Mum’s ordeal as armed officers smash into her Parkstone home (From Bournemouth Echo)

over the top policing - the guy is not assessed as dangerous,so why an armed response ? the police these days are worse than the villans.
theres enough people around with attitude - we dont need it from the police as well,but i guess if you dress someone with ego in a jump suit give him a gun and an X5 to run around in he probably thinks hes above everyone else.well it doesnt go down well with the public

This is a second incident when Dorset Police have got it wrong and started playing with guns and innocent people . ( Station incident ) .
Unless these people are trained correctly a accident will happen . If info is out of date and wrong then a accident will happen .

The police were just trying to do their job. Its not like they were threatening to kill her if she didnt help. Typical attention seaking member of the public. This doesnt even need to make the paper.

Id far rather the police made a few mistakes if it meant they were able to catch more criminals.

If you hadnt of blabbed to the paper he would never have known you assisted and wouldnt of come back you daft woman.

They could have replaced your door with a better lock and you wouldnt of heard him knocking anyway.

Complete utter media drivvle which is what hinders our police performance.

Whats wrong with society today! If they knocked down my door id do everything in my power to help them and thank them for their effots not bad mouth them to the papers!

djdaface wrote:
The police were just trying to do their job. Its not like they were threatening to kill her if she didnt help. Typical attention seaking member of the public. This doesnt even need to make the paper.

Id far rather the police made a few mistakes if it meant they were able to catch more criminals.

If you hadnt of blabbed to the paper he would never have known you assisted and wouldnt of come back you daft woman.

They could have replaced your door with a better lock and you wouldnt of heard him knocking anyway.

Complete utter media drivvle which is what hinders our police performance.

Whats wrong with society today! If they knocked down my door id do everything in my power to help them and thank them for their effots not bad mouth them to the papers!

Totally agree,the police made a mistake,it not as if they shot her or her child,yes it must be frightening,and yes typical of our society,no respect for the police,just moan and slate them and make there job evn more difficult.
Get a grip.

Ever heard of a Search Warrant these people?

Everyone makes mistakes in their jobs. Some have more impact than others. However, the police would have been praised if indeed the person they were looking for had been there!

The fact is that armed units are pretty much the only ones free, and with the kit available, to force entry, which is why they were probably used. I've used them to gain access for welfare issues as they were the only officers available at the time, and the fact that they were armed didn't come into it.

The Dorset Police say: "the man sought is not assessed as a danger to the public"

If this is the case then why use a Trojan (firearms) unit? I hope Ms Whitmarsh seeks legal advice to secure substantial damages for this disgraceful act of violence against her property and her family.

Oldalbanian wrote:
The Dorset Police say: "the man sought is not assessed as a danger to the public" If this is the case then why use a Trojan (firearms) unit? I hope Ms Whitmarsh seeks legal advice to secure substantial damages for this disgraceful act of violence against her property and her family.

OH YEAH Money will always make people feel better !!! HA HA

The man was assessed as not being dangerous so why not knock on the door?
Proportional policing appears to have gone out of the door or in this case straight through it.

djdaface wrote:
The police were just trying to do their job. Its not like they were threatening to kill her if she didnt help. Typical attention seaking member of the public. This doesnt even need to make the paper. Id far rather the police made a few mistakes if it meant they were able to catch more criminals. If you hadnt of blabbed to the paper he would never have known you assisted and wouldnt of come back you daft woman. They could have replaced your door with a better lock and you wouldnt of heard him knocking anyway. Complete utter media drivvle which is what hinders our police performance. Whats wrong with society today! If they knocked down my door id do everything in my power to help them and thank them for their effots not bad mouth them to the papers!

Good job bad grammer isn't illegal, they'd be raiding your home right now otherwise!

By the way, have you ever heard of the word 'have'? It works well in place of 'of'.

Ooops this is going to be a wheres theres blame theres a claim case !

"Innocent Rachel Whitmarsh was ordered out of the Poole property while her boy, Jordan, aged six, was left frightened and alone in the bathtub".
Is that how the supporteres of the Police action would like their children treated?

ry8000 wrote:

djdaface wrote: The police were just trying to do their job. Its not like they were threatening to kill her if she didnt help. Typical attention seaking member of the public. This doesnt even need to make the paper. Id far rather the police made a few mistakes if it meant they were able to catch more criminals. If you hadnt of blabbed to the paper he would never have known you assisted and wouldnt of come back you daft woman. They could have replaced your door with a better lock and you wouldnt of heard him knocking anyway. Complete utter media drivvle which is what hinders our police performance. Whats wrong with society today! If they knocked down my door id do everything in my power to help them and thank them for their effots not bad mouth them to the papers!

