To start my blog I am going to tell a horrific story about # women in
Washington, D.C. Two women were wakened to their back door being broken down
and the screams of their roommate downstairs. Unfortunately, she was being
raped by the two men who had broken into their house. The two women upstairs
quickly called 911 to get help. The dispatcher advised the women to stay hidden
and wait for the police to arrive. The dispatcher informed the police but rated
the call as only a code 2. In other words, the call wasn’t very important. The
two women were able to crawl out onto the roof to witness the police respond to
the call. One police car simply just drove slowly by the house without
stopping. Another police officer stopped, went to the door, and knocked. Regrettably,
the rapists didn’t answer the door and the police officer left. Imagine that,
they didn’t answer the door for the police. The two friends on the roof saw the
police officer leave and called the police again. This time the dispatcher
recorded the call as ‘investigate the trouble’. It’s too bad no one responded. The
two women, who believed the police were there, called out to their friend. The
two rapists went upstairs, captured the two women and raped all three for 14
more hours. The rapists were able to kidnap and brutalize these women with only
a knife. Would it have made a difference for the women if they were armed with
a gun? It is hard to imagine that it would have made things worse. The women
sued to the police department for failing to protect them. Unfortunately, the
police legally owed these women nothing and they lost the case. In fact, even
if the police are court ordered to protect someone they are not liable for any
harm. The Supreme Court will consistently uphold that citizens have no legal
interest in police protection.
To read more on this story research Warren v. District of Columbia
(444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981).
