Are police required to protect?

D

Dagny

New member
I know this has been mentioned here before, but a search of the archives is being tedious at best.

Are police required to protect you if, for instance, you have a burglary/robbery/rape/assault about to happen very soon or in progress and call 911?

If a police car drives by you while you're getting beat up or your home is being broken into and you know they saw what was going on, do they HAVE to stop and protect life and property?

Or are they merely investigative after the fact - in which case we could hire a private investigator.

And, obviously, if they are not there to protect, then we must do so ourselves.
 
The Police are under NO obligation to protect any individual!! I don't know the legal citation right off hand, but maybe someone here can put up the link to it.

------------------
Yeah, I got a permit to carry,it's called the friggin Constitution.---Ted Nugent

"Glock 26: 17 rounds of concealed carry DEATH comming your way from out of nowhere!!! THAT'S FIREPOWER, BABY!!!"

Taurus 605: Five hits of .357 MAG that will just ruin your day, Scumbag!!!!
 
Theirs no law written that sais they have to that Ive ever heard of, would love to see it if so.
'to protect and serve' is a motto at best.
Ya know like the ones your congressmen took to uphold the constitution and we all know how much good thats done us.
The fact remains as brought out in the court case 'you have no constitutional right to police protection'.
Id be the last one to peep if in defense you blew some one away buried them and forgot about it.The only thing the police do when they get their is grill you like YOUR the criminal and had no business defending yourself or atleast on an official 'duty' note.
Ive heard of many who congratulate the survivor for having the backbone to successfully defend themselves home and family.
In some cases sherriff's have even been known to officially praise the citizen shooter.
Not calling negates the risk of them wanting to confiscate your firearm for 'evidence' whatever the hell thats supposed to mean
for who knows how long.
 
It's all listed in Dial 911 and Die

In California the section is §845 in the Government Code. All states have something similar.

§845. Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for failure to establish a police department or otherwise to provide
police protection service or, if police protection service is provided, for failure to provide sufficient police protection
service.
A police department shall not fail to respond to a request for service via a burglar alarm system or an alarm company referral service solely on the basis that a permit from the city has not been
obtained.
 
South v Maryland (1856)
Riss v City of New York (1969)
Warren v District of Columbia (1983)

and so on.

A close paraphrase from memory:
"Police [or other government officials] have no obligation to protect individuals but only society as a whole."

"Police have no obligation to protect any individual absent a special relationship [witness protection is one] but only to enforce the law."

Rick
 
Unless the police have assumed a duty to protect a person or have a policy in place, they have no liability whatsoever.
 
IMHO their main duty is to come collect the bodies after the fact. It may seem wrong, but consider this: if the law did say the police are obliged to protect every individual, they would be sued for every successful crime. That would justify them in creating an oppressive police presence in the name of "protection". The argument would be "if we're repsonsible for your safety 24 by 7, then we must have these powers to do our job".

Self-defense is both the right and responsibility of the individual. The cops cannot be everywhere all the time unless you want to live in a police state. It's each person's moral duty to ensure the safety of their own household. If anything goes down, I will call 911 right after I arm myself. If a clear and present danger develops, it's my job to meet it. My tool of choice for this job is a gun. So if the cops don't get there in time to abort the threat, then as I said, their job is to haul the perp's body to the morgue.
 
The case that actually states it is " Deshaney v. Winnebago County et al" . Supreme Court decision in 1989 I believe .E-mail me for the link . I don't know how to put it on the board .

------------------
TOM
SASS AMERICAN LEGION NRA GOA
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by David Scott:
It may seem wrong, but consider this: if the law did say the police are obliged to protect every individual, they would be sued for every successful crime.
[/quote]

I was going to make the above statement but David beat me to it and he is 100% right. Every victim of a crime would have the right to sue the police because the police did not protect them from becoming a victim. There would be plenty of attorneys lining up to take these cases and they would win. Quess who would get to pay for these lawsuits: THE TAXPAYERS.