Good job bad grammer isn't illegal, they'd be raiding your home right now otherwise! By the way, have you ever heard of the word 'have'? It works well in place of 'of'.

That's 'GRAMMAR' you self-righteous fool.

Don't put others down until you're perfect yourself.

rayc wrote:
"Innocent Rachel Whitmarsh was ordered out of the Poole property while her boy, Jordan, aged six, was left frightened and alone in the bathtub".
Is that how the supporteres of the Police action would like their children treated?

Are people that stupid that they actually think they left the child alone in the bathtub!
They escorted the women away and yes the child was still in the bathtub,but i bet there was a police officer with little jordan making sure he was safe,as usual saying the child was left alone and frightened in the bath makes for more sensational news reporting and causes more of a storm against the police.

I think the public would prefer it if pc plod was walking the streets giving directions and telling people the time rather than knocking down doors with guns in an attempt to replicate the antics they see on tv shows

rayc wrote:
The man was assessed as not being dangerous so why not knock on the door? Proportional policing appears to have gone out of the door or in this case straight through it.

They did! For 15 minutes. Read the story.

Oldalbanian wrote:
The Dorset Police say: "the man sought is not assessed as a danger to the public" If this is the case then why use a Trojan (firearms) unit? I hope Ms Whitmarsh seeks legal advice to secure substantial damages for this disgraceful act of violence against her property and her family.

Read the story! Firearms unit carry out normal Policing duties as well. They often turn up at RTC's, not to shoot bad drivers (now, there's an idea), but because they are primarily POLICE OFFICERS.

I can't believe they smashed her front door in, but then she's lucky they didn't smash her back doors in also!

A very similar incident happened a few years ago. We live in a very nice, safe area and our neighbor was upstairs bathing her two children when the police burst through the front door! They shoved past her as she ran downstairs and made a mess of the house while the kids were upstairs screaming. One of them then said, 'Sorry, wrong address' and they left. They were apparently looking for the previous owner of the building (who had not been there for many years) who dealt in drugs. My neighbour was furious and called the police the next day to complain. Apparently, they were not that sympathetic. This was a long time ago now but it seems things have no changed much.

There is a thin blue line between the police and the criminal.

They both ride roughshod over peoples, personal space, freedom and civil liberties.

TinyLegacy wrote:

ry8000 wrote:

djdaface wrote: The police were just trying to do their job. Its not like they were threatening to kill her if she didnt help. Typical attention seaking member of the public. This doesnt even need to make the paper. Id far rather the police made a few mistakes if it meant they were able to catch more criminals. If you hadnt of blabbed to the paper he would never have known you assisted and wouldnt of come back you daft woman. They could have replaced your door with a better lock and you wouldnt of heard him knocking anyway. Complete utter media drivvle which is what hinders our police performance. Whats wrong with society today! If they knocked down my door id do everything in my power to help them and thank them for their effots not bad mouth them to the papers!

Good job bad grammer isn't illegal, they'd be raiding your home right now otherwise! By the way, have you ever heard of the word 'have'? It works well in place of 'of'.

That's 'GRAMMAR' you self-righteous fool. Don't put others down until you're perfect yourself.

I didn't mention spelling. However, that's a fair observation.

No need to be indignant about it though...

Seeing as these officers were armed, this is a serious incident. Simply saying it's a "mistake" isn't good enough. It's not as if they have a brilliant track record anyway when it comes to pointing guns at innocent people and in some cases shooting them. Someone should be held accountable for this, & disciplined accordingly.

So you would prefer the police make some mistakes as long as the catch criminals..... Mmm let's see so they break in to a house with guns shouting and yelling at any , looking for a non dangerous criminal which they never caught. If they are normal officers why not keep the guns holstered. Maybe the bmth cops should stop watching CSI and other Hollywood films . Since I moved to Canada 3 years ago I have not seen or heard of any incidents like this and all cops carry guns and tazzers

some people i mean you can see straight up their nostrils,
it puts 1 on ones guard.xx

BlaiseUK2002
What is a nice safe area these days?
Nowhere is nice and safe anymore...people get up to all sorts in all areas don't be mislead by such misconceptions.
PS How safe is an area where a drug dealer lived?

