So Easter Sunday in the Zone was a welcome reprieve from the last two Sundays which have been absolutely ridiculous. It was nice to have a breather like Sundays are supposed to be-however someone decided to break into a person's car and steal their items while they were visiting my city.
I got a call for a vehicle break in at a discount mall on my beat. I get to the location and find a vehicle from a neighboring state with two females on vacation visiting my city. They went inside for about two hours and when they got back the driver door lock was pried and their purses and one jacket were taken from inside the vehicle. One lady had about $400 for her vacation in her purse and they had their social security cards in their wallets (including one lady who had the cards for all three of her kids too). I know it had to put a damper on their vacation to my city and I did my best to help them. Shame someone had to do this, on Easter no less.
Yesterday I got a call for some kids hanging out in an undeveloped section of a gated community on my beat. When I get there I immediately noticed the smell of burning marijuana and saw three females and a male just hanging around in between two cars. I asked them for ID and if they had any more marijuana to which they replied no. One female stated her ID was inside of the car but the last thing I wanted was for her to be digging around in a car so I had her write down her information on my notepad. She was EXTREMELY nervous and kept looking down at the ground. I noticed a pile of tobacco shavings near her foot but on the other side of her foot underneath the car near the tire was a joint still smoking. I placed the female under arrest (who was 19 and her first arrest). I'm the type of officer that if you're honest with me, I'm willing to work with you. I have no consideration if you lie to me.
Later towards the end of the night we received a "hot call" about a mentally ill female threatening her roommate with a knife. Myself and two other units responded to the call and met with a Mobile Crisis Team from the local hospital (they typically respond to calls with us involving suicidal and mentally ill people. It's great to have that resource available to us where I work). Thankfully when we got on scene the knife was inside and we were able to calm the parties down. The female was able to answer all the questions to paramedics to avoid being taken to the hospital and she did not want to go willingly. That situation easily could have been worse had she still been violent with the knife when we got on scene.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
A Long Week Of Not Getting Off On Time-Part 3
I was en route to help another officer on the other sector who had someone detained possibly fitting a description of someone who had bailed out of a car on a 27-minute long car chase after they fired some rounds at two different schools in the area when I was stuck behind a school bus unloading kids. The school bus had its stop sign and flashing red lights meaning "Do Not Pass" when a lady in a white SUV just drives right past. I get out of my car and just look at the lady with a "what are you doing?" expression. I did NOT think she was going to stop but she did (we were on a two lane road). Since she DID stop, I walked up to her and got her driver's license and then whipped my car around. She insisted she did not run the stop guard of the bus but I had a civilian ride-along who was in my car and we were both surprised she just kept going. The lady told me her fiancé was a cop and was going to fight the ticket all the way. I told her not a problem, I would just bring the dashcam video to court and let it speak for itself.
Another call was a domestic dispute between a husband and wife where the wife called 911 and statd her husband hit her in the mouth and busted her lip. I get on scene and another officer already has the male detained. I talk to the female who stated she got a flat tire and drove home on the flat, damaging the rim. She called her husband for help and he got upset over the fact she drove home. This particular couple had been married for five years but had known each other for over 15 years having grown up together. The female stated the male had never been violent in their entire history but when she turned around to face him he just started clawing at her and pulling her hair (she had scratches on her arms). This gave me enough to arrest the male.
I talk to the male who said that the wife spit on his face and he just lashed out in anger (clawing her) He then hit her to get away after she started punching him and scratching him also (he also had scratch marks on him). Ironically a 14 year old boy next door came up to me and told me that he saw the whole thing and that the female started it after she spit on the guy and he lost it. Well the job of a police officer in a domestic when claims are made in my state is to arrest both if you can't determine a true primary aggressor and to let the judge decide....so both went to jail.
Another call was a domestic dispute between a husband and wife where the wife called 911 and statd her husband hit her in the mouth and busted her lip. I get on scene and another officer already has the male detained. I talk to the female who stated she got a flat tire and drove home on the flat, damaging the rim. She called her husband for help and he got upset over the fact she drove home. This particular couple had been married for five years but had known each other for over 15 years having grown up together. The female stated the male had never been violent in their entire history but when she turned around to face him he just started clawing at her and pulling her hair (she had scratches on her arms). This gave me enough to arrest the male.
