Police "protection" gone amuck

[dgibson]

Yesterday the local police department entered into a standoff with a guy who was supposedly holed up in his home with an AK-47, threatening to kill people (as reported by the local media, including my employer). Turns out there was no AK-47, threat, or even a standoff...just a single phone call with a heavy dose of misinformation. Read on:

EVANSVILLE - A dozen police officers surrounded an Evansville man's house after a call that the man could be violent to himself, and others.

It turns out the man was asleep, and he tells NEWS 25 he didn't threaten anyone. That leads us to ask if the EPD response was appropriate.

Joe Persinger was the most surprised man in town when he woke up from his sleep Tuesday night. A day after streets were blocked and the EPD SWAT Team deployed, we ask if that response was appropriate. Persinger said, "I'm 5'11" and I weigh about 165, 170 pounds. I'm not John Dillinger."

Persinger switches between emotions. He sometimes laughs about what he lived through, but he's also angry that the Evansville Police SWAT Team woke him up.

Persinger said, "I was surprised and shocked, and thought it was the biggest bunch of bull I'd ever heard in my life. I mean, it was completely and totally ridiculous."

The SWAT Team and hostage negotiators went to Persinger's East Indiana Street home after getting a 911 call from Persinger's niece, b ut Persinger says he didn't threaten anyone, adding he loves his young daughters too much to hurt himself or others.

He told us he did tell his niece he had a shotgun, and that he would to protect himself from thefts happening near his home.

Persinger says his phone ringer was turned off and he's a heavy sleeper, so he didn't know until he woke up to get a drink that police were waiting for him.

Persinger said, "And the next thing I know I go to lay back down and I hear a bullhorn blowing, 'Joe, Joe. Answer your phone.' So I picked up my phone, and that's when there was a policeman on the other line and asked me to step outside. And I asked him if he wanted me to step outside, and he said, 'Yeah, would you please, and put your hands on top of your head.'"

We took our questions about the standoff to the Evansville Police spokesperson, Sgt. Stephanie Loehrlein.

NEWS 25 asked Loehrlein, "Was that call, in and of itself, enough to justify the response?"

She said, "Absolutely. Anytime you have someone that is of a mental state where they're threatening to kill themselves or someone else, you've got the potential that they're going to, either one, follow through with the threat and kill someone, or if they're suicidal, many people try to kill themselves by using the police. So even though there was not, it ended up not being a high-powered rifle in the home, I think everything was handled as best as it could possibly have been."

Persinger works the 3rd shift, and sleeps during the day. No one was injured in the incident.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Canoe]

I'll bet that there were a bunch of bummed out cops on that one. All dressed up and no-one to shoot.

 

[Canoe]

No wait, that might only apply to Boise police.

 

[Mojave]

I have to go with the cops on this one. Better to come out with egg on your face than be the ones who underreacted and something terrible happens. Mistakes will be made, that's just life. But the only bad which came out of this was the guy missed a little beauty sleep? Not to bad in the scheme of things.

 

[huntinfool]

i have to argee with the police in this better safe than sorry!!!

 

[Quiet_One]

wow very interesting ha dmke ya think the cops that is what heck dgoin on we were called here to be prepared for big gun fight eneded up guy was asleep it was mental state thing yeah i be like huh too guy prob had 2peronalitys very common but anyway least safe not trouble

 

[dgibson]

I think that the cops probably did the right thing given the information that they had, but I also think there should be a STIFF penalty for providing false information like that. The call says he's got an AK-47 and is threatening to kill people, when in reality he's sleeping peacefully knowing that his home is shotgun-protected from burglars? Sure, mistakes happen, but that's a pretty serious error. If they mobilize like this on every such call, without penalizing obviously false information, then there's nothing to keep people from doing this maliciously just to get a kick out of it.

I can see Moosie doing something like that.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

I agree with you. Several years ago, I had long hair and was dressed in old jeans and a sweatshirt since I was painting the house. I stopped at the grocery store on my way to pick up my daughters. I hopped out of our van and started into the store when I remembered that I had left the checkbook in the van. I went back, unlocked the door, reached in and grabbed my black checkbook. I flipped up the back of my sweatshirt and slid the checkbook into my back pocket.

