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AndyC wrote:Well, one can't claim self-defense if one shoots a policeman who is going about his lawful duties...

Most state self defense laws provide for defending against excessive force by police officers, including ours:

TPC wrote:§ 9.31. SELF-DEFENSE. (a) Except as provided in
Subsection (b), a person is justified in using force against
another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force is
immediately necessary to protect himself against the other's use or
attempted use of unlawful force.
<SNIP>
(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably
believes the force is immediately necessary to protect himself
against the peace officer's (or other person's) use or attempted use
of greater force than necessary.

Overcoming the instinct to comply and THEN PROVING you were acting under 9.31 is another story.

KD5NRH wrote:

Dragonfighter wrote:Sounds like a thousand other inquiry type calls to 911, "Is this normal, acceptable, legal, etc.?"

Again, this assumes they have a functioning non-emergency number. At least back in 2001, Dallas didn't answer the police/fire/etc. non-emergency numbers outside of 8-5 M-F. A minor code violation at 6PM or a loud party anytime parties get loud had to go through 911, unless you wanted to leave a voicemail for them to come deal with it the next business day.

3-1-1 is 24/7 now, though the 9-1-1 calls take priority and during peak hours 3-1-1 may go to voice mail and be addressed the next day. That said on any given 24 hour period the Fire Dept Dispatch answers an average dozen "non-emergency" 9-1-1 calls, I have no barometer on what the PD answers. They are typically introduced as "non-emergency" by the 9-1-1 operator. They range in scope from, "Where did the rescue take my (fill in relation)?" to, "Is it legal for a barbecue grill to be used in (XYZ) situation?" Sometimes it is, "We can't complete this call now," when it is too busy.

I would not encourage using 9-1-1 to make inquiries but if needed just tell the operator you have a "non-emergency" for police or fire and it will be handled as such.

This I believe is what the lady calling was up to and how the 9-1-1 operator addressed it. What the PD did was just rogue. I hope a chief is fired and or prosecuted for setting this policy in place.

flb_78 wrote:

C-dub wrote:I know it won't happen, but what about charging her with misuse of 911? She gave all the information needed to do that on her own. There was no emergency!

She truthfully thought she was calling in a crime. Open carry is still fairly new to Wisconsin. The lady was regretful for bothering the police once she learned that no laws were being broken. None of the Madison 5 have any harsh feelings for the lady. The police are the ones who overreacted to law abiding citizens.

It probably should have been called in on the non-emergency line, but how many of us have that number programmed into our phones?

Sounds like a thousand other inquiry type calls to 911, "Is this normal, acceptable, legal, etc.?" No real misuse as I see it, just ignorance. Not stupid just ignorant, as in, "I was ignorant of that fact."