Just think, all of this could have been saved with a doorbell.

Typical police can do no wrong attitude from some people.
Completley different story when the shoe is on the other foot. Wake up!

Poor police!

Then again poor Ian Tomlinson, poor Peter Connolly, Poor Jean Charles De Menezes, Poor Blair Peach.

SW

A young girl I know was woken in the early hours by police shrieking like banshees who smashed down the door of her flat having got the wrong address. She has never recovered from the shock especially as she had a number of medical problems. She now lives with a relative and rarely goes out. It's about time the police were made to account for these blunders.

Did they have a Warrant!?

Has it ever beem mentioned that the Police had drawn their weapons and were pointing them at anyone? No, I thought not.

Yes, they were armed but carrying out a fairly "routine" arrest procedure for a non-violent person. There is no mention that their guns were drawn, so one presumes that they were not. Guns in holsters are fairly safe.

rayc wrote:
The man was assessed as not being dangerous so why not knock on the door? Proportional policing appears to have gone out of the door or in this case straight through it.

If you had read the story you would have read that they were knocking for 15 minutes.

Webvision wrote:
Seeing as these officers were armed, this is a serious incident. Simply saying it's a "mistake" isn't good enough. It's not as if they have a brilliant track record anyway when it comes to pointing guns at innocent people and in some cases shooting them. Someone should be held accountable for this, & disciplined accordingly.

At what point does it say they pointed a weapon at her? An ooficer can be armed and the weapon holstered or secured and not pointing at anyone. stop making the facts up to suit your own arguments.

they should have 'knocked three times on the ceiling' xx

Perhaps next time after knocking for 15 minutes with no result, they'll approach the persons lawyer and request permission to send the individual a polite letter asking them to open the door.

Behave.

Interesting comments on here im sure i wouldnt be too happy if it happened to me neither would a lot of the people who have commented in the negative, its one of those situations I think that until we have experienced it we don't know what it's like.

godzillareturns wrote:
Interesting comments on here im sure i wouldnt be too happy if it happened to me neither would a lot of the people who have commented in the negative, its one of those situations I think that until we have experienced it we don't know what it's like.

I think most of us appreciate that it was an unfortunate mistake, that the police tried to rectify before leaving by ensuring that the door was secured. What we object to are people make up facts to suit their own arguments/dislike of the police and the Echo sensastionalising a story.

souwest wrote:
Poor police! Then again poor Ian Tomlinson, poor Peter Connolly, Poor Jean Charles De Menezes, Poor Blair Peach. SW

If Jean De Menezes wasn't here ilegally he could be sipping coffee in Rio right now, poor thing.

What I find most shocking about this article is that the Echo permit comments on it, but no comments were permitted on the report earlier in the week that the police had done nothing wrong when pointing their guns and wrongfully arrested Nzube Udezue at Bournemouth Station.Prejudice or what!!
I speak as one whose house has only once been broken into...wrongfully by the police,but with good intent and I received a subsequent apology and a new front door from Dorset Police.
Ironic security word is 'must-risk.'...The Police,nor the Echo could make it up!

I tell you what, this does get on my nerves!! I say that because a few years ago, in the middle of the night, we awoke to the police banging on the front door to wake us up. I went downstairs, dazed, and the police said that a sniffer dog had lead them to our house through a suspected robbery. They came in and asked if they could search, I agreed, gloves were on, they searched through coats bags, in the bedrooms with the children sleeping, and they went through everything in the house. When they left they never even said sorry. We didn't get a sorry the next day or after that either and nothing since. One things for certain, IF it ever happens again, I will REFUSE to let them in after the way we were treated!! Just who do they think they are sometimes!!!

This is another story where commentors can get at the Police. They may have said he was assessed as harmless, or even unarmed, but if it was a man being chased, perhaps unbeknown to the police he could have been, as a defence to himself.

15 minutes of banging on a door is I believe long enough to try and get a response.

It is always the same, when our great Police Force carry out their job, how many will turn against them. Those others mentioned above were acted on information given in the case of the Bournemouth Station scenario. The Brazilian, should have not been in the country and was running from the police.

Let the Police do their work. One day you may need them with or without weapons.

Yes, it was an error, No, they did not need a warrant & Insp Allkins has apologised, as I am sure the officers did at the time. I'm certain the Police would arrange for the door to be secured at their expense.

