I agree fully. The SCOTUS case on this issue is often misunderstood or extended beyond the holding. The case essentially held that there is no general duty to the public to prevent you from becoming a crime victim. To that extent, the decision was/is correct. If every law enforcement agency could be sued by any and every crime victim, then we soon would have no such agencies.srothstein wrote:In this case, there is a difference most people forget. While I agree with the moral obligation, which should be the strongest motivation IMO, there was also a legal obligation.SewTexas wrote:My husband and I had this discussion a night or two ago. We finally reached the conclusion that while Peterson, according to SCOTUS did not have a obligation to "Protect", thus he did not have an obligation to "charge in". He, as the only person with a gun, and as a police officer, did have a moral obligation to go in.C-dub wrote:How does this statement (Or is it your opinion?) align with the SCOTUS decision in 2005 that says the police have no constitutional duty to protect an individual from harm?srothstein wrote: A police officer on duty has an obligation to charge in.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/polit ... otect.html
Is it a difference between constitutional duty versus the obligation or nature of the job? Especially since they were there at a school for a reason? Or would that SCOTUS decision not really pertain in this case since it was not really an individual per se, but rather the student body and staff as a whole?
Now, this will be interesting when the civil cases come around, as you know they will....
When the SCOTUS said police have no obligation to protect anyone, that is taking a partial sentence out of context. The full decision is that they have no duty to protect any specific person UNLESS there is a special relationship developed between the police and the victim. In this case, by accepting the assignment to the school, the sheriff's office and its employees developed a special relationship with an obligation to protect the victims.
Chas.