The Cops Won't Save You

Arm yourself because no one else here will save you.

I’m going to piss off some of you, and that’s okay because it’s the truth and you need to read it and accept it: when push comes to shove, the police will not save you. In fact, as demonstrated by the horrifying shooting in Uvalde, Texas, they may even make things worse. I’m pretty pissed off myself, so let’s just be pissed off together.

I’m not some “defund the police” crusader. I’m not anti-cop. They serve a place in society when it comes to deterring crime, evidenced by soaring crime rates in places that did defund the police. What I am is someone who deals in reality, and the reality is when you or your loved ones are in trouble, you may be on your own, and you need to be prepared for that.

Read more on ways to protect yourself and those around you:

• Why you should always carry pepper spray

• A look at the Medical Points Abroad Portable Medical Kit

• Why you should always carry a tourniquet

Courts: Cops Owe You Nothing

This isn’t just my opinion, it’s a legal precedent established by the courts. In the 1981 case, Warren v. District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals said:

The duty to provide public services is owed to the public at large, and, absent a special relationship between the police and an individual, no specific legal duty exists.

What did they mean by a “special relationship?” Basically, if you’re not working with the cops, they have no obligation to save your ass. The court said:

The general duty owed to the public may become a specific duty owed to an individual if the police and the individual are in a special relationship different from that existing between the police and citizens generally. Thus, when the New York police department solicited confidential information to aid in apprehension of gangster Willie Sutton, the police assumed a special duty to the informant who came forward.

In 1999, Jessica Lenahan-Gonzales of Castle Rock, Colorado got a restraining order against her husband. The police refused to enforce it, and he kidnapped and murdered their three daughters before himself being killed by police. Gonzales tried to sue the town, but she was blocked by the courts.

In the 2005 case, Castle Rock v. Gonzales, the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2: “We conclude, therefore, that respondent did not, for purposes of the Due Process Clause, have a property interest in police enforcement of the restraining order against her husband.”

More recently, survivors from the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting tried to sue the Broward Sheriff’s Office for standing around and doing nothing while their classmates were being murdered. They too were shut down by the court.

Darren L. Hutchinson, a professor at the University of Florida School of Law told The New York Times at the time:

“Neither the Constitution, nor state law, impose a general duty upon police officers or other governmental officials to protect individual persons from harm — even when they know the harm will occur. Police can watch someone attack you, refuse to intervene and not violate the Constitution.”

How Police Responded to the Uvalde Shooting

What do we currently know about the police response? Well first, the School Resource Officer — a position that exists solely to stop things like things — let him into the building.

Ken Dilanian @KenDilanianNBC

The Texas officials have glossed over this, but by their account, the gunman was first spotted outside the school by an armed school resource officer who did not fire at him, but instead confronted him and “followed him in” to the school. That needs to be explained.

Though the cops are now denying this and claiming the gunman walked through an unlocked and unguarded door.

Reese Oxner @reeseoxner

Breaking from law enforcement presser in Uvalde: - There was *not* a school officer on scene, despite initial reports - The backdoor gunman used was unlocked - It took an hour to take the gunman out after he entered - Gunman shot at witnesses in the street before entering

But the information coming from authorities is so confusing and contradictory we honestly don’t know what the truth is.

Reese Oxner @reeseoxner

Presser ended after the officer answered a couple of questions, but there are gaps and confusion surrounding contradictions in the information we've been given so far.

Sean Hecht @seanhecht

This is wild, the more I think about it. The TX DPS spox is suggesting it’s a normal thing if the version of the story an LEO told immediately after an event is a lie; they might tell a completely different story the next day, and that’s just fine.

Then the cops stood outside for 40 minutes while the shooter was on a rampage.

David Hookstead @dhookstead

The more we learn about the police's performance during the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the more troubling questions and issues arise. The worst is why police didn't immediately breach the room where the students where killed. THREAD (1/8):

And Texas police refuse to explain why.

