12-01-2014, 04:11 PM
(12-01-2014, 12:42 PM)username Wrote:(12-01-2014, 01:53 AM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: IMO, the fact that the caller wasn't sure if the pistol was real would be something the dispatcher should pass on to the responding officers because, as you said, it's the officers' job to assess the situation based on all of the information available.
^^That. What if the gun had obviously been fake (with the orange tip and all--and the 911 caller said as much), would it still make sense for the dispatcher to refrain from giving that information to the police? I think not.
Cutz has reached the limits of his grey matter on this one.
Yeah, because you'd call 911 about a kid with a toy guy that you were certain was fake. Genius idea there. If only there were some non-emergency police line you could call... like the non-emergency police lines that you can call. Or perhaps a boyscout could happen along and annoy the teen into leaving the public place.
The entire call was because a citizen was concerned that a kid had a gun. Him saying he doesn't know if it's real 3 times gives ZERO evidence that it's not a real gun. Should a dispatcher really say, "Yo officers, there's a kid in the park with a gun, but it's probably not real, so don't worry about it." What do they do then? Not respond to the call? Deal with more pressing crime? You assume there's a possible gun situation in the park and it's up to the officers to approach the situation correctly. They didn't, which I said, but telling cops unsubstantiated opinions from random citizens doesn't keep the cops safe. If the guy said, "I think I saw an orange tip on the gun, so it might be fake," that would be an observation that should be passed along. Him saying he has no idea is useless.
The facts are that there was a report of a possible gun from a caller. The report is what's being passed along as a fact, not whether the gun is real or not. The cops handled the situation wrong, but so did the teen. You can hear on the footage they think the kid is 20. All around bad situation.
Jesus, if the caller said, "It's ok tho, I think the kid is Batman," is that something the dispatcher should pass along? Don't arrest the guy because he's the caped crusader and deserves his chance at vigilante justice? PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.