Cop is lucky he didn't get shot

[jamisjockey]

http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/ ... m/133466/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As described, would the cop need a warrant to enter the room?

[baldeagle]

Wouldn't matter. He never announced he was law enforcement, never showed a badge and broke down the door. He's not just lucky he didn't get shot. It was a miracle that the guy in that room showed the restraint that he did.

[Excaliber]

Wouldn't matter. He never announced he was law enforcement, never showed a badge and broke down the door. He's not just lucky he didn't get shot. It was a miracle that the guy in that room showed the restraint that he did.

It's a miracle that both of them held their fire and managed to figure out that each other wasn't a bad guy.

I'd be royally torqued too, and I hope he wins his suit.

The officer acted reasonably in relying on the hotel clerk to know which guest was in which room. There's too little info in the article to determine if an immediate forcible entry was justified by exigent circumstances surrounding whatever incident was being investigated.

I've had to untangle incidents where a citizen in a position of trust or special knowledge (e.g. store security officer with multiple police contacts regarding shoplifting incidents) wildly misinterprets something he or she comes across and fabricates surrounding facts that are presented as a life threatening emergency requiring direct and highly intrusive action.

They're no fun at all from the LEO standpoint, and I have testified in the civil suits filed against the folks who were responsible for those actions which were frightening and traumatic to people who were in fact doing nothing wrong. Our agency and officers were never sued in any of these circumstances because we took appropriate action based on the information and observations we had available at the time.

[baldeagle]

I commend the officer for not firing as well, but why would he not announce himself as law enforcement? Why not show a badge? If you forcibly enter a room without doing that, killing you is justifiable homicide. Why even put yourself in that position?

I've had to untangle incidents where a citizen in a position of trust or special knowledge (e.g. store security officer with multiple police contacts regarding shoplifting incidents) wildly misinterprets something he or she comes across and fabricates surrounding facts that are presented as a life threatening emergency requiring direct and highly intrusive action.

Like say the LPO at Costco's in Vegas?

If the officer failed to identify himself, I'm sure that was in violation of department policy and not a smart thing to do for obvious reasons. However, the occupant of the room may not have heard the officer identifying himself even if he did at the beginning of the encounter due to being roused from a deep sleep and not at the peak of his sensory awareness. In the absence of more definitive information either way, I lean toward possibility 2, since I can't see any good reason for #1 and it would be a very unusual practice in a situation like this.

In answer to your reference to the LV Costco case, yes, one of my instances was very close to that and involved a false report of a kidnapping with the alleged offender and the very young victim together in a car parked on a street in a crowded commercial area at rush hour.

We determined that a surprise forcible takedown was the approach least likely to result in casualties or a hostage situation. The suspect was removed from the car, proned out, handcuffed, and in the back seat of a patrol car before he could say "What the...?" My officers were very highly trained in arrest situation commands, when and when not to shoot and in safe gun handling. No shots were fired.

After short interviews with both the complainant and the alleged offender back at the station, we determined that the person in custody was completely innocent and the child was in his authorized custody. We dusted him off and turned him loose with a careful explanation of the information we had been given, why we took the action we did, and an apology, as well as a reminder that the incident reports would be available to him if he decided to pursue an action against the store.

He was very understanding about what we had done in response to the situation we were presented with, and justifiably angry at the conduct of the store's personnel.

Unlike the Las Vegas outcome, the only injury was, eventually, to the store's insurance carrier's finances.

[Medic218]

Something else I'm failing to understand is why they chose breathe the door down.
The story states that they had contact with one of the hotel employees.....why not just get a key to the room?

[jamisjockey]

Something else I'm failing to understand is why they chose breathe the door down.
The story states that they had contact with one of the hotel employees.....why not just get a key to the room?

In the story it said the chain lock was engaged.

The man then allegedly broke the chain lock and forced his way into the hotel room. Little says he feared for his life and drew his pistol as protection. Little says the man shouted, "He has a gun," and drew his own weapon.

Most hotels either have a chain or bar lock which can't be overriden with a key.

[Dave2]

Wow, they're both lucky they didn't get shot.

Cops raiding the wrong address and shooting me when I try to defend myself because I didn't hear them say they were cops (or didn't believe them) is probably my biggest gun-related fear at the moment.

[B3XD]

The biggest problem is that he/they is/are yelling so loudly and coming in so quickly that you can't tell what is going on. If it is more than one, the several voices saying the same thing at different cadences and tones all slur together. It makes it almost impossible to figure out what is being said. Even if they are saying all the right things, in the shock and what the heck you don't necessarily understand them.

[pbwalker]

I love how PD's are becoming para-military forces...

If they have the wrong address, break in your door, do not identify themselves, and you shoot...guess what? $1 to a donut that you're going to jail.

[Dave2]

I love how PD's are becoming para-military forces...

If they have the wrong address, break in your door, do not identify themselves, and you shoot...guess what? $1 to a donut that you're going to jail.

Nah, you'd being going to the morgue, or a hospital if you're very lucky. They're already primed & ready for a fight, and they outnumber you.

[macavity]

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[Dave2]

I love how PD's are becoming para-military forces...

If they have the wrong address, break in your door, do not identify themselves, and you shoot...guess what? $1 to a donut that you're going to jail.

Nah, you'd being going to the morgue, or a hospital if you're very lucky. They're already primed & ready for a fight, and they outnumber you.

I'm not a lawyer, nor am I well versed in the laws, so I ask this question:
If the victim ended up in the hospital, is there a law in place that protects the officer or the officer's employer from liability should the victim sue? Same question if the person ended up dead and the victim's family was suing.

Dunno. I'm feeling realistic (or cynical for all you fairyland people ), so I'm gonna say yes. I'm actually more worried about surviving, but being charged with capital murder if I killed 1+ of them before it was over.

[macavity]

-removed by user-

[Medic218]

Must have missed the chain lock part. And yes, I know that a key can't override a chain lock.....

[gigag04]

I love how PD's are becoming para-military forces...

Not this again....