Methinks the bureaucrats in the Dallas PD need some retraining in common sense:
Jill Frederick lives alone. She’s been burglarized twice. So when a stranger banged on her door at 11 p.m., she hit the panic button on her alarm.
Sounds reasonable to me. If my daughter lived alone, had been burglarized twice and someone starts beating down her door at 11 p.m., I’d want her to do the same thing. And it obviously worked, as the Dallas PD was there within six minutes and arrested a drunken dude. So, you ask, what is Jill Frederick’s complaint?
The panic button triggered what police call a “code 3 call.” Officers use their lights and sirens. They got there in six minutes. The man was still there and was drunk so they arrested him.
“To me, that’s what a panic button is for,” said Frederick.
But a few weeks later, Frederick got a $100 fine for a false alarm.
Fined for pushing a panic button under those circumstances? Yup, ’cause the dude didn’t make it in. And in Dallas, that apparently makes it a non-emergency.
Dallas police say there’s a city ordinance that allows them to fine people who use their panic buttons in non-emergency situations.
“We encourage people to use their panic alarm where there really is an emergency when there is an offense going down when someone is kicking in, coming in or trying to get into the house,” said Lt. Chris Aulbaugh from Dallas police.
Be sure and remember that, ladies that live alone and have been burglarized twice. Unless the dude gets through the door, don’t use your panic button - dial 911 and hope the police dispatcher thinks you are worthy enough ’cause if you push it, the Dallas PD revenue integrity enforcement division will be all over you.
Filed Under Front Page · · · · 
Print This Post
··
Comments
32 Responses to “It’ll Cost You to Panic in Big D”Search
Our Sponsors
Poll
Loading ...
’cause if you push it, the Dallas PD revenue integrity enforcement division will be all over you…”
Houston too…” activating panic/holdup alarm for non-emergency purposes”
Dare I say I’ve written a few myself…
So if he had made it into the house, she could have pushed the button and 6 minutes later the cops would have shown up. A lot of things can be done in 6 minutes. While I agree non-emergency calls should be fined, perhaps there should be more leeway as to what is considered an emergency.
I hope Ms. Frederick fights this. A drunk stranger banging on my door is a threat to me. I don’t have the panic button. I’ve got the gun. I suggest she get one too. If he gets in, boom.
The Harris County alarm Nazis tried to pull a similar stunt on me. My alarm went off when someone tried to break into my house while I was not there, if I had been there there would likely have been excessive bleeding as I am a darn good shot. There was not much evidence until we discovered the screen that had been cut out and that the breaker box main power was shut off. All I had to do to clear it up was to call the number on the bill and explain that in fact it was not a false alarm as someone tried to get in.
The fact that the DPD arrested the drunk at her door is pretty storng evidence that it was not a false alarm. But then again, we are speaking of Dallas, aren’t we?
Why do all the trees in Oklahoma bend to the south? See below
Because Dallas sucks!
Sounds like she should give the next guy banging on her door at 11:00pm heavy metal poisoning, then phone it in and go back to bed.
That $100 could have gone toward a pretty nice 9mm handgun.
Umm, didn’t the Messiah appoint a former Dallas mayor to a cabinet position? Wonder if this alarm regulation was in effect/was enacted under the mayor’s tenure. What a resume enhancement that would be. /Grin/
The fact of the matter is, in today’s society we can no longer rely on the police or law enforcement to protect us. We have to take steps to protect ourselves. The only thing the cops will do is arrest the criminal after the crime is committed.
If you don’t want to be a victim, take steps to protect yourself.
This is insanity on the part of the DPD! What if it was one of their loved ones this had happened to? No empathy on their part - no wonder their city has one of the highest crime rates in the nation…the criminals have a field day in Dallas getting away with their criminal behavior. Houston PD should take note. In the meantime, all women should go and get a CHL (Concealed Handgun License) and learn to use it when appropriate.
BTW, this episode should be protested by the victim. What was she supposed to do after the previous two episodes of break-ins? What if the drunkard was armed or raped her - she probably wouldn’t have time to push any button before such attacks.
When danger is imminent, help is only minutes away.
DPD need to give their collective heads a shake.
Common sense is an endangered species.
If common sense was so common, we wouldn’t be so surprised when someone showed some.
Add another to the many reasons why I dislike those alarm systems that automatically call the police. They provide a false sense of security by making you think you’re safe by way of a link to an unreliable, often slow, and sometimes unresponsive police force.
If you want to defend your home from the bad guys there are three things you can do.
1. Buy a gun.
2. Install an alarm system that’s loud enough to wake the neighbors.
3. Hope that your neighbor is like Joe Horn and also has a gun.
Cause when your house is being invaded by a criminal and every second counts, it is practically certain that the cops will not be there in time for you. And even if they do eventually help you out, there’s a chance that they’ll also do something that penalizes you as happened to this lady.
Several years ago a lady called the DPD and reported a man was crawling through her window. Dispatch told her they were busy and couldn’t send someone at that time but if she would get his jersey number they would pick him up later.
15 - Were they crawling IN or OUT?
#16 jimb
Doesn’t matter. Just shoot. When you get the lights on, you can just look at which end is bleeding.
