When seconds matter, the police really are minutes away

Here's another story in the news, highlighting the fact that the police tend to be too far away to save you if you face a life-threatening situation.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352457,00.html

A woman was murdered in her home, by who we're left to assume is her husband. The police arrived within three minutes of being dispatched after the call came in. Out of all the cases I've read where the police are called for help because someone is in danger, that's the quickest time of arrival I can remember seeing. Unfortunately it seems that even three minutes is far too long for the police to get there in time to prevent somebody from being killed.

Remember, anytime tells you "You don't need a gun, that's what the police are there for" or anything along those lines, point out a story like this and remind them that such events tend to be the rule rather than the exception. The police aren't there to protect you, they're not there to keep you safe, they're only there to generally enforce the law. And if somebody gets killed because the police decided not to head out after receiving a call, that's not their fault and you can't sue them for it.