Yelling Gamer Vs. Cops And SWAT Team

Given the response of people on Kotaku, is it any wonder why police act in the way they do?

If I was a cop, I'd shoot the lot of you just for being whining dicks.

@AdelaideKhawar: Heck, I'd would have fun with the police if I had the time. After avoiding questions so they would get more officers to the house, I would act like I was away from civilization for so long that am sooo desperate for a friend that I'd creep them out to make sure they'll never want to visit ever again.

Neko_Tech

@Salen: Peggles no doubt!

Neko_Tech

@Vonhert:Thats a bold lie! I scream every time I play Peggles when the ball don't hit its target and don't go in its hole.

Neko_Tech

@AdelaideKhawar: Then you deserve to have your house "invaded". Screw people who disrespect the police.

SacGamer

@ZaltanaAmphion: if you dont know your rights, they abuse it, they wont tell you or be nice, its how things get done, and how we (those of us who know their boundaries) dont get in trouble as often, whereas others(who don't know such privileges) get in trouble, alot fot he time because they let the officers weasel their way into everything, everytime i see an episode of cops were the person could say no comment , walk away, and be completely carefree

@mwoody: The way you phrase that first sentence...

"So, in your perfect world, someone could scream for help in a murderer's basement, the cops are called to the scene, and then they leave because the belligerent, strange-acting guy who answers the door says he was "just playing a videogame" and was in fact screaming at his television."

... A murderer's basement...

If you knew the owner of the house to be a murderer, wouldn't the cops?

bewarethefoopa

Well if he was sent to psychological evaluation for that, they should check that WoW kid.

hanulbada

I normally just cuss when playing multilayer. I never shout threats. I also have my mic turned off when I do so. Why let the whole xbox live world know I have a temper.

If the cops showed up, I would probably at least humor them.

Also.. I just wanted to add this in. I was playing a match of Halo3 multiplayer, social slayer. Apparently the guy I was facing had lag.I say this because I threw a plasma right at his face, and it curved around his helmet and missed. (this is what I saw on my end anyways)

That was some crazy shit. damn laggy connection.

--Core--

@ZaltanaAmphion: IIRC, when I comply with the order to step out of the car, the second I lock it, the whole vehicle falls within line of being locked. They can peek in those windows all the want, but if they want to poke around, they'll have to do it with a search warrant.

@VernPegasus: Seems that many people here have forgotten to read what is stated. It doesn't state that the gentleman was merely saying not to come in, he was threatening the officers. There is a little thing called probable cause that negates a search warrant. If they are under the impression that they are a danger to themselves or others, they can enter under that guise.

For those who feel the neighbor was being a busybody and shouldn't have said anything, I suppose if they say someone being attacked they should just walk away, right? If you believe that someone is in danger and have a shred of human decency, you do what is necessary to try to help that person.

Now without having the full story and knowing the full tale, perhaps some should refrain from speculating on things that they do not know if they happened.

Johivin

And us gamers all know that yelling at pixels improves our gaming skils. True Story

Vonhert

@Sickofitall: You're confused about one thing my fellow poster, you're assuming that he was just yelling once and you know what happens when people assume things. Plus also football games take break , half times, etc so at least with football you can spend four minutes answering the door and explaining the situation. Instead of yelling at pixels..

Vonhert

This story is too sketchy to begin with to make any conclusions, but seriously all of you need to get your head out of your asses and realize what he was doing.

If you are yelling so loud while playing video games that your neighbors can hear you, then you should realize that you're fucked up in the head and need to reevaluate your life. Video games are just entertainment, nothing more and nothing less. They wont get you no where in life, unless you manage to develop some Simulator or education game, and game developers rarely make a steady profit off of them.

Yeah we all get mad at video games at times (nothing new about that), but just take a breath and realize that the world is going to continue on whether or not you beat your shitty game or not. The moral of the story is, yell, talk trash, chew out your friends, etc while plaing games, just keep the volume to a minimum. Also take fifteen minute breaks so your fat ass can at least answer the door or take care of your... 'personal life'

Vonhert

I'm gonna guess that he was playing Mirrors Edge. That game pisses me off! I lie in the country though.

tonicmole

this guy?

