Tabloid Reporting

 Maybe I can make this short (I have a hard time with short)...

 Over a few days last week, my DD and her SO were having problems. They had a big blow up one day and she took the kids and left and called the police (for one thing he was threatening to kill himself. She tried to get an ambulance, and have him put in a hospital, to be evaluated and defuse the situation, but the law never would do this) Everytime she would call them they woud go (find him) and arrest him. They had "mental health" come in and they said he was okay. He had just gotten mad (he does have anger issues, but has been fine for years. Has been in therapy (therapist is currently on vacation and can't be contacted) and meds tried, etc. But, it's a stressful like and people are bound to blow up sometimes) THAT isn't the point.

   One of the nights he went to DD's sister's house. He has gone there many times, the door wasn't locked, he went in and sat down waiting for them (he didn't know there were out of state and not due back till late) someone saw him, called the other DD(one he was fighting with) she called the police and said he had broken into her sister's house (and she wasn't home) they came there and arrested him again.

    He spent 3 nights in jail and they kept letting him out. The sister and family came home later that night and said he had done nothing wrong to them. The door (on the side) was unlocked, and he was used to coming to their house, and had done no harm. They didn't press charges. I don't even know if they were asked about it. No big deal, right?

   This had started last Sat, and now the couple (who have children) are talking and working things out and he's looking for anger management help (the last person he talked to, the health center he goes to said they can't get him in to anything right now. Overcrowded and underfunded... all he can do is "act crazy" and go to the hospital E.R.and they will admit him and send him SOMEWHERE, but probably to an out of state mental hospital. Of course, he wants to find something and volunteer for it. For one thing he has to go back to court about all the arrests and either has to be getting help with his anger, or maybe go to jail. He didn't hurt anyone, he broke a few things in the house (which is half his)

  Well... yesterday our newpaper had a story about this on page two. a BIG story. It makes him sound like  homocidal maniac, who went on a 3 days terror spree, including the statement that "he broke into the xxxxxx residance and had to be removed by the police" (he had left their house, after they didn't come back home and was arrested walking along the street- because the police had been told he had broken ito the house)

    Complete with names. My DD (who was involved in it) called the reporter for the paper and he said "it's all true, based on court records". Apparently he hangs around the court and takes notes, and put them together in this VERSION of the story.

        A few people (in the family, and who are written about in it) have called the paper, but they have moved on and I don't think they plan do do anything about it.

        I was thinking of emailing a letter to the editor today, like "I will remember this when I read stories in your paper again, and how FACTS were twisted around and changed to make it sound different than it really was". They must be really hard up for news! It wasn't even a "domestic" with physical violence, like if the man had gotten mad, killed the woman and held the cops off with a gun.

 DD and the kids had been staying with another sister (not close by) just till it all settled down, and one night a neighbor told her the police had come to their house (we don't know why or if it's true) and going all through the house and yard with flashlights, and later DD found everything in the house had been strewn and thrown around, even mattresses tipped over off the beds and things in closets thrown out on the floor.

   Maybe that was the night they were told he had "broken into" the other house (family, he had gone to many times before, and walked in the open door to wait for them, and they didn't care, or want to press charges when they found out. But the story had he had "broken into" their house.And the police came and arrested him- which wasn't true)

   If nothing else, when this is all over and done, I doubt anyone will be calling the police about anything again. Or, they will think twice about it. At least for something like having a domestic fight. You think the police will come and settle things down and HELP, but they tend to esculate the situation, keep it going and now with the court involved, it ended up a big story in the newspaper. It really all started because DD had taken the kids and left and later thought he might do harm to himself. I haven't seen the story (just heard about it and quotes) I don't know if they put THAT in it.

   In a way we are starting to see it as funny. They must have had a slow day and space to fill. And, today I'm thinking "who cares..." the more made of it now, the more attention it will get.

 Life can be strange....

The police cannot toss a house without a warrant.

I don't think it's fair to blame the reporter. They get the information from police reports, court documents, etc., and write stories based on what they know, the information they are given. Since he was arrested, there were police reports made and that's all public information.

Of course they get it from court records, but they only picked certain things from it.

I just heard more about it, and they said he broke into the XXXXX house, which is the name of the sister she was staying with 50 miles away. The house he was in, he didn't break into (and wasn't charged with ths, but since the owners weren't home they took him to jail for the night just the same) was another name.

 They didn't even get the names right.

   As to them going into DD's house, they had asked her if they had permission to go into her sister's house (when they heard he was there. The one he DIDN'T break into) and she said "I'm pretty sure the door isn't locked" (this is the country and they have left it unlocked because someone was coming in to let their dogs out while they were gone.That's the person who said he was in the house) Apparently they got this mixed up with HER house (DD) and went there, didn't go in the door that wasn't locked (from the porch, the door everyone uses) went to the front door they don't use, pried open the storm door with something, and kicked in the door. Footprint on the door, hole in the wall where the doorknob hit it.

