Police shootout

[QED]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

The second paragraph may be true, however, in these situations it is always wise to be vigilant that they do not try to violate any of your civil liberties. Being cautious is only prudent in these situations. Just don't take it to an extreme. If they didn't get anything to stick to the person whom they arrested, then YOU could become a suspect through no fault of your own. Remember, it is one of their own. Things won't work exactly the same way as for any other homicide as they are emotionally involved, it being one of their own and all.

You guys watch to much television. This is cracking me up.

Yep, it's kind of hilarious to see people's feeble thought processes at work. We are to believe that if a cop is shot, the police will be even more inclined to blame someone who had nothing to do with rather than find the real jackass who shot at a cop. Uhhh... yeah, right.

 

[Synomenon]

Originally posted by: xeemzor
As the other posters said, don't comply with the officer's request for an interview until you have consulted with and have a lawyer present.

Is he supposed to spend his own money to hire a lawyer for this? The man was just relaxing at home and now this?

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

The second paragraph may be true, however, in these situations it is always wise to be vigilant that they do not try to violate any of your civil liberties. Being cautious is only prudent in these situations. Just don't take it to an extreme. If they didn't get anything to stick to the person whom they arrested, then YOU could become a suspect through no fault of your own. Remember, it is one of their own. Things won't work exactly the same way as for any other homicide as they are emotionally involved, it being one of their own and all.

You guys watch to much television. This is cracking me up.

Keep laughing, but there's no downside to exercising your rights. I'm sure the detective can find another mope who'll invite them in for coffee and a rousing conversation.

 

[slayer202]

Originally posted by: xeemzor

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
, and have told me I'm not allowed to leave my house until a detective comes over to question me further.

So now I'm stuck here for what's likely to be another few hours at least. FWIW, nobody got killed.

I'd go about your business as normal, you didn't do nothing so you aren't legally confined to your home.

And that sucks the punk didn't get killed.

I'm a witness to a police shooting, at least as far as they're concerned. I'm not going anywhere. I was told this in no uncertain terms.

You aren't a witness, give them a business card or contact info, and be done with it.

Yeah, see, they're not in agreement with you. I am, absolutely, but I don't really feel like being arrested for obstruction of justice or whatever other ridiculous charge they'd come up with if I just tried to leave.

I could give two craps about the cop OR the dude who got shot, I just want to go grocery shopping sometime in the forseable future. Things work a little differently when it's one of their own who got shot.

If you know any lawyer friends, now is the time to call them. Hell, hiring one now might save you a ton of trouble that could potentially come from this. Whenever you are talking with the cops, you want to have someone at your side who makes sure you say everything absolutely correct. One misstep on your end could end making you look like an accomplice.

As the other posters said, don't comply with the officer's request for an interview until you have consulted with and have a lawyer present. You don't have to legally talk with them and they can and WILL use everything you say against you. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

yes, good idea, that won't make it look like you have something to hide

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: QED
Yep, it's kind of hilarious to see people's feeble thought processes at work. We are to believe that if a cop is shot, the police will be even more inclined to blame someone who had nothing to do with rather than find the real jackass who shot at a cop. Uhhh... yeah, right.

It's not like police lose their cool when a cop is shot.

:roll:

And no, the OP does not need a lawyer right now. If the cops take you into custody, you can request a lawyer at the city's expense.

 

[Throckmorton]

Don't worry, it was probably just an innocent black man. Your property value just went up.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I watch Law and Order all the time. As long as you're not the third person they interrogate, you'll be fine.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Still fucking stuck here. It's been 6 hours.

To give some further info, the guy who shot the cop was already arrested, while fleeing. He shot at the cops while running. There is absoutely 0% chance I could ever get blamed for this. Also, there's no less than 6 uniforms still prowling around outside my house, shining flashlights at the ground looking for God knows what. I've tried to leave once already (grocery store is within walking distance, there's police tape up around my driveway so I can't drive out) and was told the place is "locked down" and I need to wait until I'm told I can leave.

I'm not trying to give any cops a hard time here, but this is fucking ridiculous. I'm not a witness, I didn't see a single thing, and there's nothing useful I can add to this investigation. At 9 my time I'm leaving, if they want to arrest me for it, fine. It'll make an interesting story to link to for ATOT.