@VernPegasus: Or probable cause. Also, it seems like they didn't enter his home. He vacated the premises on his own according to the linked story. They then took him in for a psych eval. This is really a non-story, except for the fact that the guy got so worked up as to disturb people outside of his apartment.

Anachronous

@VernPegasus: did you even read the article? they didn't enter the residence.

"The man refused to let police into his house ... The police were forced to communicate with the man through the house's open windows ... the man eventually came out of his house incident free 4:41pm."

@mwoody:

It would appear you don't know the law. Probable cause is grounds for arrest. If there were probable cause, the police would have an arrest warrant -- which still does not allow them to search the house. Of course that's not the case -- the police had nothing but a simple noise complaint.

There is no ambiguity. No search warrant means no entry.

WaggonerDeucalion

@Phydeaux: police only need a warrant to search locked areas of your car like the trunk and glove box. They do need cause to search the car, but not a warrant.

Though you've certainly got the right idea. Police have little or no interest in your rights as a citizen. If you want them upheld, you will have to demand it, and challenge police when they are violated.

ZaltanaAmphion

@Sickofitall:

IF a woman walking by your house is able to hear your temper tantrum, then you are, at the very least 'disturbing the peace.'

ReconToaster.

@Salen: I think I would scream if I was playing any COD game.

burgerk1ng

@Granthunter:

I agree.

silverhold

This wasn't James Rolf making his newst AVGN video was it?

Bricked

i bet the state not going be happy when the kid sue thim

Michael Buttler

@Nigel Harden: Go play Single Player CoD:WaW on Veteran, on the level where you have to follow the flame tank. If you don't end up cursing and screaming, while gunfire rings through the building, then you're a much stronger person than me, because I was at several Controller-throwing moments during the several DAYS and several hour-long breaks it took me to get pass that one mission.

@KamuZ: God that part sucked. I ended up using a combination of elbow drops and long distance direct whipping. Its a very hit and run fight.

@Ferkner: Several years ago, I was moving my entertainment center when is slipped from my hands and landed on my foot. I said "mother-fucker". Loud. Twice. Then I walked it off. Twenty minutes later, 2 police officers were at my door. Another 2 were in a 2nd squad car on the street. They were "just checking on a report of noise". It seems I had forgotten that my living room window was open and my neighbor (whom I'd had several unpleasant run-ins with) called the cops on me.
Never underestimate people's ability to not mind their own fucking business.

@MacGyver1138: Whoops. I meant that as a reply to Jbourne37.

MacGyver1138

@heretrix: Really? I thought that was one of the coolest fights in the game. I just kept climbing skyscrapers when I was low on health, and then used the blade drop from there to lay out some pretty good damage. Rinse and repeat.

MacGyver1138

@eclipsegryph: You may be right. Or maybe the lady was just being a busybody and the police overreacted.

But even if that wasn't the case, it's not a crime to be an ass.

And had the police busted through the door, knocked the guy to the ground, handcuffed him and dragged him to the street where he died of a massive heart attack, would you claim that their actions were justified? Because that sort of thing does happen, right here in America.

@pfc.joker:



Obviously you have never been to NJ, the biggest nanny state on the planet. We are a step away from being China.

TheFuzz53

Had to be Cod:WaW. That fucking game makes me blair string of profanity like no other. I better be quite and make sure the windows are shut from now on, as I'm in the town next to Bound Brook and also will fall prey to feared Somerset County SWAT team.

TheFuzz53

@Witzbold: and why some people dont have good aim.

so we can have a laugh about it 2 seconds later.

kilikafinal

Ok before I say this, I will preface it by saying I don't necessarily think the police handled this well, but we can't be immediately against law enforcement simply because we play games and this person was playing a game. We don't know a lot of the details. We don't know what she heard. If I walked past a house and heard someone screaming I will kill you and fuck your skull I might be concerned. Especially if I am not a broken person. If this is relayed to the police they would want to speak to the person. That person's consistent refusal to engage the police could heighten the concern. I could be doing any number of things and claiming I am just playing games should not give the police enough reason to break off engagement. Especially if they heard me flipping out and possibly threatening people as the approached my home.



