No One Is Coming to Save You — The Lesson of Uvalde

The Uvalde shooting highlighted one thing that the Left is determined to ignore. The Police Have No Reason to Help You | The New Republic

Cops have been given an incredible set of legal powers immunizing them from the fatal errors of their own decisions—including their decision to do nothing in Uvalde, Texas.

They did nothing. Well they stopped the people who actually wanted to do something from doing anything. Because reasons. But the truth is that the cops are not bound to protect you. They are not even bound to protect children.

Police departments are an awkward fit into this system, as I’ve noted before. In practical terms, under a web of statutes and court rulings, the cops have the power to do just about anything and the discretion to do almost nothing. By this, I don’t mean that cops don’t generally solve crimes or arrest suspects. But what I do mean is that when they don’t do those things—or when they do things they explicitly shouldn’t do—there are few to no ways to hold them accountable for it.

Perhaps the most illustrative example of the current legal landscape is Castle Rock v. Gonzales, a Supreme Court case from 2005. It also arose from an unspeakable tragedy. Jessica Gonzales, the lawsuit’s plaintiff, had begged the police department in Castle Rock, Colorado, in 1999 to enforce a restraining order against her ex-husband after he absconded with their three daughters. The officers made no efforts to locate or arrest him until her ex-husband showed up at the police station early the next morning and died in a shootout with the police. The officers then found the three girls’ bodies in the trunk of his car.

There is more, but Castle Rock v. Gonzales is, as I understand it, the pivotal case. They are free to do nothing. You have no recourse when their doing nothing ends in tragedy.

The title of this post comes from the Graham Killhouse Rules, from Graham Combat.

1. NOBODY IS COMING TO SAVE YOU.  Whether an event lasts a few seconds, a few hours, or even a few days – you have to work as though nobody is coming to save you.

2. You are your savior, so start working because EVERYTHING IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.  You are your security, you are your medic, you are your rescuer.

3. You are your own best resource to SAVE WHO NEEDS TO BE SAVED.  Nobody wants to save your life more than you, so set yourself up for success by having the simple tools and knowledge to do so: do what you can with what you have.  Recognize that nobody is in a better position to start saving your life than you.

4. Sometimes saving lives means you have to KILL WHO NEEDS TO BE KILLED.  It has been almost 15 years since I first wrote “the more effective you are at taking a life, the more successful you’ll be at saving one” and nothing in the intervening time has changed my mind.  Be swift, be decisive, be final.

5. Mostly, ALWAYS BE WORKING.  There is always something you can be doing to improve your position.  Always.  Because nobody is coming to save you.