| Dale E 2007-08-23, 3:25 am |
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Solar Flare wrote:
> Maybe we should get rid of the police because they aren't perfect.
Right idea, wrong reason.
Police Have No Duty To Protect Individuals
by Peter Kasler
Self-Reliance For Self-Defense -- Police Protection Isn't Enough!
All our lives, especially during our younger years, we hear that the
police are there to protect us. From the very first kindergarten-
class visit of "Officer Friendly" to the very last time we saw a
police car - most of which have "To Protect and Serve" emblazoned on
their doors - we're encouraged to give ourselves over to police
protection. But it hasn't always been that way.
Before the mid-1800s, American and British citizens - even in large
cities - were expected to protect themselves and each other. Indeed,
they were legally required to pursue and attempt to apprehend
criminals. The notion of a police force in those days was abhorrent in
England and America, where liberals viewed it as a form of the dreaded
"standing army."
....
Because the police have no general duty to protect individuals,
judicial remedies are not available for their failure to protect. In
other words, if someone is injured because they expected but did not
receive police protection, they cannot recover damages by suing
(except in very special cases, explained below). Despite a long
history of such failed attempts, however, many, people persist in
believing the police are obligated to protect them, attempt to recover
when no protection was forthcoming, and are emotionally demoralized
when the recovery fails. Legal annals abound with such cases.
So in this case, since police are not required to "protect" us, how
many do we really need?
Warren v. District of Columbia is one of the leading cases of this
type. Two women were upstairs in a townhouse when they heard their
roommate, a third woman, being attacked downstairs by intruders. They
phoned the police several times and were assured that officers were on
the way. After about 30 minutes, when their roommate's screams had
stopped, they assumed the police had finally arrived. When the two
women went downstairs they saw that in fact the police never came, but
the intruders were still there. As the Warren court graphically states
in the opinion: "For the next fourteen hours the women were held
captive, raped, robbed, beaten, forced to commit sexual acts upon each
other, and made to submit to the sexual demands of their attackers."
The three women sued the District of Columbia for failing to protect
them, but D.C.'s highest court exonerated the District and its police,
saying that it is a "fundamental principle of American law that a
government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public
services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen."
Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. Ct. of Ap., 1981).
There are many similar cases with results to the same effect.
See, for example, Riss v. City of New York, 22 N.Y.2d 579, 293 NYS2d
897, 240 N.E.2d 860 (N.Y. Ct. of Ap. 1958); Keane v. City of Chicago,
98 Ill. App.2d 460, 240 N.E.2d 321 (1968); Morgan v. District of
Columbia, 468 A.2d 1306 (D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1983); Calogrides v. City of
Mobile, 475 So.2d 560 (S.Ct. A;a. 1985); Morris v. Musser, 478 A.2d
937 (1984); Davidson v. City of Westminster, 32 C.3d 197, 185
Cal.Rptr. 252, 649 P.2d 894 (S.Ct. Cal. 1982); Chapman v. City of
Philadelphia, 434 A.2d 753 (Sup.Ct. Penn. 1981); Weutrich v. Delia,
155 N.J. Super 324, 326, 382 A.2d 929, 930 (1978); Sapp v. City of
Tallahassee, 348 So.2d 363 (Fla.Ct. of Ap. 1977); Simpson's Food Fair
v. Evansville, 272 N.E. 2d 871 (Ind.Ct. of Ap.); Silver v. City of
Minneapolis, 170 N.W.2d 206 (S.Ct. Minn. 1969) and Bowers v. DeVito,
686 F.2d 61 (7th Cir. 1982).
http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/k...protection.html
Get rid of the police because they are NOT legally required to protect
you. Confirmed in the county I live because when somebody I know
asked a deputy sheriff what his legal duty was, protecting the citizen
was not on the list of 3 duties.
Besides, the police ARE the standing army the founders didn't want
standing in this country.
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