This article is an update from a case that I have been following closely. A case where the officers were publicly vilified by local and national anti-police activists.
This incident occurred in Farmington, NM - a town approximately three hours north of Albuquerque, near the Colorado border.
What Happened
On April 5, 2023 Farmington, NM police officers were dispatched to a domestic disturbance. The numerical address of the call was “5308”. Officers mistakenly went to a residence across the street numbered “5305”.
Officers knocked on the door of the 5305 address unintentionally and announced their presence as “Farmington Police” three times in a matter of 1 minute and 26 seconds.
There was no answer at the door and officers asked dispatch over the radio to confirm the correct address and they started to back away from the front door while waiting for the response from dispatch. At this point the door swung open quickly and the 52 year-old-homeowner (Robert Dotson) emerged holding a firearm. Mr. Dotson pointed the gun in the direction of the police officers. An officer gave the command of “Hands up!”
Officers then fired at Mr. Dotson and he sustained a fatal injury (body cam video).
Officers retreated and Mr. Dotson’s wife (who later claimed that she did not know that it was police) picked up her husband’s gun and fired rounds at police officers. The officers returned fire - but, thankfully, neither the wife nor police were struck with gunfire.
I understand
I understand why Mr. Dotson answered the door armed with a gun if he was not sure who had been knocking at his home. But I do not understand why the gun was pointed at the police officers. If Mr. Dotson was unsure of his target - the weapon should not have been pointed. Or, he should have looked out of the window until he was sure. Also, the Dotson family had a Ring doorbell camera system that could have been checked.
I also understand why the police officers shot Mr. Dotson. When a gun is pointed at you - there is no time for discussion or de-escalation. Your life may have only moments left to it.
“Wrong house”
Calling it the “wrong house” is annoying. This case had zero to do with officers mistakingly knocking on a neighbor’s door and 100% to do with Mr. Dotson exiting the home and pointing his gun like Seal Team 6 on the Bin Laden raid.
Also, police officers, delivery drivers, mail carriers, and literally everyone above the age of 8 has knocked on the “wrong door” at least once. This is an honest and comment occurrence and is in no way a personality flaw, violation of policy, or illegal.
This occurs (for police) more often than one may think. Here are some of the reasons why:
A caller may give the 911 operator the wrong address.
The 911 operator may type in the wrong address or otherwise give the dispatcher an incorrect address.
The dispatcher may type in the wrong address or otherwise give responding police officers an incorrect address.
Police officers may type the wrong address into their GPS system
Even if the officer types the address into the GPS correctly - the GPS may default to a more popular similar address. (ex. 500 Cedar SE, instead of lesser traveled to 500 Cedar NE).
Once on scene the officer may not be able to read the numerical addresses on the house - especially at night.
The house may not even have a posted numerical address.
Sometimes officers purposely knock on the doors of neighbors/potential witnesses in an effort to get more information about a situation prior to making contact with involved subjects.
In many instances this is considered thorough and thoughtful.
Charges
In the initial article I wrote on this case I stated, “The officers should not face criminal charges in this case. The use of force was objectively reasonable.”
It is not a violation of department policy or law for the police officers to go to the “wrong” house. This is an honest mistake that can happen to anyone. In this case the officers announced who they were and after less than 90 seconds walked away from the front door to try and figure out the situation with the dispatcher. The actions from the police officers in every way was objectively reasonable.
Grifter Attorney Ben Crump (who was not involved in this case) was especially awful when he made the following statement on Twitter, “Robert Dotson was with his family when police killed him after responding to a call at the wrong address. There’s NO excuse for a mistake like this — Robert’s family will forever have to carry this trauma. Farmington PD MUST take responsibility for this absolute tragedy.”
Think about this. Ben Crump thinks that the penalty for police officers who knock on the “wrong” door is having a gun pointed at them. Notice, that logic does not apply to anyone else other than a police officer.
Justice
On January 31, the 2024 New Mexico Department of Justice released the findings of their investigation and declined to pursue charges against the officers. In short, it was found that the actions of police officers were “objectively reasonable”.
Final Thoughts
This case went the right way. Though I am sure that the past nine months have been incredibly stressful for the involved officers.
With so many police officers around the country that are unjustly being disciplined and prosecuted - I was worried about this one. This is a rare instance of common sense and objective truth trickling into a legal decision on a controversial police shooting. Let’s stop and enjoy this win for a few moments before we get back into the fight.