I did my shopping, and got in line to check out. I noticed that the manager was taking money from all the registers, but I thought "Shift change" or something. I wrote my check and left the store.

Out past my van, a blue Plymouth was parked at an odd angle, taking up several spaces. I thought, "Wow. That is wierd. Why would someone park that funky sedan so someone won't ding it with their doors? It's nothing special." I hop into the van, and take off for the babysitters.

As I pass the school, I notice that the blue Plymouth is tailgating me, and figure it is because I am only doing about 15 MPH past the school with all the little kids running and playing around. "Screw him. I'm not speeding up with all these kids around."

I turn into my babysitter's cul-de-sac and see red lights in my rear view mirror. I can't figure out what I'm being pulled over for. (????) I pulled over in front of the babysitter's house, and clumsily dropped my keys on the floor, being nervous about being pulled over. Before I picked them up, I looked in the mirror - there was a cop at my rear window with his Ruger Security-Six pointed at me. I looked out the front window, and there is a plainclothes cop with a snubby pointed at me. He gestured for me to open my door from the outside, through the open window. I do so, and I am told to put my hands on my head and kneel. I put my hands on my head, but tell him that I just cannot kneel that way - as VN vet, I saw too many GIs who had been capped that way by the VC and NVA and too many of the other side capped by the ARVNs that way. I explain that I am scared that I will react badly if forced into that position and why. So they let me slide and have me spread my legs waaaaaay out and lean against the side of the van with my arms waaaay out. They cuff me, and then tell me that someone reported that I had put " a 4-inch barreled blued steel revolver into my back pocket before entering Safeway."

So I let them search my van, and they find only some 12-guage pheasant loads (it was open season for them.) They uncuff me and apologize. I asked them, "If I had not looked first, and had just reached for my keys on the floor, would you have shot me?" The answer was, "Yes, we both would have shot you. After all, you were reported to have a gun."

I asked them if they had a record of who called, to please call that person and chew them out, at least. Their fantasy almost got me killed.

Yes - there should be a penalty for false reports!

 

[ELKCHSR]

That sounds like a close call Rick...
I was in Charleston SC when in the Navy.
I had purchased a motor cycle and was riding it home from the ship yards one nighte when all of a sudden, I had a cop race around me and screached to a halt like they do in the movies. Then with in seconds I was surrounded by cop cars and every one had drawn weapons on me, at the moment, it looked like a hundred, but in reality it was only about a dozen...
One cop comes up to me and asks for my ID. as I am pulling it out, my hands were shaking a bit, he asks me why I was nervous... Go figure ...
He was there in front of me and I heard some thing on the guy's radio but wasn't paying attention to that when they all jumped into their cars and raced off, leaving me in the middle of the road in a very confussed state of mind.
I found out from a newspaper article the next day, that some one had grabbed some ransom money from some where close to where I happened to be at. They were on a motor cycle and had made a clean getaway with the money...
I laugh about it now, but was a little shaken at the time and for a while after that.

 

[Whiskers]

I beleive the police overreacted. AS do most police departments. I know a lot of you disagree with this. But imagine if it happened to you. You mention that you have a gun and will protect your property, the police show up in force, block the street, and call your name over a bull horn. Think about your neighbors reaction, how long did they search his house for illegal guns, ammo, or anything else. It was just a good excuse for them to run around with their lights and sirens, and terrify a regular guy.

I don't condone physical violence but I think the neice should be bitch slapped till she collapses.

 

[JB]

cali......... did they at least beat you for having the long hair? or were they to lazy to do their job?

 

[Quiet_One]

man sorry hear u guys had soe bad times never been there except once me my dad supposly stole some stuff no i never would but lot cops was no funn when ur in private christan school hehe thoguht i was dead only thing came close i walked by some crazy wanted guy once who was so high dangerous i said hi went by also in middle of little gunfight kinda scared kept on walkin weird though only other thing caught bad guy in cemetary who just robbe dwoman and saw another who about to do somethin why is it me always at right place same time hehe