    When she saw it next day she thought someone had come in, like teens or something, and gone through things looking for valuables, but her neighbor came over and said the police had gone through the house and yard the night before.

    I don't know about a warrant, but they would probably say she gave them permission to go in (they said "your sister's house, where he supposedly was, but had left. Yet they took him to jail for "breaking in", even though the door wasn't locked and at that point he was walking down the street, and the owners weren't home to press charges)

  Anyway, it got to be a real mess.

  The newspaper story is so bad because they didn't tell it "straight" and  didn't get the name right, in at least one part of it. Plus he didn't "break into" anyone's house, like they said (and wasn't charged with it) I think they must have held him on that till they found out what the owners wanted to do. they let him go next day and the owners (another DD and family) didn't want to do anything. They said he came to their house anyway, the door wasn't locked,he didn't know they were out of state, and was waiting for them to come back, and he had done nothing wrong, there.

    One night during all this someone in our area was assaulted and stabbed 3 times in the chest I have a police scanner and heard that) and I got a paper the next two days and didn't see anything about that. Seems like that would have been bigger news.

 Also, another overall point is, DD called the police in the first place because he was flipping out and she was converned because he said he was going to kill himself. This wasn't even in the article, and nothing was done (to help him) with this. Well, they arrested him and put him in jail and let him go the next day. They held him overnight for "breaking in" a house he had walked into (famiy) and left and was walking down the street.

   I guess I have little faith in the police and "system" to really help people when they need it.

   DD isn't really mad about the damage and mess, I mean she accepts it, just that they could have gone on the porch and walked in the unlocked door, And, when they asked her about breaking in they said "your sister's house" (which she knew wasn't locked) She is back home now and just noticed the damage to the front door and hall (wall) this morning.

    I remember my mother used to say "50 years from now no one will remember this". I said that once and someone said "tomorrow no one will remember it".

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    I had to edit this because once again, when I started writing, the formatting stuff came up along the top and it posted with nothing written in it.

The police cannot toss a house without a warrant.

 Have you ever watched the show COPS?

 They can pretty much do what they want, especially if the house is empty. Since they had heard he had "broken into" another DD's house (which wasn't true and he had left that house) they would just say they are in "hot pursuit".

 One time long ago, I was living in MA (outside Boston) and something happened, a young boy had been playing with matches, and (I guess) accidentally set a field on fire. No houses around, it was along railroad tracks. Someone must have seen him. We heard a helicopter going over flying over our house, everyone was out looking at it. Cuisers came up the street, cops were going house to house. They came to our house, my mother was standing in the door asking "what do you want, what happened?" they banged open the storm door, knocking her (she was 80) into the wall behind it, came stomping in running through the rooms, even up into the attic, looking in closets and under beds. We were hysterical saying "what is going on, why are you doing this?" (I don't know if they went to other houses) Some of them were in the back yard watching the back door.

  Apparently the helicoped had seen kids out around our house, and thought one of them was the criminal who had set the grass fire. The thing was they did find him in the onlookers, and he had no idea they were looking for him, and whatever he had done had set this field on fire (grass fire, the fire dept had put out) they had him sitting in the patrol car after (we were all still outside) and yelling at him "do you have matches on you? Did you have matches?" He was around 13 I think. I thought at the time, aren't they supposed to have a lawyer or his parents or tell him he has a right to remain silent? Or do juveniles not have the same rights?

    I always remember that, and I think my mother did too (while she was alive) We said the same thing, how could they come in like that, without a warrant or asking? Someone said they can do anything if they are in "hot pursuit".

    Of a kid who might have accidentally set a brush fire. And, even if he had done it on purpose, a helicopter...?

    A few weeks ago there was a standoff of sorts. A man was depressed and out of it (for whatever reason) and his mother was scared and left the house, called the police form a neighbors. For help for HIM. For several days, the streets (of the small town) were lined with police, SWAT people, the ones with the plastic shields and helmets and guns. The neighbors were having a fit because of all this.  The man just wanted them to go away and leave him alone. They kept yelling at him they were going to throw in tear gas, I don't know if they finally did.

   It was on the news all the time.  The neighbors said he wasn't a bad person, apparently just having problems. But, it was this big stand off, with him against 100's of police, with guns, tear gas, and who knows what else.

    He ended up shooting himself. People were saying after the police pushed him into it.

    I'm old enough to remember when police were really there to help (to serve and protect) and not make thing worse.

    I guess I probably shouldn't give my opinions about this, there's going to be some who won't agree. And, I always say, if I was getting beat up or my house broken into I'd be GLAD to see the police pull up.

cherib:

I don't think it's fair to blame the reporter. They get the information from police reports, court documents, etc., and write stories based on what they know, the information they are given. Since he was arrested, there were police reports made and that's all public information.

Oh, the reporter can very much so be to blame. There are honest reporters out there but many, if not most, will slant the story by leaving out information. If DD had been cut by any shards from what the SO threw and broke, the story could very well have read that the DD was cut by the SO in his anger, leaving out the part that he didn't aim the stuff at her.