Police activity in your personal life

[trenton]

I am making this post because of an event that happened at 2:50 pm today.

I was going on a walk as I often do when I started walking up Washington avenue. Suddenly, a boy yelled help out of a nearby window. I looked toward the house when the window slammed shut and the blinds closed. It all fell quiet. I looked at the address of the house as I stood on the sidewalk. Someone moved the curtains by the door and looked out at me. I couldn't see his or her face. I wasn't sure if I should call the police or not because it could be something minor like a child acting up, or it could be something violent and dangerous like an abusive baby sitter or a kidnapper. Whoever was behind the curtain closed it. I decided to go to the police station and tell them what I witnessed, where, and when. I accidentally went the wrong way on the way to the station. I eventually found my way over and told the police. I have them my id and phone number. So far they haven't called me and I hope everything is fine and I have them the right information. I hear an ambulance outside and I can't help but wonder if someone was hurt. I will share more police stories later from my personal life.

[Bojan V]

Let's hope everything is ok with the people in that house.

Also looking forward to more police stories.

[Osaid]

Had my house broken into last October at like 3am.

Police came by and said 3am is like the witching hour for crime. They also said it's very uncommon for a house to get robbed while people are inside it. It seems the thief didn't expect for anyone to be in the house, they were very surprised to see me there. Seemed under the influence or something, very confused and uncoordinated. They ran off when they saw me. They took some wallets and stuff. Apparently they broke into 12 other houses the same day.

The windows had metal guard railings attached for this exact scenario, but apparently they were loose and it got kicked down pretty easily.

The police only give back to you what they found, otherwise you're out of luck in retrieving anything else you lost.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Osaid

[trenton]

Another incident happened on Washington avenue before.

I was on a walk on one of my days off work. On my way home I walked passed a three year old girl who was crying on the sidewalk. I walked back and asked her why she was crying. She said that she couldn't find her mommy and daddy.

I asked her where she last saw them. She said that they drove off in their car and said that they would be right back. I talked with her for a little bit as I looked around and waited with her for her parents to arrive. Nobody showed up. I didn't know if they meant 5 minutes or 30 minutes.

I told the girl that I wanted to get help from the police, but I wasn't as familiar with this area and I wanted to make sure I have the police the right location. The girl was afraid that she might be killed if she went along with me. I told her that I would make sure that doesn't happen as I reached out my hand. After walking outside of my house, I called the police and waited for them. We sat on the front lawn as I have the police the details of the situation.

Eventually, two officers showed up and I directed them back to where I found the lost girl. I asked them if they needed me to go with them, but they said that they would handle the rest from here. Sometimes I walk by that house and people living there greet me. I see the little girl a bit more grown up now and I don't think any of them know I was the one to call the cops. They seem happy on the outside at least. I hope they arent neglecting this girl anymore and she seems happy when she plays and laughs in the backyard as I walk by on my walks.

One risk I didn't realize is that other people might think I was trying to kidnap her. A kidnapper would lie and say he wasn't kidnapping her. I could have easily been misunderstood and thrown in prison because of the assumptions people would have made about my motives. It's true that there are dangerous people who would kidnap her, rape her, and kill her. Luckily, she ran into a nice stranger who was concerned about her well-being. I could have told the police I was on Washington avenue and that should have been good enough for them to ride up the road and find me.

[trenton]

@Osaid that story contains some solid information about how criminals act and think as well as what we should expect in police investigations. If people have false expectations of the police and they expect to get everything back, then it can lead to even stronger resentment toward the police.

It's interesting to know that 3 a.m. Is a dangerous time. In fact many robberies happen during the day when you are at work or on vacation. Robbing a house at night while the owner is asleep runs the risk of the owner sleeping with a gun under their pillow.

My dad had many stories about home robberies. One of the stories happens while he was working as a cook in a nearby restaurant. Robbers often walk around the neighborhood and gauge when cars are in the driveway and when you leave for work. My dad had a ton of police stories because he was a big time criminal himself in many many ways.

My dad used to live in a house that had a small window looking into an alley on the side. Someone called dad and told him that someone broke into his house. Dad tried to leave, but his boss threatened to fire him if he left. Dad left anyway and lost his job.

When dad came to his house he saw the broken window and a television laying on the ground. He figured that someone saw him, so the robber dropped the tv and ran off. I don't know that the robber was caught, but dad moved to a house without a window facing an alley. Dad had a bunch of alarms on his doors and windows and slept with a baseball bat next to his bed. There were several cases of robbers trying to break into his new house, but the alarm scared them off several times.

[Osaid]

25 minutes ago, trenton said:

Robbing a house at night while the owner is asleep runs the risk of the owner sleeping with a gun under their pillow.

Yeah, they said it's really uncommon for someone to rob a house that has people. The robber was really dumb and thought it was empty for some reason. Then they went on to break into other houses as well. It was probably a crackhead or something.

25 minutes ago, trenton said:

It's interesting to know that 3 a.m. Is a dangerous time.

I would guess because everyone is asleep and there's no activity. Plus, they were referring to crime in general, not just house break-ins.

You also gotta remember people who commit crime are not the smartest.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Osaid

[trenton]

As I am making this thread, I am realizing that I have a ton of police stories to tell. I might need to space these out and add more later.

