Observed some burglars in the dark

[LeonCarr]

Call it in. It is suspicious when people are hanging around a mailbox at 10:30 at night and they don't work for the postal service.

All 911 calls are documented and also used for crime statistics. The more activity in a certain area, the more police know about to increase patrols and increase surveillance to supress possible criminal activity. Contrary to popular belief police do want to be proactive, but if you do not call it in and they don't know about it, nothing will be done.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[Shoobee]

I do not believe the LEOs want to receive red herring 9-1-1 calls from nervous nellies.

And on the other hand, as well, they also do not want vigilantism, whether you shoot someone in the azz with a 22LR, or in the chest with a 9mm.

 

[Creature]

I really didn't like that it took so long to convince my brother to let me call the cops either.

Come again?

I do not believe the LEOs want to receive red herring 9-1-1 calls from nervous nellies.

The police dispatch track all calls. You wont meet a single police commander who doesnt welcome all suspicoius activity calls, even from "nervous nellies". As for those who may make multiple calls over time coming from specific numbers, those are handled professionally as well...

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I do not believe the LEOs want to receive red herring 9-1-1 calls from nervous nellie

The cop in the car isn't receiving the calls. 911 dispatch is. They route the relevant calls to the command structure of the police department. They in turn decide if it's something worth telling the patrol officers about.

You don't need to filter yourself. People who's job it is to know a lot more about crime than most citizens will filter the "nervous nelly" calls before they get to the officers. Give them the information. Let them decide what to do with it.

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by Shoobee: I do not believe the LEOs want to receive red herring 9-1-1 calls from nervous nellies.

I do not think that the police would characterize a report of two men out at 10:30 at night, splitting up when cars passed, one carrying a drill and the other an apparent axe, and walking around in a few peoples' yards as a "red herring" call from a "nervous nellie."

I do believe that, had the men committed a burglary, and had a citizen later explained that he had not believed it appropriate to call unless and until he had evidence of a crime in progress, said citizen would receive an education from the police about what they consider a more prudent course of action to be.

 

[Certaindeaf]

One could hail them loudly. I don't think there's a law against that. Never know though.

 

[Hugo]

This is where a "nightshot" camcorder or good low light camera is useful. If you catch them on video breaking into a car or home? Great evidence for the police and prosecution. A few seconds of video is much better than a photo.

A firearm? Not in your hand unless the crook is approaching (faster if they run at you) within 30-40 feet of you and you're on your second "Don't come any closer" warning to them.

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

When I get home, sometimes late at night or very, very, very early in the morning, my dog insists that she be walked. Since no one else is awake, or willing, I get tapped to take her out. Of course, I'm too tired to change out of my uniform after a 10-11 hour or so shift, so there I go, in uniform, walking my little fireplug of a dog around our isolated neighborhood. It's amazing how many times cars will pull into our neighborhood and will immediately U-turn back to the main road when they see us. I guess my dog is pretty intimidating...

ECS

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

When I get home, sometimes late at night or very, very, very early in the morning, my dog insists that she be walked. Since no one else is awake, or willing, I get tapped to take her out. Of course, I'm too tired to change out of my uniform after a 10-11 hour or so shift, so there I go, in uniform, walking my little fireplug of a dog around our isolated neighborhood. It's amazing how many times cars will pull into our neighborhood and will immediately U-turn back to the main road when they see us. I guess my dog is pretty intimidating...

I bet your neighbors are appreciative though.

 

[Matthew Courtney]

I know of no place in the country where "walking up onto private property" is illegal unless the property is properly posted.

I would call on the basis of any reasonable basis for suspicion.

A good reason to use a different strategy....

Agree. Citizens' arrests involve a whole lot of risk, physical and otherwise.

And LEOs do not grapple with suspects without backup.

You can say that again.

Louisiana is an "affirmative responsibility" state when it comes to trespassing. It is every individuals responsibility to know who controls a piece of property and to have permission to be upon property. Wiithout permission, it is trespassing. Too many criminals were tearing down "posted" signs and/or beating charges because there was "reasonable doubt" about there "intent" to be upon property administered by another without consent.

 

[Kleanbore]

Louisiana is an "affirmative responsibility" state when it comes to trespassing. It is every individuals responsibility to know who controls a piece of property and to have permission to be upon property. Wiithout permission, it is trespassing.

Interesting.

Does another person, not the person who controls the property, have any way of believing that someone walling on the driveway does not have permission to do so?

What is the remedy if he does not have permission?

 

[Matthew Courtney]

There are many ways to ascertain whether permission to be upon property has been given.

The remedies include a $500 fine and 30 days in jail for a first offense for mere trespassing, but in the case described by the OP, there would likely be a charge of conspiracy to commit burglary, since the subjects were in possession of burglary tools. In Louisiana we would have 2 felonies, the conspiracy charge and possession of burglary tools, and 1 misdemeanor, the trespass.

 

[dprice3844444]

cops need the phone calls to be aware of the situation.they document the complaints for end of month stats that determine patrol setups.make the call.our area was getting hit by burglars.anybody i don't recognize,cops get a call.remember,cops runthem for prior history and check for warrants.you would be surprised at the number of folks out there with out there with out standing warrants.if the dept uses a field interrogation card setup ,the info is entered into a database for later use.

 

[Beaux Nehr]

An interesting thought:
I usually call the cops when I'm confronted with an iffy situation.
However, the media and others seemed to use this against George Zimmerman during his recent scandal.


It has definitely affected the way I think about calling the police on suspicious individuals.

 

[Ryanxia]

I believe OP was saying he wish he had a handgun as in (on him) just in case.
And I wouldn't have called the police right away either if they hadn't done anything. Don't think I would have waited an hour though. Just my 2 cents.

 

[TrickyDick]

some people forget that a weapon is for self defense, not vigilantism...

 

[Teachu2]

some people forget that a weapon is for self defense, not vigilantism...

...while others forget that the need for self-defense rarely follows a known schedule.

 

[MachIVshooter]

10:30 pm is way to early in the night for serious thieves to be about.

One of the more naive statements I've ever read.



On the original subject, I personally feel that one of the best ways to make such characters go away and never come back is to take a photo and make sure they know you took a photo. Use your judgement and decide for yourself if the situation allows you to do so safely, but more than once I've had suspicious loiterers or parked vehicles split in a hurry once they knew they'd been noticed and caught on film (or SD card, as it were).