Sometimes, when police are trying to arrest someone, they鈥檒l barricade themselves from police, sometimes bringing others along. A bill at the Ohio Statehouse is aimed at cracking down on that behavior with harsher penalties.
As U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio, Peter Elliott said it鈥檚 becoming common for officers to encounter a barricade situation.
鈥淓very single week, we are dealing with barricaded subjects. It鈥檚 become off the charts lately. We鈥檝e had three within the last week alone of people barricading themselves,鈥� Elliot said. 鈥淲e had one three days ago who barricaded himself in a house, in his residence, and then yelled out the window that 鈥業鈥檓 going to shoot every single one of you, one by one, and take you away from your families.鈥欌��
Elliott said that not only puts lives in danger, but it also costs law enforcement money for more officers to deal with it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a time-consuming process. We call in the SWAT teams all of the time. Sometimes we are there for twelve hours. There鈥檚 a cost-effectiveness in this. They don鈥檛 care,鈥� Elliott said.
Elliott said sometimes officers need to deploy gas to force the suspect to emerge from the barricade. Sometimes officers have to call in additional assistance from officers in other departments.
Elliott took his concerns to Sen. Tom Patton (R-Strongsville). Patton鈥檚 son Tom was a Cleveland Police officer died while chasing a suspect on March 13, 2010.
Patton sponsored , which would make it a third-degree felony if the location a suspect barricades himself into doesn鈥檛 allow for immediate access by law enforcement, and a 4th-degree felony for someone helping a suspect establish a barricade. The bill has just been introduced and awaits its first hearing.
Elliott said he鈥檚 not sure passage of the bill will deter suspects from barricading themselves, but it will add time to their sentences. And that, he said, would be helpful, especially when authorities deal with repeat offenders. He said the suspect who barricaded himself three days ago had a history鈥擡lliott said it was the third time he鈥檇 done it.
