Oklahoma: dispatcher tells woman its ok to shoot intruder

[Paul]

I agree with what you're saying.. I was just pointing out that it was probably not an emergency response from your local PD... Given that it was 5 minutes, one would reason that an emergency, 'priority 1' response, would be considerably faster than 9 minutes... Which is what I was getting at about the suburbs being faster.

[plblark]

Here's something tangentially related from MattG
http://maypeacebewithyou.blogspot.com/2009/11/better-change-channel-on-that-emotion.html

I've selectively quoted this as the post linked is a much less severe situation but the mindset and outlook is what I'm getting at. I'd like to buy Matt a drink one day.

The lady of the house heard the kicking go on and on. And on. And on. She became frantic. She says that it took 4 minutes, but I'll bet it was 2 or less. Time really distorts in those moments. She could see the attempted burglar through the window. Suddenly, he saw her as well. He ran.
[...]
The last thing he wants to do is come back to your place again. In his mind, the last time he went there, he almost got caught or shot. That's why he looked back," I said.
[...]
"But I didn't have a gun," she said, weakly.

"No, but most Texans do, and you were benefitting from his realization of that," I said, perhaps planting a thought in her head for later.
[...]
"But that doesn't make you feel much safer yet, does it?" I asked, rhetorically. "You're scared now. But soon --I hope it's soon-- you'll transition from that fear to fury. Anger is the correct emotion, and much more useful, in my opinion.

"This... punk... came to your house uninvited, and attempted to enter your residence by force. Who does he think he is?!? Be angry. Be furious. Because anger makes you strong. And you could use the strength."

[EJSG19]

I'm a fan of the over-used line "when seconds count, cops are only minutes away." But that isn't always the cop's fault. Something reasonable is a couple minutes, depending where you live like User mentions. We called in a fairly violent domestic dispute that was going on in the middle of the street a long time ago. 30 seconds passed and a Richfield unmarked came screaming by our place and got there in time to resolve the situation before it could have gotten bad (guy and a girl going at it).

That was incredibly fast for a response time in my opinion. Still, the only way they can respond fast enough every single time is to appear magically the instant they are notified. Had to be just a coincidence the cop was so close.

24 minutes is terrible, but people live where they live. Still though, I'd only blame a cop if they were present and did nothing to stop it. Otherwise the burden of defense, sadly, falls on the individual being attacked. Glad this lady had the sense to defend herself, traumatizing as it likely was for her.

[jgalt]

24 minutes is terrible, but people live where they live. Still though, I'd only blame a cop if they were present and did nothing to stop it. Otherwise the burden of defense, sadly, falls on the individual being attacked. Glad this lady had the sense to defend herself, traumatizing as it likely was for her.

Now, I understand exactly what you are saying in the highlighted sentence above (and agree), but for the sake of making a point, I'm going to pretend like I don't...

The word "sadly" is misplaced here. It is certainly sad that an individual may need to defend him/herself against an aggressor, but I am quite glad that we don't live in a society where there is always an armed representative of the government within shouting distance. I'll take having to occasionally fend off some thug, and training myself in the methods & tools to do so effectively over the alternative...

[EJSG19]

24 minutes is terrible, but people live where they live. Still though, I'd only blame a cop if they were present and did nothing to stop it. Otherwise the burden of defense, sadly, falls on the individual being attacked. Glad this lady had the sense to defend herself, traumatizing as it likely was for her.

Now, I understand exactly what you are saying in the highlighted sentence above (and agree), but for the sake of making a point, I'm going to pretend like I don't...

The word "sadly" is misplaced here. It is certainly sad that an individual may need to defend him/herself against an aggressor, but I am quite glad that we don't live in a society where there is always an armed representative of the government within shouting distance. I'll take having to occasionally fend off some thug, and training myself in the methods & tools to do so effectively over the alternative...

Can't agree with you anymore than I already do, which is completely. Its sad that people need to defend themselves, but thats the way life is. Nature of the beast. Depending on anyone else for your own survival is not a great tactic. More sad for the people who believe LEO's will be there before they get hurt. Hopefully its a little sad for us "prepared" types too as nobody wants to hurt anyone. But, again, thats the way it is. I'd be bummed to say the least if I was in this lady's shoes, but I'd rather be bummed than be the victim of whatever this guy had planned.

[jgalt]