hmjgriffon,
For the sake of brevity, and to add a little drama to make the point about responsiveness, I omitted a few details.
- My driveway is about 50 yards long. Due to woods and ravine, that's the only way for a vehicle to leave.
- When I drove up my driveway, and found the black mustang trying to drive down my driveway, I simply parked my car. They had no way out.
- This was a sunny Saturday, middle of the day.
- Minutes later, when I got to my house, there was no break-in. I shared that info with 911. Maybe that diminished the crime to "trespassing" from "burglary"
Now for the "my stupid" part.
- I walked up to the car and said "WTF you doing on my property?"
- I was unarmed. I had my 26 YO daughter with me.
- The car occupants appeared calm. They didn't exit the car. We had a few precious moments of looking at each other thru our windshields. They didn't seem dangerous. Borderline stupid, in hindsight.
I went to my house, and called 911 from the landline (not from my cell, while parked in the car)
I did put my shotgun by the front door, in reach.
The miscreants remained in their car.
So the whole event was more tame than my earlier (brief) descrip may have sounded.
But wait, there's more!
911 operator asked that I remain on the line.
Me: "There a police car at the bottom of the driveway, but he's not getting out/ What's up?"
911: "He's waiting for backup. It's "standard operating procedure"
Note: The 1st cop could see the car with the two miscreants sitting patiently inside.
When the 2nd cop arrived, the two of them walked up the driveway.
Since no "crime" other than trespassing had occurred, they let the "looky lous" leave. I guess people who want to see what's down a long driveway, and trespass, aren't criminals.
Wait, there's more!
The police asked what I wanted to do.
Me: "Maybe press charges for trespassing?"
Note: I live on 1.3 acres, and feel pretty possessive about my property.
Police: "That probably wouldn't stick"
But wait, there's more!
Police: "You shouldn't take it upon yourself to block people from leaving your property. That a job to leave to the police"
The cops statement was ludicrous! Their arrival took 20 minutes!
Me: "But they'd have been long gone!"
Cops: "Get their plate number, and let us handle it"
Cops: "Don't do that again. You're not law enforcement. That's our job, not yours."
We've all had that moment where you don't know what to say. And later, with hindsight, you think of what "I shoulda said" I have at least a dozen replies/rebuttals now. Too late. Besides, cops aren't open to that kind of conversation.
My takeaway is the police DO NOT see a priority in protecting the property of citizens. (personal property like belonging or like a home). ie: Catching criminals, and prosecuting them, is their job one. Protecting our property is not. That's the job of insurance. (my conclusion based on their behavior, response times, and their messaging. From multiple interactions)
Conclusions:
- This is why my camera system, for self monitoring, is important.
- And my camera system could give me more protection than my alarm monitoring service.
- And why I asked bababuoy about what kind of 911 response might happen if "Harry Homeowner" call 911 about a burglary in process.
Let me ask you readers a challenging question:
- Do you use your camera security to see what happened After The Fact?
- Or do use push notifications, emails, etc with the intent to have the police show up and Stop a Burglary in Process?
- And the extra credit follow-up question; "Do you expect to call 911 and get a quick response?" (I envy the police responses we've seen in bababuoy's videos)
Sorry for the long post,
Fastb