A $60 million lawsuit has been brought against DC police and the city in a case where a mother and her two sons were stabbed to death in Washington, DC while police officers waited outside the door for approval to enter. The first officer on the scene waited 45 minutes for a captain to arrive to approve forceful entry. Then it took several more minutes for the fire department to arrive and gain entry into the apartment.
Given that the DC Supreme Court ruled in Warren v. District of Columbia that the citizens of DC are not entitled to police protection, this lawsuit is a long shot. It is possible that the family could win something if there is sufficient outcry from the public. While the State almost always rules its in own favor when judging conflicts involving itself, it is possible that public opinion is so hostile to the State in a case that it must rule against itself to maintain its legitimacy. It's also possible that the case can come before a decent judge who is actually trying to rule justly, but States generally winnow out those types of people from the judiciary.
But what is really, really sad in this case is that if the boyfriend or the mother were suspected of possessing drugs, the police would have broken in the apartment as soon as they arrived on the scene.
HT Robert Wicks for the alerting me to the article.
Comments