Brickbat: Come and Knock on Our Door

Carla Boykins wasn't feeling well, so her boyfriend called 911 for an ambulance to take her to the hospital. After they got there, a paramedic told her that a second ambulance had been accidentally sent to her Norfolk, Virginia, home after they left, along with police and firefighters. When no one answered a knock on the door, they broke the door in to make sure no one inside needed help. The city refuses to pay for the damages to the door.

Comments

[PM]

Please stop helping me until I've had time to recover first.

[Fist of Etiquette]

911 does an encore in your town.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Maybe this is too rational, but paying for the door is probably cheaper than dealing with the shitstorm of not paying for the door.

I don't think it's that outrageous that they broke down the door -- hell, at least they made it to the correct address -- given that they thought someone needed help and and maybe couldn't make it to the door but, for fuck's sake, just pay for the door and move on.

[sarcasmic]

Paying for the door means admitting fault. That's just not the way government works. Better to settle for millions while not admitting fault than to shell out a couple hundred and admit to making a mistake.

[Suthenboy]

A couple of hundred? I could fix my own door for 50 bucks or less, but I am betting in Norfolk, Va navigating the absurd maze of regulations/permits/unionized and licensed contractors would end up in the four digit range.

[Cyto]

Here in south Florida it costs about $850 to get a new door installed. Permits eat up about $180 of that I think, plus $50 for the contractor to go get the permit. If you pull your own permit it is only $60. (numbers from memory of 3 years back - so might be off a bit)

The problem with doing the job yourself is having the relationship with the permit inspectors so that you can get the job done in one go. It might take you 3 days to install a door yourself, vs a few hours for a contractor. And once you have to take that day off work to meet the inspector, suddenly just paying the man looks a lot more attractive. Nice scheme they have.

[Tulpa (LAOL-VA)]

Paying for the door means admitting fault.

Not necessarily. They could present it as a charitable donation to a victim of random misfortune.

[sarcasmic]

derp

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Better to settle for millions while not admitting fault than to shell out a couple hundred and admit to making a mistake.

Bingo. No bureaucrat will accept responsibility for a fuckup. It's the only way they can ever lose their meal ticket.

[UnCivilServant]

If the original call was for EMTs only, why did they dispatch police and firefighters?

[WTF]

To give them something to do.

[Jerryskids]

Because the caller was black. If they're calling for an ambulance, it's probably drug-related which means they probably have a meth lab in the house. 'Exigent circumstances' allow the cops to search the house without a warrant. You can be sure this lady didn't own a dog or this headline would include the 'shot her dog' info.

[sarcasmic]

I remember many years ago my apartment was broken into, so I called the cops. They came to the door and said "Was this drug related? We'd like to search the place for drugs." I was like what? They wouldn't file a report or look at the broken window and ripped screen or nothing. They just wanted to search the place for drugs. When I wouldn't consent to a search they left. I didn't own a dog or I'm sure they would have shot it to get my attention.

[pan fried wylie]

I made the mistake of calling the police one time when I was almost mugged. 4 fuckers chased me to my house on the way home from the bus stop after work, then waited outside in their car for 10mins while I was on the phone with 911. The cops promptly arrived half an hour later.

Their first question was whether I was trying to buy drugs from them, me standing there in my formal office clothes (including tie). Yes officer, that's what I do after my work day, is try to buy drugs from random fuckwads parking on my street scoping out victims. Thanks for the insinuation though.

They did eventually catch and convict one of the motherfuckers, so the cops weren't completely worthless. 1/4 aint bad, right?

[sarcasmic]

I never called the cops after I was mugged. By then they had taught me that even when I'm the victim of a crime, they're going to treat me like a criminal.

[Rich]

*Five months* of literally having your house open to anyone?

With all due respect, Boyfriend, fix the damn door!

[Snark Plissken]

She has one of those big metal screen doors with a lock, which was either unlocked or installed afterward.

[Cyto]

Phbbbt. Back when I was a kid the only time anyone locked their door was when they left town for the week. Nobody bothered to lock their car either.

Times sure have changed. Now I keep the house locked during the day, while I'm home.

[TondoJondo]

There is a dude that knows what time it is.

http://www.Got-Privacy.com

[Agoraphobic]

Time to get a new door?

[Robert]

The only reason there's no dog with a bullet in it (or head chopped off by a fireman's ax) is that there was no dog. Or cat.