So the plot continues to thicken as the story continues to change. It's now being reported that the call from Dispatchers to Police were reported as an open structure call, similar to a potential burglary. Unfortunately this changes things which means this Officer could very well get acquitted or have his charges dropped all together, which I doubt it. But there's still a chance especially after this new information. So about that call by the neighbor and more about what it means?
Many times a welfare check involves a
medical emergency, an elderly person living alone or a relative who is
difficult to get ahold of.
For
those calls, police officers usually knock on someone's door and wait
for an answer. But the mindset of a police officer changes when they
hear it's an "open structure" or "open door" call.
Michael "Britt" London, president of the
Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, said officers have a more cautious
approach and run through multiple scenarios in their heads. They could
be presented with a simple case of a door left unlocked, an abandoned
home, or a burglary in progress.
"You
are at a higher sensitivity to what is going on with that house,"
London said. "You have to be ready for anything. You are taking more of
your environment in consideration to be ready for a surprise if there's
one."
The first thing that comes to mind is
often a burglary -- that's why officers search for signs of forced entry
like a broken window or a damaged door.
Body
camera footage from that night shows Dean, 34, peering through two open
doors and walking around the perimeter of the house. He then pointed
his weapon at a window and yelled "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" seconds before he opened fire, striking Jefferson.
He
resigned from the department on Monday, and was arrested and charged
with murder. His attorney, Jim Lane, told CNN the former officer is
remorseful.
With this new information I couldn't help but to go back and read what the neighbor originally said.
"Well, the front doors have been open
since 10 o'clock. I haven't seen anybody moving around. It's not normal
for them to have both of the doors open this time of night," Jefferson's
neighbor said, according to audio of the phone call released by
authorities.
"OK, do you know if anyone is inside?" the police call-taker asked him.
"I'm not sure. Both of the cars are there," he replied.
The neighbor went on to describe the vehicles and also confirmed his name and phone number.
"Are they usually home at this time?" the call-taker later asked him.
"They're
usually home but they never have both doors open," the neighbor told
her. "The lights are on, I can see through the house. My sister woke me
up, she lives across the street from them. I live on the opposite side
of my sister."
You can read the full and complete story by clicking here.
If you're still reading, I am glad because Jeff Halstead, a retired Fort Worth chief of police and police
consultant, said there was nothing in the body camera footage released
after the shooting suggests there was a crime happening.
"They were standing literally at the
front door, they could see whether the door was kicked on or not. The
lights were on, there was evidence that people were living there, there
were toys," Halstead said.
"Why
they advanced to an extremely dark backyard area without at least
ringing the doorbell or checking the entrance? That's extremely
concerning."
Dean's experience as a police officer could have factored into how he acted during the call, Halstead said.
Will common sense and the law be enough or will the love for police overshadow justice? I say this because people are so busy trying to paint this officer as doing his job, and it just being so dangerous and we'll just never understand, but don't want to talk about the fact that Atatiana Jefferson was in her own home. What I will say is I wonder why the door was open if they were playing video games. It's late at night. Not out the ordinary though and it could've been open for many reasons. I feel as if something is missing from the story. What I do know along with many other people is that an innocent woman was killed. It was no accident, it was because of an officer failure to follow proper protocols. So I hope when the jury is going over everything the fact that the door was open doesn't get in the way, especially when we don't know why it was open.