Greg Price @greg_price11

Texas DPS official refuses to say why officers didn't breach the door of the classroom for the hour that the Uvalde shooter was in there shooting children.

When parents grew frustrated and tried to go in themselves, the cops tackled, handcuffed, pepper-sprayed, and tasered them.

Andy Specht @AndySpecht

Cops stood outside the school while the killer rampaged inside. Onlookers yelled at them to go in. They didn’t. One parent urged bystanders: “Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to.” @AP story:

apnews.comOnlookers urged police to charge into Texas schoolUVALDE, Texas (AP) — Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman’s rampage killed 19 children and two teachers , witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-ye…

Matt Novak @paleofuture

This video make so much more sense now. The cops literally stopped parents from helping their kids. https://t.co/DqgZUH3uCC

Andy Specht @AndySpecht

Cops stood outside the school while the killer rampaged inside. Onlookers yelled at them to go in. They didn’t. One parent urged bystanders: “Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to.” @AP story: https://t.co/l2CqPCzmAf

✨TheStarsAtNight ✨ @Star5AtNight

@AndySpecht @AP Video of Uvalde parents with cops -- "y'all keep fighting with us, go fight that mfer!"

Hamza Shaban @hshaban

A mom tells the WSJ that after the gunman was killed, police brought in school buses to transport the children away from the school. When a father tried to approach a bus to retrieve his kid the police tasered him. wsj.com/articles/uvald…

Kayla Tausche @kaylatausche

Angeli Rose Gomez, a parent of two Robb students, tells @WSJ she urged police to go inside - federal marshals handcuffed her for "intervening in an active investigation" - and police tackled and pepper-sprayed another father. wsj.com/articles/uvald…

Though the cops even did a poor job of even keeping out the parents.

Anthony DeRosa @Anthony

Ms. Gomez said she saw a father tackled and thrown to the ground by police. Once freed from her cuffs, Ms. Gomez made her distance from the crowd, jumped the school fence, and ran inside to grab her two children. She sprinted out of the school with them. wsj.com/articles/uvald…

And then they got a young woman killed by having her come out of hiding while the shooter was still active.

Matt Novak @paleofuture

At least one additional kid died directly because the cops were incompetent. “When the cops came, the cop said: 'Yell if you need help!' And one of the persons in my class said 'help.' The [shooter] overheard and he came in and shot her," the boy said. kens5.com/article/news/s…

Finally, after a Border Patrol agent shot the gunman, the cops got their own kids out and left.

Gale Farce @_Sir_Perfluous

@misstessowen “1st acknowledge the brave men and women of law enforcement,” not condolences to the family first. Also, the cops engaged the shooter before he entered the school, and they are still alive? Finally, cops went in and pulled their own kids out during the active shooter threat. WTF?

One excuse I’ve heard for the Uvalde police is that it’s unreasonable to expect them to confront someone armed with an AR-15. Except, as you can clearly see in the videos above, the cops themselves had AR-15s and body armor! Here’s what their SWAT team looks like.

I’ve also heard that they couldn’t take the shooter down because he was wearing body armor, though I’ve heard conflicting reports that it was just a plate carrier with no plates. Regardless: so what? Plates only cover your rib cage. Your arms, legs, stomach, and head are wide open.

Another excuse is that police are demoralized after the death of George Floyd. Except the same crap happened during last millennium’s Columbine massacre.

The Cleric @the_cleric

Reading through "Columbine", and one of the things that stands out the most to me is how much the cops actively made the situation and the aftermath WORSE. A (long-ish) thread 🧵:

My purpose isn’t to trash the Uvalde police. Apparently, some were shot confronting the gunman, though I haven’t heard a solid figure. The news report above said several were shot, NBC says two.

Bottom line: don’t expect the police to save you or your children in an emergency and they have no obligation to do so.

I’m reminded of Chris Cornell’s James Bond theme: “Arm yourself because no one else here will save you.”