A woman has filed a complaint with the Red Oak police department after officers allegedly attempted to enter her apartment by mistake while responding to a domestic violence call last week.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous due to privacy concerns, told NBC 5 DFW the incident took place on September 4 at around 11:30 p.m.
Ring camera footage of the alleged incident provided to NBC 5 shows fingers covering the camera, then an officer stepping back and attempting to kick down the door.
“It was very aggressive banging and it happened so quickly that by the time I got out of my bed, I heard kicking on the door,” she said. “So I grabbed my gun because I do have a license to carry. I thought somebody was breaking in. Before I opened the door, I did look at my Ring camera for my own safety and I saw that it was the police. I put my firearm away and I opened my door for them.”
The Ring video footage shows three officers at the door. One appears to ask if they had the right address. According to the woman, the police had somehow ended up at the wrong residence while responding to a domestic violence call.
“They quickly told me, ‘It’s fine, we have the wrong apartment you can go back in please,’ and I realized at that time my door was actually broken or the locks on it was broken so it was hard for me to close it back,” the woman said, per NBC 5.
“It was just super scary; I do understand that they were trying to protect the woman who was screaming across the way, but it just seemed to be very low regard for protocol and other people’s safety who were not involved,” she shared.
“My biggest concern is for one, the police did not announce themselves, I had no idea who was banging on my door, I was scared for my safety,” she told NBC 5. “They actually covered the ring cameras so I couldn’t see who was out there. They didn’t vocally say who it was and also just the fact that they immediately went to trying and kick in down the door.”
She noted in the interview that things could have gone much differently if she and her boyfriend, who was with her at the time, had answered the door while she was still holding her firearm.
“I wasn’t here alone, I had my boyfriend here, and so had he opened the door and they see a gun and they see me, … it was very scary because I know that this really could have ended in a fatality,” she said.
The Red Oak Police Department told NBC 5 it is investigating the incident. Red Oak police said the events had taken place at an apartment on Overlook Drive but noted they are unable to provide additional information or comment while the investigation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Police Department is having struggles of its own as it copes with a chronic shortage of police officers. According to a City analysis, the City of Dallas should have approximately 4,000 officers but currently employs roughly 3,100.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the crime rate in Downtown Dallas is exponentially higher than in cities such as neighboring Fort Worth, which has dedicated units and security officers patrolling its downtown areas.
So far this year, there have been 18 reported cases of family violence-related homicides in the city, an increase of 20% over last year, according to the DPD’s most recent daily crime briefing.