He should be arrested and brought to trial. He should also be thanking God he's still alive.
Posted on 07/10/2012 10:44:31 AM PDT by rawhide
She needs more range time or a big doberman.............
That's a good question. She did say something along the lines of "What if you smelled something really bad, thinking someone had died, and the door flung open?" I think she's just trying to stand up for her stepfather, but it doesn't make sense. The video clearly shows him opening the door.
The only other explanation I can think of is that she could have yelled from the bedroom for him to come in. But if that were the case, wouldn't the code compliance guy have just given that explanation?
Sounds like what gets posted here whenever there's a cock-up by police.
Rawhide, why should she have to lock her door?
Though few believe it, there are many parts of the US where people still leave their doors unlocked, especially during the day.
It is common among the elderly and invalid as well, as seconds can count if they have a bad fall or otherwise need help.
One rather crafty older lady I used to know had reason to be concerned about this and other things, so she came up with a brilliant solution. She had a continual “tea party” going on, where everyone in the neighborhood was encouraged to drop in from 8am to 8pm. Women, men and children all knew they could stop by her house for coffee, tea, soft drinks, snacks, video games and chat.
They all knew each other, and knew her relatives, so any stranger near her house would be spotted quickly.
As an interesting epilogue, after talking about it with her next door neighbors for a long time, when she passed away, once her family had taken or sold her stuff, she set aside money for her house to be torn down, and the lot landscaped and kept tidy, to make a small park for her block, with tables, fruit and shade trees.
That's true where I live. Many folks here don't lock their doors. My Father-in-law says he lost his house key back around 1973. Doesn't matter, because he never used it anyway. He even went so far as to remove his keyed ignition from his truck and replace it with a push button start so that he doesn't have to use a key to start it.
DING! DING! DING! Winner!
While my 115 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback is telling gubmint flunkie he doesn’t particularly like strangers in his house I will be grabbing Mossberg 930 SPX loaded with 8 rounds of 00 buckshot and probably sending a load his way. Thankfully Florida would back me up.
Because this ain't your father's USA anymore. Mayberry USA is long gone and all the wishful thinking in the world can't bring it back. A lock doesn't really keep anyone out, but it slows them down and forces all but the most skillful to make a lot of noise defeating it. The delay may you time to gather your wits, retrieve a weapon and take up a protected firing position.
The elderly should be locked up tight at all times. They are frequently targeted precisely because they are assumed to have accumulations of drugs and valuables and aren't likely to be able to defend themselves. The time that a lock buys is even more precious for an older person who may have sensory or mobility issues.
“Masters...said she called 911 after the incident but the operator did not alert the authorities after she found out Vowell was a compliance officer.”
The 911 dispatcher needs to be fired, too.
The 911 Dispatcher[s] is/are part of the system. If you believe that are there to look after your interests and safety, you got another think coming.
“One thing that bothers me is why was her door unlocked? That is so stupid!”
Um, we have doors to the house that don’t even have locks on them. We also leave the keys to the cars in the ignition so we don’t have to go looking for them. It’s just the part of the country we live in is all. I used to live in California and when you live there a mere lock isn’t going to stop anyone.
The “BTK” serial killer in Wichita was a “code enforcement officer”. After he was finally arrested, all his neighbors were on TV talking about what a pr*ck he was. Sound like this is a job that attracts that type of Junior Gestapo wannabe.
Don’t let the media make you afraid. Start with information, such as a map of crime in your area, which are available online for free. Many places either have little crime, or crimes that are not particularly menacing.
Second, know your neighborhood. If some stranger shows up, what happens? In a lot of places, neighbors won’t just call the police, (armed) they will approach the stranger to ask them what’s going on. This puts a big damper on crime, and it’s more common with more guns these days.
The bottom line is that the media scared most Americans into great fear about crime, so you have to sort the reality out from the fantasy.
He should be arrested and brought to trial. He should also be thanking God he's still alive.
Thanks rawhide.
He’s not just a trespasser; he’s a thief.
“In 2004, he resigned from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office after he admitted that he took a computer from the property room.”
http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2012/jul/06/3/code-enforcement-officer-administrative-leave-ar-4090363/
There are a lot of tweakers. I've got one right next door. They generally leave you alone and do their thing, but sometimes they need money for a fix and then all bets are off. Some of them have friends down at the pharmacy who let them know who has presciptions for pain meds. As a buddy of mine discovered if you have chronic pain, you also have chronic break-ins. He switched to an internet pharmacy and it let up.
The town has a large black population. At one time their fathers and mothers worked in the shoe factory and at the stockyard. Few of them work anymore. There is also a growing hispanic population. Few of them work, either. There is a constant background of petty crime, most of which no one bothers to report, because no one is ever caught. An unlocked car with a push-button starter would be gone in the time it takes you to feed the meter. As an added bonus, the black youth and the hispanic youth like to fight each other. Stabbings are common. On summer nights it is best to avoid the downtown.
I'm not describing Detroit. This is a typical small town in a rural area east of the Missisipi. Maybe it's different in Crowheart, Wyoming or Lee Vining, but it is pretty much this way everywhere I see.
I actually work in an urban area 40 miles from my home. I won't bother to discuss the security situation here. It is all that you can imagine.
This sounds like a situation of the worst of all worlds, short of a dense urban environment. And if ignored it could be similar to the white Rhodesians, who sat on their thumbs and let the situation deteriorate.
A possible way of addressing this would be to set up a local civilian posse to act as area security. Think of them as a private police force. Those who want to subscribe to the security force would be part of the negotiated services they would perform. And right now there are a lot of unemployed veterans who would jump at the opportunity.
Likewise, since you have a long commute and are gone much of the time, a room & board & stipend idea would be a great way to have a house sitter. Again, this might be a good idea for a veteran ‘treading water’ until they can get a job.
Right now there are always a couple of adults at the house at all times. If there weren't, I'd definitely want someone to sit. I installed a dozen motion lights last fall and the nighttime funny business tapered off. The retired farmer behind me has gotten savvy and he patrols a bit on ATV, sometimes at night. (He should be vigilant...I've seen his car collection...$$$$$$$.)
Like I said, I'm not afraid. It's mostly kids, knuckleheads and crimes of opportunity. But I definitely stay sharp, lock up tight and know where the weapons are.
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