“the police are just minutes away”

I find it interesting how different people react to the same set of facts.

CBS News in Seattle reports that budget cuts permitted a woman to be kidnapped, choked and raped by a former boyfriend.

The news report says that the 911 operator told the frightened woman, as she begged for help, that budget cuts meant there would be no help — and there wasn’t.

“Uh, I don’t have anybody to send out there,” the 911 dispatcher told the woman. “You know, obviously, if he comes inside the residence and assaults you, can you ask him to go away? Do you know if he’s intoxicated or anything?”

http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2013/05/23/911-dispatcher-tells-woman-about-to-be-sexually-assaulted-there-are-no-cops-to-help-her-due-to-budget-cuts

The message I get is not the message CBS intends to send. I remember that cliché, “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”

They always are.

Think about it. If a home invasion person or group was putting their shoulder to your front door, how long would it be before the police arrived assuming you immediately dialed 911?

To put it another way, if you had a cell phone and a pistol side by side, which would you reach for?

Police do not provide protection, they provide retribution. The boyfriend mentioned above was caught, tried, and convicted — none of which stopped him from kidnapping and choking the girl.

(Do you think after she survived the assault, she just might have bought a gun?)