Over 50 officers, including officers of the South Suburban Emergency Response Team (SSERT), complete with camouflage, armored vehicle, and assault rifles, were involved in a “standoff” with a reportedly suicidal man who turned out not to even be home. The mayor and many residents of Oak Forest Illinois are outraged over the fact that thousands of dollars of taxpayer’s money was wasted on the “standoff”. Unfortunately their outrage is not directed at the police’s complete over reaction, but instead at the man who committed no crime, but still had his home vandalized by the people supposedly sent to “help” him.
The incident began when a concerned friend of Mark Fitch called the police to report that he was suicidal and armed. Oak Forest Chief of Police, Greg Anderson, said “The initial information we’re going off of is a friend who is very concerned about him where he had made suicide allegations that if police came, they would find him dead.” In response to this information more than 50 officers surrounded Fitch’s home and evacuated many of the surrounding homes. The police then attempted to contact Fitch on his home phone, but could not reach him. This was the first indication that he was not home. Eventually, the police contacted Fitch on his cell phone. The police say that he never indicated that he was not in the house, but they have not said whether or not they even asked.
It turns out that Fitch was sitting at a local bar watching the whole thing unfold on the news. Who can blame him for not telling the police, “hey, I am down at Beggar’s Bar” when he can see on T.V. that several heavily armed men and their itchy trigger fingers have come to do what at most should have been a “wellness check”.
Full article at CopBlock.org, you gotta read it, I love their blog...
http://networkedblogs.com/hrHWv
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