental health system and Occupy Oakland.

On Saturday night, Peter and Andrea Cukor called Berkeley police on a nonemergency line to report a trespasser outside their garage. However, police did not immediately respond, claiming they were busy with an Occupy protest. Soon after, 67-year-old Peter Cukor was beaten to death by the trespasser, allegedly 23-year-old Daniel DeWitt.

DeWitt -- a former Alameda High School football star and the grandson of Alameda's first black mayor and councilman -- has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia for the past five years. His family claims that they have aggressively been seeking treatment.

"Our hearts go out to the other family," said DeWitt's mother Candy, in tears, to CBS. "It breaks my heart. We've all lost in this." According to Candy, the DeWitts have battled with a mental health system unwilling to get her son the help he needs. Candy claimed that she and her husband have begged hospitals to keep her son in long-term treatment to no avail. "I've been telling people for years he needs help. This is an illness. It has nothing to do with him."

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/peter-cukor-killed-berkeley-occupy-oakland_n_1291667.html

[closeupready]

1. Was he any relation to George Cukor??

just curious. K&R

[TheWraith]

2. Unfortunately police are slow or decline to respond all the time.

That's why the old saying exists that "When seconds count, the police are just minutes away." Around here, police response time if you have an emergency call is around 15 minutes, or for a non-emergency, 30.

[24601]

4. That saying often is used to justify firearms. Not that it's untrue. n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

3. After the budget cuts in some places, I'm surprised there are any police left.

[ManiacJoe]

5. Non-emergency calls get non-emergency priorities.

While not blaming the victim, his actions after the non-emergency call seem questionable.

When 911 was called to report an emergency, the response was quick and as expected.

[sendero]

6. The idea..

... that the police would have "saved him" were they not so busy is pure speculation at best and more likely pure bullshit.