Are police required to protect people during mass shootings? The legal answer is no.

[Diamond_Dog]

I did not realize this….

******

Police aren’t required to protect you.

When shots ring out in a school, the law doesn’t demand police rush inside and confront the shooter, even if lives could be saved.

There’s an expectation that they will — as the motto “To Protect and to Serve” suggests — and departments train and prepare to do so. But as the courts have found, there is no law to hold officers accountable if they don’t.

The so-called “public duty doctrine” doesn’t apply to mass shootings only, but also a practically innumerable spectrum of possible scenarios, according to experts. The doctrine holds that “an individual has no duty to come to the aid of an individual,” and that principle extends to police officers. They have no more legal responsibility to save someone than an average citizen, in most circumstances.

“What duty do police have to protect individual members of the public? The short answer is not much,” Phillip Lyons, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University, told McClatchy News.

“The Supreme Court said that there’s generally no duty that exists to protect individual members of the public,” Lyons said, though there are exceptions, such as when an individual is taken into police custody.

But in the aftermath of the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — where 19 officers waited outside a classroom for 50 minutes with the 18-year-old gunman inside — the ethical duty of police to respond and protect is being debated far and wide.

The not-so-well-known public duty doctrine has been wielded by critics — particularly on social media — with some suggesting that it could have played a role in how police handled the situation.

“The police aren’t obligated to protect the public,” one Twitter user wrote. “So what are they there for??”

More

https://www.arcamax.com/currentnews/newsheadlines/s-2683569?ezine=114&r=zKnzUwkmMNBFtWjHX9mwhoThH4EzJ2MrZexzqgQ6MztDOjMwNTY0NzQ0OTpKOjIxMTgwOTg6TDoxMTQ6Ujo0ODY2MTI6UzoyNjgzNTY5OlY6NTA

[PTWB]

1. A lot of folks are surprised to learn that the police are obligated to investigate crime...

But they’re not legally obligated to protect the citizens from criminals.

That fact, along with the old adage that “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away”, are major reasons why so many people choose to protect their homes and themselves with firearms.

Especially after Uvalde, is anyone really going to count in the police to protect citizens and their families?

[rsdsharp]

7. The majority opinion was written by Scalia:

City of Castle Rock v Gonzales 545 US 748 (2005).

[sarisataka]

8. It goes back further

Warren v. District of Columbia (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

This interpretation has been reaffirmed several times.

[rsdsharp]

10. DC Circuit Court of Appeals applies only to the District of Columbia.

Castle Rock is a SCOTUS case.

[sarisataka]

11. True, however it shows that courts in general

Have supported the police have no duty to protect individuals for quite awhile.

[Orrex]

2. If they're not obligated to protect, then they should lose qualified immunity

The nominal purpose of qualified immunity is to protect cops from liability resulting from their good-faith performance of their duty. But if their duty doesn’t require them to protect civilians, then there is no valid reason to protect cops from their own misdeeds.

End qualified immunity and require cops to protect civilians. Otherwise, one can reasonably they’ve been stockpiling military arsenals no to protect but to oppress.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. This...

[MenloParque]

3. So what happens during a home invasion armed robbery?

Police aren’t going to rush over and rescue my black ass if I call 911?!? Makes me feel super safe as a rash of home invasions that are happening in the SF Bay Area. Crews of 3-4 guys armed and masked kicking in your door in the middle of the night and the police with thumbs up their butts doing jack shit! Lovely.

[Jedi Guy]

14. I can't speak to how SFPD does things, but when I was a dispatcher with Tucson PD...

An active home invasion was a code 3 call, all day every day. Lights and sirens, all available units, the whole schmear. That was also the case when a house had been broken into and the homeowner hadn't confirmed whether or not the burglar was still present. Either of those drew an immediate response.

I recall a home invasion that happened during a little girl's birthday party. The family was gathered and having a good time when three masked guys busted in the door toting shotguns and handguns. Everyone stared at each other in silence for a minute, then one of the masked guys muttered, "Wrong house" and they all fucked off. Bad guys were long gone by the time the family called 911 and officers got there, unfortunately.

[hedda_foil]

5. Arcamax is a right wing news source.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/arcamax/

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Overall, we rate ArcaMax Right-Center Biased based on publishing more right leaning columnist than left. We also rate them Mostly Factual in reporting, rather than High due to the publication of columnists that have failed fact checks as well as a lack of transparency. Please note, news reporting is typically factual and properly sourced.

[HeartachesNhangovers]

6. Here's one from the NYT that has historical background

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html

But if you google "police duty to protect" you will see that the story is correct.

[hedda_foil]

9. Thank you. It's always a good idea to check these things out.

[ripcord]

12. I was wondering about the blow up after Uvalde

I couldn't figure out why people were screaming for the police to go to jail, I assumed everyone knew this.

[Angleae]

13. People here on DU don't know that (even after being told multiple times)

They just focus on "to protect and serve" as if that's their job, not law enforcement.

[Jedi Guy]

15. People here on DU don't know a lot of things about cops or law enforcement.

They're generally not interested in learning, either, in my experience...