Chris... wrote:
This is another story where commentors can get at the Police. They may have said he was assessed as harmless, or even unarmed, but if it was a man being chased, perhaps unbeknown to the police he could have been, as a defence to himself. 15 minutes of banging on a door is I believe long enough to try and get a response. It is always the same, when our great Police Force carry out their job, how many will turn against them. Those others mentioned above were acted on information given in the case of the Bournemouth Station scenario. The Brazilian, should have not been in the country and was running from the police. Let the Police do their work. One day you may need them with or without weapons.

Thats the echo for you!!

John T wrote:
What I find most shocking about this article is that the Echo permit comments on it, but no comments were permitted on the report earlier in the week that the police had done nothing wrong when pointing their guns and wrongfully arrested Nzube Udezue at Bournemouth Station.Prejudice or what!!
I speak as one whose house has only once been broken into...wrongfully by the police,but with good intent and I received a subsequent apology and a new front door from Dorset Police.
Ironic security word is 'must-risk.'...The Police,nor the Echo could make it up!

I quite agree John. No comments were allowed on the fact that Udezue lost his appeal against Dorset Police in the much talked about station incident. I think he has tried to dine out on that one too long and I for one am glad that's the end of the matter.

Dorset Police are continually responding to calls about people reported to have guns, knives or machetes and they do a great job in capturing these dangerous characters without a shot being fired. Those are usually reported as one-liners, hidden away on page 16 of the Echo.

This gets front page coverage because the Echo wants to sell papers, that's all. The good news doesn't sell so well, does it?

And a second thing. Who says the armed police on this raid were pointing guns?

Armed officers respond to jobs that non-armed ones respond to - the fact that they have been firearm-trained does not mean anything. They would respond to a simple report of a shoplifter if they were the nearest available crew, but they would not do it with guns drawn.

This story has been sensationalised me thinks.

According to an Echo report I just found, Dorset Police respond to 30 calls from the public for armed officers each month.

I for one, think the police are doing a great job. We all make mistakes, they are only human.

I'm glad they were there the other week when an armed robber held up a security van in a heavily pedestrianised area - wouldn't you be?

Well I'm sure some of you would be happy if it happend to you then!! So what if she didn't answer her door. She was bathing her son. Never mind that, she doesn't have to answer her door if she doesn't want! She lives in a flat and wouldn't be able to see who was at the door. Police, armed or not, should at least make sure they have their facts straight before knocking people's doors down or searching property. If we give them free reign to do what they please, then we may as well live in a dictatorship. It's a harrowing experience for anyone to go through. I can't believe the lack of sympathy for an innocent lady who was simply looking after her children!!

"We all make mistakes?" Yes, we do, but for most of us that doesn't involve breaking someone's door down and barging through their house with guns - holstered or otherwise. They were armed, and that still makes it a serious business. Do you trust armed police to make correct judgements 100% of the time? I don't. And before anyone starts bleating about how they do a difficult job under difficult circumstances, just remember, these are the only people in our society authorised to kill. With that responsibility must go complete accountability for any wrong decisions.

Webvision - accountability yes. But perfect superhumans who never make mistakes? No.

And they 'broke down a door' because they were after someone who was evading capture. What do you expect them to do, knock twice and then leave? No one would ever get caught if genuine wanted people were allowed to get away from not answering their doors.

And 'barged through the house'? Well, see above. They were probably anticipating being faced by a wanted person who could have had a knife for all they knew. Their aim is to get in there as quickly as possible and if the suspect is in there detain them as quickly as possible.

This was a raid. What did you expect them to do - wipe their shoes on the door mat or take them off before asking "do you mind awfully if we came in?"

Get real here please, it was a raid.

A mistake was made and the reason for the error is no doubt being investigated.

No one was hurt, no one was shot. They probably didn't even get their guns out.

Are you saying you would rather we didn't have armed police? Are you saying you would rather we didn't have police at all?

I think if you were one of the people in the snooker club when the gunmen burst in and fired a shot before hitting a customer with a hammer a few months ago, it would be as much of a terrifying ordeal as this lady in this article.

Let's have some perspective here. You can't have it both ways, perhaps only in your perfect world.

As the Echo itself says, Dorset residents report 360 armed incidents to the police every year. How else would you want them to respond? With tea and biscuits and a nice cosy chat with the offender?

oh puh-lease

Poolebabe "Police, armed or not, should at least make sure they have their facts straight before knocking people's doors down or searching property"

They can only act on what they have been told!! Sometimes, people will tell them things that aren't correct.

