When have you called the police?

[boredelmo]

Tell us your experience with calling the police and how helpful they were in the situation. Would a CHL have been for the benefit of the situation?

1. Beginning of freshman year at University of Texas: 3 female friends shopping at CVS on street right off UT campus. Homeless man approaches them in the store and hits on them. The girls were friendly but had firm "please leave us alone" convos. He leaves, they continue shopping. At check out they see the man outside the door. He sees them and runs in, charging at the girls, chases them around the store, out the store on the street. Girls run into a Rest. and tells the manager, manager keeps a lookout for them. Calls a friend of mine who bikes over. From all the commotion the guy escapes somewhere. They tell me right after. I call the police to make a report. Austin PD tells me the street is UTPD's jurisdiction. I call UTPD, wait time, UTPD says its APD's jurisdiction. Frustration. I get the girls pepper spray and went over basics of what to do in many situations and awareness issues.

2. Same street, at a hookah bar. Homeless man stabs a guy in the face right in front of our table, I stand up between the man and my friends. Police called. They cant do anything, he's gone.

3. Friend lives in a dorm across campus from me. Calls me to relate a situation where a hispanic male was being "creepy" in the elevator. Hitting on her and asking intrusive questions such as " Can i sleep over at your place, you have boyfriend, etc". Male was obviously not a student and possibly intoxicated. She gets off on a floor thats not hers, takes the stairs make sure shes not followed. After that call she calls me again. The guy is outside her door, banging on it. Has been for 15 minutes. I call UTPD while dressing and grabbing my knife. While running over (10 minute run), i call a friend in the same dorm as the girl. Friend kicks creep out. UTPD arrive right before i do. They find a card the creep left including a number. They call and get the guy out. Told him to leave, thats it. No tresspassing charges, nothing. Girl sleeps over at my place for safety. I give her pepper spray and praise her elevator tactics, remind her of some more tips.

I would have been more comfortable if i had been able to carry concealed in all these situations. The police didn't seem too interested in help getting these creeps off the street.

Need CC on campus.

Your turn!

 

[chris in va]

One night I came home from dinner to find my townhouse front door slightly open. Knowing it to be a bad idea to 'clear' a house myself, I called the cops.

Seems the door wasn't closed all the way on our way out.

 

[mjrodney]

Many years ago, I walked out of the house one morning only to find my motorcycle missing.

I called the police and they took the info over the phone.

I asked, "Aren't you going to come out to (the scene of the crime)?

And they said no.

"What are we going to see? An empty parking spot? Call your insurance company."

Now, hindsight tells me that they were correct, but it also reaffirmed the thought that each of us are ultimately responsible for our own defense.

The police are not there to protect you from crime.

 

[Guitargod1985]

One time when I went to visit my uncle, he had just separated from his wife for a brief period and was living in a different place. I didn't know it until I got there, but it wasn't really in the best area of the city. I parked my car in his driveway and called him to see where he was. He said he was on his way, just getting out of work late, and he would be there in half an hour or so. He suggested that I take a walk down to the McDonald's and get a coffee and he would pick me up there to go out to dinner for my birthday.

So I decided that I would take a walk down to the McDonald's. As usual, I had my carry piece with me in the car (HK USPc .40). So I holstered my pistol and proceeded to walk down the street. I went maybe two blocks before this big tall skinny dude with dreads asked me, "Yo homie, you straight?" (This means, "Do you want drugs?") I attempted to ignore him, but he started following me and asked me if I needed any "trees" or if I wanted to meet that "white girl" (marijuana and cocaine for those of you who don't know). I said, "No, man I'm good." At this point I saw out of my peripheral vision that he had made a signal to this huge guy on the other side of the fence bordering the sidewalk upon which I was walking. I meantally readied myself for a defensive situation, but outwardly maintained as normal a demeanor as I could. So the huge guy came up to me and asked me the same thing that guy #1 had and I told him the same thing. Then he told me that he just got out of prison after 10 years and he's trying to get back on his feet, blah blah blah, but he needed money. I was thinking, yeah getting a real job rather than seeling drugs might help you out. I turned to him and I said, "Look, man - I don't have anything for you. I don't want any trouble." He looked a bit shocked, then chuckled and turned around and walked back to his friend. After I walked about fifty feet they started following me from a distance. I walked into the McDonald's and called the police on my cell phone. These fools kept loitering in the parking lot and I kept my eye on them. My uncle arrived about twenty minutes later and picked me up from the other side of the McDonald's - I had called him to tell him about the situation.