End of day, just because someone plays games does not make them a saint. Just because the police followed up on a citizen's call does not make them big brother. I will concede that psychiatric evaluation seems extreme, but we don't know how he behaved when he finally did engage the police, who by the report above do not seem to have actually invaded the home.

Granthunter

@pfc.joker: I agree with what you are saying but you are missing one know key point here, as to why all this went down like it did. That being, "A woman passing by made the call." For her to hear a man scream like he did, must have been real alarming to her and who knows how over exaggerated she was on the phone, when she made that call.



By guy being upset from the game already, he problably took the cops being at his door as a joke and closed the door in their face, without even thinking twice about it. That made the situation worse, because now the cops are even more clueless as to what is really going. Now, to them, they have a man barracaded in his house, with possible hostages. lol.

@pfc.joker: So, in your perfect world, someone could scream for help in a murderer's basement, the cops are called to the scene, and then they leave because the belligerent, strange-acting guy who answers the door says he was "just playing a videogame" and was in fact screaming at his television. Police are allowed to enter a home if they have probable cause, and with good reason: they'd be absolutely useless without that ability.



All this guy had to do was explain the situation calmly, maybe let the cops in to glance around and make sure he was alone, then thank them and go about his day. That it escalated to SWAT reveals that he was, to put it mildly, a bit nuts.



So no, yelling doesn't equal a crime. But yelling loud enough to make someone think there's something wrong, then refusing to allow the police to confirm that no one is hurt, DOES.

mwoody

@PaxtonAstypalaea-Prime: I don't know where you live, but in America, we have laws. And one of those laws is no unreasonable search without a warrant.



I don't do drugs, I don't carry illegal contraband, but if a cop pulls me over for something stupid like a seatbelt violation or doing a 55 in a 54, and asks to search my vehicle, I'm stepping out of it, locking it and telling him to get a search warrant.



I will waste my time and theirs if they want to infringe on my rights as a citizen.

@Kevin Nguyen: You probably do, too.

Maybe he got dumped in some MMO ...

*cough* Everquest or WoW *cough* :o

@pfc.joker: It all depends on what the "woman taking a stroll" said. If she said it sounded as if someone was being murdered, they have to investigate. If everytime the police went to investigate a disturbance and they couldn't enter because you said "I was playing videogames", there would be a lot of crimes going unpunished.

@Ghede:

I don't get mad at difficult games, only MP games where random shit kills me... e.g: CoD's random grenades

dsectric

@Korasa:For the Wii.

@pfc.joker: I see you've never lived in NJ nor encountered their "gestapo" State Troopers...

SigmundTheSeaMonster

@pfc.joker: Disturbing the peace?

Kiden4911

@pfc.joker: This. I hope once he gets his wits about him that a lawsuit is in order. Unless it can be proven that he violated a local noise ordinance.

This shit is not crazy town. This shit is New Jersey. Trust me, it's bad enough having to live north of them.

Alucrid

@Salen: I wanna say CoD:WaW. I never had to scream before I starting working on my prestige and I'm running around with a Grewhler and none of the perks that I'm comfortable with while everyone else seems to have an RPG, and the Juggernaut and Last Stand perks. IMHO, CoD:WaW is just as good as CoD 4; the x-box live multiplayer version anyways.

Nigel Harden

@Jbourne37: Dear god, i am in that part, i thought i was the only one with this feeling. I have been trying for the last 3 days but i just feel like kick my PC so i stop after maybe 20 minutes.

If this keeps going on i will uninstall it and just move on.

No, it was CoD4. He had to be playing No Fighting in the War room on Veteran. I don't remember playing anything worse then that.

I blame spawn campers. Damn them to hell.

Damn, the media will have a field day with this.