I have multiple home break ins, many crimes my dad committed and how he interacted with the police, domestic violence calls, and maybe more.

Another police incident happened earlier this month, on the ninth. We were on the way to my younger sister's graduation, but we got stuck in an elevator. We hit the button and we contacted the police who sent an officer over along with an engineer to get us out.

My older sister was very distressed. The rest of us were not panicked. In fact I took a selfie with my grandmas who were on the elevator with me. I told them although I'm stuck, I'm glad to be stuck with you. We sent the selfie to my younger sister and mom. They were shocked that we actually got stuck on the way to graduation. We were laughing, but there was a real chance that we could have died. My older sister was more concerned about the danger than any of us.

Apparently, most elevator users die when the counter balance malfunctions and the elevator falls after which you can't survive because the impact is too great for the human body, the elevator is not properly aligned with the floor and people trip and get hurt, or the elevator door malfunctions and someone gets crushed and dies. Rarely, so people did just from getting stuck in the elevator because there is enough oxygen and you are not going to suffocate. You could die in that case, but the chances are slim compared to other accidents. Thankfully, in my case the elevator was lined up correctly, but the door would not open. Other accidents are much worse.

https://wisdomanswer.com/has-anyone-ever-died-in-a-stuck-elevator/

Eventually, an engineer opened the door and we rode to the graduation ceremony in a police car. We had a lot to talk about over graduation and the celebration as we are lunch with the family.

I pulled up some statistics apparently, 30 Americans die every year from elevator and escalator incidents. 17,000 people are seriously injured by this incidents. 90 percent of deaths and 60 percent of injuries are caused by elevators. Nearly half of elevator deaths are attributed to people working on elevators to maintain them and repair them. Half of worked deaths are caused by employees falling down the shaft while working. Many of the remaining employee deaths are people who were caught between moving parts of the elevator or were struck by the counter weights used to lift the elevator.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nioshtic-2/20039852.html#:~:text=Incidents involving elevators and escalators kill about 30,Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

[trenton]

I found some interesting statistics on crime. Apparently, the majority of crimes remain unsolved. An average of 40% of murders go unsolved every year. About 80% of property crimes were unsolved in 2018. Pew research has some interesting data.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/01/most-violent-and-property-crimes-in-the-u-s-go-unsolved/

These numbers can be alarming. They demonstrate how limited the police are in solving crimes. There are simply too many crimes to solve and their resources are stretched too thin. Deeper changes to society are necessary aside from improving the police. There is only so much the police can do to maintain order and enforce the law.

[trenton]

I have a couple of police stories from chess tournaments.

My first is when I was at walnut hills high school to represent the school. I was the strongest player in the history of the school and I was the first in history to win the scholastic series. I hesitated to go at first because I felt that it would be too easy. I won many tournaments with stronger opponents already. After the chess club and the teacher and principle insisted, I decided to go.

There were 5 rounds in the tournament. I won the first 4 games without much trouble. The students were intimidated because they learned that I play in tournaments for money. In fact, I defeated the tournament director and won a few hundred dollars from that tournament.

In between rounds I went to my grandma who was waiting outside the tournament area. She was looking at her texts and I didn't think much of it. She congratulated me for doing well in representing the school. After discussing how the last game went she went outside to take a call.  I waited for my next game and reviewed my opening moves in my mind. Finally, the last round started and I won that round as well. I won the medal and was applauded for representing the school very well.

It was time to go and then grandma broke the news to me. There was another incident of domestic violence at my house. Mom and Mike were fighting so badly that mom had to call the police again. Mike commonly yelled out "she wanted but heroin" to discourage her for calling the police in that she would go down with him. In this case, I was disappointed to discover that the police did nothing about these calls again. Mom had called them multiple times, but they concluded it was a he said she said situation and they could do nothing.

Other people keep telling me that this is the exception and cops are usually better at handling these cases by separating the couple. I have a hard time believing this given that there were children who were also present in the house who could confirm many of the stories. The police must have been especially incompetent in the case of my family. Mike has destroyed the house on multiple occasions. The police were called multiple times and children were often present.

All of this outraged me and it made me feel trapped in life. My family told me to focus on myself while my money was being stolen. I was putting the money I won from chess tournaments aside for college, but my bank account was emptied because of my mom's drug addiction that lead her to pawning the electronics to pay the bills.

The best I could do to build a good life for myself was to hide in my bedroom with a laptop and study chess while the two fought each other down stairs. It was a form of escapism from the hopelessness I felt in the situation I had little control over. I often hurt myself by pursing the fantasy of a happy family. This was simply impossible given my mom's mental state, dad fleeing the state  avoid paying child support, and Mike using my mom's crimes to prevent his eviction.

If I had to guess why many cases of domestic violence are not reported, then it may be because the assailant is using the crimes of victim to threaten them. If the victim concedes, then there are no more laws in this situation. The law has no power. The abusive couple are stuck until they fear themselves part along with ownership of the house and possession of the children. I'm not convinced that domestic violence is continued merely through emotional attachment to the abuser and misusing forgiveness. There may be legitimate survival threats to the victim should they call the police and get themselves thrown in prison as well. For example, punishing drug addiction rather than rehabilitation.

I could go on, but this should be enough for now.