My point is, I called the cops and they didn't even show up. I've never felt so comforted having a gun. I knew that it was there if I needed it. If I had been without it I would have been pretty scared.

 

[Spider Pig]

UT austin? austin is the #2 safest city in the country!

 

[MP5]

A couple times to report suspicious activities I observed. They took me seriously, and one call led to multiple arrests.

 

[40SW]

At the age of 22(about 20 years ago) I worked as a bank teller for a major financial institution in a large urban metropolitan area. Several thugs came into the lobby. Had a revolver pointed right at my head and was told to empty my counter. We were trained to always comply but to also give them the exploding die pack which triggered the alarm. He took the money and the die pack. The die pack exploded when it was triggered by the door alarm, they were eventually caught with the die on them and apparantly exchanged gunfire with police. No LEOS were hurt, but one of the punks was wounded. Several things were clear from the experience.

1. I came very close to crapping my pants.
2. When they say your whole life flashes before your eyes, It is exactly right.
3. I have never been more scared in my life.
4. The whole experience went by incredibly fast.
5. I remember having an INCREDIBLE migrane, my pulse had to be close to 130. I was incredibly thirtsy and dizzy, probably because my body dumped so much adrenaline into my body.
6. I remember that the detectives who handled the case and interviewed me were very professional and calm. They were very good at calming me down.
My experience with law enforcement was very positive. I also remember following up on the case and being very happy that one of the punks was wounded. I guess thats natural, to feel anger and revenge.
The event is one of the things that fueled my interest in firearms and RKBA, I was indifferent on the matter prior to that event, I was neither a member of the gun culture, no was I an anti, I was a clean slate where trauma taught me a lesson.

 

[Deanimator]

1. Early 1970s Chicago - My bedroom faces the alley. I wake up to the sound of breaking glass. I look out the window and see a gang of White kids breaking the windows in the dry cleaners on the corner across the alley. I wake my parents. They call the Chicago PD. Chicago cops show up in a semi-reasonable amount of time. They start taking the report. When they learn that the suspects are White, they discontinue the investigation and leave, going in the opposite direction of the suspects' line of travel.

2. Late 1970s, Fulton, Mo - Some friends and I are standing on the fire escape landing at the back of our college dorm. While we're standing there, an obvious burglar breaks into a back bedroom window of a house in the "ghetto" just across the railroad tracks from campus. We call the Fulton PD. They arrive quickly... and go directly to the wrong house. One of us walks over and leads them by the hand to the right house. Suspect eludes them, getting into his car. Fulton PD has the street in front of the suspect blocked. Suspect throws his car into reverse and backs away from them, escaping.

3. Late 1970s, Fulton Mo - As expenses rise, our college's admission standards fall. That year's freshman class includes a sizeable contingent of rich deliquents from wealthy families in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky who can't get in anywhere else. A bunch of them are Phi Delt pledges with a taste for herb. They go to the dimwitted drug dealer who lives across the hall from me in the independent students' dorm. Neither of the partys' IQs exceeds the maximum speed of a Yugo. The pledges give the redneck "Superfly" wannabe money for some dope. The dealer goes into town and gives a townie he's never met, money UP FRONT for the dope. Unaccountably, the townie and the money disappear, never to be seen again. Fed up with his excuses, the pledges show up to whip him and take his stuff in compensation. Dope dealer's "hitman" wannabe "bodyguard" shows up to "protect" him. We intervene and tell the pledges they'll have to work things out elsewhere. Someone in the dorm reports the incident. The dean of student life expells pretty much everyone involved in the dope deal. The "hitman", mistakenly believing that WE turned him in, threatens to kill us all. We go to the Fulton PD. They say there's nothing they can do, but as soon as one of us is killed or injured, they'll leap into action. We go to the County Sheriff, who says something similar... with the caveat that self-defense is everyone's right in Missouri <hint, hint>. We waste no more time with the authorities, instead solving the matter with credible threats of deadly force and psychological intimidation tactics against the "hitman".

