Your Safety is not the Government’s Responsibility

My first post to this site was about being mentally prepared to protect yourself in the event of someone trying to cause you personal injury. It was mostly written for people who have already made the decision to take responsibility for their own personal safety.  Something that I didn’t mention that I think is important for people to realize is that your personal safety is not the responsibility of the government.

Since the development of the 911 system in the United States some people seem to have lost their sense of responsibility for their own personal safety.  They seem to think that dialing those three numbers will ensure that whatever help they need will arrive in time to save the day.  If you are one of those people I am about to hit you with some bad news…

THE POLICE ARE NOT GOING TO GET THERE IN TIME! Yep that’s right a cop just said the police are not going to make it in time.  As much as I hate to admit it that’s the truth.  I wish I had some kind of super powers or spidey sense that would tell me where the next burglary or robbery is going to be but I don’t.  Law enforcement has always been and will probably always be a mostly reactive profession. In some parts of my county an emergency response can take up to 30 minutes depending on where you live and where the closest car is. That’s a really long time to be holding on to a phone praying that the cops get there in time.

Some people have the opinion or impression that police are bound by some law to “save people” and that’s our only job.  When I swore an oath as both a police officer and as a deputy sheriff that line wasn’t in there anywhere.  I am not going to write out the entire oath but the short version is I swore to uphold the constitution of the United States and of my state, and to enforce the laws of the state and not be influenced by any personal bias or prejudice. Yes in some situations we do have a “duty to act” but that does not mean we are required to risk our lives to save yours.  Don’t take this as me saying I won’t protect a citizen or put my life at risk to save someone, because I will. This is something that is done every day by countless officers all over the U.S. and we accept it as part of our job.  What I am trying to do is make a point that I (nor any other police officer) is solely responsible for your personal safety.

So if the police are not responsible for your personal safety then who is?

The answer might shock some people but the person responsible for your safety is YOU!

So put down the cell phone and pick up a gun (or anything else close by that you can use) and protect yourself.  One suggestion though: Avoid the Joe Biden warning shot approach and get some training.

As a police officer I would rather receive information from our dispatch center that the piece of trash criminal is suffering from multiple gunshot wounds or blunt force trauma to the head than hear that some innocent person was injured or killed with their cell phone in their hand expecting me to get there in time to save them.