Now THIS is police abuse!

[Quakindude]

I've seen some topics posted here concerning how the police abuse their powers. This story is more along the lines of what I consider abuse of the governmental powers and authority.

Check it out here.

I hope this goes to court and the family gets paid big time. This is pure BS.

The neighbor was worried about the kid's health. Got it.

Caseworkers came out to the house and were worried about the kid's health. Got it.

The police bashing in the friggin door and taking the kid to the hospital? Wrong friggin answer! There are so many ways this could have been handled other than busting into someone's home. Ridiculous.

[halutzparilla]

the father could have made this matter less overkill if he allowed the paramedics to just take a look, and i understand the father is skilled with being a Medic in Vnam War, and assuming he really does know how to administer First Aid none the less after First Aid the kid should have been brought to ER or the Family Doctor for further evaluation.

then with regard using battering ram to broke down the door and sending in SWAT police is an overkill and mis-handling of Government funs, for crying out loud show the Search Warrant after Knocking with your Hand at the door.

incident like this reminds me of my father who loves yelling as a discipline for us his kids, and one day one of the neighbor called cops, then the knock politely on our door asking about the yelling and gave my father a warning...

[Reloadron]

Actually I see it as a little more than Police abusing their power. The root cause of the problem began here:

Garfield County Director of Social Services Lynn Rennick said her office is legally required to intervene when it receives a report about possible mistreatment of children, and that court orders are sometimes necessary. She wouldn't discuss any specific case.

Social services based on a visit seems to be what triggered things. Interesting the seem to have saw:

Caseworkers who later visited the family reported seeing injuries that included a "huge hematoma" and a sluggish pupil. They went before a judge seeking a search warrant and order for medical treatment, citing affidavits from the ambulance crew.

However when all was said and done and the child seen by a real live no shit doctor:

Following the raid, a doctor recommended Jon be given fluids, Tylenol and ice to treat the bruises, according to a copy of the child's patient aftercare instructions.

The kid got a bump on his head, was told to take Tylenol and place ice on it.

Now overall it has always been my thought that when people are home it is much easier to simply knock on the door whereas the Police seem to prefer the jack booted thug approach. Hell knock first and if that fails then break the door down. Lets face it a trailer door is not quite that difficult to break down.

Let's see, really stupid social services contacts a really stupid judge who issues a really stupid warrant so they can snatch a child who is no immediate danger against his parents will. This in turn took the actions of some police who just may have been over zealous.

I would start with social services and work from there.

Ron

[screwballl]

agreed, the entire system involved with this child was blown way out of proportion and it sounded more like the case worker was on a vandetta run than anything which set off the explosion of events afterwards... fire that crazy case worker for starters...

[PrOLifIC_onE]

Again, another case of: how can we all know all the details of what happened, just based upon what we hear from the media?

I also love how how gut reactions place all the fault of the POLICE, when there were a lot of people involved. Especially when the police were acting legally on a judge's order. With 20/20 hindsight we can always think of better ways to handle situations. This goes for many decisions made by anyone (not just police, judges, case workers, but ANYONE).

In reality, there was no serious harm done by making sure a kid didn't sustain injuries that were possibly life threatening... and if they were life threatening then nobody would have heard a thing and nobody would have been getting the pats on the backs they deserve.

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by PrOLifIC_onE

Again, another case of: how can we all know all the details of what happened, just based upon what we hear from the media?

I also love how how gut reactions place all the fault of the POLICE, when there were a lot of people involved. Especially when the police were acting legally on a judge's order. With 20/20 hindsight we can always think of better ways to handle situations. This goes for many decisions made by anyone (not just police, judges, case workers, but ANYONE).

In reality, there was no serious harm done by making sure a kid didn't sustain injuries that were possibly life threatening... and if they were life threatening then nobody would have heard a thing and nobody would have been getting the pats on the backs they deserve.

Now I was not quick to lay things on the Police. Rather I felt social services over reacted. I felt the police were doing their job, however I did feel they were a little overzealous about things. Then too, maybe they did knock? Social Services set a train wreck in motion.

I did think the Social Services initial description of the kids injuries and the doctors findings and subsequent actions were interesting.

Overall, I do agree it is hard to really know exactly what the hell went on as all we have is a short story to gain opinions from.

Ron

[Quakindude]

I completely agree with Reload in that the Social Workers are to be given a lot of the blame in this event.

Then, the Judge is jacked up because he obviously took the word of a non-medical professional without doing any kind of investigation beyond that.

Finally, the Police are jacked up for busting this guys door down. This is, of course, assuming the Cops just showed up and beat in the door as the news article suggests. Perhaps later, it will come out that the Cops did knock on the door and the father told them to F off, so they battered in the door. If that is the case, it will come out in the news and the father will be charged with some crime.

However, just from initial impressions and the other news items I've read about this, it looks to me like a governmental failure in general. I hold the Police responsible more than anyone else in this case because the responsibility of protecting and serving the public ultimately rests on their shoulders through their actions and decisions.

It's disconcerting in the extreme that now-a-days, some government entity can hand the Cops a piece of paper and next thing you know, someone's child is taken from them and not returned until 0230.

In the Military, we are given orders to do things all the time. But when the situation develops, you have to make decisions and perform actions that keep in line with those orders, but do not exceed the normally accepted method of carrying out those orders. If you get an order that says kill everyone in this building, and you show up to find the bad guys are gone and the kids have moved back into the school, you don't wipe out the school anyway.

[Jokerswild]

This isn't the polices fault but social services has gotten way out of hand in out country. It's one thing if there's child abuse somewhere but if there's no record of child abuse here then they shouldn't even be in the picture. This country is getting as bad as Nazi Germany as far as interfering in peoples lives. I suppose now this family will have to pay the medical bill for the services that were rendered against their will.

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

If the Child has a social security number ... legally the "state" has that type of guardianship authority. Then the measures of action can only be disputed, contested and punitive actions assessed for excessive force.

If the child doesn't have an SS ... the state does not have that type of legal guardianship authority ... and they broke the law from the getgo.

One would have to know these facts and have just that situation and have an attorney know how to present that in order to make a case however.

[Jokerswild]

Originally Posted by Tech Geek Deluxe

If the Child has a social security number ... legally the "state" has that type of guardianship authority. Then the measures of action can only be disputed, contested and punitive actions assessed for excessive force.

If the child doesn't have an SS ... the state does not have that type of legal guardianship authority ... and they broke the law from the getgo.

One would have to know these facts and have just that situation and have an attorney know how to present that in order to make a case however.

Yea well they give the kids SSN's as soon as their born now.