Yeah that does suck. The article seemed to imply that the shoot out evolved over some length of the street, the suspect running up it. I would imagine that the cops have a lot of ground to cover and people that they would need to talk to.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Keep laughing, but there's no downside to exercising your rights. I'm sure the detective can find another mope who'll invite them in for coffee and a rousing conversation.

Yes there is. Plenty of crimes don't get solved every year because citizens afraid of cops don't say a word.

About 3-4 weeks ago people got shot and killed in Chicago and the cops didn't find out until they saw a line of people outside the victim's house waiting to see the bodies. How the fuck is the murder supposed to be solved?

You don't have to be friendly to them, but answering some questions and filling out a statement will NOT do any damage unless you actually did something.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

The second paragraph may be true, however, in these situations it is always wise to be vigilant that they do not try to violate any of your civil liberties. Being cautious is only prudent in these situations. Just don't take it to an extreme. If they didn't get anything to stick to the person whom they arrested, then YOU could become a suspect through no fault of your own. Remember, it is one of their own. Things won't work exactly the same way as for any other homicide as they are emotionally involved, it being one of their own and all.

You guys watch to much television. This is cracking me up.

Keep laughing, but there's no downside to exercising your rights. I'm sure the detective can find another mope who'll invite them in for coffee and a rousing conversation.

Imagine if everyone had your attitude, and everyone refused to talk to the police about anything. How would they ever do anything about crime? They'd have to either catch someone in the act, or the criminal would have to leave enough evidence at the scene to be caught.

No, I'd say there IS a downside to exercising your rights when you don't need to, and there is an upside to being a good citizen and knowing when you need to exercise your rights.

For the OP, it'd make him look pretty suspicious if he refuses to talk to the police about something he clearly had nothing to do with. Fortunately he's sensible enough to not listen to you.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: mugs
For the OP, it'd make him look pretty suspicious if he refuses to talk to the police about something he clearly had nothing to do with. Fortunately he's sensible enough to not listen to you.

He can look as suspicious as he wants. A prosecutor/judge would laugh an officer out of the court room if 'looking suspicious' was their best piece of evidence.

Surely you're not implying that an officer of the law would fabricate evidence to convict a 'suspicious' looking suspect?

 

[xeemzor]

Originally posted by: slayer202

Originally posted by: xeemzor

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
, and have told me I'm not allowed to leave my house until a detective comes over to question me further.

So now I'm stuck here for what's likely to be another few hours at least. FWIW, nobody got killed.

I'd go about your business as normal, you didn't do nothing so you aren't legally confined to your home.

And that sucks the punk didn't get killed.

I'm a witness to a police shooting, at least as far as they're concerned. I'm not going anywhere. I was told this in no uncertain terms.

You aren't a witness, give them a business card or contact info, and be done with it.

Yeah, see, they're not in agreement with you. I am, absolutely, but I don't really feel like being arrested for obstruction of justice or whatever other ridiculous charge they'd come up with if I just tried to leave.

I could give two craps about the cop OR the dude who got shot, I just want to go grocery shopping sometime in the forseable future. Things work a little differently when it's one of their own who got shot.

If you know any lawyer friends, now is the time to call them. Hell, hiring one now might save you a ton of trouble that could potentially come from this. Whenever you are talking with the cops, you want to have someone at your side who makes sure you say everything absolutely correct. One misstep on your end could end making you look like an accomplice.

As the other posters said, don't comply with the officer's request for an interview until you have consulted with and have a lawyer present. You don't have to legally talk with them and they can and WILL use everything you say against you. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

yes, good idea, that won't make it look like you have something to hide

Not at all. All it means is that you aren't trusting of the police to look out for your best interests. Seriously, with something this big, you want to make sure you have your ass covered in any way possible. It's better to overreact in the beginning than to get into any more trouble later.

 

[MovingTarget]

Originally posted by: QED

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

The second paragraph may be true, however, in these situations it is always wise to be vigilant that they do not try to violate any of your civil liberties. Being cautious is only prudent in these situations. Just don't take it to an extreme. If they didn't get anything to stick to the person whom they arrested, then YOU could become a suspect through no fault of your own. Remember, it is one of their own. Things won't work exactly the same way as for any other homicide as they are emotionally involved, it being one of their own and all.

You guys watch to much television. This is cracking me up.

Yep, it's kind of hilarious to see people's feeble thought processes at work. We are to believe that if a cop is shot, the police will be even more inclined to blame someone who had nothing to do with rather than find the real jackass who shot at a cop. Uhhh... yeah, right.

