Wife robbed in Dallas

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telomerase

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Christmas Eve my wife made the mistake of going into South Dallas on her OT job to do some therapy for someone in a bad neighborhood (forgetting once again that no good deed ever goes unpunished).
She had a couple of nice young fellows drive up, break her car window and door handle and steal her coat (with her cellphone in the pocket) and other stuff... while she was standing there yelling at them. She ran around and pounded on several doors, including her patients' (the weasels). Nobody called the police or opened the door.

Finally the thugs got nervous (or bored) and drove off. My wife drove to a phone and called 911... the Dallas 911 refused to take the cellphone
number or other useful info about the crime (there is still blood in the car from where they ineptly broke the window), and gave her a
non-emergency number to call "tomorrow during business hours". She called Sprint; Sprint said that Sprint never helps find criminals... "because the police have their own equipment for tracking cellphones" (is this right?). Apparently they don't use it to solve crimes against mere citizens... even when the thieves are dumb enough to take a cellphone with them.

My wife knows how to shoot... but she won't carry, get a CCW, (or even practice) because she is afraid of the police ("what if she accidently wanders into a "gun-free" zone, a posted restaurant, or whatever"). So (besides planting fake drugs on Mexicans, of course), what do the Dallas police do that protects her, exactly? How is she better protected with police than without? I'll bet you that if a woman started screaming in that same Dallas neighborhood in 1940, lots of people would have come out and helped her. But now everyone is afraid of the police, the TV-programmed "gangstas", and their own pathetic disarmed status.

Trying to look on the bright side, it's a cheap car, at least this didn't hit us:

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_close_041222.html

...and maybe she'll go to the range once in a while now.
 
Man that really sucks. The important thing is she wasn't harmed.
Why are cops always so good at telling us what they WON'T do?
 
Why are cops always so good at telling us what they WON'T do?
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Actually I don't expect them to do any more, and maybe they had ten bigger emergencies that hour of the night (why they didn't say they'd call for the info later, I dunno; why they didn't tell her where she could meet an officer to get forensic evidence, I dunno, why Sprint won't tell us where our own stolen phone is, I dunno...).

But the point is that most people have gone along with the idea that it's OK for everyone to be disarmed except the criminals, because the police are going to magically take care of everything.
 
If the theives make any calls on your wife's cellphone (which they probably will) it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who they are.
 
My sympathies to you and your wife -- that is really upsetting.

I work in and around South Dallas/Oak Cliff every day. I NEVER venture there without my concealed handgun, cell phone, pepper spray, flashlight, and a big, sharp knife. It is, in my opinion, one of the most dangerous urban areas in the country.

The Dallas Police, in their defense, have more serious crimes in the area (murder, rape, assaults, etc.) than they can ever get too, given their manning levels. That does not make it feel better when they basically tell you to file a report, and give every indication of placing it in the circular file. I have had this same reaction from them for a vandalized/burgled car on three separate occasions. They simply are not (can't?) going to do anything about it.

I don't have any information about the cell phone question, sorry.

As for your wife, if this does not wake her up and make her take responsibility for her own safety, I don't know what will -- she is very lucky to be alive. If she still refuses to be proactive, you need to have a heart-to-heart with her and make sure she stays out of places like this in the future, no matter what the monetary incentive.

Good Luck!!!!!!
 
(there is still blood in the car from where they ineptly broke the window)
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I hope your wife took precautions against exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

Anyway, this really sucks. Maybe your wife will reconsider a CHL . . . Texas isn't really all that bad when it comes to "gun free" zones.

I don't know if you have kids . . . but if you do, ask your wife how, exactly, she would protect them if BGs decide to hurt them, given what she's learned about seeking help from others.
 
As nice as a city as Dallas is, most of the population are sewer rats IMO. All you have to do is look at their school system and see what kind of trash will make up the next generation.

As to the question about police having equipment to track cell phones, the answer is yes. I have a friend who is a homocide detective in a large PD and he is the resident expert on this equipment. He uses it on a regular basis to catch murder suspects and other major-felony cretins, but I doubt they would ever use it for robbery, at least until it becomes more commonplace. You might call your wife's cell number and invite them for a sit-down. ;)
 
Give Them a call: "Hey where you at?" Or similar in Ebonics, nothing else like your name. They are probably dumb enough to tell you then you can go for a visit. Of course, [Official voice]"You should never take things into your own hands."[/Official Voice]
 
Actually in this dark day and age she really could have done nothing except run and hide, even carrying a gun- think about it! :cuss:
 
Newer generation phones have gps

I got mugged and they topok my cell phone. Called sprint canceled the service to that phone. The jerks made 11 or 12 phone calls. Cops no help at all. So i called the numbers myself. Couldnt get an answer. Oh well i lived minus 50 bucks and a cell phone.
It was going pretty good one on one. When the second guy jumped me i was screwed. I dont carry in this great cheese state. That is highly illegal and will lead to time here.
 