I talk to the male who said that the wife spit on his face and he just lashed out in anger (clawing her) He then hit her to get away after she started punching him and scratching him also (he also had scratch marks on him). Ironically a 14 year old boy next door came up to me and told me that he saw the whole thing and that the female started it after she spit on the guy and he lost it. Well the job of a police officer in a domestic when claims are made in my state is to arrest both if you can't determine a true primary aggressor and to let the judge decide....so both went to jail.
Monday, April 6, 2015
A Long Week Of Not Getting Off On Time Part 2 (Riding the Lightning)
So one of the days it was so hectic we were just going call to call to call trying to clear a pending that never cleared until the next watch came on. I received a call from a lady that she was assaulted by her ex-boyfriend. I get to the residence and she stated he struck her one time in the head before running out of the apartment and yelling on the phone while she was talking to 911 that he "didn't do anything". I asked her to describe her boyfriend and she went on to say he was about 6'8 and weight 280 lbs. He hit her so hard that she felt light headed with a severe headache. I called for an ambulance but they were so backed up I waited for an hour and forty minutes. I was lucky she didn't have a real emergency but EMS was backed up just as much as we were.
My partner gets a call over a dispute about a tree on her beat and I decided to come with her. We get to the caller's house and she stated her rear neighbor had cut a tree in THEIR yard but it had the POTENTIAL to fall in her yard and she was upset. She told me she was worried the tree was going to fall on her house and she wanted us to get their insurance information. I told the lady I can't do anything about something that MIGHT happen and they had no legal obligation to give me their information. She was stunned and asked that she was basically going to have to wait for the tree to fall to file a damage report. I told her yes. It was the same as an accident in a car. If two cars almost collide you don't call the police for a report. Only when they do. I told her to go to city hall and file a zoning dispute regarding the tree and to have a nice day. She was stunned and upset I wouldn't make her neighbors give her their information.
I had just finished typing up a vehicle accident report in the parking lot of a gas station when a citizen flagged me down telling me that security was fighting a shoplifter inside of a nearby package (liquor for those of you in other parts of the country) store. I pull up to the store and a huge crowd hurried me inside pointing inside. I walked inside with my hand on my gun and saw security struggling with a male. I helped get on top of the male with security as the male kept his hands under his chest balled up in fists. I grabbed his arm and told him to relax his arms as I put them behind his back and said ok. he then kept struggling with me. I was not going to play with this guy and pulled my tazer out and stuck it right to his back telling him to relax or he was going to get tazed. The male said ok once again but kept resisting and so....he got tazed. I had to taze him about three times before he finally relaxed his arms and got the picture. I put him in cuffs and stuck him in my car. The poor guy got pepper sprayed by security before I got there. After I tazed him he lost control of his bowels and defecated and urinated EVERYWHERE. No one said this job was clean. I called an ambulance as I took the guy out of my car and started pouring water over his face to alleviate the pain from the pepper spray.
I watched the security footage and saw the male took a 25 oz beer and stuck it down his pants and tried to walk out when security confronted him and he started fighting. This guy had been arrested 68 times (including this arrest). He had been convicted of shoplifting 13 times before and was a convicted felon. Due to his history the $1.61 beer became a felony as he got other charges for fighting and resisting and then lying to me about who he was and fighting with security. Just a career criminal. His first arrest came from before I was born. When I got home I could still smell this guy as I had to deal with him for about a few hours due to the type of arrest. This job gets dirty and not everyone can do it....
My partner gets a call over a dispute about a tree on her beat and I decided to come with her. We get to the caller's house and she stated her rear neighbor had cut a tree in THEIR yard but it had the POTENTIAL to fall in her yard and she was upset. She told me she was worried the tree was going to fall on her house and she wanted us to get their insurance information. I told the lady I can't do anything about something that MIGHT happen and they had no legal obligation to give me their information. She was stunned and asked that she was basically going to have to wait for the tree to fall to file a damage report. I told her yes. It was the same as an accident in a car. If two cars almost collide you don't call the police for a report. Only when they do. I told her to go to city hall and file a zoning dispute regarding the tree and to have a nice day. She was stunned and upset I wouldn't make her neighbors give her their information.
