How to call the police?

[280PLUS]

A friend of mine sent this, it may or may not be true. But it's kinda funny either way.

George Phillips of Meridian Mississippi was going up to bed when his wife
told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could
see from the bedroom window.

George opened the back door to go turn off the light but saw that there
were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?" and he said
no. Then they said that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply
lock his door and an officer would be along when available. George said,
"Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again.

"Hello I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people in my
shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now cause I've just shot
them all." Then he hung up.

Within five minutes three police cars, an Armed Response unit, and an
ambulance showed up at the Phillips residence. Of course, the police
caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the Policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd shot
them!"

George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

 

[lwsimon]

That's funny, until you get slapped with filing a false police report.

 

[TheFederalistWeasel]

Actually I’ve seen this before on a LEO website and it was actually credited to someone living in England refereeing to their horrible response times to calls and how they react to armed homeowners over crooks walking off with your stuff.

 

[Old Fuff]

Ya' made my day ...

Years ago I had a friend with window-peeper problems and two teen-aged daughters. One night he saw someone and called the police. Five minutes later when nothing had happen he called again and said he'd got his shotgun and was going outside to look around. A few minutes later a Black & White arrived with lights flashing and all of that good stuff.

My friend didn't own a shotgun, and never had ...

 

[Standing Wolf]

There was a serial rapist on the loose the last year and a half I was in college. According to local wit, the smart money was on calling the fire department, not the police department.

I thought that was midly humorous until I had to report a fire. I heard the first engine's siren before I'd even finished giving the operator all the information.

 

[Zach S]

http://www.snopes.com/crime/safety/response.htm

 

[280PLUS]

WOW, it's TRUE!

Cool!

 

[444]

"I thought that was midly humorous until I had to report a fire. I heard the first engine's siren before I'd even finished giving the operator all the information."

 

[acdodd]

How to get the police fast

A call of a nakid woman went out in eastern Washington.
Every LEO and Fire dept. in the area responded to the call.
They even had a helicopter show up.
Turned out she was just skinny dipping and waving at the traffic on I 84.

 

[George S.]

You can bet that a call to 911 for an armed robbery at the local donut shop will get half the department there!!

 

[Preacherman]

Round here, if the cops are busy, they're likely to suggest you call your neighbor and sort out the problem(s) yourselves. After all, everyone and his brother round here have a family .30-30 or 12-gauge over the kitchen door...

This caused a serious problem of criminal justice in a town about 50 miles north of here some years ago. Three gang-bangers from the "big city" (Shreveport, about 100 miles north and west of the town concerned) had decided, in their (somewhat limited) wisdom, that it would be easier to steal scheduled pharmaceuticals from a drugstore in a small town, where they expected security to be less. They duly strolled into the drugstore and held up the staff and customers, clearing the shelves of the "good stuff" like Oxycontin, etc. Unfortunately for them, one of the people in the shop ducked off into a corner and dialled 911 - and then dialled her parents and told them what was going on. That did it! By the time the cops responded, the calls were flying all over town, and old grandparents in their wheelchairs were being pushed onto their porches by their wives, clutching their .30-30's and scatterguns, frothing at the mouth for a piece of the action. It took all 8 town cops and sheriff's deputies to resolve the situation: four to take in the crooks (who by this time couldn't give up fast enough), and four to stop the rest of the townsfolk joining in! There was much moaning and muttering about "them cops hoggin' all the fun to themselves", and the police chief lost the next election to one of the loudest moaners...

Small-town red-neck America - you gotta love it!

 

[q102josh]

haha funny how the safety of a law abiding homeowner isnt worth a damn to the cops, but the cops spring to action when they suspect a criminal is in danger.

 

[444]

The Glass is Half Empty ?

Or it could be that they are concerned that YOUR life is in danger since you seem to be initiating a gun fight. Or your family. Or your neighbors. Or an inocent person who you THINK is worthy of shooting because you either haven't thought the situation through or because you don't have all the facts.
It is one thing to defend yourself with a firearm and it is another to pick one up and go LOOKING for trouble.

IF, that inital tale is true (I have read it a number of times elsewhere), the dispacther specifically asks if someone is in the house. The homeowner replies NO, they are outside in the shed. Translated: lives are not in danger. When you go out with a shotgun to confront them, you have excalated the situation and NOW someone might get hurt. Until you decided to take matters into your own hands, we were just talking about property loss, and if you were willing to keep it in a shed outside it probably wasn't even a significant property loss. In the force thingie, you went from nothing to deadly force and the criminals played no part in it.

 

[Bob F.]

The book, "Report from Engine Co. 82" about the most active station in the Bronx, IIRC, tells how the locals call FD or hit the corner Pull Box if they need immediate response; "the fire department ALWAYS comes".

