At this point I'd say it's a mistake to give police the benefit of the doubt. They've had it for far too long, and everyone can see what they've done with it.
But the commander at the scene, Chief Pete Arredondo of the Uvalde school district police department, determined that the nature of the situation did not call for officers to rush in, as active shooter trainings have prescribed for decades, since the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999.
Mr. McCraw said the commander had determined that the gunman was no longer an active shooter, but a barricaded suspect — “that we had time, there was no kids at risk,” he said. The commander ordered up shields and other specialized tactical gear to enter the room.
Through the long, excruciating minutes, they waited for it.
“They were there without proper equipment,” said Javier Cazares, who arrived in anguish at the elementary school, panicked for his daughter, Jackie Cazares, who was trapped inside. He watched as the shields were brought in slowly and not at the same time. “One guy came in with one and minutes later, another one came in,” he said.
Chief Arredondo did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.
By 12:15 p.m., specialized officers from the Border Patrol arrived at the school after driving about 40 minutes from where they had been stationed near the border with Mexico.
The federal agents arrived to a scene of chaos — people pulling children out of windows while the local police, carrying only handguns and a few rifles, were trying to secure a perimeter. The specially trained agents did not understand why they were left to wait, a law enforcement official said.
At 12:19 p.m., another girl called from Room 111, but quickly hung up when another student told her to. Two minutes later, there was another call, and three shots could be heard.
More time passed. Another call came to 911 from one of the two girls at 12:47 p.m. By then, the children had been trapped with the gunman for over an hour.
The girl in Room 112 implored: “Please send the police now,” according to the transcript read by Mr. McCraw.
Which is why Republicans and other assorted Right-Wingers give "tots and pears" instead...The guillotine is too humane.
One of the myriad flaws in the "good guy with a gun" argument is that, as we saw at Uvalde, our hypothetical good guy must be brave.
Putting yourself in the line of fire is a lot different than shooting paper targets at a range, and confronting an armed killer is a lot different than bullying a barista at Starbucks.
Guys who walk around with guns do so not because they are brave, but because they are afraid. They carry a gun so they will feel less afraid. Given that fact, it is HIGHLY unlikely that these tough-talking gun-toting Punisher cosplayers will actually put themselves in the line of fire if an armed killer shows up.
So let me get this straight: boot-lickers tell us that we have to respect the cops because they are willing to risk their lives to protect us, but when it turns out that they're NOT willing to risk their lives to protect us, the boot-lickers STILL want us to respect the cops because "cops are people too"? WTF are we respecting them for then?
Remember all those times a cop said "I would rather be tried by twelve than carried by six" and he was not immediately suspended or fired for publicly announcing his intention to NOT do his duty?
That helps explain why a battalion of cops milled around outside Robb Elementary School for an hour. They would rather be charged with criminal negligence than get shot trying to save kids. And the worst thing is that they won't get charged.
Don't act so surprised that Uvalde police officers procrastinated before entering the school to confront the shooter. If police were half as brave as they pretend to be, they wouldn't shoot every black man who looks like he might be holding something in his hand. A lot of police brutality looks suspiciously like panic and cowardice.
There was an interview with the (head of police?) in the DVD extras for "City of God" (about Brazilian gangs). He said that his job wasn't too protect the public, but rather the rich people in gated communities/walled mansions...US police still has a lot to learn from Brazilian police. They show how excessive police brutality is really done.
Shock over Brazil police 'torture, executions' in drug raid
Bodies from a Rio de Janeiro police raid show signs of torture and summary execution, lawyers allege.batimes.com.arOutrage in Brazil as mentally ill Black man dies in police car ‘gas chamber’
Genivaldo de Jesus Santos dies of asphyxiation as video shows officers forcing him into vehicle then releasing gas grenadewww.theguardian.com