I called the wrong number
A few weeks ago, whilst I was working, a rude belligerent woman decided that she would steal whatever merchandise she was arguing with my cashier about.

Well, in today's politically correct world and in keeping with my company's "soft-stop approach," I couldn't physically stop her. So I told her if she left I would call the police. The bitch left, so I called. Seeing as how I had her name and no one's life was in danger, I didn't call 911, I called the dispatch number.

That was wrong. The unkind gentleman "politely" informed me that I was to call 911 and promptly hung up. So I called 911.

Wrong number #2. The extremely unkind gentleman at 911 berated me for calling the emergency number when there was no emergency. I told him I called the non-emergency number first and told to call 911, he called me a liar and hung up.

So what did I do? Fuck all is what I did, I e-mailed my boss and forgot all about it until today, when I get to work and see and e-mail sent friday about who to call in the event of a shoplifter. I'm supposed to call 911 and not get off the line until an officer arrives. Fuck that shit, fuck it hard. It seems to me that calling the cops is the wrong thing to do.

Length? You love it, you filthy thing you.
(CactusZack Shaved his coin purse on, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 0:01, 15 replies)

I think you'll find this happens to everyone,
unless you can absolutely assert that a policeman or a member of the upper classes is about to be slightly inconvenienced...
( ..wil, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 0:55, closed)

the police are useless

( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 1:17, closed)

Report them...
...all 911 (or 000 / 999 / etc) calls are taped and subject to audit. I work for an emergency service and you did the right thing and they should be a lot more professional than that.
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 2:15, closed)

So get up a get get get down
911 is a joke in your town
(oball needs Satan more than he needs me, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 8:23, closed)

I suggest
a bolas.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 9:03, closed)

I had a similar situation
someone broke into my flat over Christmas (kicking the door off the hinges) but didn't actually take anything as far as I could tell - don't know if it was just a dosser or what, but the PS2, the BB gun, my guitar and any other stealable items were all exactly as I left them. I called the local police and they sent three cars round, because any case of breaking and entering *has* to be treated as an emergency, despite me telling them it really wasn't that big a deal.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 9:14, closed)

And they didn't hassle you for the love low hanging fruit of the air gun? Cops love to go fishing, ESPECIALLY by invitation.
(Benzyl, Tue 20 Jul 2010, 14:26, closed)

This past Saturday...
...my aunt was sexually assaulted in broad daylight. She was left with stitches, bruises, a concussion, a broken toe and a stolen purse; also, you know, that everlasting fear of people smashing you over the head so they can have their evil way with you. Evidence was abundant, of course - witnesses, CCTV, a shoe, a handful of hair...

The police took 45 minutes to drive about a mile, then told her 'shit happens'. They are not pursuing it.

WHAT!?

I'm sorry, but nice middle class girlies like me shouldn't grow to hate the police. I'd only call them if I were fairly certain I had been shot, and only then if I were forced to do so.
(TheSnark oh, c'mon, like you didn't see me coming, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 10:09, closed)

If this is in any part true...
...then, as long as your aunt provides a statement, the police are duty bound to investigate.

Do you have the details of these witnesses? Do you know the CCTV is real? Has the hair been passed on?

Once an investigation file is passed to the CPS, it is up them then as to whether it is in the public interest to prosecute a suspect - not the police.

It the police, as you say "are not pursuing it" because "shit happens", then a quick letter to the IPCC or the Chief Constable of your local force is in order.
( Another_tragic_case wished he hadn't eaten all the cake, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 11:27, closed)

This is in Flint, Michigan.
It is a bankrupt city with one of the highest murder rates in the nation. It is a skeleton force with its hands tied up with murder. And we wonder why Americans carry guns.

The violent crime rate in Flint, like Detroit, has declined over the past few years. It has been suggested that the is merely because people don't report violent crimes any more.

However, a similar thing happened to me in London. The police did pursue it, but I was told that the CCTV wasn't working and nothing was captured. A few days later, same location: bombs and the relevent investigation. The CCTV was fine then, as we all saw in the media. Perhaps I'm being a bit too angry, but I can't help but feel as if I was fobbed off with a lie because they just couldn't be arsed.

Luckily, my attitude was 'shit happens'.

Also, this is 100% true, but thanks for the vote of confidence.
(TheSnark oh, c'mon, like you didn't see me coming, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 11:45, closed)

I'm firmly of the belief
that CCTV is only of any use if the operator sees the crime and notifies the rozzers to get there immediately to nick the villains, crime in progress. Or, when they have nicked someone for an offence, they declare they have it all on CCTV so they might as well confess. This is great when they have you or I in the station, us not being career criminals, just ordinary folk who are brought up to believe that Plod is brave and true and whose authority should not be challenged, we just cave in, it's a fair cop, I did piss in Boots' doorway on the way home from the pub.
The clued-up villain, however,will have the balls to shrug his shoulders, confess to nothing, and challenge the Filth to prove it's him on the footage....which of course he can't. They have film of someone who looks kinda similar in some grainy footage, but that's all. Unless you have killed a copper, they aren't going to spend any time or money on tying the footage to you absolutely.

My basis for this belief is from the time that my brother's van got ripped off, all his tools stolen, right in front of a CCTV camera in the middle of town. Now the film showed the scrotes load their car with his stuff, and drive away. The network of cameras in town showed the vehicle driving out to the motorway, clearly showing the no plates. Did Plod go and kick someone's door in and retrieve his tools? Did they fuck, they said they knew the car, knew that the person who owned it was a crook, but that if they went round, he'd simply deny it was him. No search warrants, no arrests on suspicion, case closed. Their approach to my brother was "You're insured aren't you?" Yes, you cunts, but not for the tools in the back, some of which he'd had since he left school and started work.

And they wonder why people glorify cop killers (when they scoot around like fucking Robocop in armoured cars, yet fail to find the bull-necked pikey camping right under their noses for over a week), fuck the police, until they start doing some real police work, at grass roots level, and serving the community that pays their wages.

Ah, that feels better.....
(Rsoles, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 20:17, closed)

Have you considered joining up..?

( Another_tragic_case wished he hadn't eaten all the cake, Wed 21 Jul 2010, 8:14, closed)

'This blog will do more to put people off calling the police than anything, other than actually calling the police' as coppersblog.blogspot.com/ generally conveys.
(Benzyl, Tue 20 Jul 2010, 14:29, closed)

Ok, so you watched someone steal something from your place of work, and get off without so much as a rap on the knuckles.
So, depending on what you sell, why not just steal a load of it, and make a living from that? You already know the consequences of theft in that particular store.

Good luck.
(sabre-tooth monkey, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 10:15, closed)

haha!
Loss prevention at my company has a policy that you are guilty until you prove your own innocence. If they think you stole something, they immediately fire you, without any evidence.
(CactusZack Shaved his coin purse on, Mon 19 Jul 2010, 18:54, closed)