SuprShin

he was playing tf2 and he just got dominated for the fifth time

ch0mpchomp

Honestly I think the bigger issue here is WTF were the cops thinking? When did we become a police state that violates a man's home simply because he was yelling? Last I checked he didn't have to let them into his house - if some overzealous officer wanted to come in my home after I explained to him that I was just playing a video game I would have sent him off to find a warrant. If he insisted on pressing the matter I too would get irrate and maybe slam the door in the officer's face. I get the whole "reasonable cause" issue, but since when does yelling constitute a crime (I don't know NJ law but hey I assume yelling is a NY/NJ past-time)? Not having all the facts from the article doesn't help, but IMHO it sounds like the cops went too far, likely starting with the first officer on the scene who got his feelings hurt when the man wouldn't bend over to his unlawful request for entry.

No lie. I have a neighbor who plays WoW all night almost every night and the guy is always screaming.



The first time I heard it I almost called the cops. I mean it was a bloody scream, but in WoW?

Poor guy probably just got headshot right before capturing a flag. We've all let out those battlecry screams at some point or another.

PuppyGuarder

Yeah I'm thinking he suffered 20 respawn deaths / repeatedly spawned in doing enemy reload animations / had his airstrike mysteriously disappear because he earned it at the same time as using a UAV / had his shotgun defeated at close range by an R700 rifle bearer, hip firing / got owned all game long because he auto assigned and got put onto OpFor with 6 people and ended up having to fight 50 jingoists that pick Marines everytime.

Bergerac

@Salen: I don't know, if you've ever played Civ Revolution on Deity difficulty and lost a simulated battle where your troops clearly had a strength advantage over the computer, you would know true frustration.

GoonerVance

@Salen: classic! I had that on my Myspace page for a while!

Bonus-Round

@Salen: Tetris. Online. Against some Korean.

@Ghede: Don't forget the beautiful but hernia-inducing Ikaruga.

Dresan

Speaking of SWAT responses reminds me of the time I had to go down to talk to the SWAT team leader in charge since they were using a property owned by us as the staging ground for a hostage situation in the apartment complex a bit away. Good times.



Good folk and had an interesting conversation. They were waiting for the negotiator to try and talk the fellow out. Thankfully that incident didnt end in bloodshead after he finally released the wife? and cant remember if it was friend of the wife or daughter also.

@heretrix: When I got to the Amanda Green fight, I went berserk. After my 2nd attempt, I IMMEDIATELY took the game to Gamestop and traded it in. If I had kept that disc any longer, it would've been in the microwave.

@elektrixxx: BAM!

Dresan

He's from New Jersey...I'm not surprised.

Arkos

i use to yell when playing nfs:underground 2. that shit was frustrating... don't play stupid games anymore though

srx5171

@Ghede: The game which I most rage at is probably Team Fortress 2 because of demoman and spies ruining everything I build :(

@dd528:

So painfully true. T__T

Kicken

See, that's why you don't play Ninja Gaiden II with the window open.

screamingslave

@Shykin: One of those Touhou bullet hell games. Perfect Cherry Blossom or something. They could make a grown man cry.

dd528

@dsectric: You don't play a big variety of games, do you? There are a ton of games that can induce rage through sheer difficulty. Trash Panic, for one. The Last Guy. Devil May Cry. Ninja Gaiden. etc.



I think Japan hates us, and wants us to have heart attacks.

@PaxtonAstypalaea-Prime: Where I come from, if someone doesn't let the police in when said police have turned up without a warrant, that's called defending your rights as a free citizen.



But obviously if you start making threats, then it's unlikely the police are just going to go about their merry way.

dd528

@ShoopDaBoofs: thats works, you can blame jersey residents for everything really :)

@Piccoroz: Maybe not Mario Galaxy... But...



Maybe XKCD has a clue on what it might be in the following comic.



http://xkcd.com/290/

@mikomi: that kid is why houses have circuit breakers, and i bet hes too dumb to figure it out.

