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Feeling suicidal? There’s a SWAT team for that

You know that infamous Vietnam War-era comment to the effect that “it became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it.” Well, one thing I don’t get … Oh, OK, one of many things I don’t get, is the tendency in recent years for law enforcement agencies to respond to reports of despondent individuals on the brink of self-destruction by dispatching teams of armed, aggressive police officers. So, you’ve got a guy actively contemplating the dark attractions of the eternal sleep; do you really think you’re going to make things better by creating a situation in which the fellow gets his wish merely by making a sudden move for his cell phone?

Such was the situation in Cottonwood, Arizona, recently, when a woman reported that her boyfriend was considering suicide and that he owned a gun with which to do the deed.

A 22-year-old Iraq War veteran who talked of suicide was located unharmed at a local fast food restaurant after more than 10 Cottonwood Police Department officers and four members of the Verde Valley Special Weapons and Tactics team surrounded the trailer home where he was believed to reside. …

Uniformed in full military gear, including a bullet-proof vest, a SWAT member patrolled the neighborhood carrying an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder and a pistol at his hip. Several SWAT members were seen carrying automatic rifles.

Note that the situation was resolved not by the invading army, which evacuated five homes during its efforts, but after the poor bastard who triggered this response with his bout of depression and was oblivious to the drama unfolding at his home called his girlfriend on her phone. He was having a burger at a restaurant and ended up chatting with the lone officer who went to meet him.

In their defense (because they’ve fielded some criticism), police “said the response by CPD was customary when an armed suspect is reported.”

But is the poor bastard really “an armed suspect”? It sounds to me like he’s having a bad day. It almost got a lot worse — though it’s true that law enforcement didn’t actually “destroy the village.” They just scared the shit out of it.

Here’s a thought: If you have a friend or relative suffering from a severe case of the blues and you want him or her to survive the bad patch, call a shrink or a priest and leave the cops out of it.

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4 Comments

  • Until the Federal government steps up and modifies their laws to allow a reasonable number of immigrants to enter this country legally, we have no other choice but to start enforcing the laws. The intention of this law is to penalize the illegal criminals and while it will no doubtably spill over unfortunately to good people I don’t see any other option. Other than legalizing the drugs that are really the problem here. Drug trafficking is responsible for the increase crime not the illegals.

  • Ah, yes, the “Jamie Dean Syndrome”. It seems over the last half decade to have spread like H1N1 (was supposed to have spread). Apparently when you wear a state-issued costume and tin badge and have been told by the citizens whom you “protective and serve” via jury verdicts that you will never, EVER be held accountable for acts of reckless homicide, then it’s an open invitation to “go out huntin’.” Suicidal people, along with the homeless, recently paroled convicts, drug addicts, alcoholics, or members of certain ethic and racial groups make perfect “targets.” Cops are usually careful to pick their victims from such “poodle” (PWDL, or “People We Don’t Like”) groups, victims who are part of demographic groups that “the majority” doesn’t care for. It makes jury manipulation easier in the event that the cop is unfortunate enough to be part of a jurisdiction that at least makes a flimsy pretext of dispensing “equal justice” and actually goes so far as to charge them with some form of criminal homicide offense and they actually go to trial (see the recent acquittal of Everett, Washington Officer Troy Meade as an example). It’s the perfect way to use your “get out of jail free” card.

  • Hi,

    I was trying to leave a comment on the old blog, to the article ” Border guards rough up another Canadian”, but the page said that “comments on this blog are restricted to team members”. I hope it’s some glitch.

    Also, I noticed that the message about the new location there says:

    This blog is now located at __FTP_MIGRATION_NEW_URL__.
    You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

    For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
    __FTP_MIGRATION_FEED_URL__.

    The comment I tried to leave there follows.
    ==========
    Listening to this recording, as well as many others, it’s remarkable how government agents in the conversation always assume the position of some higher wisdom, and the citizen readily submits to that. In all these encounters, there’s always some moment when the officer is asking some politically charged questions, and the citizen is going out of his way to give “right” answers, hoping that “right” answer will buy him “forgiveness”. The government goon apparently sees himself as a teacher or priest, with the mission to enlighten the citizen – together with arresting and humiliating him.

    “Where do you think you are right now?”

    “You think it’s a good idea to raise your voice, to get irate?”

    “Why do you think we are here?” – “To protect United States and Canada”

    Reminds me how TSA was questioning Nick George in the airport: “Do you know who did 9/11?” “Do you know what language Osama spoke?” Nick, according to his own interviews, was making his best to give right answers and to please the officers.

    I guess if I was in this situation, my answer to the question why they are here would be – to terrorize the population, and to who did 9/11 – your employer, which makes you an accomplice. where you are? in today’s Gestapo. And so on. Will this make them mad? quite likely. When dealing with mad sadistic animal, showing the teeth gives more hope than “cooperating”.

    That said, from listening to the recording, it appears that in the end of the conversation, it was the woman who actually started the trouble, and “was this a threat” most likely related to something she did. The man several times said “go sit down”, but it looks like she did not listen and instead made some move that was taken as a threat. The guards probably apprehended her first, the man probably tried to “help”, which of course became an “assault” as well.

    The main mistake that led to this development was that the man was talking to the guards as to human beings rather than mad sadistic animals that they are, and allowed himself to become emotional. And when you are dealing with wild animal for extended amount of time, the outcome is predictable – sooner or later you make a move that alerts him, and he attacks.

    The saddest part of this story will be when the jury will affirm that they both “assaulted the officers”.

  • Here’s a thought: If you have a friend or relative suffering from a severe case of the blues and you want him or her to survive the bad patch, call a shrink or a priest and leave the cops out of it.

    Unfortunately, the shrink and the priest are required by law to report a violent situation so the cops will show up anyhow, at least here in New York.

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