I had just finished typing up a vehicle accident report in the parking lot of a gas station when a citizen flagged me down telling me that security was fighting a shoplifter inside of a nearby package (liquor for those of you in other parts of the country) store. I pull up to the store and a huge crowd hurried me inside pointing inside. I walked inside with my hand on my gun and saw security struggling with a male. I helped get on top of the male with security as the male kept his hands under his chest balled up in fists. I grabbed his arm and told him to relax his arms as I put them behind his back and said ok. he then kept struggling with me. I was not going to play with this guy and pulled my tazer out and stuck it right to his back telling him to relax or he was going to get tazed. The male said ok once again but kept resisting and so....he got tazed. I had to taze him about three times before he finally relaxed his arms and got the picture. I put him in cuffs and stuck him in my car. The poor guy got pepper sprayed by security before I got there. After I tazed him he lost control of his bowels and defecated and urinated EVERYWHERE. No one said this job was clean. I called an ambulance as I took the guy out of my car and started pouring water over his face to alleviate the pain from the pepper spray.
I watched the security footage and saw the male took a 25 oz beer and stuck it down his pants and tried to walk out when security confronted him and he started fighting. This guy had been arrested 68 times (including this arrest). He had been convicted of shoplifting 13 times before and was a convicted felon. Due to his history the $1.61 beer became a felony as he got other charges for fighting and resisting and then lying to me about who he was and fighting with security. Just a career criminal. His first arrest came from before I was born. When I got home I could still smell this guy as I had to deal with him for about a few hours due to the type of arrest. This job gets dirty and not everyone can do it....
Friday, April 3, 2015
A Long Week Of Not Getting Off On Time Part 1
To say this week was busy is an understatement. As it is, I don't earn any overtime in the current setting of the department I work for. This is definitely a job you do because you want to do it. Not a job you do for the money. No one ever truly became rich from policing itself. This will be a long entry for an extremely long week that I'll break down into several parts. These little stories will be in no particular order from the events as how they happened:
I was on my way back to the precinct from my beat because I had run out of traffic citations and needed to sign out another book. I'm driving on the highway with only one other car near me (in this case right in front of me) when all of a sudden I start smelling burning marijuana come right through my car. I look up at the car in front me and notice both males are smoking something. Through my excellent detective skills and deductive reasoning-they can only be smoking one thing. I put my lights on and pull them over as both of them toss out what they're smoking and proceed to light up cigarettes (as if I didn't notice). I call for another unit and approach the vehicle.
As I'm talking to the driver, I can clearly tell he's been smoking marijuana. The driver and passenger are both extremely nervous. I tell them what I saw and ask if there was any more marijuana in the car. They both stated there wasn't and you could clearly tell they were telling the truth. I asked the driver if he knew he could get a DUI from driving under the effects of marijuana and he was stunned and became increasingly more worried. I asked him how long he had been smoking today after telling him I wasn't going to be taking him to jail but was more concerned with if he had the ability to drive safely. After feeling confident since he told me he had just lit up the joint which had cost him he last bit of money since he had to toss it out, I sent him on his way with a lesson about impaired driving. This driver easily could have been impaired if had continued to smoke. People don't realize that marijuana can still have the same effects on reaction time as alcohol can which makes it increasingly dangerous to drive high.
While driving on my beat around the mall, a call came in for a kidnapping. The remarks stated an uncle was calling in that his niece had been kidnapped by a couple of males a few days ago but that no report was made (first question mark moment). The call went on to say that the uncle was shopping at the mall and saw his niece and wanted to get the police involved but that the uncle was waiting across the street from the mall at a laundromat (second question mark moment: If it was my niece I would have stayed near her to let police know where she is). Being a possible kidnapping, the call is a pretty important matter. I got to the laundromat pretty timely after I received the call but the uncle was nowhere to be seen. I had the dispatcher call the male back but it went to voicemail. A second callback had the uncle state it was a false alarm and the girl was not his niece. Wasted call but sometimes that's just how it goes out here.