Laugh all you want, it is not completely unheard of. The Supreme Court is full of cases of cop-shootings where innocent people had their rights violated. Cops are just as fallible as the rest of the population. To believe otherwise is a rather naive thing to do. Heck, they are already keeping a citizen not involved in the incident under defacto house arrest. Only a feeble minded person with a black-and-white worldview would believe that their civil liberties are 100% safe in these situations considering the circumstances.

 

[MovingTarget]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

The second paragraph may be true, however, in these situations it is always wise to be vigilant that they do not try to violate any of your civil liberties. Being cautious is only prudent in these situations. Just don't take it to an extreme. If they didn't get anything to stick to the person whom they arrested, then YOU could become a suspect through no fault of your own. Remember, it is one of their own. Things won't work exactly the same way as for any other homicide as they are emotionally involved, it being one of their own and all.

You guys watch to much television. This is cracking me up.

Keep laughing, but there's no downside to exercising your rights. I'm sure the detective can find another mope who'll invite them in for coffee and a rousing conversation.

Imagine if everyone had your attitude, and everyone refused to talk to the police about anything. How would they ever do anything about crime? They'd have to either catch someone in the act, or the criminal would have to leave enough evidence at the scene to be caught.

No, I'd say there IS a downside to exercising your rights when you don't need to, and there is an upside to being a good citizen and knowing when you need to exercise your rights.

For the OP, it'd make him look pretty suspicious if he refuses to talk to the police about something he clearly had nothing to do with. Fortunately he's sensible enough to not listen to you.

Refusing to talk to the police altogether like that is completely unwarranted. I didn't initially assume that the suspect was caught in the act and immediately apprehended. In this case, the OP probably wouldn't have minded talking to the cops, but when they pull something like this house-arrest for a non-suspect, the OP would be prudent to make sure his behind is covered.

 

[Agentbolt]

Still here. The cop who told me not to go anywhere seemed sympathetic, but he explained there's still uncollected bullets the the CSI team needs to find, and they haven't had a chance to interview everyone yet. Either he's a genuinely nice guy or he's simply been trained well, but he was so apologetic and polite about it, I didn't have the heart to be a dick about it and force the issue. So here I remain.

Apparently the guy running away was wildly firing bullets everywhere as he ran away. He could've easily killed several people. In the hour between first hearing the gunshots and the uniform showing up at my door, I apparently missed a LOT of action.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: mugs
For the OP, it'd make him look pretty suspicious if he refuses to talk to the police about something he clearly had nothing to do with. Fortunately he's sensible enough to not listen to you.

He can look as suspicious as he wants. A prosecutor/judge would laugh an officer out of the court room if 'looking suspicious' was their best piece of evidence.

Surely you're not implying that an officer of the law would fabricate evidence to convict a 'suspicious' looking suspect?

I didn't imply anything like that. All I said was that it makes him look suspicious, and you made the huge leap from looking suspicious to
1. Being charged with a crime based solely on looking suspicious and
2. The police fabricating evidence

Doesn't surprise me coming from you.

 

[Kalvin00]

Christ, jpeyton is worse than Dave these days.

How is it possible to have such a skewed view of reality?

 

[Injury]

Wow, this thread is full of paranoid dumbasses.

 

[alphatarget1]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
An hour later 3 uniforms knock on my door and start questioning me about what I heard/saw, and have told me I'm not allowed to leave my house until a detective comes over to question me further.

WTF, they are allowed to "detain" you under "house arrest"? Pigs.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Still here. The cop who told me not to go anywhere seemed sympathetic, but he explained there's still uncollected bullets the the CSI team needs to find, and they haven't had a chance to interview everyone yet. Either he's a genuinely nice guy or he's simply been trained well, but he was so apologetic and polite about it, I didn't have the heart to be a dick about it and force the issue. So here I remain.

Apparently the guy running away was wildly firing bullets everywhere as he ran away. He could've easily killed several people. In the hour between first hearing the gunshots and the uniform showing up at my door, I apparently missed a LOT of action.

did it bother you that you had to stay home? did you have some place to go?
and if you had some place you genuinely had to go do you think they would've let you go?