If you saw 2 men going into your neighbours with what you thought were balaclavas and shotguns (but couldn't be 100% sure because it was dark) and you phoned the police and reported it - how would you want them to respond? With suitably equipped officers? Yes, I would thanks. But it could well turn out to be innocent, your neighbours son and his friends returning from a day paintballing and they are still wearing the gear.

That would be a case of the police acting on what you told them even though in the end there was no danger. It must happen a lot.

How exactly do you propose they 'get their facts straight'? Ring up the suspects and say 'excuse me but are you at home, can we just check you're in before we raid you?'

Do tell me, I'd like to know!

Oh my giddy aunt.

Sussex Police did the same thing in 80s. Their armed officers raided a house looking for an escaped prisoner, but they got the address wrong, not even the right street! Thank God all police are not armed!

in the 80s? Shock horror! so the police made another mistake 20 years ago? how many countless raids have they got right and how many dangerous men have they taken off the streets in that time I wonder?

Hmmmmmm

Poolebabe - one final thought - it is no easier for the police to verify the information they are told than it is for us to verify that you are from Poole and that you are a babe.

You could be a 55 year old man called Colin from Ringwood for all I know. I can only go on what you say.

Not that I'm saying you are of course..

See what I mean?

No sorry, I don't see what you mean at all. Has a similar situation ever happened to you?? If so, then fine, I would accept part of your argument. In my opinion, it is not acceptable for armed police to bash down someone's door without enough evidence in a case like this. Yes I DO think they should act more cautiously. Now you might think that I am some left winging tree hugger, and I could maybe see your point as you don't know me, but seeing as something like this happened to me, I feel that I can form a view from experience, and it is a scary experience especially as they don't explain what's happening at the time. In my case, they treated us like scum and I felt violated actually, and have moved house since. I gave them permission to search our house, out of fear more than anything, but when they were looking in coat pockets, bags, draws and even wanted to search the children's bedrooms while they were sleeping, they couldn't have cared less and didn't appologise or even thank us for our co-operation. I don't understand how anyone can accept armed police bashing down someone's door, removing a mother from her child, to search for an escaped convict that lived there 2 years before. This wasn't a case of armed men in balaclava's was it? It's hardly a fair comparison. I accept that the police have a tough job to do, and in some respects they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. They don't have enough power to act on criminals, and even one's that are arrested don't get the punishments they deserve, so when an innocent mother is traumatised by a serious error, it's not fair. It's also not fair for people to berrate her when she has done nothing wrong.

Wimbourneflyer wrote:
Webvision - accountability yes. But perfect superhumans who never make mistakes? No. And they 'broke down a door' because they were after someone who was evading capture. What do you expect them to do, knock twice and then leave? No one would ever get caught if genuine wanted people were allowed to get away from not answering their doors. And 'barged through the house'? Well, see above. They were probably anticipating being faced by a wanted person who could have had a knife for all they knew. Their aim is to get in there as quickly as possible and if the suspect is in there detain them as quickly as possible. This was a raid. What did you expect them to do - wipe their shoes on the door mat or take them off before asking "do you mind awfully if we came in?" Get real here please, it was a raid. A mistake was made and the reason for the error is no doubt being investigated. No one was hurt, no one was shot. They probably didn't even get their guns out. Are you saying you would rather we didn't have armed police? Are you saying you would rather we didn't have police at all? I think if you were one of the people in the snooker club when the gunmen burst in and fired a shot before hitting a customer with a hammer a few months ago, it would be as much of a terrifying ordeal as this lady in this article. Let's have some perspective here. You can't have it both ways, perhaps only in your perfect world. As the Echo itself says, Dorset residents report 360 armed incidents to the police every year. How else would you want them to respond? With tea and biscuits and a nice cosy chat with the offender? oh puh-lease

I realise armed police are sadly, a necessity in this day & age. But, I suspect that in many cases they are deployed unnecessarily (ie in response to people who are not actually armed at all) and that in itself increases the risk to the public. I wonder how many of those "360 armed incidents" turn out to be kids with water pistols or people with funny shaped MP3 players (seriously, this has happened!) As for the snooker club incident, well, it just goes to show that having armed coppers in Bournemouth doesn't prevent armed robberies. Whatever we think about it though, I guess armed cops are here to stay, and incidents like these are going to carry on happening. Shame, but there you go.

