This is definitely an excellent piece, thanks Tom. The story of the family is something I shared with my wife because we also live in a nice neighborhood that she refers to as our "bubble".
It blows my mind that the police just sat outside and did nothing. I would be curious to those in LE to help me understand that.
The shout out to Tony was very cool as well, glad he got some pub.
You have no idea how excited I am that you're introducing the Northwest Regional Tac Con. Thank you for doing so.Originally Posted by Tom Givens
1. As an earlier reply in this thread indicated, the police did not really believe there was a crime in progress. (I call this “denial.”)
2. PD policy, most places, is not to force entry, unless there is a reasonable indication of an imminent threat of serious injury or death. Of course, in this case, the police set their perimeter too far away to be able to determine whether such a threat existed. (Again, denial. I can only speculate whether cowardice, at some level, was a contributing factor.)
I wonder whether an attempt was made to contact someone inside the house, by telephone. I would think that the bank would have customers’ contact information on file.
I can only wonder why nobody (PD) had the fortitude to either knock on the door, or at least sneak closer to the home, to listen and look for indications of trouble. To be clear, the patrol officers, and first-line field supervisors, on the ground, may have been operating with very little information. The possible cowardice, or felony-level denial/stupidity, may have existed at a higher level.
Last edited by Rex G; 12-09-2017 at 02:53 PM.
Very very excited for Tac Con!!!
Excellent information as always! The whole safe neighborhoods thing cannot be stressed enough.
My home AO had its own incident in their rich neighborhood. Owner of a prominent restaraunt got followed home then tied up and had their house robbed. Luckily nothing heinous occurred, but folks were stunned when the news broke.
“Conspiracy theories are just spoiler alerts these days.”
Ugly indeed....unfortunately not much has changed on either the FD or PD side if this type of incident were to occur again in the same manner. I've still got connections in both agencies and that's the word I get from them. It has, however, shaped my public safety career for the better with lessons learned. Terrible incident for sure, not quite sure the small town PD was prepared or equipped to handle it.Safe Neighborhoods story hits close to home, very close. The Petit house was (it's gone) approximately a mile form my house as the crow flies. My wife and kids were in the same supermarket on the same day/afternoon that the Petit women were spotted and marked by the perps. The two perps like Tom's article states liked what they saw. Then when the family departed the store they got into a nice shiny white Mercedes further peaking the perpetrator's interest.
Hayes & Komisarjevsky entered through unlocked Bilco doors into the basement.
Tom wrote that the Cheshire Police spotted and pursued Hayes & Komisarjevsky as they fled. Actually the getaway car attempted to ram it's way through a road block on the perimeter.
Komisarjevsky was adopted and well known to the local police. He had previously been pinched for multiple breaking & enterings. Komisarjevsky liked to break into peoples home and watch them sleep. He was know to use night vision during his break ins. He was a real sick bastard. Komisarjevsky lived in Cheshire and not far from the Petit's home. He obviously new the area well.
A few comments about Tom's numbered comments with added perspective from someone who watched all this unfold and witnessed the mood of the towns people.
#1 The residents of Cheshire were beyond Shocked. You could feel the mood everywhere you went. So many erroneously thought that bad things cannot happen in Cheshire. It was talked about on local TV news that Cheshire was a place were people thought that they did not need to lock their doors.
#2 I know the store and the neighborhood where the Petits lived. Honestly I can easily see how a couple of deviant bastards could follow them home unnoticed. They lived about one mile from the supermarket.
#3 Yup Lock your dam doors no matter how safe you foolishly think your town/neighborhood is. My wife kept saying and still to this day if it ever comes up, "if they only had a dog."
#4 Initially the bank and the police did not believe Mrs. Petit and her story. They thought along the lines that she was an unhappy spouse trying to drain an account and vamoose. Again more of the "nothing like that could be happening here mentality".
#5 Dr. Petit at the time of the incident struck me as a someone who would not own guns. If his attitude has changed I do not know.
#6 Absolutely! Far too many sheeple live under a false sense of security.
The aftermath: There was a massive upswing in applications for gun permits in town, especially women. Alarm companies did big business. Dogs became very popular.
There are still many (mostly women including my wife) who maintain suspicion of Dr. Petit. Reportedly the CT State Police Major Crimes Unit had seriously looked into this possibility. In many folks opinion it did not bode well that the only survivor was the male of the family. Dr. Petit is remarried and has a child with his new wife.
We have a member here who was a volunteer Fireman in Cheshire and was inside the scene. He saw ugly stuff.
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Last edited by Larry Sellers; 12-15-2017 at 04:26 PM.
Look! Just because we're bereaved, that doesn't make us saps!
I grew up in a small farming town in the midwest, and I think that's how small towns often are. A proper mindset would be: "A large city has the staffing options to provide specialized services. My little village does not. So every cop on every shift must be a generalist and has to be prepared for anything."
Mileage, of course.
Agreed with you there. Unfortunately their SRT (SWAT Team) had a few unsat performances where the state police came in and ran the operation. Good dudes on the local PD, just confined by the Admin who was too busy dealing with internal issues with personnel to focus on tactics and abilities.
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Look! Just because we're bereaved, that doesn't make us saps!
Beurocrats beurocrating ?! Say it isnt so.
Mr. Givens, Thanks for putting these monthly letters out. They are great reading and sadly, sometimes eye opening to the ugly nature of the human animal.
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