19 May 2021

"Worst responders"

Full credit to Harper's Magazine (for text and title) for this item from their August 2020 issue:
From a 2017 complaint filed by David and Gretchen Jessen against Fresno County and the city of Clovis, California, for damages incurred during a police raid on their home. In June 2016, construction workers called the police after they witnessed a homeless man break into the Jessens’ house. The Jessens returned to find their home surrounded by law enforcement. The Jessens argue that damage to their home was “unreasonable and unjustified.” In April, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Fresno County and the city of Clovis.

The Clovis Police Department and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office deployed the following:
Fifty-five vehicles
A K-9 unit
Two helicopters
Two ambulances
A fire truck
A crisis negotiation team in a motor home
A SWAT team
A backup SWAT team
A robot
Law enforcement officers did the following to the Jessens’ home:
Broke six windows
Ripped out the front door and an interior door
Pulled an office wall off the foundation
Used a flash bomb in the office
Ripped off the door to the laundry room
Used a flash bomb in the laundry room
Teargassed the laundry room
Teargassed the kitchen
Teargassed the master bathroom
Teargassed the guest bedroom
Teargassed the office bathroom
Teargassed the sewing room
Destroyed more than ninety feet of fencing with a SWAT vehicle
Shattered a sliding glass door for robot entry
The homeless man did the following:
Broke a window
Stole milk, an ice cream bar, and half a tomato

8 comments:

  1. Did the Jensen's insurance pick up any of the repairs? I couldn't find anything about even if their house got repaired.

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    Replies
    1. Presumably taxpayer money:

      "Several hours later, deputies told him he could go back home. On the way there, Jessen counted at least 55 law enforcement vehicles. After parking and walking to his house, a SWAT officer told him the “operation” was concluded, and a second officer handed him a card and said “‘we have insurance for this.’”

      Delete
  2. This is so awful it verges on hilarious... like some skit where the 3 Stooges, Laurel & Hardy, The Marx Brothers and a barrel of monkeys came to the rescue.

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  3. BUT THEY DIDN'T MURDER ANYONE THIS TIME !

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  4. must have been a sunny day and everyone wanted to go outside and then this call came in

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  5. "Hey, guys, here's a great chance to practice with all these cool toys and stuff! It'll be just like "cops and robbers" or "cowboys and Indians." I mean, when are we ever going to get to try out all this weaponry if we don't get started?"

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  6. And that was needed was one or two cops having a friendly chat with the homeless person about why he was stealing and if they could help him find food, shelter and perhaps mental care.

    Defund the police.

    If you give someone only a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
    If you militarize the police, everybody looks like an enemy.

    ReplyDelete