Turned out innocent, but I sure was glad to be well armed...

[Werewolf]

...Could be they show up and see you popping off a round in self defense and don't know you are the "good guy"

In this case it wouldn't have mattered. If the guys sitting out frontl of the OP's business had been Goblins all the police would have had to do when they finally did show up would be to take the OP's statement and clean up the mess or worse call the morgue to pickup the OP's dead body and wonder what the heck actually happened.

30 Minutes to respond to a call that there are suspicious characters hanging around outside one's home or business - especially at 2:30 in the morning - is unacceptable unless there's more to this tale than meets the eye.

 

[BadgeBunny]

WTH? What did they do by "bugging" out? I know you are saying it because of that issue, but the officers need to know before they get there that you have a gun so they know how to better respond. Could be they show up and see you popping off a round in self defense and don't know you are the "good guy"

WTF does that even mean? The girl in Blanchard told the dispatcher there she was armed and I didn't hear that dispatcher telling her that she needed to "secure" her firearms before an officer would come out.

 

[BadgeBunny]

In this case it wouldn't have mattered. If the guys sitting out frontl of the OP's business had been Goblins all the police would have had to do when they finally did show up would be to take the OP's statement and clean up the mess or worse call the morgue to pickup the OP's dead body and wonder what the heck actually happened.

30 Minutes to respond to a call that there are suspicious characters hanging around outside one's home or business - especially at 2:30 in the morning - is unacceptable unless there's more to this tale than meets the eye.

Thank you -- although like Langston said this appears to be a dispatcher problem and not an officer problem.

 

[Kiyot]

WTF does that even mean? The girl in Blanchard told the dispatcher there she was armed and I didn't hear that dispatcher telling her that she needed to "secure" her firearms before an officer would come out.

Sorry didn't come out right, I know you are probably saying that because of the frustration of having a dispatcher "bug out" on you, but I would hope you would tell the dispatcher that you and GC are armed and not wait to tell the officers when they get there.

 

[BadgeBunny]

Sorry didn't come out right, I know you are probably saying that because of the frustration of having a dispatcher "bug out" on you, but I would hope you would tell the dispatcher that you and GC are armed and not wait to tell the officers when they get there.

Oh, okay, I was confused for a minute -- not enough coffee in me, I guess. And nope. Law states I have to inform any officer I come in contact with, not the dispatcher. I'll not make the mistake of confusing the two again. Of course, YMMV ...

 

[Kiyot]

In this case it wouldn't have mattered. If the guys sitting out frontl of the OP's business had been Goblins all the police would have had to do when they finally did show up would be to take the OP's statement and clean up the mess or worse call the morgue to pickup the OP's dead body and wonder what the heck actually happened.

30 Minutes to respond to a call that there are suspicious characters hanging around outside one's home or business - especially at 2:30 in the morning - is unacceptable unless there's more to this tale than meets the eye.

I agree with you 100%, and to be honest what makes this even more important is the fact that there is a gun involved. Yes it is the person who called in that has the gun, if he is honestly in a position where he thinks he needs to have it out and has told the dispatcher this, then there is a gun in play and for the safety of the person calling in and the officers I believe it should have been handled differently and obviously much quicker.

WTF does that even mean? The girl in Blanchard told the dispatcher there she was armed and I didn't hear that dispatcher telling her that she needed to "secure" her firearms before an officer would come out.

And should never be told to until the officers are outside.

 

[SlammerG_89]

I have a friend with a similar bad run in with a dispactcher back in phx. There was a poster up of a wanted felon up in the office of his store and the guy was a regular at the store. This store always had mcso and phx pd coming in to get drinks and stuff. Well one night he sends a kid in to get smokes because he knows they know who he is, well the kid leaves but they both are just sitting in the car. My buddy went to the back to call phx pd and tell the dispatcher that there is a wanted felon in the parking lot in a red chevy cobalt and he is know to be armed and dangerous. Well the guy and kid sit there for about 20 minutes and as they are leaving phx pd rolls up and comes in and asks whats going on? So my buddy tells the guy what happened and asked him why he didn't stop the guy leaving the parking lot. His response was and I quote " Dispatch told me you had a possible disturbance here and said nothing about a car or wanted felon." He said the cop had a face of disgust and disbelief that he could of just been shot and killed because the dispatch left out crucial info.

 

[okiebryan]

Thanks for all the comments.

As far as the police response, the officers in my district were very busy last night. Apparently there was a shooting or two around town, from what my sister tells me. She works for the Oklahoman, and was up last night. I'm not all that bothered that it took 30 minutes. It is what it is.

The main point of my post was how comfortable I was waiting inside BECAUSE I had the means and the law behind me to take care of business in the event that someone decided to force entry. If I had not been armed, I would have been scared beyond description.

The dispatcher...well, I haz a little common sense and know not to approach an officer with a gun in my hand. Dispatcher telling me to put the gun away, well I guess I understand where they are coming from, but I didn't follow their instructions. I'm not exactly a sheep. I would have preferred that they made the potential threat leave, but they did have a flat tire. Oh, well. All's well that ends well.