I received a call from a leasing manager at an apartment complex on my beat in reference to some drug activity from a resident. When I get there the manager called me into her office and told me they discovered scales, bags of drugs, guns, and tons of money in an apartment and she wanted me to go in and seize it all. While I would have loved to have done that I would have been violating the rights of the resident. I told her if she wanted to go in an take the drugs to seize on a violation of the lease that was on her but I recommended the alternative of letting our Crime Suppression Unit know about the apartment and letting them conduct their own investigation or with narcotics doing so. Ultimately she listened to the voice of reason and I gave her the contact information to supply the unit with the tip. As much as I would like to just "go and get the bad guy", everyone has rights as well and I can't just violate that.
I was on my way back to the precinct from my beat because I had run out of traffic citations and needed to sign out another book. I'm driving on the highway with only one other car near me (in this case right in front of me) when all of a sudden I start smelling burning marijuana come right through my car. I look up at the car in front me and notice both males are smoking something. Through my excellent detective skills and deductive reasoning-they can only be smoking one thing. I put my lights on and pull them over as both of them toss out what they're smoking and proceed to light up cigarettes (as if I didn't notice). I call for another unit and approach the vehicle.
As I'm talking to the driver, I can clearly tell he's been smoking marijuana. The driver and passenger are both extremely nervous. I tell them what I saw and ask if there was any more marijuana in the car. They both stated there wasn't and you could clearly tell they were telling the truth. I asked the driver if he knew he could get a DUI from driving under the effects of marijuana and he was stunned and became increasingly more worried. I asked him how long he had been smoking today after telling him I wasn't going to be taking him to jail but was more concerned with if he had the ability to drive safely. After feeling confident since he told me he had just lit up the joint which had cost him he last bit of money since he had to toss it out, I sent him on his way with a lesson about impaired driving. This driver easily could have been impaired if had continued to smoke. People don't realize that marijuana can still have the same effects on reaction time as alcohol can which makes it increasingly dangerous to drive high.
While driving on my beat around the mall, a call came in for a kidnapping. The remarks stated an uncle was calling in that his niece had been kidnapped by a couple of males a few days ago but that no report was made (first question mark moment). The call went on to say that the uncle was shopping at the mall and saw his niece and wanted to get the police involved but that the uncle was waiting across the street from the mall at a laundromat (second question mark moment: If it was my niece I would have stayed near her to let police know where she is). Being a possible kidnapping, the call is a pretty important matter. I got to the laundromat pretty timely after I received the call but the uncle was nowhere to be seen. I had the dispatcher call the male back but it went to voicemail. A second callback had the uncle state it was a false alarm and the girl was not his niece. Wasted call but sometimes that's just how it goes out here.
I received a call from a leasing manager at an apartment complex on my beat in reference to some drug activity from a resident. When I get there the manager called me into her office and told me they discovered scales, bags of drugs, guns, and tons of money in an apartment and she wanted me to go in and seize it all. While I would have loved to have done that I would have been violating the rights of the resident. I told her if she wanted to go in an take the drugs to seize on a violation of the lease that was on her but I recommended the alternative of letting our Crime Suppression Unit know about the apartment and letting them conduct their own investigation or with narcotics doing so. Ultimately she listened to the voice of reason and I gave her the contact information to supply the unit with the tip. As much as I would like to just "go and get the bad guy", everyone has rights as well and I can't just violate that.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Old Men In Cars
Yesterday was definitely a well needed day after the craziness that was Sunday.
I was at my favorite highway off-ramp spot when I ran a tag and found out the registration was suspended and it had a brake light out. I initiated my stop and found out the driver/registered owner was 89 years old and about to turn 90 in November. I really did NOT want to write this guy a ticket. I had some leeway with the brake light. He was definitely not going to get that. However when it came to his registration being suspended it was essentially as if he had no tag and was an impoundable offense. I was not going to impound the vehicle but I had to write the ticket to cover myself from personal liability if he was to end up in an accident. I did however, tell him everything he needed to do to get the ticket dismissed.
I received a 911 call about some supposedly stolen vehicles being stashed at a house. They even gave an accurate description of one of the vehicles. As I arrived at the house I saw the car matching what was in the 911 call. I could hear loud music coming from the car and as I got closer it immediately cut out. My hand went to my weapon as a older, black male emerged from the car with his hand in his pocket. I told him to get his hands out of his pockets and he did. I asked him who the car belonged to and he said it belonged to his brother named John. I asked him if he had ID and he said he did but it was in the house and he started to walk back inside. I stopped him and asked him to just write down his information. The male was extremely nervous as he did so. Instead of returning to my vehicle to run the vehicle and the man, I had another officer run it. The car was fine (and actually registered to John) but the man turned out to have a possible warrant out of the state of Michigan and they were willing to extradite.
