Grady Judd is sheriff of Polk County Florida. He's got a bit of a
nationwide reputation for some over-the-top statements, making "good
copy" that the news media eats up.
Here, he's acting like a 100% reasonable law enforcement officer taking
his duty to maintain public order and protect the innocent very
seriously.
He said his county has had so many SWATting incidents that when they get
a seemingly hysterical call to 911 they do not respond with an
overwhelming response of both police and fire. They send one patrol car
to check the location to see if anything is truly happening. That, and
since these calls tend to happen in the middle of the night, they don't
want police and fire encountering armed homeowners trying to defend
against a presumed home invasion.
Three boys were playing networked video games. The victim, age 12, lived
in unincorporated Polk County. He got into fights on line with the other
two boys. None of the parents of any of the boys were supervising their activities.
The two incidents were two nights in a row. The two perpetrators were
out of state, one in New York, the other in Connecticut. Both SWATted
the victim, the second incident making far more outrageous claims than
the first.
Now Sheriff Judd still can't resist getting some political digs in. "I
know what crime is like in New York and Connecticut. I didn't expect to
get any cooperation."
He should have held his tongue. There's no shortage of local police
departments that take protecting the public trust seriously regardless
of bad political attitudes toward crime, so always assume your are
dealing with a police professional until proven otherwise.
He got local authorities in both states to take the juvenilse into
custody. They are both being prepared for extradition.
Making example of these two perpetrators, throwing the book at them, may
stop some future SWATting from happening.
I agree with Judd. After the first incident, he advised the victim's
parents to take his gaming counsel away, but they didn't. The boy got
into an unrelated on line fight the next night with the second
perpetrator. In fact, the two of them knew each other and had met in
person when the perpetrator's family had brought him during travel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYReo8lOZO0
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