1ºThis is an example of hindsight is 20/20. Of course once you've had a chance to review the situation and it's outcome you can come up with a better idea and a way to handle it. But these officers at the scene didn't have that. They insisted that they spend the night apart. Had she felt threatened she could have taken off and gone somewhere. She chose not to. Right wrong or indifferent that was her choice as an adult to make.. over the course of my life I've gone back to a few women who were bad for me, perhaps I wasn't afraid of them physically but I knew they were bad and I went back. And while there seems to be a focus on blaming him, based on her personality and reaction, it's a good bet that she wasn't easy to live with either and I'm sure could be quite irritating and off-putting as well. The officers split them up.. had they wanted to get away from each other either one of them could have they were adults they chose not to and they met a terrible fate but it was their choice certainly not the fault of police officers
2ºIF people want to blame somebody for Gabby's lifestyle choices than it should be herself or her family. HER OWN MOTHER did not see the abuse than how can a 2 hour police officer tell if she was lying to them the whole time. Young couples fight/argue and act crazy and most dont kill. Gabby kept going back to him and talked about how to get him the next day...she had no desire to leave him so why are the cops going to be the "bad" guys when her family should of been the ones to talk her into leaving him they know her well.
3ºI ask my self why is it so important for you to identity the abuser? It is clear to me there was a problem. No matter who was at fault she was dead first. There was more then one sighting of their demistic violence incidences. What can we have done better to prevent this?? Maybe if we had timeout laws in place?? Leaving two people alone after a violent act is a bad thing. Police have to find away to separate this. Living in violence can hender the ability to think straight. As we all know there where.some sort of drugs involved to alter that person's mind. Or perhaps the right drugs from a phycitrest might have helped.
4ºI watched the entire thing . The whole reason the cops are there is because someone called when they saw him strike or harm her. Then she takes the blame for everything. No. That’s her protecting him. Believe the initial call. If they didn’t see thru that bs and realize she had no way to actually drive from the scene or get home so she had to put up w his abuse ….that’s why she was protecting him. This is all too clear by the entire conversation. She is upset and scared and he is calm. That should tell you everything
5ºThe only mistake I saw , was the fact that they didn’t contact gabby’s parents to let them know something was going on and to ask them to end the trip.
Because apparently nobody knew about the abuse until the van trip
But on the other hand the ONLY person capable of ending an abusive relationship is the victim.
Many years ago our young neighbour was abusing his girlfriend , the cops were often at our building , they will come an talk to him , but she remained with him every time .
The cops told her , “We will come as many times as you want us to, but nothing will change until you leave him”
6ºthis is terribly sad. and my heart goes out to her family but seriously, if they are going to put them on probation they should also put every single cop in the nation that fails to see abuse right in front of them on probation. I think they were ignorant to miss the signs but this happens hundreds of times a day all over this country. they can only go by what they were told and unfortunately female victims of domestic violence often take the blame to protect their abuser. I know I did in a few situations with mine.
7ºLook at her photo. She's wearing an outfit revealing lots of skin. She's white, blond, decent looking. She looks sad or afraid. She probably triggered every sensor in those cops that had them conclude "Give her a break", despite the fact she was the admitted aggressor.
I don't want to beat the officers up for being human. They are most likely beating themselves up. But this is likely another example where the tears of white women have excessive influence over officer's decisions. Had she been a black women, she may have been arrested.
I'm not suggesting the police should have arrested her. There's no way they could have predicted that doing so would have kept her from being murdered later. Lots of couples have arguments. Many women may slap their mate when angry or upset. These things are not uncommon. Her fiance was the murderer... not the police. BUT, consistency in policing, regardless of suspect, is so important!
8ºEveryone saying that the cops did everything they could of, no they didnt. First of all you act professional when you go to a domestic violence call. You don't fist bump the guy who witnesses told you hurt the girl. You don't go and tell the girl you should actually be arresting her for hurting the boyfriend, when she is clearly anxious and stressed already. I'm sorry but had a female cop been there this could of all been avoided. I feel like the male cops laughing and talking to Bryan as if they're best buddies is so wrong and just made her feel more afraid because she knew they probably didn't believe her. There is a way to act in this situation and these cops did not act the right way. They brought him to a hotel and left her out there in the van...
9ºProbation can't teach them something that their mothers, and officer training, should have. For all who are trying to make her out to be the aggressor, witnesses called 911 and this is what the officers were supposed to be responding to, not their own life experiences:
"The 911 caller who reported a "domestic dispute" between Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito in Moab, Utah, on Aug. 12 was heard telling a dispatcher that "the gentleman was slapping the girl" and hitting her, Fox News has confirmed Monday after exclusively obtaining the audio of the call.
"He was slapping her?" the dispatcher was heard asking.
"Yes, and then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car and they drove off," the caller added.
(Then the cops lied on the report) "A responding officer initially wrote that he believes "it was reported the male had been observed to have assaulted the female," but later wrote that "no one reported that the male struck the female." "
10ºThe irony here is that if the officers had arrested Gabby in a no injury case it's likely they would have been sued for violating her civil rights. Laundrie was clearly the stronger of the two and he likewise struck her. I would have arrested Laundrie if I was going to arrest anyone. If they arrested the woman, who obviously might have hit Laundrie first, resulting in zero injuries to him, the case would have been dismissed in court and civil liability likely would have ensued. Sadly, she could have simply left him behind, taken the van and driven home alone! She made the intentional choice to re-unite with the guy! It was a terrible decision however, she bears the responsibility for the consequences of her decision, not the officers! In far too many cases, everyone judges with 20/20 hindsight rather than the totality of the circumstances occurring during and throughout the event.