I confirmed the warrant and the male was placed under arrest. I went to search him incident to arrest and found three loose, small white pills in his left pocket. I asked him what they were and he said it was pain medication for his back. I asked him if he had a prescription and he said yes. Now the male said he lived at the location and just had them loose in his pocket for when he needed to take them next. I had the man's wife and kids search for the prescription but they could only find a year old prescription for a different painkiller. I gave them about a half an hour to try and find the right one but they were unsuccessful and he was charged with the drugs.
Never know what you'll find in people's pockets!
I was at my favorite highway off-ramp spot when I ran a tag and found out the registration was suspended and it had a brake light out. I initiated my stop and found out the driver/registered owner was 89 years old and about to turn 90 in November. I really did NOT want to write this guy a ticket. I had some leeway with the brake light. He was definitely not going to get that. However when it came to his registration being suspended it was essentially as if he had no tag and was an impoundable offense. I was not going to impound the vehicle but I had to write the ticket to cover myself from personal liability if he was to end up in an accident. I did however, tell him everything he needed to do to get the ticket dismissed.
I received a 911 call about some supposedly stolen vehicles being stashed at a house. They even gave an accurate description of one of the vehicles. As I arrived at the house I saw the car matching what was in the 911 call. I could hear loud music coming from the car and as I got closer it immediately cut out. My hand went to my weapon as a older, black male emerged from the car with his hand in his pocket. I told him to get his hands out of his pockets and he did. I asked him who the car belonged to and he said it belonged to his brother named John. I asked him if he had ID and he said he did but it was in the house and he started to walk back inside. I stopped him and asked him to just write down his information. The male was extremely nervous as he did so. Instead of returning to my vehicle to run the vehicle and the man, I had another officer run it. The car was fine (and actually registered to John) but the man turned out to have a possible warrant out of the state of Michigan and they were willing to extradite.
I confirmed the warrant and the male was placed under arrest. I went to search him incident to arrest and found three loose, small white pills in his left pocket. I asked him what they were and he said it was pain medication for his back. I asked him if he had a prescription and he said yes. Now the male said he lived at the location and just had them loose in his pocket for when he needed to take them next. I had the man's wife and kids search for the prescription but they could only find a year old prescription for a different painkiller. I gave them about a half an hour to try and find the right one but they were unsuccessful and he was charged with the drugs.
Never know what you'll find in people's pockets!
Monday, March 23, 2015
Not The Average Sunday
Yesterday was Sunday. Sundays are typically slow in the police community. Yesterday it rained. Rainy days are typically slow. Put the two together and you'd think we could all just sit down and have a meal on a "quiet" Sunday. Yesterday was not that day.
I came into work with a pending of calls about 12 deep. The pending never cleared until 1245am. (I get off work at 1030-or at least I'm supposed to). I ended up staying late due to a vehicle accident and on the way back to the precinct a DUI driver on prescription medication and alcohol driving with no lights on almost hit me head on. Needless to say, I didn't get home until roughly 2am. I'm especially grateful for an officer who helped me out with the field sobriety test on the driver (who failed miserably and I had to hold in my laughter as it occurred).
Earlier in the day I posted up at my favorite highway off-ramp to run tags when I saw a vehicle with a temporary tag. In my state, "temp tags" have a registration number and a date when the tag expires. This particular tag only had a date and therefore was invalid. I initiated my stop on the vehicle as it pulled into a buy here/pay here car dealership.
I approached the car and saw two kids (later found out there were 3 and 1 years old) both sleeping on the backseat lying down with no seat belts on. I asked the driver why her kids weren't in a seat and she told me she was just coming back from the daycare and didn't have them in her car (which was a rental from the car dealership which we pulled into). I asked the driver for her license and she told me she left it at home. I had her write down her information on my notepad and I went back to the car to run her and the car's VIN. The VIN told me the car was not registered (meaning a ticket at least for that and the two kids). When I ran the license the height and weight on the female didn't seem to match for an ID that was supposedly issued last month. I ran the female's information on my department database and found out she was arrest last month for shoplifting. I returned to the car and asked the female when the last time she was arrested was. The female told me it was a few years ago and could not remember the charge. I knew for a fact at this point she was giving me the information of someone else. I detained her in handcuffs and told her this was the time to tell me who she really was or she would be charged with a misdemeanor for lying to me. She kept to her story and I fingerprinted her with a mobile fingerprint machine. Sure enough she was lying and when I found out who she was, she had three warrants, each from separate counties. She also rented the car from the car dealership using a fake name as her license was suspended. For some people when it rains, it pours-literally.
