A reader sent this to me a few days ago. I'll let the e-mail explain things as it does a better job than I could. & much thanks to Jasen for making me aware of this story & summing it up so concisely.
"Publicola,
Here's a crime that occurred in Florida over the holiday weekend, and it illustrates the flaw of relying on government as the primary source of civil protection. Sunday afternoon in Ocala, Debra Vazquez was chased through the city by her enraged estranged husband Jose Vazquez.
Although her husband rammed the SUV she and her child were fleeing in, she managed to drive to the Ocala Police HQ. Unfourtunately, at 2:30 PM there were no officers present and Jose pulled her away from the door, back into the parking lot and shot her dead.
We have a woman, college professor I believe, who responds to a violent situation exactly as local, state, and federal government officials suggest she should: she was apparently unarmed; she didn't or couldn't seek help from her fellow citizens, who were likely unarmed ( thereby helpless themselves ); and she fled to a police station in a relatively large city, which, was abandoned for the holiday weekend.
But for the textbook response, so carefully ingrained in our collective minds by
government, she may have survived. I'm not attempting to blame a murder victim; I'm blaming our society in general, we've accepted the notion of handing over our protection to what, in many cases, amounts to a M-F, 9-5 defense force.
This occurred in my local area; I know you're well aquainted with stories like this and understand the erroneous ideas and policies, which, permit them to transpire. I simply thought I'd let tell you about it, since I doubt it'll be covered nationally.
-Jasen"
(The only changes I made were to change the paragraphs from the e-mail formatting & to hyperlink the story into the text.)
Posted by Publicola at July 10, 2004 10:16 PMJust for info, the doors of the Ocala Police Department were locked and the baby was her grandchild.
Posted by: Diane at July 5, 2005 10:32 AM