Medway Officer Draws Gun on Homeowner After Possible B&E Call from Neighbor

[MikeyGarand]

Medway, MA
February 20th, 2023

A neighbor called the police at 7:03am on a man walking around his property, allegedly inspecting the exterior of his home, for a possible B&E. Medway Police Officer Meghan Casey responded to the call:

Officer Casey arrived first and saw a bicycle leaning against the side of the house. Bicycles are a common means of transportation for persons who commit both residential and commercial breaks.

Officer Casey drew her firearm to the low ready position and approached the rear of the house where she saw a man fitting the description of the suspect crouched down facing away from her. Officer Casey challenged the suspect who followed her commands to face her and show his hands. After a brief discussion during which the man identified himself as the homeowner, Officer Casey holstered her firearm.

Apparently there were some posts made on Facebook from the wife of the man, which resulted in a debate about the actions of the officer and whether or not the firearm was pointed at the suspect when she approached him from behind. The social media backlash prompted the Chief to issue a statement on Facebook, and all other posts and comments were scrubbed.

The Medway police chief defends the actions stating: [added to reflect time]

Persons who break into residences, especially at the time of day this call came in [7:03AM], are inherently dangerous persons and should be considered as such.

Our officers are not required to wait until a suspect is actively attempting to harm them to put themselves in position to defend themselves.

Medway is one of the safest places to live in the world but it's not because people don't involve the police. It's because the people of Medway work together with their police to help make Medway the great community it is. Shutting the police out of that partnership would only serve to make for a lesser Medway.

Be careful guys, don't walk your property before work at 7am without knowing the possible repercussions.

 

[eboos]

Interesting first post. Your house?

I expect someone is not going to be invited to the neighborhood barbeque.

 

[Sparky123]

How strange, if this had been a home invader, we would all be praising the officer in question, but since it was a resident, we all get to question her judgment. The way I see it is it's better to be safe than sorry. The resident is still alive, and the officer gets to go home safely.

 

[JoseyWales]

Violation of the 1st amendment for the police to erase publicly posted comments on a public government facebook page?

 

[Echo 225]

Just another day in the hood.

 

[CATI]

How strange, if this had been a home invader, we would all be praising the officer in question, but since it was a resident, we all get to question her judgment. The way I see it is it's better to be safe than sorry. The resident is still alive, and the officer gets to go home safely.

That statement sounds nice and logically but better safe than sorry and officer safety is often a tool or excuse for oppression. Kind of like “if it saves one life”

 

[Asaltweapon]

So OP wants police to respond unarmed against an unknown person who might be doing a B&E in the daytime.

Got it.

 

[slap shot]

the neighbor doesn't know what the homeowner looks like? it's not a city, it's freakin Medway.

 

[AFAR/PFAR]

I didn't read the statement or the FB post.

I don't like cops, but I have zero issue with her having a drawn pistol in this case.

Neighbor should feel bad.

 

[ccm75]

WTF. Neighbor couldn’t open his window and yell “hey Joe is that you?”…

 

[mcshooter]

WTF. Neighbor couldn’t open his window and yell “hey Joe is that you?”…

Yea, its medway. Not Worchester or Brockton

 

[Spartan65]

Just another day in the hood.

The Rich folk hood.

Sounds like some shit my neighbor would pull. Karen.

 

[Fixxah]

Is the wife hot? Neighbor may have swatted for reptilian reasons.

 

[Cap]

So OP wants police to respond unarmed against an unknown person who might be doing a B&E in the daytime.

Got it.

Unarmed? Cops always carry a gun. The issue is having the gun drawn when there's no threat presented. Might as well have their gun drawn when they do traffic stops, just in case...

I don't know about you, but I prefer not to have a gun pointed at me when I'm walking around my own property.

 

[BTSDOG]

If that were me (homeowner) i would have invited her in for a coffee, for responding quickly, and doing her job the way its supposed to be done. All u cophaters out there can take a flying f***.....