 

[alphatarget1]

at least ask some donut cops to get you a gallon of milk at the grocery store or something.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1
at least ask some donut cops to get you a gallon of milk at the grocery store or something.

why did you have to post twice? combine all your cop bashing thoughts into one post and save some bandwith.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Still here. The cop who told me not to go anywhere seemed sympathetic, but he explained there's still uncollected bullets the the CSI team needs to find, and they haven't had a chance to interview everyone yet. Either he's a genuinely nice guy or he's simply been trained well, but he was so apologetic and polite about it, I didn't have the heart to be a dick about it and force the issue. So here I remain.

Apparently the guy running away was wildly firing bullets everywhere as he ran away. He could've easily killed several people. In the hour between first hearing the gunshots and the uniform showing up at my door, I apparently missed a LOT of action.

Yea but the bad thing is ALL the bullets came from cops firearms. The perp only had a knife and somehow got the gun from one of the cops and used that to shoot the other cop.

 

[Agentbolt]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Still here. The cop who told me not to go anywhere seemed sympathetic, but he explained there's still uncollected bullets the the CSI team needs to find, and they haven't had a chance to interview everyone yet. Either he's a genuinely nice guy or he's simply been trained well, but he was so apologetic and polite about it, I didn't have the heart to be a dick about it and force the issue. So here I remain.

Apparently the guy running away was wildly firing bullets everywhere as he ran away. He could've easily killed several people. In the hour between first hearing the gunshots and the uniform showing up at my door, I apparently missed a LOT of action.

did it bother you that you had to stay home? did you have some place to go?
and if you had some place you genuinely had to go do you think they would've let you go?

Yeah, it did bother me. I didn't have anything epically important to do, but I'd had some errands I'd wanted to get done, and I was going to go watch a movie with a friend later that night. Even if I HAD had something important to do, they wouldn't have let me go. My neighbor had a friend fly in from Cali to go see a concert, and the cops wouldn't allow them to leave, so they missed out on it. Another person was trying to pick someone up from the airport, wasn't allowed to leave either.

What bothers me the most, however, is that a detective never came to talk to me. I stayed up until midnight and then simply went to bed. I was detained for literally no reason whatsoever. Later on at night I was at least allowed to go outside, and most of my neighbors had gathered for an impromptu barbecue at someone's house, so we hung out drinking some beers and complaining about being trapped at home (which was surprisingly fun, most of my neighbors I hadn't met before), but nobody was allowed to leave the property until about 5 AM. Which means we were under lockdown for over 12 hours, and again, for apparently no reason.

There's not much to be done about it though. It's not like I'm going to sue over something like this. This incident hasn't increased my general hatred of cops, either, as the ones on the ground I spoke to were just as annoyed with the situation as I was. It was just a sucky situation.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Still here. The cop who told me not to go anywhere seemed sympathetic, but he explained there's still uncollected bullets the the CSI team needs to find, and they haven't had a chance to interview everyone yet. Either he's a genuinely nice guy or he's simply been trained well, but he was so apologetic and polite about it, I didn't have the heart to be a dick about it and force the issue. So here I remain.

Apparently the guy running away was wildly firing bullets everywhere as he ran away. He could've easily killed several people. In the hour between first hearing the gunshots and the uniform showing up at my door, I apparently missed a LOT of action.

did it bother you that you had to stay home? did you have some place to go?
and if you had some place you genuinely had to go do you think they would've let you go?

Yeah, it did bother me. I didn't have anything epically important to do, but I'd had some errands I'd wanted to get done, and I was going to go watch a movie with a friend later that night. Even if I HAD had something important to do, they wouldn't have let me go. My neighbor had a friend fly in from Cali to go see a concert, and the cops wouldn't allow them to leave, so they missed out on it. Another person was trying to pick someone up from the airport, wasn't allowed to leave either.

What bothers me the most, however, is that a detective never came to talk to me. I stayed up until midnight and then simply went to bed. I was detained for literally no reason whatsoever. Later on at night I was at least allowed to go outside, and most of my neighbors had gathered for an impromptu barbecue at someone's house, so we hung out drinking some beers and complaining about being trapped at home (which was surprisingly fun, most of my neighbors I hadn't met before), but nobody was allowed to leave the property until about 5 AM. Which means we were under lockdown for over 12 hours, and again, for apparently no reason.

There's not much to be done about it though. It's not like I'm going to sue over something like this. This incident hasn't increased my general hatred of cops, either, as the ones on the ground I spoke to were just as annoyed with the situation as I was. It was just a sucky situation.

Yeh, I'd be a bit pissed too, but not ready to go burn flags or anything. :laugh: