The Good
I used to live in a 3rd floor apt. People on 2nd floor smoked and sold herb. Usually I'd mind my own business when it comes to that stuff but smoke rises and would fill my apt. Didn't think it was good for the wife and young child to have to smell it. Landlord did nothing because "girl says it's candles."
Next time I smelled it I called the police and they were there within 10 minutes (quite fast for the area and nature of the call). Didn't make an arrest but gave a warning.
Didn't know it but it sparked a sting. A few weeks later the parking lot was filled with unmarked and marked cruisers and several occupants were brought out in handcuffs by local and state PD. Found out as part of the sting they hit a least one more place the same way at the same time two towns over.
Problem solved.
The Bad
I was 17 and still living at home. My parents lived right off a highway on/off ramp and had been broken into several times so LEO was familiar with the location. Town has under 5,000 residents and LEO was seriously understaffed at the time.
My parents were out of town and the only people there were myself and a hunting buddy. At about 11pm a car full of teens pulls up in front of the house and sits there for over 20 minutes with everyone shuffling around. Called LEO to report the incident. 15 minutes later the car was still there. Called again and dispatch said they had sent someone out.
Waited another 20 minutes or so and was just about to call again when 3 additional cars full of kids pull off the highway and directly into my parents' driveway with the car that was parked on the road in tow.
"He-Man" hunting buddy heads outside (unarmed) to confront them before I can say anything. They see him coming and pay no attention. I decide 4 carloads of kids versus my unarmed hunting buddy was a bad idea and grabbed the shotgun. Stepped onto the well lit second story porch and racked the slide. Never saw 4 cars disappear so quickly.
LEO never showed up.
The Ugly
Was target practicing in the middle of the woods on my parents' legally posted property. 100% legal as far as distance, license, etc. After emptying my last magazine I took off my ear protection to reload and a LEO pops up in the brush to my right blowing a whistle and yelling "cease fire." Scared the living daylights out of me. No orange vest or any other color that would make him stand out.
He approaches me and with a major attitude (probably from having to make his way through about 1000ft of briars and brush) asks me what I'm doing
and tells me I have to stop because they are receiving complaints from all over the place. I politely tell him I'm perfectly legal and can retrieve the plot plans to prove it if he wants me to. He says "No I just need you to stop." Feeling a bit po'd with his attitude I politely say "Are you telling me to stop or are you asking me to stop?" He repeats the fact that they are getting complaints and says he wants me to stop. I say "I understand that, but since I'm 100% legal I want to know if you're
telling me I have to stop or if you're
asking me to stop." He finally breaks down and says "Can you just stop shooting for the rest of the day for me please?" I politely tell him I will, ask where he parked and send him in the direction of the
cleared path that will lead right back to his squad car.
I'm so happy that I have a good backstop because he could have come from any direction. God only knows what would have happened if he came from directly behind a poorly prepared backstop. It could have been real ugly.
Dad called the chief the next day and explained the situation. Now I have to call Dispatch when I go shooting so they can tell the callers I'm 100% legal and not shooting in their direction.
911 Related
I was fishing in a boat and noticed flames and smoke coming from the woods near some homes. Called 911 and was actually put on hold. I thought the whole "911 puts you on hold" was just a joke. Guess not. Turned into a forest fire. Luckily a resident had called the FD directly because the FD showed up about 20 minutes later while I was still on hold. :banghead:
The next day I went through the phonebook and put the direct lines to all the area PD's and FD's into my cell phone contact list so I could avoid using 911 again.