Terri Bice, of New Orleans, was home with her family when intruders tried to break in her front door around 2 am. She dialed 911 twice and no one answered. She also dialed the police non emergency line twice and got no one. She finally called NOPD's second district line and finally got an answer. All the while, her dog is barking from the backyard and the intruders were working her door. She was terrified. No wonder, her kids were in the house. I would have been terrified too. But, the worst part is, after she finally got police on the phone, it took over two hours for them to show up! The family thinks they were saved because the intruders heard the dog going crazy. I guess they didn't realize the dog was restrained and they left. Lucky for the Bice family, most intruders who try to get into a known occupied home, wouldn't let a dog stop them.
Police blamed lack of staffing for the incident. They say they're working to improve call centers and staff. As for Mrs. Bice, she bought a gun after the incident. She hopes she'll never have to use it, but, I'm betting she does and I hope she takes it to a gun range and gets familiar with it.
The story sounds familiar to me. When I lived in the country alone in an isolated place on state lines, I had some serious trouble and after dialing 911, no one would come because they couldn't decide which county of which state I lived in. Like, who's problem was it? Missouri or Iowa? They couldn't figure it out. I finally had to dig out my deed and read them the property lines. ( Iowa, just barely.) It took them an hour and a half to sort it out and another hour to find my place and show up. (Even though I told them I was right next to the cemetery. Sheesh.) Meanwhile, there was gunfire and one of my windows was shot out and a bullet lodged in my living room wall. I had a small child in the house. But, after 20 minutes of the PD bullshit, I put my kid in a safe place (in the hidden pantry, behind the freezer), got my guns out of hiding, loaded them both, took the safety off and started firing back. Sometimes, you have to do things you never dreamed you would do. Especially when the safety of your child is in question. The would be intruders decided they didn't want any part of me and they took off. One of them was hit. The blood trail the cops later followed made me sick. The thought of actually shooting someone horrified me. They should have stayed in their car. I only shot back when they got out, split up and surrounded my house carrying weapons. It was dark and I counted five of them, but, I am a very good shot. They were not. It was a terrifying night. They killed one of my yard dogs. Ironically, the one that wouldn't have bitten them in a million years. The bad dog was in the house with us. I can't remember why, she hated being inside. She was a St. Bernard and she was always hot. Maybe the kid was playing with her. Anyway it saved her life.
Now I live in town, but, Guntown is a rough place sometimes. But, my house may be built weird, not exactly aesthetically pleasing, but, the front is made of triple stacked cement blocks. No bullet can come through it. Maybe that was the plan. The odd little front door is made of a solid piece of thick hard wood and so is the frame. I installed an ugly bolt lock last year when we had trouble in the neighborhood. It would take a bulldozer to knock it in. I have added to the difficulty by planting hedges at every window. They are now 10 feet high. By the time an intruder got through those, the storm window, the screen and the real window, he'd have to deal with those annoying not so fashionable venetian blinds. I'd hear them coming way before that. People always tell me I block the light with those shrubs. I say, you know what else I block? Peepers and creepers. I still have a gun. I've had two children here with me this week. There is no way I'd plan on waiting for police if someone threatened them. My weapon is well hidden and hard to get to. The ammo is in a separate place. But, anyone can be pretty quick when they're scared, even if you're old and crippled up. At least I know I have a good chance if something happened. A real good chance. Call me paranoid and crazy, if you want to. But, I've been there and done that and I'm glad I did. Maybe you'd have to live in Guntown to understand. Guntown is it's own small run down universe, sometimes great, at rare times totally crazy and dangerous, but, almost always entertaining. I hope you at least have a plan, just in case. A safe room, a hidden room, cameras, a good dog, something. You just never know.
I don't think Terri Bice's story is unique. It happens a lot. It's just shameful on the part of the New Orleans Police Department. She's very lucky they didn't realize her dog wasn't loose. And lucky she had a good dog. I'm amazed the police didn't show up and shoot it. That's how much trust I have in them.
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