If somebody is pounding on my door late at night, I will call police. If they manage to get into the house, I will call the police back and tell them to bring the coroner…
Castle Doctrine:
Didn’t this legislation empower homeowners to do what they think is best to stop criminal activity in their home and on their property WITHOUT fear of prosecution, which obviously should include penalty? So is alarming the police excluded?
I’d pay the fine, but include a letter referencing the Castle Doctrine statute stating that next time, I’ll call 911 and ask for a meat wagon…
14 hit the nail on the head. The panic button company sold a false sense of security that’s unattainable from their product and relies on taxpayer subsidy for the business model to work. If the company wants to hire security guards to perform the task of responding to non-emergency calls, the gal can hit the panic button all she wants because other taxpayers won’t have to pay for it.
My guess is somebody who’s actually trying to break in wouldn’t knock on the door and if that was their intent, they wouldn’t continue (after knocking) when they realized someone was home. More likely there was some other reason they were there, whatever it is, and just because they were arrested for intoxication doesn’t mean it was nefarious. I’ve had different people knock at my door after bedtime many times over the years, for many different reasons. In and of itself it’s simply not a criminal act, and she had no other information when she called the police.
DPD can’t send somebody out every time somebody knocks on the door of this company’s clients at 11 pm and no other criminal activity is reported - no home invasion, no threats, and the emergency caller doesn’t know why the guy’s at the door. I can understand why she had the misimpression that’s what the panic button was for - when she panicked - but this wasn’t an emergency situation.
Want home security? Your best bet is a big dog and a 12 gauge shotgun. Cities are right to insist that alarms and panic buttons don’t result in misallocation of police resources toward this or that company’s clients. Police are there for all of us, not just in the service of people with private (subsidized) alarm contracts.
Phil_M said ” there’s a chance that they’ll also do something that penalizes you as happened to this lady…”
That’s not always the truth. In this case the cop on the scene didn’t use discretion. The lady did violate the ordinance so it was legal to write her up. Did it make sense? No…now when they activate the alarm to ” see how fast you’d get here”, or “I heard a noise outside” that’s another story.
Bureaucrats!
“We encourage people to use their panic alarm where there really is an emergency when there is an offense going down when someone is kicking in, coming in or trying to get into the house,” said Lt. Chris Aulbaugh from Dallas police.
Notice is says in the last part of the sentence…”when someone is kicking in, coming in or trying to get into the house…well, this drunkard was trying to get into this young woman’s home, so she was justified in using her panic alarm.
What say you now for levying a fine against her?
#20 jimb, Most creative. I like it.
I was startled out of my sleep one early AM by pounding on the front door of my home. I snagged the nearest weapon, a .357 Desert Eagle (I have large hands) and a flashlight, and carefully glanced out the window to see a young gent pounding on the door, and a bicycle in the yard.
I blocked the door with my foot, cracked it open, and asked him what he was doing.
While trying to push the door in, he mutters gibberish about some guys in a truck trying to get him, and looked a little strange when I turned on the flashlight and illuminated the pistol.
I ordered him off the steps, and swept the yard with the light, keeping an eye on him. He was babbling constantly about being chased, and just wanted to leave.
“But you are safe now, right? What’s the rush? Take a seat.”
Of course, I failed to mention that I’m care-taking for my 79 year old mother.
When I was satisfied he was alone, and his story continued to “flex”, I took out my cell and called 911. I told the dispatcher I was holding the guy and I was armed, and of course she asked if the pistol was loaded. I kid you not.
“Yes m’am, the pistol is loaded, I have batteries in my flashlight and my cell phone, and there is water in the hose here next to the driveway. Just inform the officer the homeowner is armed, and there is no hurry.”
The officer was laughing when he drove up, and didn’t bother to ask me for my pistol. After a short q&a session, the little fecal chunk finally gave up his real name, to which was attached several warrants for burglary and robbery. He had this nasty habit of pushing in doors of older people and robbing them in the middle of the night. He had evidently seen my mother come or go, and figured she was easy pickin’s. His figuring cost him a ride downtown.
Buy a gun, learn to use it. Learn self defense. Keep aware. The only one you can count on is you. There are bad people out there that will take your stuff and your life if they think for a second they can get away with it.
It’s a damn shame that this woman was charged for using her panic button. But she should figure that into her budget if that’s the only recourse she has.
BTW, Dallas only fines people after their THIRD false alarm, so she’s no doubt been crying “wolf” before this incident.
The state Senate Criminal Justice Committee just had an interim charge on police officer deaths in which they found that traffic accidents are the single most common cause of death on the job and the most dangerous time for an officer is when they have lights and sirens running.
So this woman put police officers’ lives at risk literally because she was afraid to answer her own door. How many times should taxpayers pay for police to do that, and is it really worth forcing police officers to needlessly risk their lives?
She’s lucky the cops showed up in only six minutes. Actually, that’s plenty of time for someone bent on doing you harm to accomplish their aim. Courts have ruled numerous times that police have NO LEGAL DUTY to protect any citizen. The only person responsible for your safety, and that of your family, is YOU.
FYI, I gave this post some linkage and further consideration on Grits.
I believe the lady should not pay the fine and request that trial be held on the merits of the case in front of a jury of her peers.
Big D? yeah big D for Dumb-ass. Let’s wait and find her in a pool of blood and then have some Dallas PD spokesperson say…”she should have pushed her panic button”.
Idiots…sheer and utter idiots.
Zero tolerance trumps common sense yet again.