4. Late '80s, Berea, Oh - I start hearing noises from the apartment above me. I figure there's a new family with loud kids. Noises get louder and more frequent. At times it sounds like a judo tournament. One evening, I'm working on the computer and hear something like, "Oh god, don't hit me!" Now I know what's going on. I don't hear anything else, so I let it drop. Home early from work one afternoon, I hear the same crashing noises and pleas. I call the Berea, PD. They respond quickly and go upstairs. Woman won't admit she's being abused. They leave. More beatings. I call cops again. They again come quickly, one of them being a sniper with whom I've shot service rifle matches. They again are told nothing happened and they leave. Standing in a friend's apartment looking at his Model 70 Varmint, I look out the balcony window and see the wife beater sitting on the window sill with his legs inside and his body outside the window. He suddenly stands on the ledge outside, kicking the girl in the face and chest as she tries to pull him back. I call the police again. They come and tell the guy to come inside. He refuses and kicks a cop. They snatch him in and beat him 'til he can't grow anymore. They take him downstairs and put him in a cop car where he beats his head on the window a la "COPS".

5. Late '80s, Berea, Oh - A friend driving through the Cleveland MetroParks thinks he hears screaming. He stops at my apartment building and asks an elderly woman to call the police. Berea PD says someone will be there soon. Time passes with no cops. He calls again, with the same result. He comes up to my apartment and calls again. Same result. We finally drive to the Berea PD station to find out what's going on. At least an hour has elapsed. When we get to the station, we are told that the Cleveland MetroParks Rangers have jurisdiction. They have passed the call to them several times. Berea is surprised that nobody's showed up. Two Berea cops about to go off shift volunteer to search the river bank with us. We find nothing, but given the time elapsed, that's not surprising.

6. Early '90s, I-71 in Cleveland - There's a violent storm. I see a car on the side of the road near an overpass. It appears to have a small tree or a large limb on top of it. When I get back to Berea, I call the Cleveland PD from a payphone. The dispatcher is rude and seems put out that I called them.

7. Last year, Rocky River, Oh - My doorbell rings. I go into the hall to see who it is. A woman in my apartment of dubious mental stability stops me in the hall screaming for me to call the police. After multiple attempts, I get her to tell me that it's because some strange guy is in the lobby ringing all of the doorbells trying to get in. I go to the lobby and find a sleazy "meth-billy" looking guy standing there. I have my Chief's Special in my pocket. I walk back to my apartment and call the cops. They come relatively quickly. I tell them what happened and that they should find the whacko and get her story, since I had no interaction with the tweaker.

8. Last year, Rocky River, Oh - I see a guy climb into an apartment window. I call the cops and tell them what I saw, and that I DON'T know if a crime has been committed. I tell them I can't stick around. I don't know if they came or not.

Most of my experience of calling the police has been negative. A few, especially the Berea PD/Cleveland MetroParks incident were positive, even though the MetroParks Rangers were worthless.

 

[EdLaver]

The only time in my life I have called police have been for car break-ins I had back in '99-00 at a apartment I lived at for the time. Other than that I haven't needed 'em.

They never patrolled the complex at night or added a patrol to their beat after I had 3 break-ins reported (nothing of value was in the car either) along with 7 other people living there at the time having the same issue. So basically nothing was done about it, I had a little time left on my lease and then left the entire area.

 

[El Tejon]

Ummm, someone I know really well called the police on what turned out to be a possum being attacked and killed by a dog. I swear the possum sounded like a child being hurt, just like a child. Found the possum in my landscaping while I was mowing the grass a few days later.

Had the police called on me. Contractors were blowing in insulation in my attic while I was in Indy all day. When they finished, they left the front door wide open. Neighbor noticed it and called the police. I came back from Indianapolis to find four cops in my house.