Preacherman: I can relate. The used to tell the deputies in this county that if they needed immediate backup in this end of the county to call the VFD. They'll roll immediately and they are armed. Really. You ought to see a search & rescue mission here, everybody carries.

Stay safe.
Bob

 

[444]

Yes, the fire department always responds.
I honestly believe that the police department sends us calls that they don't want to run, and we do. For example we go on alarm calls: dispatch tells us they are fire alarms, but when we get there we find out they are burgler alarms.

This all sounds funny until you are one of the guys responding on these calls totally unarmed, no body armor, no training for this and not really expecting to be dealing with a police issue. Of course I would be all for sending someone to prison for calling the FD just because they will respond on a call and someone gets hurt as a result. I know I would be looking for some payback. And I promise that no one will be laughing.

 

[UnintendedConsequences]

Well, many in my county don't call the law at all...

Many of the residents in my county are tired of being told that the sheriff's department can't respond to calls, even to take a report. Not that it may take awhile, but no response at all, anytime, anyway, in any manner, to even take a report of a crime. The sheriff's response is that they can't afford more than two deputies per shift for the entire county. Residents don't buy that when they see eight deputy cars at a restaurant for mealtime. They also don't buy it when they can have plenty of money for SWAT equipment and training, yet not enough for the routine non-SWAT calls that compose the vast majority of the work.

Now I hear random comments about people just doing whatever they have to do to protect what is theirs. They don't bother to call most of the time, they simply do what seems appropriate at the time. I heard about a time when a business owner with a restaurant had an upset customer rip an order counter top loose and hit the owner in the chest with it. When the owner reported and identified the suspect, nothing was done about the report. No charges were filed. After that event the owner simply started carrying a handgun and kept a steel winch bar behind the counter to crack open the skull of any future attacker rather than call the deputies again. The owner stated that since doing the "right" thing didn't do any good, why call.

 

[Billy Sparks]

I thought that was midly humorous until I had to report a fire. I heard the first engine's siren before I'd even finished giving the operator all the information.

About 8 years ago when I lived outside the city one of my neighbors husband had a heart attack at 2:00am. The neighbor said that the most unbelivable thing was that before she got off the phone with the dispatcher she had to answer the door for some of us that had responded directly to the scene.

 

[308win]

we were just talking about property loss

Well, I don't know how you acquire your property but I acquire mine by putting in long hours in our business - in other words trading part of my life for the ability to acqire things, so I am in effect trading part of my life for my property. So, if some bottom feeding scum wants to try to rip me off and the police take such a cavalier attitude you're right - the situation is going to escalate.

 

[ckyllo]

I think a way of getting a faster response is to call 911 and simply state that you need police (and if nessary paramedics) give address and hang up phone. normally the 911 will call back trying to get more info simply dont answer the phone. not knowing what is going on should get a faster response since lives could be in danger. and since you did not lie to get them out there quicker they shouldnt slap you with filing a false police report. and not answering a phone isnt against the law.

 

[Spreadfire Arms]

308win wrote:

"Well, I don't know how you acquire your property but I acquire mine by putting in long hours in our business - in other words trading part of my life for the ability to acqire things, so I am in effect trading part of my life for my property. So, if some bottom feeding scum wants to try to rip me off and the police take such a cavalier attitude you're right - the situation is going to escalate."

there is a great controversy over the use of deadly force to protect property.

Tennessee v. Garner, where a police officer used deadly force to stop a fleeing burglary suspect (who was the actual suspect). cop shot the bad guy as he was jumping over a fence and killed him. US Supreme Court ruled it was illegal.

Texas Penal Code, Sections 9.42, where it clearly states that deadly force is legal under certain circumstances:

"(2) (A) to prevent the other's imminent robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime;
(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property; and
(3) he reasonably believes that:
(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means; or
(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor to another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury."

i think the justification would hinge on:
"(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means; or
(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor to another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury."



depending on where the incident occurs, some grand juries, and/or district or county attorneys may interpret this differently. so if someone is stealing your stereo out of your car, at night, are you justified in using deadly force if the bad guy runs away with it? or is the argument going to be that your insurance would have replaced the stereo, thus it could be recovered by other means? or worse, if you had the serial number so it could be recovered later? or if you would be able to recognize the bad guy later in a photo line-up because you got a "good look" at him?

lots of different interpretations here. my personal opinion is that i will only resort to deadly force only as a last resort and while defending myself or another in response to a violent felony. just the legal hassle and cost of defending myself if I shoot a bad guy in Travis County, TX, if someone is stealing my car stereo just isn't worth it. i don't know if it is the same in your neck of the woods.

 

[308win]

i don't know if it is the same in your neck of the woods.

