Monday, January 4, 2010

Makes you shake your head

Police officers have an opportunity to do a lot of good things for their community and fellow citizens. Some of these are very small, some of them are huge, but there is a constant stream of incidents you handle as a police officer where you take away a positive feeling that you have made a difference.

There are other cases, however, that just make you shake your head. Sgt. Teresa Hruza was the duty commander on Saturday, and while she was reviewing reports, she came across a good example that she forwarded to me. I have lightly edited the report to remove identifying information, and changed the names of the two people involved in this event. I wonder if Officer Ryan Duncan realized, when he was beginning the Academy about a year ago, that he'd be handling incidents like this:

(click image to enlarge)

20 comments:

Steve said...

Let's just hope Jones doesn't give the torilla press back to Smith by using it to make a taco out of Smith's face!

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of grade school when the teacher would read a story and tell the class to finish with an ending. Here is mine for extra credit:
Person went to get food equipment from person who would not give it back. Physical fight between the two women, one transported by medical. Critical condition.
Persons were advised to contact police rather than handle it on own.

As Paul Harvey would say:
Now you know the rest of the story!

Anonymous said...

Did this call come in on a 911 line?

Two Guns said...

When I was working at the Pen one of the inmates in my housing unit was a very talented artist. He was good enough that he even did portraits for staff. He traded his skills with the inmates for cigarettes and who knows what else (although against the rules). This guy was real popular with all staff and inmates and never gave anyone any trouble. So when I came to work one day and found out that the inmate artist and another inmate were in the hole for fighting I had to wonder about it.

During the investigation the details came out. An inmate had commissioned the artist to do a full nude portrait of his wife. He gave the artist inmate a photograph of his wife ,fully dressed, to work with. Several days later the portrait was done and delivered. That is when the fight began. Evidently the artist inmate had dated the other inmates wife while out on the street. In the portrait he had included a couple tatoos in places that only her husband should have known about. The fight was on.

So I have to wonder: what the photos were on the memory chip? There might be another incident after they are printed.

Gun Nut

Juan said...

I thought people are suppose to mature when they get older? Patience must truly be a virtue for police officers.

Juan said...

I thought people mature when they get older? It amazes me how people can get so petty. Patience is really a virtue that is practiced by Police Officers.

SS said...

I hope all those people that claim we don't have Tortilla Presser problems here in lil' ole Lincoln will sit up and take notice. We're not the little town we used to be.

Sure, it's just a Tortilla Press, but these tend to be "gateway" utensils. Soon it will be coffee machines, blenders, and finally the large and dangerous Cuisinart cartels will be running everything.

SS said...

I hope all those people that claim we don't have Tortilla Presser problems here in lil' ole Lincoln will sit up and take notice. We're not the little town we used to be.

Sure, it's just a Tortilla Press, but these tend to be "gateway" utensils. Soon it will be coffee machines, blenders, and finally the large and dangerous Cuisinart cartels will be running everything.

Anonymous said...

The libs will want to ban all tortilla pressers.

ARRRRG!!!! said...

My cousins might have a tortilla presser 'Smith' could borrow.

Anonymous said...

Well, does the tortilla press get return? Please let us know the [sarcastic] exciting conclusion!

Anonymous said...

Isnt' it wonderful when supposedly mature adults act like a pair of spoiled four-year olds? Too bad Mommy wasn't around to settle this.

Anonymous said...

Not to throw a bucket of ice water on a light-hearted topic, but assuming you can't have a lot of time on-shift with no calls holding, just patrolling around and observing, I'd say that tortilla press incident would be highly preferable to having incidents like this one occur. That's the other end of the spectrum.

You know there are going to be murderers, rapists, and child abusers out there from time to time, and you're going to get those calls, but when it's all rolled into one depraved criminal, it's really got to rock you back on your heels. It's good that it didn't happen in Lincoln, but it would be best if it had never happened at all.

Anonymous said...

Chief you need a call center to help citizens with "issues"...the authority the police bring helps iron out the problems. I had parents but to each their own.

I really want a tortilla press where can I buy one?

Anonymous said...

Chief,

If an apt dweller leaves their door unlocked, goes to bed, and then someone else walks in and boosts their stuff, is that technically burglary, or trespassing and larceny, since the entry wasn't forced?

Anonymous said...

hey anon^ I have a tortilla press you can borrow..

Tom Casady said...

1:57-

Good question, with a complex answer. Crime statistics are based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Report criteria, as described in the UCR Coding Handbook. Criminal charges, on the other hand, are based on the Nebraska Revised Statutes. While the common terms normally match, in some instances, there are subtle differences. Burglary is a good example. Under Nebraska law, a burglary requires forcible breaking and entering. Under the UCR guidelines, burglary only requires unauthorized entry.

In this case, however, the difference between UCR and State Statute is not applicable. Even though the door was unlocked, it was closed. When the burglars opened the door, the slight physical force necessary to do so was sufficient to meet the element of forcible entry in Nebraska law. The Nebraska case law on this issue makes this a well-settled point of law.

Anonymous said...

1:57

But if the suspects of the burglary are arrested and go to court the case will more than likely be plea bargained to misdemeanor trespassing or the ever popular disturbing the peace.

Anonymous said...

Chief,

Thanks, I wasn't sure about that. Some states are quite a bit different; either requiring forced entry for burglary, or (to go the opposite direction) classifying putting your hand through an open window as burglary.

So, in Nebraska, if someone walked through an open overhead door into a garage and stole a $1,000 snowthrower, it wouldn't be burglary (since they didn't even touch the door), just misdemeanor criminal tresspass, but it would be a (class IV) felony theft. Does that sound about right?

Tom Casady said...

3:51-

Correct, if it is charged, it would be a trespass and/or theft because it fails the forcible test under Nebraska's statute. In our crime reports & stats, though, it goes down as a burglary, because we are reporting to the UCR and it meets the FBI definition of unauthorized entry to steal stuff inside.