David makes another valid point, we would become a police state to avoid this. LEOs on every street corner with ultimate power since the Constitution would have to be suspended (I am an LEO and I do not want to see this happen).

I know it sounds great to bag on LEOs or the "system" for not protecting people but think of the alternative. What I would like to see is the courts/judges start locking the BGs away that prey on our citizens and stop treating them like children who stole a cookie.
 
mrat, I have to give credit where it's due: your line "...and stop treating them like children who stole a cookie," was succint and got right to the heart of the matter. I loved it!
DAL

------------------
Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined."
--Patrick Henry, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788)

GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, ARI, NRA
 
“. . . a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular individual citizen.”
--Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App.181)

I realize I'm coming in late in the game, but this quote is one of many that I've compiled as important reasons that the Second Amendment is crucial and unequivocal.

This ruling was the result of a lawsuit against the police and city of Washington, DC. A woman was killed by her ex-husband after he called and told her he was coming over to kill her. She called 911 and was told to call back when he arrived. Her family sued, and were told that no government or agency is under any obligation to protect anyone, even if they are aware of a credible threat against a specific person.

If the government isn't responsible for my protection and that of my family, then who is?

Why, I must be.
 
That sounds more like Riss v City of New York where an ex-boyfriend calls her on the phone and says, "If I can't have you, nobody can. And after I get through with you, nobody will want you."

She called police who told her to call back when he got there. She soon found herself horribly disfigured after having lye thrown on her face. She lost an eye but was not killed.

Interestingly enough, in the dissenting opinion, the judge wrote something like, "The very government that rendered her unable to defend herself [disarmed her] now deny any responsibility to protect her."

Warren v District of Columbia is the story of three women who lived in a some sort of two-story duplex. Two roomies were upstairs asleep when they hear noises downstairs (it was their other roomy being raped. They call D.C. police who say they are coming right over. The two women crawl out to an overhanging roof structure in the back of the building and wait.

The police come. Knock on the door (my recollection) and leave. They noises resume. The women crawl back inside and call again. They are told that the police will be sent again. They wait. But the police do not come a second time.

Soon the noises end. The women creep down the stairs to see if their roomate is okay. They turn on the lights to find the roomate unconscious but otherwise alright. Also feeling alright are the two rapists who are asleep on the couch. The rapists wake up, grab the two fresh roomies and begin to beat and rape them as well. They have the first roomie join them as they are forced to perform sex acts on the two rapists and each other.

Warren sued. Much to her surprise, she lost...

Rick
 
Cops have NOT "requirement" to answer calls for help, they "can" if they want to but are not required to.

Shows you how good 911 is! Call and they "might" show up, if they want to.

That said most cops feel the "need" to answer calls for help. There are some that dont care about anything but themselves however, if you ever dial 911 have a backup plan.....just in case you get one of those few.

------------------
Dead [Black Ops]
 
All one has to do is recall the NY Central Park "Groping" Riots. Remember dozens of NY cops just standing there watching women having their clothes ripped off them?

Did you hear NY City Police being sued?

What about the inactions of the South Central LA cops? No lawsuits.

And did you hear about the Littleton, Colorado police being sued? Well, yes, actually the did. The cop's attornes cited case law and argued in motion that police have no responsibility to protect individuals...

Liberal gun-grabbers hate it when you mention this.


Rick
 
Dagny:

The courts, in several jurisdictions, have ruled essentially that the police owe no particular duty to the individual.

This is NOT their exact wording, but I believe that it carries the guts of their meaning. While the emblem on the cruiser might well say something about "to serve and protect", I for one would not bet on the police coming to my aid.

I believe that one could reasonably expect aid from the fire department, whereas they might get some sympathy from the police. By the way, I'm not intentionally knocking the police, but the sun rises in the east, and sets in the west.

One does not have to like that fact, but it remains, a fact.
 
Nope. Ya can't sue the fire dept. Either. Those rulings say that government in general has no obligation, not just police.

Rick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top