 

[wolf_from_wv]

15 years ago?:
No cars at the house, no one home. 3-4 guys came to see if my sister was home (their story). Nobody comes to the door, so they look in the window. Neighbor is checking the mail at the top of the hill, sees them, and calls the police. I guess it had been a slow day for the city, the 2-3 counties, and the 2 states that showed up... They tracked the boys down, and the matter was resolved.

a couple years later:
My dad and I were fishing at a local river, when we got ran off by some guys on the other side throwing rocks, who were high or drunk or both. One car actually took off and came around to the side we were on - I don't think they were going to inquire about the fishing... We had just gotten out on the main road, when they pulled in the parking lot. We stopped at a gas station where a county cruiser was parked, and told him what happened.

In the last 3-4 years, most calls have been from work and involved drunks or addicts. One drunk let us know that we were "#1" in his book all the way down the block - I thought it was customary to use your index finger, oh well...

 

[waterhouse]

UT austin? austin is the #2 safest city in the country!

Really?

I don't think crime is a major problem here compared to other cities of similar size, but I'd be shocked if we were #2 safest in the country. Round Rock maybe, but not Austin.

I've contacted authorities on several occasions over the years, all on the "serve" side of "protect and serve" and none that would have been helped if I had a gun on me. They've always been helpful and courteous.

 

[romma]

Less Than

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

two weeks after Katrina, My Girlfriend,myself, and her kids were awoken with the house shaking around 1:30am. We awoke from a dead sleep, evacuated the kids upstairs after I grabbed my pistol and charged down into the unknown on the first floor of our house.

It felt like a home invasion, we thought it was BGs' crashing through the front door, but it was an "Evacuee" from New Orleans.
My Girlfriend called 911 and the took 25 minutes at least to arrive.

I cornered the criminals outside the house and they were arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphenalia, criminal mischief and reckless endangerement. It changes you thinking people are trying to enter your home and possibly hurt the ones you love.

The police did not give me a hard time about the tactics I used. And at that point I did not want these guys to escape. After all was said and done, it turned out they were high and drunk and hit the house with their car(no small feat if you know where we live). They took out our well for 8 days, and did a lot of damage to our property and cars... I am grateful that no one was hurt in the end. The element is up here in Connecticut as well...

Originally posted this story 2 weeks after Katrina, modified today to make more sense.

 

[strat81]

Not a gun situation, but I had a car accident in Newark, NJ. Took the police over 30 minutes minutes to show up. No wonder that city is the way it is.

 

[Noxx]

I've never had a positive experience calling the police.

At 14, our apt was broken into while we were out. Called the police. They essentially came out, patted my mother on the head and left with a half-a**ed list of missing items. Didn't talk to the neighbors, didn't make an attempt to collect prints, nada.

at 28, I had a Knack box stolen from my truck overnight. The police took the report over the phone and never came out. When I protested I was told basically that they didn't have time to deal with "property crimes" and if my stuff turned up they'd let me know. Lost about 4K worth of tools on that one.

Last year shortly after my marriage, I received a call from an ex girlfriend with whom I have a very long, and very "daytime tv" history, I mean, really horrid stuff. I told her not to call, and that I would pursue a restraining order, at which time she became very upset and essentially told me that she and her new boyfriend would be over that night to "show me". I called the local PD, they came by, made a few notes, and basically told me I was up a well known creek as far as getting any action taken against her. I rather bluntly told them that if I had to call them again it would be to collect a GSV from my porch, and they basically let me know I'd have to do whatever I would have to do.

In short, there's a simple rule. No blood, no cops.

 

[Deanimator]

In short, there's a simple rule. No blood, no cops.

I call the cops when I think something needs to be done, but I'd have too much legal exposure if I did it myself. Domestic abuse among neighbors is a good example.

As far as protection of my person, I have absolutely ---ZERO--- expectation that the police will protect me from imminent harm. They certainly didn't protect my godsister from being stabbed to death by her boyfriend. I have no expectation that they'd protect me from being stabbed or shot by the neo-Nazis who have threatened my life on numerous occasions, nevermind random criminals. Even where the police have the desire to protect individuals, they almost never have the ability. If you don't believe me, find out what their average response time is in your area. Then stab a beef roast with a steak knife for that amount of time. Total the number of times you stabbed the meat. To account for your running away and struggling, divide the total by three. Do you think you could survive that number of stab wounds until the police got there?

