Bruno
09-07-2010, 09:02 PM
The story in of itself is enough to make you mad. But then I read about the "Shotspotter" technology. Link and article below.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/07/long-island-man-arrested-for-defending-home-with-ak-47/
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBS 2) — He was arrested for protecting his property and family.
But it’s how the Long Island man did it that police say crossed the line.
He got an AK-47 assault rifle, pulled the trigger and he ended up in jail, reports CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman.
George Grier said he had to use his rifle on Sunday night to stop what he thought was going to be an invasion of his Uniondale home by a gang he thought might have been the vicious “MS-13.” He said the whole deal happened as he was about to drive his cousin home.
“I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, ‘Can you please leave?’ Grier said.
Grier said the five men dared him to use the gun; and that their shouts brought another larger group of gang members in front of his house.
“He starts threatening my family, my life. ‘Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead.’ So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass,” Grier said.
Grier was later arrested. John Lewis is Grier’s attorney.
“What he’s initially charged with – A D felony reckless endangerment — requires a depraved indifference to human life, creating a risk that someone’s going to die. Shooting into a lawn doesn’t create a risk of anybody dying,” Lewis said.
Grier said he knew Nassau County Police employ the hi-tech “ShotSpotter” technology in his area and that the shooting would bring police in minutes. Cops told Guzman he was very cooperative.
Grier also said he was afraid the gang outside his house was the dreaded MS-13. And Nassau County Police Lt. Andrew Mulraine, head of the gang unit, said MS-13 has 2,000 members in the county.
“They’re probably the most organized. They almost have a military hierarchy within the gang, so they are the most organized gang we encounter on a daily basis,” Mulraine said.
You may think a person has the right to defend their home. But the law says you can only use physical force to deter physical force. Grier said he never saw anyone pull out a gun, so a court would have to decide on firing the gun.
Police determined Grier had the gun legally. He has no criminal record. And so he was not charged for the weapon.
That ShotSpotter technology pinpoints where a gun has been fired within 35 feet. Police said it also detected two other shootings in nearby Roosevelt that night.
About Shotspotter: http://www.shotspotter.com/solutions/index.html
ShotSpotter GLS solutions use acoustic sensors deployed over areas from one square mile up to hundreds of linear miles to locate gunfire and other violent threats within seconds. When an impulsive sound is detected within a ShotSpotter GLS coverage area, the system springs into action; accurately locating the incident (within 25 meters) and classifying the impulsive sound as a violent threat or an everyday sound (e.g. car backfire or firecracker). Detailed alert information, including actual audio recording clips, is quickly relayed to dispatch communications centers, command stations, and field-based vehicles. Alert information is geo-referenced and visually displayed by the ShotSpotter PSC user interface.
Detailed incident information is logged and stored into a database.Data includes a geo-reference location cross-referenced to a nearest street address. When multiple firearm rounds are discharged, detailed information even includes the direction and speed of shooters on the move (i.e., as in the case of “drive by” shootings”).
Incident audio information is captured and instantly accessible via the ShotSpotter PSC for risk and threat analysis. This data enables rapid assessment of the incident, its severity and risk to responders and the surrounding area. Aided with this immediate situational awareness, agency personnel can quickly and decisively dispatch the appropriate force response and emergency medical assistance to the exact and correct location.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/07/long-island-man-arrested-for-defending-home-with-ak-47/
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBS 2) — He was arrested for protecting his property and family.
But it’s how the Long Island man did it that police say crossed the line.
He got an AK-47 assault rifle, pulled the trigger and he ended up in jail, reports CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman.
George Grier said he had to use his rifle on Sunday night to stop what he thought was going to be an invasion of his Uniondale home by a gang he thought might have been the vicious “MS-13.” He said the whole deal happened as he was about to drive his cousin home.
“I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, ‘Can you please leave?’ Grier said.
Grier said the five men dared him to use the gun; and that their shouts brought another larger group of gang members in front of his house.
“He starts threatening my family, my life. ‘Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead.’ So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass,” Grier said.
Grier was later arrested. John Lewis is Grier’s attorney.
“What he’s initially charged with – A D felony reckless endangerment — requires a depraved indifference to human life, creating a risk that someone’s going to die. Shooting into a lawn doesn’t create a risk of anybody dying,” Lewis said.
Grier said he knew Nassau County Police employ the hi-tech “ShotSpotter” technology in his area and that the shooting would bring police in minutes. Cops told Guzman he was very cooperative.
Grier also said he was afraid the gang outside his house was the dreaded MS-13. And Nassau County Police Lt. Andrew Mulraine, head of the gang unit, said MS-13 has 2,000 members in the county.
“They’re probably the most organized. They almost have a military hierarchy within the gang, so they are the most organized gang we encounter on a daily basis,” Mulraine said.
You may think a person has the right to defend their home. But the law says you can only use physical force to deter physical force. Grier said he never saw anyone pull out a gun, so a court would have to decide on firing the gun.
Police determined Grier had the gun legally. He has no criminal record. And so he was not charged for the weapon.
That ShotSpotter technology pinpoints where a gun has been fired within 35 feet. Police said it also detected two other shootings in nearby Roosevelt that night.
About Shotspotter: http://www.shotspotter.com/solutions/index.html
ShotSpotter GLS solutions use acoustic sensors deployed over areas from one square mile up to hundreds of linear miles to locate gunfire and other violent threats within seconds. When an impulsive sound is detected within a ShotSpotter GLS coverage area, the system springs into action; accurately locating the incident (within 25 meters) and classifying the impulsive sound as a violent threat or an everyday sound (e.g. car backfire or firecracker). Detailed alert information, including actual audio recording clips, is quickly relayed to dispatch communications centers, command stations, and field-based vehicles. Alert information is geo-referenced and visually displayed by the ShotSpotter PSC user interface.
Detailed incident information is logged and stored into a database.Data includes a geo-reference location cross-referenced to a nearest street address. When multiple firearm rounds are discharged, detailed information even includes the direction and speed of shooters on the move (i.e., as in the case of “drive by” shootings”).
Incident audio information is captured and instantly accessible via the ShotSpotter PSC for risk and threat analysis. This data enables rapid assessment of the incident, its severity and risk to responders and the surrounding area. Aided with this immediate situational awareness, agency personnel can quickly and decisively dispatch the appropriate force response and emergency medical assistance to the exact and correct location.