Is anyone else pissed off that this guy is under psychological eval because he was angry at something? There's a good chance one of those cops has gotten angry over something stupid, but they don't need the eval. It's okay to yell about your football team, but not scream at a videogame I guess.

Sickofitall

@cavingman: I always figured it was Jersey, at least everybody I've met from New Jersey talks about it like it is - but I've only driven through Jersey twice (on my way to Penn and back) and that was more than enough for me.



So in this case I blame Jersey residents for failing to specify and pretending they reside in two states.

ShoopDaBoofs

The sad thing for me is that in my younger years I would have called out that lady for being a busybody, or the police for overreacting. Looking at the situation now, however, I have to wonder about the man who was so out of control with anger at an inanimate object that a passerby thought he was assaulting somone, or being assaulted himself.



A psychological evaluation, though? I suppose it's good to get a professional opinion, but it simply sounds like the man is just an emotional infant.

Someone is screaming. Police come and want to enter his premises. Guy screams some more. SWAT is called.

The guy wasn't even sporting a makeshift weapon and they need to call in a SWAT?

At least I know what to do now next time someone plays Michael Jackson at 2 in the night to 'honour the king of pop' and depriving me of my sleep while he's at it.

Megatherium

@ShoopDaBoofs: ...do you mean yonkers new york?

@Cupajo: Or perhaps the police had a damned good reason to be there and he should've been an ass in the first place? Objectivity, man.

@Salen: Please lord!, we gotta know what game was he playing, until we find out we can't for an opinion about this guy, a valid game for screaming (COD,Counter strike?) or something else ? he could turn out to be total moron geting mad at a game like mario galaxy.

Obviously playing battletoads.

He was trying to look under his avatar's shoe.

elektrixxx

@Salen:



Come on, WaW is Far better than you give it credit for.

As far as Golified Expansion packs passed off as full games go, its quite good.




I can enjoy COD games from both studio's can't I?

CraterMaker

Hmm. He must've been playing Prototype. I'm surprised the same thing didn't happen to me. It seems like that game was made by people who hate gamers.

Because when the police tell you to do something, you do it! No questions asked!



http://www.examiner.com/x-5919-Norfolk-Crime-Examiner~y2009m6d25-Americans-Are-Living-And-Dying-In-A-Mil...

@Salen: I'm betting he kept geting laggy SF4 matches

See what happens when you tea-bag people online, they go ape-shit in real life.

FatalChaos

@Ferkner: That's probably why they're sending him for psychological evaluation. :)

Siegeman

@ninja_warrior: They have a town called Yonkers, what do you expect.

ShoopDaBoofs

@mikomi:

And Cloud Kill.... no wait, he didn't make that one...

@Kevin Nguyen: With that kind of reaction, he might have had a child naked in his bedroom. And that's Half-jest, as if someone doesn't let the Police in, then it usually means they have something to hide. If they don't back down until SWAT arrive, then that must be something big they're hiding.

@Salen: I will never forgive Treyarch for their stupidity in removing 24-bit sound from the PC version of WaW with the patch. I refuse to play it now since I have to play it completely silent.

ShoopDaBoofs

He must of been playing battle toads

@Shykin:

It has to be CoD4 or CoD5, they are seriously the only 2 video games that make me want to break my TV, but at the same time I love them

dsectric

@Salen: maybe it was a wicked game of Mine Sweeper

Call me a Casual Gamer, but if the Police were at my door, I would pause, or simply just stop playing, the game long enough to let them in to confirm that everything was fine. Makes me suspicious as to if gaming was the actual cause of the noise?

@mikomi: I think he had the same issues as the guy in this vid.

mikomi

Jersey eh? Those people are nuts...

@Witzbold:

And tear gas.

mikomi

The question must be asked... What game was he playing?



Call of Duty 4? Halo 3? CoD:WaW? If it's the latter, well, yeah, I could understand the frustration. I'm sure he language was something like "I'm going to kill you Treyarch for killing CoD! Why? Why'd you do it?"