I find it really interesting that people are so polarised by this story. I can see both sides - I completely agree that the police seem to have made a genuine mistake and that they probably didn't quite go in with the 'all guns bazing' approach the Echo has reported, but in the same respect I can understand that the experience must have been frightening for both mum and child. I'm sure they'll both get over it well enough, but just because I don't have a problem with the police in this stor doesn't mean I can't feel sympathy for the woman and child involved. Maybe I'm just too liberal for my own good!

Wimbourneflyer wrote:
'A mistake was made and the reason for the error is no doubt being investigated.'
No doubt...by the police themselves, and they will come up with the same whitewash(sic) as they did with regard to the Zuby incident at Bournemouth Station.Also,no doubt,you would be only too happy for errant MPs to be investigated by other errant MPs.
Incidentally,Wimbour
neflyer, if you are who you say you are, and you come from where you say you do,i.e. Wimbourne,I suggest you learn how to spell Wimborne correctly;just in case the Police go smashing down the door at the wrong address,if you see what I mean!

Some of you cannot grasp the meaning of Armed Response. These Police are an armed unit, and thus go round as such, but can be used in other police work. There are not split up, in case they are called to do a more serious job else where.

It is like a fire crew, if one wants to go somewhere, they all go including the tender so they are all together in case of shout.

As reported the Armed Unit was obviously what was available at the time. The requirement was a suspected criminal at a previous address, who could have been armed. Do the Police just send round a beat officer. Of course not.

Somewhere along the line here, the landlord is at fault, as is the tenant for not changing details of the property. As far as the Police were concerned this is where the alleged criminal lived, or last known address.

Give the Police some slack, and credit for what they do. God forbid the day when some of you are held at knife or gun point and a beat officer turns up. Where was the Armed Unit then. Sorry sir or madam, we had to be sure first that there was an hostage situation.

I wonder if we should read this story in conjunction with:-

“Dorset woman beaten unconscious for ‘shady past’
Echo, 24th July 2009”

In one case the police got it wrong and was there to make an arrest.
In the other the police got it wrong and was not there in time to make an arrest before someone was assaulted.
I suppose it is easy to say that someone is wrong after the fact, but not so easy at the time.
Hindsight is 20 / 20 vision.

Chris... wrote:
Some of you cannot grasp the meaning of Armed Response. These Police are an armed unit, and thus go round as such, but can be used in other police work. There are not split up, in case they are called to do a more serious job else where. It is like a fire crew, if one wants to go somewhere, they all go including the tender so they are all together in case of shout. As reported the Armed Unit was obviously what was available at the time. The requirement was a suspected criminal at a previous address, who could have been armed. Do the Police just send round a beat officer. Of course not. Somewhere along the line here, the landlord is at fault, as is the tenant for not changing details of the property. As far as the Police were concerned this is where the alleged criminal lived, or last known address. Give the Police some slack, and credit for what they do. God forbid the day when some of you are held at knife or gun point and a beat officer turns up. Where was the Armed Unit then. Sorry sir or madam, we had to be sure first that there was an hostage situation.

I don't quite see how the landlord, or the tenant are in the wrong here, just who are they supposed to change their details with? Do we all have to phone the police up when we move into a new place, just so they can keep their records straight?

Webvision wrote:

Wimbourneflyer wrote:
Webvision - accountability yes. But perfect superhumans who never make mistakes? No. And they 'broke down a door' because they were after someone who was evading capture. What do you expect them to do, knock twice and then leave? No one would ever get caught if genuine wanted people were allowed to get away from not answering their doors. And 'barged through the house'? Well, see above. They were probably anticipating being faced by a wanted person who could have had a knife for all they knew. Their aim is to get in there as quickly as possible and if the suspect is in there detain them as quickly as possible. This was a raid. What did you expect them to do - wipe their shoes on the door mat or take them off before asking "do you mind awfully if we came in?" Get real here please, it was a raid. A mistake was made and the reason for the error is no doubt being investigated. No one was hurt, no one was shot. They probably didn't even get their guns out. Are you saying you would rather we didn't have armed police? Are you saying you would rather we didn't have police at all? I think if you were one of the people in the snooker club when the gunmen burst in and fired a shot before hitting a customer with a hammer a few months ago, it would be as much of a terrifying ordeal as this lady in this article. Let's have some perspective here. You can't have it both ways, perhaps only in your perfect world. As the Echo itself says, Dorset residents report 360 armed incidents to the police every year. How else would you want them to respond? With tea and biscuits and a nice cosy chat with the offender? oh puh-lease