 

[Bonesinium]

So OP wants police to respond unarmed against an unknown person who might be doing a B&E in the daytime.

Got it.

That’s not what was said in the OP.

 

[Jason Flare]

I own an old warehouse with a dry sprinkler system and to find leaks in the system we walk through the building late at night with flashlights and the lights off to listen for air escaping. I bring my daughter with me because she has phenomenal hearing.

As we finished up the basement and we’re leaving through the ground level basement doors several police cruisers showed up.

Let me see your hands, the whole deal.

A neighbor called the cops thinking someone had broken in.

We identified ourselves and explained what we were doing just as I heard a call come over the police radio that the car at the property belonged to the property owner.

I thanked the police and would have thanked the neighbor if I had known which one it was that called the police because my perspective was that they were keeping an eye on our property and cared if it was being broken into.

If I were the OP I’d try to find the neighbor and thank them for giving a rip that your house might be getting broken into.

 

[Optimator]

OP, what happened to that guy that got jammed up for having 2 unregistered ARs in Medway?

 

[eboos]

If I were the OP I’d try to find the neighbor and thank them for giving a rip that your house might be getting broken into.

That is to assume this encounter was as pleasant and professional as yours was. I never had any interactions with Medway police, and Medway is well outside of my area of coverage, but I can say with full confidence: there are some specific departments in MA that operate with much less professionalism.

 

[M1911]

Seems to me that the officer drew her gun prematurely. There was an unknown individual but she had seen no signs of violent intent and no weapon. I could understand an officer putting their hand on their gun in that situation, but drawing it seems a bit excessive.

 

[appraiser]

look, there is no love for the current state of law enforcement at this address, but if you were a homeowner, and someone was on your property uninvited at 0700, and you decided to give up cover and confront the person, you would have your firearm in your hand... maybe concealed behind your back, but you'd have it out just because.

Three Words ... Officer Michael Chesna

He was executed by a scumbag after being hit with a EFFN ROCK, losing control of his weapon, and then having TEN rounds of his own ammo used against him.

It is hard for me to find any fault with the cop on this one... and I'd jump at the chance to do so.

 

[Sparky123]

That statement sounds nice and logically but better safe than sorry and officer safety is often a tool or excuse for oppression. Kind of like “if it saves one life”

Now a police officer wanting to protect themselves is an excuse for oppression, in what country is this? This is the very same kind of logic that tells us that all white people are racists. The real question we all should be asking ourselves is, why would any sane person want to become a police officer in the first place? It truly is a thankless job, and certainly one not worth dying for.

 

[greencobra]

is joe gonna have a beer summit?

 

[Maxrobot]

A neighbor called 911 because they saw someone outside their next-door neighbor's home? The police, with weapon drawn, tried to sneak up on the person who could have been gardening or reading an electric meter? Having a bicycle is now evidence of suspicion of criminal activity?
If a homeowner walked around their home displaying a firearm while looking for a "suspicious person" they could be charged with "displaying a firearm". Up until 2021, here in NH displaying a firearm could be considered reckless endangerment.
"Reckless conduct in New Hampshire covers any situation where a person “recklessly engages in conduct which places or may place another in danger of serious bodily injury.”
"The offense leads to a Class B felony if the perpetrator does so using a deadly weapon, the statute states. That carries a jail sentence of up to seven years, and a fine of up to $4,000."
Thankfully we changed that law.

Under New N.H. Law, Displaying A Firearm No Longer Constitutes Reckless Conduct

New Hampshire residents and visitors will no longer face reckless conduct charges for displaying a firearm, after Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bill Friday creating a new exception.

www.nhpr.org

 

[Asaltweapon]

Unarmed? Cops always carry a gun. The issue is having the gun drawn when there's no threat presented. Might as well have their gun drawn when they do traffic stops, just in case...

I don't know about you, but I prefer not to have a gun pointed at me when I'm walking around my own property.

