A non-firearm related incident that fortified my belief in being armed

[zakst1]

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This is not to bash cops. I believe that they do have a vital role in society.

Friday after work, I was on my way to drop off my car for my wife. Everything was routine. I live in Bremerton and only had a mile to drive. I was the third car in line to come to a stop at a traffic light for a left turn. The car in front of me and I were traveling at about 10 mph, when out of no where a very careless kid on a mountain bike darted across traffic (not using the cross walk and also not wearing a helmet). BARELY missing the car in front of me, he colliding right into the driver side door of a car traveling in the opposite direction that I was heading. This occurred at 6:03pm. 911 was called at 6:04pm. The kid was coherent enough to be brought to the side of the road as the parties and witnesses involved collected in the parking lot adjacent to the street. At 6:09pm the fire department appeared on scene. The first police officer on scene arrived at 6:16pm, and the other officer on scene arrived at 6:18pm. Reports were taken... yadda yadda yadda...

Regardless that this event had nothing whatsoever to do with firearms, the thing that fortified my belief in being armed at all times was the incredibly long time it took police to arrive on scene. I was thinking about this from the moment the accident occurred until after everything was finished. "What if" you were in a life or death situation and you were not armed? Again, the police are certainly important to society, but all I could think about was what could happen in 14-18 minutes.

Btw, though I was highly considering OCing after work, I was not. I was CCing. I haven't yet worked up the kahonays to avidly practice. Getting together with other OCers at the Kitsap picnic was a great to push me out the door, and I did it on my own afterward. Since then I haven't done so.


I've been curious how the situation would have been handled with the two Staties that were on scene at the accident, if I as a witness had been OCing..

 

[Bear 45/70]

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zakst1 wrote:

This is not to bash cops. I believe that they do have a vital role in society.

Friday after work, I was on my way to drop off my car for my wife. Everything was routine. I live in Bremerton and only had a mile to drive. I was the third car in line to come to a stop at a traffic light for a left turn. The car in front of me and I were traveling at about 10 mph, when out of no where a very careless kid on a mountain bike darted across traffic (not using the cross walk and also not wearing a helmet). BARELY missing the car in front of me, he colliding right into the driver side door of a car traveling in the opposite direction that I was heading. This occurred at 6:03pm. 911 was called at 6:04pm. The kid was coherent enough to be brought to the side of the road as the parties and witnesses involved collected in the parking lot adjacent to the street. At 6:09pm the fire department appeared on scene. The first police officer on scene arrived at 6:16pm, and the other officer on scene arrived at 6:18pm. Reports were taken... yadda yadda yadda...

Regardless that this event had nothing whatsoever to do with firearms, the thing that fortified my belief in being armed at all times was the incredibly long time it took police to arrive on scene. I was thinking about this from the moment the accident occurred until after everything was finished. "What if" you were in a life or death situation and you were not armed? Again, the police are certainly important to society, but all I could think about was what could happen in 14-18 minutes.

Btw, though I was highly considering OCing after work, I was not. I was CCing. I haven't yet worked up the kahonays to avidly practice. Getting together with other OCers at the Kitsap picnic was a great to push me out the door, and I did it on my own afterward. Since then I haven't done so.


I've been curious how the situation would have been handled with the two Staties that were on scene at the accident, if I as a witness had been OCing..

I know a number of Staters and from what I know from them andhave seen of other Staters, they are up on the legality of OC. I live in Shelton and with the State Patrol Academy here, we have Staters and other officers from all over the wet side around all the time. Been observed to many times to count OCing and never once has a word said.

 

[carhas0]

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zakst1 wrote:

...

Regardless that this event had nothing whatsoever to do with firearms, the thing that fortified my belief in being armed at all times was the incredibly long time it took police to arrive on scene. ...

One thing to keep in mind is that for the police, this was not an emergency call. The fire department was already on scene providing treatment and there was no reason for them to rush and risk their own lives and the lives of others to arrive a few minutes earlier to take a report. If the call was for an assault, robbery, or other violent crime in progress, they would likely be responding faster.

 

[zakst1]

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sean-1286 wrote:

zakst1 wrote:

...

Regardless that this event had nothing whatsoever to do with firearms, the thing that fortified my belief in being armed at all times was the incredibly long time it took police to arrive on scene. ...

One thing to keep in mind is that for the police, this was not an emergency call. The fire department was already on scene providing treatment and there was no reason for them to rush and risk their own lives and the lives of others to arrive a few minutes earlier to take a report. If the call was for an assault, robbery, or other violent crime in progress, they would likely be responding faster.

that makes sence...

 

[Mainsail]

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zakst1 wrote:

This is not to bash cops. I believe that they do have a vital role in society.

...the thing that fortified my belief in being armed at all times was the incredibly long time it took police to arrive on scene.

My 17 year old son was punched by a young adult driver at Wright Park last Sunday. It took TPD three hours to respond. Yeah, three hours. On Monday when I was running around the park I spotted the car (he got the license plate) and the subject he described parked at the conservatory. I stopped and called TPD to report it, I was put on hold. About 30 seconds later they drove away while I was still on hold. On my next lap I smelled marijuana smoke coming from a van parked along the road, so I called 911 again. I did four more laps and they never responded.

Either they’re shorthanded or they don’t have the money to keep enough officers on the street, but either way, you’re on your own.

 

[Bear 45/70]

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Mainsail wrote:

zakst1 wrote:

This is not to bash cops. I believe that they do have a vital role in society.

...the thing that fortified my belief in being armed at all times was the incredibly long time it took police to arrive on scene.

