Surely all must agree the result was wonderful…the children were rescued.
Now whether ‘the system’ worked, or could be improved upon, is surely another matter! Where is this ‘shared responsibility’, between the public and the forces of Law & Order, for public safety that many forces proclaim? How can you have responsibility without an element of authority...in this case “Self Authorisation”?
Wouldn’t it have been more pro-active of the dispatcher at the local Sheriff’s Office to have asked more questions and checked out who this civilian helicopter was rather than just telling him to “go forth and multiply”?
How much of the Sheriff’s concern, which led to the refusal of assistance from a civilian, was as a result of the desire of the Sheriff’s Office to retain total control / authority (power) over the situation, how much was concern for liability issues, and how much was real?