Comment by lelandfe
1 year ago
I was swatted once. Girlfriend's house. Someone called 911 and said they'd seen me kill a neighbor, drag their body into the house, and was now holding my gf's family hostage.
We answered the screams at the door to guns pointed at our faces, and countless cops.
It was explained to us that this was the restrained version. We got a knock.
Unfortunately, I understand why these responses can't be neutered too much. You just never know.
In this case, though, you COULD know, COULD verify with a human before pointing guns at people, or COULD not deploy a half finished product in a way that prioritizes your profit over public safety.
s/COULD/SHOULD/g
Happened to a friend of mine by an ex GF who said he was on psych meds (true though he is nonviolent with no history) and that he was threatening to kill his parents. NYPD SWAT no-knock kicked the door down to his apartment which terrorized his elderly parents as they pointed guns at their son (in his words, "machine guns".) BUT because he has psych issues and on meds he was forced into a cop car in front of the whole neighborhood to get a psych evaluation. He only received an apology from the cops who said they have no choice but to follow procedure.
edit should add sorry to hear that.
> who said he was on psych meds (true though he is nonviolent with no history)
I don't understand the connection here
Do the cops not ever get tired of being fooled like this? Or do they just enjoy the chance to go out in their army-surplus armored cars and pretend to be special forces?
I had convos with cops about swatting, the good ones aren't happy to go kick down someone's door who isn't about to harm someone but feel they can't chance making a fatally wrong call when it isn't swatting, also they have procedures to follow and if they don't the outcome is on them personally and potentially legally.
As for bad cops they look for any reason to go act like aggro billy badasses.
> the good ones ...
uh-huh
> if they don't the outcome is on them personally and potentially legally.
Bullshit, they're rarely held accountable when they straight up murder people, and even then "accountable" is "have to go get a different job". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_John_T._Williams
ACAB
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This is a really good question. Sadly the answer is that they think it's how the system is meant to work. Well that seems to be the answer that I see coming from police spokespeople
Its likely procedure that they have to follow (see my other post in this thread.)
I hate to say this but I get it. Imagine a scenario happens where they decide "sounds phony. stand down." only for it to be real and people are hurt/killed because the "cops ignored our pleas for help and did nothing." which would be a horrible mistake they could be liable for, never mind the media circus and PR damage. So they treat all scenarios as real and figure it out after they knock/kick in the door.
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It doesn't make sense. If you were holding people hostage, you'd have demands for their release. Windows could be peeked into. If you dragged a dead body into a house, there'd be evidence of that.