Later in the day, I was dealing with a possible stolen truck at an apartment complex that actually turned out to have been repossessed after the owner hadn't paid in three months....when a dispute with a knife broke out in an adjacent building. A resident in the apartment managed to wrestle the knife away before I actually got over there. But two grown adult sisters in the apartment got cabin fever after being cooped up in the apartment with the rain all day. One had been drinking and the other had been smoking weed (the weed smoker also had one leg). The weed smoker got upset, grabbed a knife and jumped on the other sister after cutting her on her inner thigh. The drinker kept telling me she was cut and I kept asking where and she wouldn't tell me. She finally said officer, I'll just pull down my pants and show you. I had to stop her. I really didn't want to see that. Eventually the beat officer for where the fight occurred came out and handled the call. I got out of that apartment as fast as I could.
I slept so well and slept in even. Of course today just happened to be the day maintenance came around to do quarterly inspections and I awoke to my dog waking me up barking. Today definitely called for an energy drink to stay alert for the start of a new shift.
I came into work with a pending of calls about 12 deep. The pending never cleared until 1245am. (I get off work at 1030-or at least I'm supposed to). I ended up staying late due to a vehicle accident and on the way back to the precinct a DUI driver on prescription medication and alcohol driving with no lights on almost hit me head on. Needless to say, I didn't get home until roughly 2am. I'm especially grateful for an officer who helped me out with the field sobriety test on the driver (who failed miserably and I had to hold in my laughter as it occurred).
Earlier in the day I posted up at my favorite highway off-ramp to run tags when I saw a vehicle with a temporary tag. In my state, "temp tags" have a registration number and a date when the tag expires. This particular tag only had a date and therefore was invalid. I initiated my stop on the vehicle as it pulled into a buy here/pay here car dealership.
I approached the car and saw two kids (later found out there were 3 and 1 years old) both sleeping on the backseat lying down with no seat belts on. I asked the driver why her kids weren't in a seat and she told me she was just coming back from the daycare and didn't have them in her car (which was a rental from the car dealership which we pulled into). I asked the driver for her license and she told me she left it at home. I had her write down her information on my notepad and I went back to the car to run her and the car's VIN. The VIN told me the car was not registered (meaning a ticket at least for that and the two kids). When I ran the license the height and weight on the female didn't seem to match for an ID that was supposedly issued last month. I ran the female's information on my department database and found out she was arrest last month for shoplifting. I returned to the car and asked the female when the last time she was arrested was. The female told me it was a few years ago and could not remember the charge. I knew for a fact at this point she was giving me the information of someone else. I detained her in handcuffs and told her this was the time to tell me who she really was or she would be charged with a misdemeanor for lying to me. She kept to her story and I fingerprinted her with a mobile fingerprint machine. Sure enough she was lying and when I found out who she was, she had three warrants, each from separate counties. She also rented the car from the car dealership using a fake name as her license was suspended. For some people when it rains, it pours-literally.
Later in the day, I was dealing with a possible stolen truck at an apartment complex that actually turned out to have been repossessed after the owner hadn't paid in three months....when a dispute with a knife broke out in an adjacent building. A resident in the apartment managed to wrestle the knife away before I actually got over there. But two grown adult sisters in the apartment got cabin fever after being cooped up in the apartment with the rain all day. One had been drinking and the other had been smoking weed (the weed smoker also had one leg). The weed smoker got upset, grabbed a knife and jumped on the other sister after cutting her on her inner thigh. The drinker kept telling me she was cut and I kept asking where and she wouldn't tell me. She finally said officer, I'll just pull down my pants and show you. I had to stop her. I really didn't want to see that. Eventually the beat officer for where the fight occurred came out and handled the call. I got out of that apartment as fast as I could.