So the LEO should know every person on the street.
Maybe she was looking for a dog??

Couple of years back I got up around 430-500 to put some wood in the stove when I see a car driving towards me in my driveway.
When I opened the door to see WTF some idiot wanted my 220 .45 was in my right hand.
Maybe I over reacted??

 

[Dennis in MA]

You can't win here.

"Hello, Police? There's some strange guy wandering around my neighbor's home. I think he might be a burgur-lurgle."

"Sorry ma'am. We can't do that until we know that he's committed a crime. The NES Police are watching our every move. What if this is some innocent and we confront them? Then what? Call us when the U-Haul shows up or someone is bleeding in the street."

 

[Bonesinium]

I don’t know what happened “in this case”, but I do know that police statements cannot be trusted. They “frequently” use tactics to mislead or misrepresent what happened. They’ll embellish minor or insignificant details that are favorable to their own actions or unfavorable to the “suspect”. They’ll downplay, soften, hide, coverup or ignore details that are unfavorable to themselves. They’ll add additional and often irrelevant details not related to what actually happened. And they’ll use vague and misleading language.

This release by the chief has the signs of all of those things.

Very first thing is about a bike leaning against the house and then includes the additional comment that criminals often use bikes. Well so do everyone else including children for playing and adults for exercise and sport. But that’s not mentioned. It’s also not mentioned what type of bike or where it was. It could have been a small pink child’s bike for all we know. It’s also interesting how this is the very first detail noted.

Then it mentions him “crouching” and wearing all black, both clearly meant to convey negative intent on the person. He could have been “crouching” tying his shoe while wearing a black business suit. Don’t know because of their vague and possibly misleading language.

It then emphasized how she never pointed her gun directly at him. Maybe she’s crossed eyed and pointed it at him but her aim was off? I joke here, but I’ve read the same exact thing before only for video to come out later and that be a flat out lie.

Then she used “verbal commands to control the situation” and “determined he was a resident”. Vague. What commands? What was his response? How did she determine that? What came next? Did she cuff and stuff him, get his ID, and then let him go? Notice the lack of specific details other than her not pointing her gun directly at him?

Then it’s more comments about how dangerous these calls are and again how she didn’t point her gun at him.

Then it’s how cops are “frequently” killed on calls like this. Embellishment and exaggeration. Yes, cops are sometimes killed, but no, it’s not at all frequent. Clearly misleading.

He’s “never” seen any of his officers do anything wrong? Again, additional and irrelevant comments that are also rather unbelievable.

There’s more but the point is, the framework of his statement is explicitly designed to make them look as good as possible while purporting to explain what happened while actually providing almost no real details.

 

[rogersmithiii]

Medway, MA
February 20th, 2023

A neighbor called the police at 7:03am on a man walking around his property, allegedly inspecting the exterior of his home, for a possible B&E. Medway Police Officer Meghan Casey responded to the call:



Apparently there were some posts made on Facebook from the wife of the man, which resulted in a debate about the actions of the officer and whether or not the firearm was pointed at the suspect when she approached him from behind. The social media backlash prompted the Chief to issue a statement on Facebook, and all other posts and comments were scrubbed.

The Medway police chief defends the actions stating: [added to reflect time]




View attachment 724515View attachment 724516

Be careful guys, don't walk your property before work at 7am without knowing the possible repercussions.

Safe? My butt. Those Medway skunks and raccoons are gangsta for sure.

Kind of scary though. Tie an inexperienced, scared officer with startle response when someone is on their property and hears a voice, and you could be looking at a tragedy.

 

[yogi]

Why isn't the neighbor taking better care of their bike? Leaving it outside for anyone to steal.

 

[moojpg2]

Gun drawn and pointed at me with finger on trigger when I am not posing an immediate threat, not ok. Gun drawn and at a low or high ready position with finger on the side of the slide just in case because it's a B&E call, sure.