So when should I call 911?

[janradder]

This past December I was mugged right in front of my house.  The officer that responded to my call, after taking all my information, told me that I should trust my instincts and always call 911 when I see someone suspicious on my street or in our alley or lurking near  a house or wherever.  "Eighty percent of  the time when we get a call about someone suspicious, if we find them and search them, they either have a gun or drugs or some sort of contraband," he told haddayr and I.

Flash forward to today:  my son Éiden and are driving up to our house.  In the middle of the street are two thuggy looking guys who do not live on this block and who I have never seen before acting jittery and nervous and looking up and down the street, obviously waiting for someone. Whether they are there to buy or sell drugs, mug somebody or shoot someone, I really have no idea but they pretty much fit the label of "suspicious" and, from experience, that corner of our street has been a spot for shady dealings and I have little reason to believe that these two gentlemen are fine upstanding citizens.  The two guys have me freaked out enough that I do not stop in front of our house but drive on and pull over at a spot where I can still see the them and drive off if they start to approach the car.  I pull out my phone and call 911.  When the operator answers I tell him about the suspicious men.  I have done this before.  The next step, usually, is to ask for a description.   Instead, the operator says to me, "Well, it's not against the law to stand on the street and look suspicious."  Gee, ya think?  Well, I didn't know that Mr. Dumbfuck.  How bout next time I wait until they pull a gun on someone and then I'll call the police as they run off scott free?  God, I hate 911 operators.

Comments

[lilaschow.livejournal.com]

Damn! That's cold!

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I know. It seems you have to be either an idiot or an asshole to get a job working dispatch for 911.

[lilaschow.livejournal.com]

My husband once called to report teenagers doing donuts on the school lawn in their car (at night)and the dispather said, "And what do you want us to do about it?"

[geniusofevil.livejournal.com]

heh heh, dispather.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Years ago, I called about a guy getting beat up and kicked on the sidewalk in front of my apartment. The dispatcher asked, "Well, is he hurt?"

[lilaschow.livejournal.com]

wtf is up with that?

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Maybe she was being all Zen about it: If a man gets assaulted on the street but hasn't been hurt, was he really assaulted?

[lilaschow.livejournal.com]

lol! police zen that's all we need!