Is it just me or are cops calling SWAT for pretty much everything nowadays?
SACRAMENTO – A man taking his child to school in Oak Park Monday morning made a discovery inside a vehicle that prompted a SWAT situation in the area.
The man told police he noticed a man passed out with a gun on his lap inside a black Hyundai, according to Sacramento Police Sergeant Andrew Pettit.
Pettit said officers arrived at the area of 43rd St. and 4th Ave. just after 7 a.m. and chose not to knock on the window for fear of startling the armed man. SWAT was subsequently called to the location.
SWAT officers eventually decided to use a military device that emits loud sound to wake the man up from a distances, Pettit said.
The man woke up, exited the vehicle and was taken into custody at the scene.
Officers found drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle during an ensuing search, Pettit said.
Source: http://www.news10.net/story/news/local/sacramento-central/2014/06/09/man-sleeping-in-car-with-gun-prompts-sacramento-standoff/10241373/
Now I’m not a cop, but if a guy is sleeping in his car with a gun and you need to wake him up, you could place an officer on the left and one on the right and on by the trunk so the suspect knows his surrounded. Calling SWAT and expending valuable police resources over this seems ridiculous.
And while I don’t feel a lot of sympathy for people who break the law, I’d rather see a guy passed out, in the parking lot, in his car, than trying to drive when he’s clearly too tired or drunk to do it safely.