Ohio doesn't give the person defending his property the same affimative defenses as does Texas (and perhaps other states). I keep hoping that the Republicans controlled legislature and governor's office will take some action in this area but the legislature seems to be more concerned with bailing out the 'poor' race track owners. Perhaps if Blackwell wins the republican nomination for governor and can manage to get elected we will see some action. Here's hoping.

I don't necessarily advocate for shooting to death a criminal stealing my stereo out of my car but that also doesn't mean that I am going to stand by and watch it happen. If he chooses to escalate the encounter while I am protecting my property, bad choice on his part.

 

[juggler]

This is NOT a "Yeah, me too!" response, but I wanted to provide my unqualified support for this statement……

I don't necessarily advocate for shooting to death a criminal stealing my stereo out of my car but that also doesn't mean that I am going to stand by and watch it happen. If he chooses to escalate the encounter while I am protecting my property, bad choice on his part.

When did it become acceptable to allow someone to perform a criminal act without intervention of the victim? :banghead:

I know I am setting myself up for the “Your property is not worth your life.†and“ Leave it to the professionals†dogma, but gosh darn it when do you decide that it is time to rear up on your hind legs and believe that permitting an act of aggression is the same as condoning it?


Serious question folks. No posturing, no ego, no need to prove anything. Where DO you draw the line?

 

[280PLUS]

"when do you decide that it is time to rear up on your hind legs and believe that permitting an act of aggression is the same as condoning it?"

As soon as we move to Texas?

Round here we'd most likely be in violation of the law for defending our property. I mean, last I heard we'd be in trouble for shooting someone who's actually in our houses unless they've backed us into the furthest corner we can retreat to. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Theoretically, the way I understand it, if someone breaks in and is ransacking my house, I couldn't do a thing (except dial 911) until they directly attacked me or my family as we cowered in the farthest corner. So as long as we stayed in our corner they would have the run of the rest of the house? Am I about to stand by and let it happen? Probably not. I'd be pushing for a jury trial at that point.

You did say you were lookng for a warmer climate...

 

[Old Fuff]

I think a lot depends on where you live. Now here in Arizona I can make a Citizen's Arrest for some crimes, but if I was so unfortunate as to live in New York City or Chicago and I used a firearm to apprehend a criminal I'd probably go to jail for a longer spell then the crook. Needless to say, I don't even want to visit such places let alone live there. The rule of thumb is, the more lefty/liberal the place is the better protected the criminals are - so long as they don't hit one of the ruling elite.

I wouldn't shoot someone for making off with my (or someone elses) property,but I would do my dardest to apprehend them ...

 

[444]

.308: First of all my comment was directed at the guy who thinks the only reason the police would respond quicker is because the life of the criminal is at stake. This is certainly not the case. I hope you can see that the whole call changes drastically: in the first case someone broke into a shed. In the second case a possible gunfight is about to break out. I know that many people on this board have a knee jerk reaction to put down the police at any turn, but I think any reasonable person can see that we are talking about two entirely different types of calls and the police response will be adjusted accordingly.
As far as your right to confront someone breaking into your shed with deadly force, I think you will find that this will get you into hot water for a couple different reasons: First of all, in most states it is not legal to defend property with deadly force. Secondly, you have escalated (sp ?) the situation into a deadly force situation: the criminal didn't-you did. You were not threated with deadly force, you threatened them with deadly force. If nothing else you are brandishing.
From a tactical standpoint you are probably not making a wise choice either. At some point you have to look at the risk to reward ratio. At present you are safe and might lose some property. If you confront the person, you may get killed and get into a big time legal problem both civil and criminal. Are your lawn tools worth that ?
Before you brand me as a liberal, I don't agree with any of this. If I were making the laws in this country I would say that you have the right to do whatever you thought was appropriate with the guy. He chose to invade your property and should have to accept your consequences. But, I am NOT making the laws and we have to deal with reality.

I realize that arguments like this are lost on most people, but I will give it a try anyway. Did it ever occur to any of you that the police are being paid to serve EVERYONE ? The idea isn't supposed to be that they drop whatever they are doing (attending to someone elses problem) so that you can get what you want immediately. The idea is that they try to do the most good for the most people. By making false calls, you are throwing a monkey wrench into this process.

ckyllo: I realize that many people don't care about their fellow human beings, but by doing what you advise, you may be sending someone to their death for the simple reason that you want service right this second and don't care who gets hurt in the process. Here where I live and work, if you call 911 and hang up, you will get a fire department paramedic unit, and an ambulance "code 3" and you MIGHT get a police car there when they clear from the call they are already on. If this person that is in your shed is armed and dangerous (three time loser ?) these paramedics will show up to help YOU and possibly get killed in the process. Again, a lot of people don't care about that as long as they get what they want. EVERYTHING in their lives is more important than ANYTHING in someone elses life.