But that's just my theory. Seriously. What game was he playing? Hmm. Oh right, Ikaruga is half off on XBL this week. MYSTERY SOLVED!

Crazytown all right! He yelled at the police and slammed the door in their face. Guy needs to chill out. They were there to make sure thins were all right.

And it must have been some serious threats to have to call in the SWAT.

mikomi

He probably had child pornography on his PC.

Kevin Nguyen

Open windows is why god created flashbangs.

Everyone is wondering: What game was he playing?

Wow. Crazy town confirmed. While I personally have never gotten incredibly angry at a game, I have friends who will pitch fits... that said, I'm pretty sure you cut that shit out when the cops show up.

Well it's official now, the world is slowly but surely turning batshit insane. Sadly, however, this is the kind of news coverage that keeps my mother-in-law saying that video games make people either a) crazy, b) violent, or c) all of the above. When confronted on the subject, she will usually just say something along the lines of "it's true, they said it on tv" *sigh*

Inzoum

If you yell so much at a game while playing it that someone call the police, then you either need to stop playing, or get some sort of help.

Ferkner

Police behavior here is highly suspect. By law, they need either a search warrant or permission from the resident to enter. They had neither. That means no legal entry. End of story.

Further, the guy has no obligation to even speak to the officers; if he choses to, doing it from behind a locked door is fully legit.

So what, exactly, is irrational in this situation? A guy yelling while playing video games and not wanting the police in his house without cause, or calling in a SWAT team in response?

VernPegasus

And I thought calling in SWAT teams cost the city a lot of cash.

But clearly somone screaming in his own apartment during a game is worthy of a SWAT team call. I just hope he wasnt playing modern warfare or the FBI might need to called in to check for terrorism.

About the "Irational" comment: I would be totally pissed if someone who had nothing better to do then take strolls down the street decided that he can be a benefit to the society by calling in cops. Then the cops arrive, and a lot of people don't like the police and I sure wouldnt invite them in.

AdelaideKhawar

@Phydeaux: ... I'm sorry, but wasting YOUR time and theirs just seems like, well, a Stupid Waste Of Time, and utterly pointless.
That's the sort of thing that if a character in a program I was watching, I'd be shouting "What The Hell Are You Playing At!" or "Why Are You Doing This?" at my TV, and calling them an idiot, though mostly because at the same time, something else more important to the shows plot is happening, and the actions of that character are going to get lots of people killed or something.

@Granthunter: Oh true. Gamers aren't better than anybody - don't forget all those murders over consoles that the press throws in our faces.

That said, the police were idiots in this case. SWAT for a single unarmed guy that is a thread to noone except himself (at that time at least)?

Even if that guy was crazy, the police handled this completely wrong.

develin

@Vonhert: RAAAAAGE.

Ok here's the deal. I just typed a 8 paragraph long comment, about a spy who was dominating me in TF2 and how I screamed really loud when I finally killed him. This shit was so good it could of been comment of the week.

THEN I ACCIDENTALLY CLICKED OUTSIDE THE BOX AND IT DISAPPEARED. Seriously, I'm not typing that shit again, but FUCK does it make me want to scream so loud that my neighbors could hear it. And that's the point, when shit aggravates us we want to scream so step off your high horse.

No excuse me while I mourn the loss of my comment due to that stupid "click out the box and it dispaears "feature"."

@pfc.joker: Don't be a zealous sensationalist, we're not in a police state.

When an operator received a call, the officers are obligated to check up on it regardless of how mundane an explanation is received. Basically, someone reported a problem, and the cops need to check it out. All they had to do is go in, see that everything was fine, and walk away. The man didn’t have his rights violated, he was being belligerent and frankly, more than a little immature.

The officers had no way of knowing if someone was being hurt in there. The fact is, it was fully possible something wrong HAD been happening, and "I’m playing video games" was an excuse. It’s not like they would have gone in, planted some drugs and said "damn you gamers for yelling at your T.V.’S! We shall arrest thee!" and sauntered off with their piggish whims satisfied. They just needed to verify the mans explanation, and all would have been well and calm.