Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan: Castle Doctrine Kills Cops

[andrewjs18]

oh..really?!

link-
http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/05...ne-kills-cops/

“All Republican Rep. Tony Cornish wants is for every Minnesotan to be able to shoot first and ask questions later if they find an intruder in their homes, and he’s getting damned testy about the top cops from Minnesota’s largest cities standing in his way. Why don’t they love America like he does?” blogs.citypages.com blogger Hart Van Denburg is being sarcastic. The bill simply extends MN’s existing “castle doctrine”—no legal obligation to withdraw from a lethal threat in one’s home—to garages, cars, decks, tents, boats or overnight accommodations . . .

The bill does not ”lessen the burden” of proof on an armed citizen to establish the fact that there was a credible lethal threat when they discharged their firearm. A fact that makes Dolan look idiotic.

But not as idiotic as State Sen. John Harrington, DFL-St. Paul: ”I don’t think we should expect our law enforcement, our peace officers, our sheriffs to have to be able to look both ways when they’re chasing a bad guy through the back yards.”

Note: there are plenty of states where citizens have the right to defend their lives and the lives of their loved ones and innocent bystanders without a “duty to retreat” from their immediate environment. The law has not led to a bloodbath for cops. Just sayin’.

[WhiteShadow]

Yeah, well, this is why the cops need to IDENTIFY themselves LOUDLY before they attempt to come in the house. If i live in a state with a castle doctrine law...and you're a cop... and you dont loudly identify yourself... and your in my house and i dont know that your a cop and your not gonna let me know your a cop....first off, you're a moron, secondly you're gonna be a wounded moron! Because just as the cops are always saying to civilians, "i dont know what your intentions are", how the fuck am i supposed to know what the intentions are of an intruder thats breaking into my house and failing to let me know who the hell they are?

This is bullshit, so these cops expect us to always give an intruder the benefit of the doubt that they might possibly be a cop? Sorry, but go fuck yourself, i'm not giving up my right to protect myself, my family, and my home just so you can feel a little safer entering homes, you either identify yourself as a police officer or get shot. I was sure this was just common sense?!?

[twoguns]

If the police would follow a Constitutional procedure when serving warrants this would not be an issue. Instead we have seen a rise in the use of SWAT teams for service of warrants on even non-violent offenders. How is anyone to know the people bashing in your door are cops even if they happen to declare, POLICE OFFICER-- WE HAVE SEARCH WARRANT?

The proper and Constitutionally Lawful way to serve a warrant, with rare exception, is to knock on the door and present the warrant (signed by a judge) to the home owner or resident. It should clearly state that, we are here looking for xyz. May we come in? At that point the resident should be given the opportunity to review the document and either grant access or refuse to consent to any search. If the resident declines and the warrant is lawful the police then have a right to enter regardless of any objection offered by the resident. Using force to breach the threshold of one's home no matter who you are should be fairly met with force. If we are to live like free men and women, our homes are our castles.

When SWAT initially came into being they we supposed to be used for only the most dangerous of suspects and encounters; stand-offs and hostage/barricade situations. Now they are used routinely for the most mundane of offenses. SWAT have been documented as the ones who shoot first and ask questions later....often times not even asking questions. Shooting dogs, old folks and children seems to be the current norm for SWAT. Often times they don't even have the correct address!

I suspect this piece gives us a glimpse of who the NRA represents when they meddle in state legislation for Castle Doctrine, Open Carry/Concealed Carry, and other Constitutional gun statutes. Why should a claim of "officer safety" trump home owner safety? Why should the police be given "authority" to violate the Supreme Law of The Land in the name of catching bad guys?

I recommend that anyone in law enforcement who does not like to obey the law should find a new line of work. Thugs with badges should not be tolerated in a free society.

[PocketProtector]

Castle doctrine or not, the police should expect a response when they do this type of raid.
The facts are that this is total BS. Nowhere there is a CD has it turned into the Wild West. This is what antis always do, make these wild claims without a shread of evidence of truth.