For purposes of my personal protection, calling the police is a mere formality. As they say, "The one who dials 911 first gets to be the victim."

 

[ArmedBear]

I call the CHP when I see debris on the freeway. A friend of my wife's was killed when she was riding her motorcycle to work and hit a ladder.

I've called when I thought a neighbor was cooking meth in the garage (my wife was HOA President and we were trying to figure out what to do). They sniffed around, did nothing. I still think he was, but can't prove it.

I've called after my car has been stolen or burglarized, to get a report for insurance purposes.

They've always been friendly.

 

[ScottE]

Why I have a CCW...

Two years ago, a young kid walked up to my next door neighbors front door and started trying to open the door. I call 911 and explain that my neighbor is home alone, and she is supposed to be bed-ridden due to pregnancy complications (high blood preasure). 911 operator keeps me on the line and I tell her I'm going over to confront this guy due to neighbors medical conditions. 911 tells me not to get involved. Bad guy can't get into house and walks down the street where police grab him several minutes later. I apply for CCW the next week. Had this guy gotten into the house, she would have been in real trouble. Never again will I stand by and wait for Denver's finest.

A few monts later, 4 kids park in front of my house in a new Dodge pickup and walk up to several nearby homes. They try front doors and back doors trying to burglarize houses. I go out and look in the truck only to see the ignition broken (stolen truck). I call 911 and let them know what is going on. Kids see me look into truck and drive off. I follow them down the street where they park and try more doors. Still on the phone with police, they tell me the are close. Again, they can not get into the houses and drive a few more blocks and park again. About 7 or 8 minutes into this, the police show up and arrest them for stolen vehicle. I have been to court three times for this and still has not been resolved.

A few months ago, a guy knocks on my door saying he is being chased by a guy with a gun. I pocket my gun and call 911. After I talk to this guy for a few minutes, I realize he is mental, is not a threat to me and is not being chased. The police call back 10 minutes later to see if the guy with the gun is still on my front porch (info was confused between the operator and dispacher thinking the guy on my porch had the gun). I tell them the story again, and another 10 minutes later the police show up. Good thing this was not a real emergency.

I realize that the police are understaffed, overworked, and underpaid (ok not underpaid), so why does the city of Denver keep making more stupid laws for the police to enforce. Just recently, Denver passed a law making it illegal for motorcycles to have an aftermarket exhaust. How can they enforce this while real crimes are out of control?

 

[nccavediver]

In Jacksonville, NC I stopped for gas at a gas station. Some old, POS car pulled in right beside me (a little too close for my liking) and stopped abruptly. When the dude and dudette got out of the car in a rush, each of them had empty brews falling out...my guess is that they each had to piss and buy more smokes. They went in and did their business and came out smoking cigs. My van was finally filled up w/ gas at this point so I left. I went out the left exit and these drunks in the POS car left out the other exit so we had to drive by each other out on the road because we were heading in different directions...he swerved over in my lane forcing me to have to drive up on the sidewalk (also pulling a Harley trailer....). Usually, I don't rat out drunk drivers but by this time, I was hot. I went back in the gas station, asked for a phone book and called the cops. I gave them a great description of the people, car, license plates and direction of travel. I don't know if they were picked up but I hope so.


A few years later in Lake City, FL I was asleep in bed. Loud knock on the door at about 1:30 A.M. I was tired and sleeping and did not care who it was so I did not answer. They kept knocking and it got louder. No ****, I let them knock for over 15 minutes before I finally got out of bed to see who the heck it was. When I got to the door I was surprised to see that it was a Lake City cop. I open up and he tells me that a 911 call was placed from my house. I sure didn't call and actually didn't even have a phone at that time. I told him this and he didn't seem to believe me. He asked if he could come in and look around and unfortunately I told him that he could. Well, at this time, he went out to his car and called some backup on the radio. About five minutes later 3 of Lake City's finest come in to my house, one with a shotgun. They tell me to sit on the couch and don't move while they searched through my house. It was nearly 2 A.M. by now. The idiots couldn't find anything illegal in my house so come out to the living room and start hassling me. They ended up trying to schnaggle me into becoming a snitch for them. They were trying to recruit me into going undercover for them buying drugs from local druggies around town. They couldn't even answer simple questions I had about this "program"...like if I got any money for doing it...nothing. I was flabberghasted...it was after 2 A.M....I had to work the next day and they had the audacity to pull this ****...I thought for sure it was a trumped-up 911 story and I was pissed. I went on this long tangent about how I hate Lake City and that there's no middle class in Lake City and then called them all lower-class and that really pissed them off. That was satisfying. So 2 days later I walk up to the PD and ask to talk to a friend of a friend who was higher-ranking cop up there. I tell him the whole story and he did tell me that they should not have brought in a shotgun. He called me back 2 days later and they did produce a 911 call from a cellphone where the person did say my address. I recognized the voice on the recording as my neighbor. I put 2 and 2 together and what had happened was my neighbor beat up on his girlfriend again and someone called 911 only to puss out and give them my address. I moved 2 weeks later.