If the theives make any calls on your wife's cellphone (which they probably will) it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who they are.
Click to expand...

Doesn't even take that much. "e911" service can be turned on remotely in most cases and receives a "weak gps" signal which it sends back to the closest towers -- only good to between 30-150 feet though.

-Colin
 
how is sprint supposed to tell you where your phone is?
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Besides the obvious fact that the phone needs to emit a signal to make a call and the towers can each read the signal and determine how far away it is?

3 towers measuring a distance = exact coordinates. Similarly you can just use a lo-jack type thing keyed into the pin of the phone as long as it is turned on. You just follow it around until you see the bad guy with the phone.
 
Damn, where I live if you call and say there is a robbery in progress they come in hard. Someone on my block called and said someones house was being broke into and they came in with balaclavas and MP5s and found no one. That was like 2pm in the afternoon, they get really crazy at night. Things must work differently in Texas, cops over react here like crazy.
 
I'm sorry to hear it. We just got rid of a REALLY bad police chief in Dallas, and the cops' morale and efficiency are still stunningly low. On the other hand TX law is pretty good for carrying and for self-defense, contrary to what some of the comments in this thread have suggested.

Targetmasters, on Jupiter just N. of Jim Miller (Royal), has a monthly concealed carry class just for women, taught by a woman.

Also, there is a local subset of THR subscribers who get together occasionally, and many of us are glad to help with introducing women to firearms.

If she doesn't feel like learning handgun skills, there's a lot to be said for carrying a shotgun under a blanket in the car.

Best wishes and good luck!
 
Heyo. I'm a Signals geek, so I can answer cell phone tracking.

There are three ways to track a cellphone. Cell tower triangulation (not very accurate), onboard GPS (FCC wants all new phones to have an embedded GPS that can be remotely accessed, fairly accurate), and specialized equipment (very accurate, sometimes within inches). Specialized equipment varies. We have satellites that can monitor cell phones, and black boxes that can do the same. It's mostly illegal for civvies to play with, due to FCC regulations. Actually, I'm not sure if tracing your own phone by triangulation is legal. I'd have to call buddies at the FCC, but I'd lean towards it being illegal.

Telcos don't like giving out information to civilians without a warrent. Fear of litigation, laziness, etc. If you wanted, you could get a warrant from a court for all the information from the telcos. They'd have tons of information to hand over.


Practical wise? Cancel the cell phone, report it stolen. Pay for a new one. Try to convince your wife to CCW. If she won't CCW, convince her to carry an asp (telescoping baton), mace or anything else.
 
while she was standing there yelling at them.
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This might not be the smart thing to do - it can easily provoke the young gentlemen into getting PO'ed at her behavior and taking out their anger on her. Given she won't carry a gun, has she considered pepper spray?
 
Bad deal telo - traumatic too.

I hope maybe some range time and coaxing might get Mrs telo to CCW - it should! Even if she lost a phone again - at least she'd have some means to answer back if in fear of her life - and that IS important.
 
Ok, folks ...

Everybody is saying that Mrs T should get a permit and CCW ...

But on many other threads, over and over it is said that you can't/shouldn't pull your gun to defend your property, only if bodily threatened personally.

So what difference would CCW made in this case .... :confused:


(other than, the fact that the burglars COULD have turned their attentions to Mrs T after they got done with the car)
 
Just out of curiosity Telomerase, where are you more exactly (I don't want your street address, just a general neighborhood), and where was your wife's incident? I work in south dallas (don't know what you'd call the neighborhood properly, near 45/Lamar) and drive through "the swamps of south dallas" either along 45 or 175 daily going to and from work.
 
Telomerase

I thought from the location in your username that maybe you lived in the trinity bottoms. I've often thought while driving along 20 between 175 and 45 that there is some really pretty area there that is remarkably undeveloped for being in a large metro area. I know if I had to live in town I'd a lot rather live there than in a suburban neighborhood, probably could get a five acre lot for the same price as a 1 acre lot elsewhere.

We moved way out of town though because I didn't want to ever have the city catch up with us.
 
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