Well, he did the best he could.

[jondar]

True story. Last Saturday our friend Bill and his wife had a yard sale. Their 15 year old nephew was helping. About one o'clock in the afternoon a car with three young men in it circled the block two or three times and pulled up and parked at the end of the block about six houses up from Bill's. They then walked down to the house second to the east from Bill's and went around the back. Bill knew the people who owned that house were on vacation.

Soon the front door opened and the young men began carrying things out and laying them in the yard. Bill said to his wife, "I think that house is being robbed, I'm calling 911." Which he did. He told the 911 operator that his neighbors were on vacation and the house was being burglarized. First question from the operator was, "how do you know they are burglars?" Bill tried to explain that they had loaded the items in the front yard and the car was parked almost a block away. The operator then wanted to know the full names of the owners of the house. Then Bill's full name. Bill interrupted and said if someone didn't get out there the thieves would be gone. He then hung up the phone and got in his car and drove up to the end of the block and got the license number on the car. About ten minutes later one of the thieves walked up and drove the car down in front of the house and they started loading the items into the trunk and back seat, got in the car and drove off. Long story short, police black and white arrived thirty minutes after Bill had hung up the phone.They took a report and asked who the 15 year old boy was with Bill. He explainged he was his nephew. They said, "well we will want to question him."

Monday morning a uniformed officer came to Bill's door and said they wanted him to come down to the police station and fill out a police report. Bill said no way. He had given them all the info, even the license number of the car and he didn't want those thieves driving past his house firing at him.

The officer became somewhat irate, crumpled up the blank police report he was carrying and threw it on Bill's porch, got in his cruiser and drove off.

I told Bill, "well you did the best you could. Next time forget about it."

 

[NickBallard]

That's why citizens should be given more rights with citizen's arrest. The U.S. Supreme Court should also rule that LE should be held responsible for individuals, not just society as a whole.

 

[Punkermonkey]

THAT SUCKS! 30 Minutes??!?! WOW. What city and state are you in, Alaska?

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

The U.S. Supreme Court should also rule that LE should be held responsible for individuals, not just society as a whole.

Do you really want to live in the society where not only is a law enforcement capable of being responsible for your well-being every second of every day; but is also legally required to do so?

That is the kind of thing that would make the Big-Brother stories of George Orwell look positively libertarian if it were ever physically possible to accomplish.

 

[jondar]

I live out in the boondocks, Bill lives in Topeka, KS. We visit by phone.

 

[The Drew]

Is it any wonder that crimes like this are never solved????

Is it any wonder that people mind their own business and don't report such things???

 

[Sindawe]

The officer became somewhat irate, crumpled up the blank police report he was carrying and threw it on Bill's porch, got in his cruiser and drove off.

Sounds like a littering complaint is in order here.

 

[Hoppy590]

reminds me of the old story

guy calls the cops and says theres some one in his house. the police say theres no cars available and will take 15-20 minutes. the man hangs up, and calls back several minutes later and says " ya dont worry about those squad cars, i shot the guy." the cop cars are ther in under 5 minutes and find the intruder unharmed and in the house. the police said " you said you shot him!" to wich the man responds " you said theres no cars available"

moral of the story. next time, say you think you saw a gun and a bloody shirt. when the cops do show, turns out that "gun" was only the dvd player the guys were stealing... OOPS my mistake

 

[Lou629]

Sounds like a story the local papers or TV news might take an interest in, since the police are the only ones responsible for our safety after all.

 

[NickBallard]

Well I'm not sure I would ever burn the flag, although I think people have the right to if they want to (it makes me sad though), but I'm not sure if the government protects us as well. So we should be allowed to protect ourselves. A while back, my dad took on a second job where he would lock up city parks at night (so yes he met some weirdos with that late night job). One time all of these huge drunk men were chasing him throwing beer bottles at him. He got into his car to drive off. His passenger window was down and one of them jump into that window as he was driving off. My dad picked up a baseball bat on the floor of his vehicle and hit the guy on the head to make him go out the window. My dad called the police about what happened, who just told him to bring a bigger bat next time. People also pay taxes to help fatten up their paychecks, not that I have anything against that but I think they shouldn't just ignore incidents like that when future people could get seriously injured or killed (a charging pack of drunk guys throwing beer bottles and jumping into car windows).