I slept so well and slept in even. Of course today just happened to be the day maintenance came around to do quarterly inspections and I awoke to my dog waking me up barking. Today definitely called for an energy drink to stay alert for the start of a new shift.
Friday, March 20, 2015
The Things People Call 911 For......
So yesterday was a day of complete nonsense. The height of it came when a guy called 911 because he ordered a pizza and the pizza delivery driver left without his change and never came back.
I had every intention of going to the callers house and telling him it was a civil matter and that he could be arrested for abuse of 911 but when I had my dispatcher ask what his apartment number he told her he was at the pizza place. I drove to the pizza place and encountered the male who was upset because he just got laid off his job and now the pizza guy took his money. The guy told me he had to take a taxi to the pizza place and was going to need one to get back. The man was upset because he paid with 2 $20 bills for a $25 meal and did not receive his change. The driver told the man he didn't have change and would be back. Apparently he took too long. I kept thinking about how much a taxi would cost from where the man lived to the pizza hut and back. Clearly the guy spent more money on the taxi than the pizza guy forgot. I told the man he could make a formal complaint with the pizza place manager and take them to court if he really wanted to. The man got his change back and was happy-telling me all he really wanted was for me to hear him out (which I easily could have done at his apartment....).
For actual police work.....I received a call from a citizen that she was driving on the interstate when she observed a vehicle matching the description of hers which had been stolen about a week ago. The lady had left her vehicle outside in her driveway running to get warm before she got inside. (Note: PEOPLE PLEASE STOP DOING THIS. People walk around looking for these easy cars to steal). The lady had an extra key fob and anytime she would see a similar car to hers would hit the lock door button to see if the lights flashed. The lady got off the highway and turned around and came back to the car and hit the button and sure enough the car lights flashed. She didn't wait at the car but got off at the next exit and waited at a gas station for me. I stopped by the car before meeting her and saw the backseat was full of what looked to be stolen clothes still with the tags on them. The passenger side front window was busted out and the keys were nowhere to be found. The car was stolen from a neighboring agency and had a license plate on it belonging to a similar car of a different color. The plate hadn't been reported stolen yet but I'm sure it will be soon. The lady had the car towed through her insurance to a tow yard awaiting the original agency to finish their investigation (fingerprints, photos, etc) but at least she got her car back in relatively decent condition for a stolen car.
I had every intention of going to the callers house and telling him it was a civil matter and that he could be arrested for abuse of 911 but when I had my dispatcher ask what his apartment number he told her he was at the pizza place. I drove to the pizza place and encountered the male who was upset because he just got laid off his job and now the pizza guy took his money. The guy told me he had to take a taxi to the pizza place and was going to need one to get back. The man was upset because he paid with 2 $20 bills for a $25 meal and did not receive his change. The driver told the man he didn't have change and would be back. Apparently he took too long. I kept thinking about how much a taxi would cost from where the man lived to the pizza hut and back. Clearly the guy spent more money on the taxi than the pizza guy forgot. I told the man he could make a formal complaint with the pizza place manager and take them to court if he really wanted to. The man got his change back and was happy-telling me all he really wanted was for me to hear him out (which I easily could have done at his apartment....).
For actual police work.....I received a call from a citizen that she was driving on the interstate when she observed a vehicle matching the description of hers which had been stolen about a week ago. The lady had left her vehicle outside in her driveway running to get warm before she got inside. (Note: PEOPLE PLEASE STOP DOING THIS. People walk around looking for these easy cars to steal). The lady had an extra key fob and anytime she would see a similar car to hers would hit the lock door button to see if the lights flashed. The lady got off the highway and turned around and came back to the car and hit the button and sure enough the car lights flashed. She didn't wait at the car but got off at the next exit and waited at a gas station for me. I stopped by the car before meeting her and saw the backseat was full of what looked to be stolen clothes still with the tags on them. The passenger side front window was busted out and the keys were nowhere to be found. The car was stolen from a neighboring agency and had a license plate on it belonging to a similar car of a different color. The plate hadn't been reported stolen yet but I'm sure it will be soon. The lady had the car towed through her insurance to a tow yard awaiting the original agency to finish their investigation (fingerprints, photos, etc) but at least she got her car back in relatively decent condition for a stolen car.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)