 

[Cougfan2]

Neighbor from Hell

I used to have a real hillbilly for a neighbor that would throw loud drunken parties until 3 AM in his front yard during the work wee. Oh yeah, and his little kids were our there with him. When I called 911 they said they were very busy that night and would try to send someone. From their attitude it was obvious they didn't want to respond to noise complaints. I told them I wanted officer contact and if they didn't do something about it, I would and the wouldn't like how I solved the problem.

The LEO showed up and shut the party down. He was completely courteous and professional. The 911 operator was the jerk.

 

[Xenia]

My experiences in calling the police has always been positive. Response times might have been a bit slow, but that is a situation related to budgets, etc, not to competence.

I called the police last week because I showed up to my office (I am in my own business and have no staff) and the building door was wide open and the office door was wide open.

I was stupid however, and didn't initially think to call the police (never came to mind at the beginning). I walked in to the building but had my hand near my concealed gun. Stupid Stupid Stupid. I yell at myself about this a lot!

Now, nothing bad happened. I eventually realized I needed to call the police and report the event as suspicious at least. (nothing was stolen). Given that I have a BG who would like to harm me I wanted a paper trail. But again... I was sooooo stupid! The police chewed me out too! They were very helpful to me and they showed up very quickly too.

This whole situation was very educational for me. I learned that my first reaction ... to check it out myself is something I am going to need to fight against. I learned also just how much I need to change my carry method. (I have been carrying in a purse.)

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Had a CHL for several years but only carried when I felt like I might need it (probably the way many start out). Went to a party at a friend's house and left my pistol in the truck. When I came out a few hours later I see some guy sitting in the passenger seat looking through my belongings. I opened the driver's side door, he says "oh s*&#" and bails out. I lunge into the console to retrieve my weapon and find it missing, along with 2 spare mags, not to mention other things from the vehicle. I start to go after him but realize that's a pretty stupid idea since I'm not bulletproof and he's got the weapon.
Called the cops, they came within a reasonable time, acted professional, brought in a K9 unit and did a quick search and dusted for prints. The officer got my report and told me they'll run the prints if they came out good enough. Kind of surprised me that she asked what type of bullets I had loaded in the mags.
After that I decided to stop fooling around and carry 24/7 and have the weapon under my control at all times.

 

[lee n. field]

Guy came to the door, 1AM-ish, all rattled 'cause his crack ho girlfriend was raving and breaking windows. I called the cops for him.

7 or 8 in the evening, spontaneous large (>50) crowd of yelling teenagers starts milling a couple doors down. I called the cops. I couldn't have been the only one, because multiple cop cars were on the scene in 30 seconds.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Well, I didn't call them, but the neighbors did.

2004 Colorado Get Together:

They got a call from the neighbors saying "Gunfire at the Ashcraft place!". The deputies said "So what?"
The neighbors then said "But there's explosions, too!". (Billll's BP cannon)

They drove around for an hour and a half, and then decided to check us out. They were upset because we were out of black powder and had put the cannon away.

 

[Mikhail Konovalov]

Okay, now I had a few paragraphs outlining my dissatisfaction with my local law enforcement, how they love to handcuff people for no apparent reason.

But I'll spare everyone the rant and just say this on the subject of me ever calling the police;

NO.