 

[NickBallard]

Bartholomew,

What I meant was I feel bothered when in the news someone is being hurt and when a witness kid calls the police, the police don't respond to the incident because they think the kid is just pulling a prank only to find out later that it wasn't. Or in the recent case of John T. Jamelske, a millionaire who kidnapped women off of the streets of Syracuse, NY who turned them into sex slaves, where the Vietnamese woman who was eventually released told Syracuse Police that she had been kept as a sex slave in a dungeon in this guy's basement. They made fun of her really bad and even "They pounded the table with their fists and said...I was making up a story!" http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/sexual_assault/john_jamelske/6.html
Then later on after others talked to the police who were release from his sex slave dungeon told about what happened, the they figured it out and eventually the guy was convicted. It just makes me frustrated that police would treat a victim like that! That's why I say the Supreme Court should rule that police are responsible for individual safety, not only society as a whole (individual is directly related to society as a whole).

OK, that's the wrong emoticon that I accidentally put at the top and I can't figure out how to remove it.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Monday morning a uniformed officer came to Bill's door and said they wanted him to come down to the police station and fill out a police report. Bill said no way. He had given them all the info, even the license number of the car and he didn't want those thieves driving past his house firing at him.

The officer became somewhat irate, crumpled up the blank police report he was carrying and threw it on Bill's porch, got in his cruiser and drove off.

Well, I disagree your friend did the best he could. He didn't even want to fill out a police report, let alone show up in court and testify. Even assuming the police can find the people based on the information he gave them via the phone, they better hope they catch them with the goods or there is practically no way to convict them without your friend's testimony.

I agree that 30 minutes for a burglary in progress doesn't impress me; but police are only part of the problem here; and to be fair to the police, they have a lot more responsibility than resources in most cases.

 

[ksnecktieman]

Hoppy, I like your story, and it would make a great joke....... Except there is TOO much truth in it.

So, on your 911 call, after you give the details, you tell them you are taking your shotgun, and you will shoot them as your civic duty, if they try to drive away before the police arrive???? What happens???? Yes, I understand that you can not really do it, but could dispatch give the call anything other than top priority?Of course, hang up, and do not answer when they call back.

Sometimes you just have to play by their rules.

 

[Art Eatman]

I guess I'm happy with the way Texas laws are written. Me, I'd have done the 911 thing ASAP and then called neighbors to gather up witnesses--long before the Bad Guys went for their car.

"Now, boys, nothing bad will happen if you just wait for the Sheriff to get here."

After about twenty minutes, our local deputy would have the situation well in hand or hands in handcuffs...

, Art

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

dc follies

i worked in dc at a hotel 5 blocks from whitehouse. drug store next door got smash and grabbed 2 weekends in a row. third weekend we were outside on real and noticed a caddy parked with a cinde block in front seat. we thought it weird so we wrote down tag number. 1/2 hour later the alarms ringing cinder block through window and all the cigarettes are gone again. 3 dc cops are there attempting to fill out report.we tried to hand em a piece of paper with tag number and explain what happened. they couldn't seem to wrap minds around it and we gave up

 

[vynx]

what about slicing up 2 tires on that car down the block?

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

A similar thing happened about 25 years ago involving a family member who shall remain nameless...
Neighbors across the street were on vacation. Van pulls up in front of house. Driver of van walks around the corner, then starts loading up household goodies a few minutes later. After the 2nd trip or so of loading the van, driver turns around and is suddenly staring down the barrel of a .44 mag.
"Where'd you get that stuff?"
"T-t-there's a garage sale around the corner" drivers says, nearly defacating in his pants
"Oh...I'm sorry about that, thought you were burglarizing our friend's place"

Nowadays it would probably involve police, lawsuits, etc.

 

[jondar]

Quote: Well, I disagree that your friend did the best he could."

Well, I disagree with your take on this. He, by calling 911 and giving them the location by street number of a burglary in progress with ten to twelve minutes to work on it, gave the police the chance to wrap this up if they acted as they should have. Then the additional license number to run the car down, tho probably was stolen. Then by making out the police report he felt he was putting himself in jeapordy by having to identify the culprits when/if they were apprehended, and the chance that he would have to appear in court against them. There's only so much that we should be expected to do. Look, it wasn't even his house!

 

[orangeninja]

Sounds like your friend needs to write the chief, the mayor, the county and the news.

Letters often don't get replied to, but when you CC (carbon copy) folks on the letter and let it be known, things start hopping behind the scenes on occasion.

 

[idahoemt]

I'll say that for a Burg in Progress the response does seem inappropriate. I would like to ask just a couple of questions for clarification.

The operator then wanted to know the full names of the owners of the house.