I realise armed police are sadly, a necessity in this day & age. But, I suspect that in many cases they are deployed unnecessarily (ie in response to people who are not actually armed at all) and that in itself increases the risk to the public. I wonder how many of those "360 armed incidents" turn out to be kids with water pistols or people with funny shaped MP3 players (seriously, this has happened!) As for the snooker club incident, well, it just goes to show that having armed coppers in Bournemouth doesn't prevent armed robberies. Whatever we think about it though, I guess armed cops are here to stay, and incidents like these are going to carry on happening. Shame, but there you go.

webvision, I think you make my point better than I do. The fact that many of the 360 armed incidents as reported by the Dorset public DO turn out to be kids with bb guns, air rifles etc just shows how the police can only act on the information given to them at the time by the public, doesn't it?

They can't discount the little old lady who phones in a report of seeing 2 armed men when it could just be 2 teenagers with bb guns. They have to take all reports of guns seriously and investigate.

As for the snooker club, you are right in saying that having armed response officers doesn't prevent these incidents (not unless you posted an armed officer on every street in the country) but no one is saying they do.

But they were needed to arrest the men who carried out the attack, because as their behaviour shows, these thugs were all too willing to fire live ammunition in a public place and were extremely dangerous. That is why ARVs are necessary.

poolebabe wrote:
Well I'm sure some of you would be happy if it happend to you then!! So what if she didn't answer her door. She was bathing her son. Never mind that, she doesn't have to answer her door if she doesn't want! She lives in a flat and wouldn't be able to see who was at the door. Police, armed or not, should at least make sure they have their facts straight before knocking people's doors down or searching property. If we give them free reign to do what they please, then we may as well live in a dictatorship. It's a harrowing experience for anyone to go through. I can't believe the lack of sympathy for an innocent lady who was simply looking after her children!!

You are dead right,just ignore the biassed comments from some of the knowall creeps,that come onto every issue,making out they are an expert,they even attack you for having a view,most of these experts would have kicked up hell if it had happened to them.Any decent copper would admit they were out of order.And the echo should give more support to the lady concerned/

anderton wrote:

poolebabe wrote: Well I'm sure some of you would be happy if it happend to you then!! So what if she didn't answer her door. She was bathing her son. Never mind that, she doesn't have to answer her door if she doesn't want! She lives in a flat and wouldn't be able to see who was at the door. Police, armed or not, should at least make sure they have their facts straight before knocking people's doors down or searching property. If we give them free reign to do what they please, then we may as well live in a dictatorship. It's a harrowing experience for anyone to go through. I can't believe the lack of sympathy for an innocent lady who was simply looking after her children!!

You are dead right,just ignore the biassed comments from some of the knowall creeps,that come onto every issue,making out they are an expert,they even attack you for having a view,most of these experts would have kicked up hell if it had happened to them.Any decent copper would admit they were out of order.And the echo should give more support to the lady concerned/

Why?
This 'Lady' will now jump the queue and get a coucil house through all the publicity she has received!!
The police knocked on the door for a quater of an hour so to say the 'Lady' did not hear, yea right!
The police have a job to do and were just doing it - if the 'Lady' did not want confrontation she should have opened the door. The question I ask is 'Why did she not want to open the door, did she have something or someone to hide'? If someone knocks on your door for that amount of time then you would certainly hear them!!!

Must admit I have to agree with the suspicions that a lot of this (contacting the Echo) is to do with a desire for re-housing.

Police wrong? yes but they have apologised and made good (new door etc.)

Is 10 pm too late to be bathing a 6 year old? I would have thought so.....

I mean to say, when the pigs came knocking for me, my mum was giving me a bath , I was out of the flat in 11 seconds and off the estate in less than a minute and within 15 minutes I was on the M27. I mean to say. and i live at Dorchester. fry

the police are doing their job. Give them some slack!! its a tough job! what if the man was inside her flat! and the police didnt act the way they did, she would of complained she wasnt kept safe or that the police didnt do enough.
be thankful . also get a doorbell! if you cant hear people knocking. im sure the police knocked very loudly and im sure you can hear that!