My 17 year old son was punched by a young adult driver at Wright Park last Sunday. It took TPD three hours to respond. Yeah, three hours. On Monday when I was running around the park I spotted the car (he got the license plate) and the subject he described parked at the conservatory. I stopped and called TPD to report it, I was put on hold. About 30 seconds later they drove away while I was still on hold. On my next lap I smelled marijuana smoke coming from a van parked along the road, so I called 911 again. I did four more laps and they never responded.

Either they’re shorthanded or they don’t have the money to keep enough officers on the street, but either way, you’re on your own.

Probably to busy parking in No Parking zones.:?

 

[MadHatter66]

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Who ever said it was a non-emergency, as fire was already there was right... BPD can get places quick if there is an emergency...trust me

 

[911Boss]

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One of my favorite tag-lines:

"When seconds count, the cops are only minutes away..."

It is not at all a dis on cops. I work for the 911 system andI think it does better than most should expect. The simple fact of life is that shit happens, and it usually happens when a cop isn't right there (coincidence?)

Even in a real emergency, going lights and siren, it can take five, ten minutes or longer. If you choose to live in a rural area, it can be a considerable time. I had a call years ago out in the Greenwater area, east of Enumclaw. Full blown domestic assault where I literally listened to the man beat the begezzus out of a woman for over 20 minutes while officers were going code-3.

People need to realize that the primary responsibility for their safety is theirs.

 

[okkid]

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911Boss wrote:

People need to realize that the primary responsibility for their safety is theirs.

Well said.

 

[Bear 45/70]

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okkid wrote:

911Boss wrote:

People need to realize that the primary responsibility for their safety is theirs.

Well said.

Probably why Iam armedduring my awake hours everyday.

 

[amlevin]

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zakst1 wrote:

This is not to bash cops. I believe that they do have a vital role in society.

Friday after work, I was on my way to drop off my car for my wife. Everything was routine. I live in Bremerton and only had a mile to drive. I was the third car in line to come to a stop at a traffic light for a left turn. The car in front of me and I were traveling at about 10 mph, when out of no where a very careless kid on a mountain bike darted across traffic (not using the cross walk and also not wearing a helmet). BARELY missing the car in front of me, he colliding right into the driver side door of a car traveling in the opposite direction that I was heading. This occurred at 6:03pm. 911 was called at 6:04pm. The kid was coherent enough to be brought to the side of the road as the parties and witnesses involved collected in the parking lot adjacent to the street. At 6:09pm the fire department appeared on scene. The first police officer on scene arrived at 6:16pm, and the other officer on scene arrived at 6:18pm. Reports were taken... yadda yadda yadda...

Regardless that this event had nothing whatsoever to do with firearms, the thing that fortified my belief in being armed at all times was the incredibly long time it took police to arrive on scene. I was thinking about this from the moment the accident occurred until after everything was finished. "What if" you were in a life or death situation and you were not armed? Again, the police are certainly important to society, but all I could think about was what could happen in 14-18 minutes.

Btw, though I was highly considering OCing after work, I was not. I was CCing. I haven't yet worked up the kahonays to avidly practice. Getting together with other OCers at the Kitsap picnic was a great to push me out the door, and I did it on my own afterward. Since then I haven't done so.


I've been curious how the situation would have been handled with the two Staties that were on scene at the accident, if I as a witness had been OCing..

Here is a "Bike Accident" story that illustrates how a minor traffic encounter involving a bike (or two) can escalate.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372364_criticalmass27.html

Wonder how this would have ended if the driver was armed?

 

[Bear 45/70]

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amlevin wrote:

Here is a "Bike Accident" story that illustrates how a minor traffic encounter involving a bike (or two) can escalate.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372364_criticalmass27.html

Wonder how this would have ended if the driver was armed?

They block the man's free passage and he is wrong for being irate. All environment extremist are this way. It's OK for them to do whatever they want in the name of their cause. Oh...........wait a minute, it's not just environmentalist it's all extremist.

 

[ghosthunter]

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Here is the question. If anyone on this board were standing on the sidewalk next to this car when it stopped a block away and saw the man get beat.

Would you have intervened?

 

[911Boss]

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A mob of 100-300 people surround me in the street when I have a right to be where I am at, then start to bash my car and become violent? I am not going to stick around. They should consider themselves lucky more weren't run over.

As far as intervening, I probably wouldn't face off alone against a mob. I may try to disperse the crowd with my vehicle to try and get the guy out, but without being there it is hard to say what I would do. Too many unknowns and variables.

 

[deepdiver]

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I would certainly have called authorities. I also would have looked for a way to intervene and help the couple, but as to say what I would do is nearly impossible as there are far too many variables.

 

[Tomahawk]

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Bad things can happen when you are in a car stuck in a mob:

[flash=320,256]http://www.youtube.com/v/KYnJiiLGwjY&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

 

[3/325]

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If a crowd gets violent there's no telling how fast or how far it will go. It takes less than sixty seconds to get pulled from a car and turned into a corpse or a vegetable.

 

[LongRider]

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Mainsail wrote:

My 17 year old son was punched by a young adult driver at Wright Park last Sunday. It took TPD three hours to respond.

Worthy of note is TPD is within blocks of Wrights Park. I have never seen them respond to a call in under 30 minutes no matter what the reason including shots fired

 

[zakst1]

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Tomahawk wrote:

Bad things can happen when you are in a car stuck in a mob:

Why I will never live in a city.

 

[Bear 45/70]

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LongRider wrote:

Mainsail wrote:

My 17 year old son was punched by a young adult driver at Wright Park last Sunday. It took TPD three hours to respond.

Worthy of note is TPD is within blocks of Wrights Park. I have never seen them respond to a call in under 30 minutes no matter what the reason including shots fired

TPD has a reputation of being on of the worse PDs there is. I mean really, their leader a while back murdered his wife and the kills himself. All these professional copsaround him and nobody noticed he was loosing it?