Was your friend able to give a good address for the house? If not the calltaker/dispatcher may have been trying to determine the exact address by doing a name search. Contrary to what some folks think(not lumping Bill or yourself in this group), just because you call 911 and say "Send help now!" doesn't mean that we send officers screaming that way. We do need info. I take calls where people say "There's a fight going on! It's on 5th Street! Get here now!" Well, that's great. There's a fight and it's on 5th St. Now is that really 5th Street or is it 5th Avenue. What city? We dispatch for a county here.

Then Bill's full name.

Again, info we try to get. Granted, we can act without it, but it sure is easier if we know who to contact on scene if the BGs are gone on arrival.

Bill interrupted and said if someone didn't get out there the thieves would be gone.

I can understand the frustration and the feel that one must "do something" now. Really though, interrupting the call taker can slow down the process. We are trying our best to get the information that we and our officers need. Most of us are not stupid, but we have been known to forget things. If we get to a point where we have good basic information but there is something important that you know and feel we should know please tell us. Just know that we are trained to take control of, often, hysterical callers. When people start to interrupt us in our info gathering, our instincts are to stop you and get you back on track. We do listen and try to retain that info you just interrupted us with, but hey, we're human.

He then hung up the phone...

Ack. That leaves us in a lurch. We have to try and get you back on the phone. We now have incomplete info and possibly no way of getting more if you don't pick that phone back up. The officers want as much info as we can give them(knowledge is power, ya know )

Well, I disagree your friend did the best he could. He didn't even want to fill out a police report, let alone show up in court and testify. Even assuming the police can find the people based on the information he gave them via the phone, they better hope they catch them with the goods or there is practically no way to convict them without your friend's testimony.

I agree that 30 minutes for a burglary in progress doesn't impress me; but police are only part of the problem here; and to be fair to the police, they have a lot more responsibility than resources in most cases.

This would my first +1 in my brief time here. Policing of a community works best when it is a team effort. Civilians are making an effort when they call, but many times (thanks to our legal system) they are hamstrung and unable to do anything without a witness (that whole "right to face your accuser" thing).

I'm sorry your friend's experience with 911 was like that. I know many people have had poor experiences with call takers/dispatchers, believe me. We read about them just like you do, and we cringe. Most of us try to do our best. We realize you are not having a good day. If you were you wouldn't be calling us.

Just a little disclaimer. I am not a Law Enforcement dispatcher. I am a Fire/Med dispatcher in our center. That also makes me the primary call taker. I do sit within arms reach of my fellow dispatchers and empathize with them. All things considered, I'd rather deal with my end of things than theirs. Everybody's glad when the fire truck rolls up.

 

[jondar]

Quote: "Really though, interrupting the call taker can slow down the process."

Well it certainly must have done that here.

 

[idahoemt]

I don't think that was the case. I just wanted to shed a little light on the dispatcher's job from the other end of the phone line.

 

[jondar]

Quote: "Did your friend give a good address?"

Well, it was within twenty five yards of his own house, I have to assume he did. He could have given his own address which would have been close enough. I ll have to phone him and get some more details, but the fact is that after giving his name and address and the neighbors name and address and the fact that there was a burglary in progress, the ball had started rolling, those three punks would be in jail. There may have been more questions asked by the 911 operator that I am not aware of.

 

[idahoemt]

OK, I was just trying to clarify. Often peopl will just give a street. In some cases that street runs for better than twenty blocks. If Bill gave his address you are absolutely right in saying that's good enough to get someone heading that way. Occasionally we get people who have lived in the same house for years and forget their own address in the stress/excitement of a situation.

It seems that in this case mistakes may have been made, and like I stated previously it does happen. I imagine you're friend was really doing the best he could to get the BGs caught and locked up. I even understand his reluctance to go to court and put himself and his family at risk. That is not an easy decision to make and shouldn't be made lightly. I really was not trying to criticize him. I was just using the opportunity to shed some light, so to speak.

edited to add: As far as anonymity goes, I try to let people know that any information in the call is a matter of public record. When Joe Badguy does get caught and goes to court, the tapes and our computer records are free game for the defense. I, personally, am reluctant to try and "weasel" that information out of people unless it is necessary for the call.

 

[jondar]

"Quote: I was really not trying to criticize him."

You would really have to know this guy, and I am frankly surprised that he took the action (s) he did. I knew him for years and one day I asked him if he had any guns. He took me down in the basement and took a box down from the closet shelf and unwrapped several towels and there was a Model 1878 Colt .45 Rod Ejector with the U.S on the frame. Later I told him I would load him some light black powder loads so he could shoot it. He demurred, said he only took it down sometimes and looked at it. ??