You know you work in the 'burbs when...

[e-man]

Since the Hood thread is going so good and I now work in the burbs let get one boring thread started...
....when kids wave at you with all 5 fingers...
...when people actually are happy to see you roll up at their house.

[justice12]

.....when every person that drives by while you are directing traffic around a scene stops to ask you what is going on.....

[fahrenheit]

... victims of a crime are more concerned with their name appearing in the police blotter in the local paper than they are with reporting the crime.

... you arrive at a domestic and both parties are already on the phone with their lawyers.

... you respond to calls of "failure to clean up dog waste," "cutting down trees without a permit," and "injured squirrel" about as often as you do "man with a gun" or "domestic battery in progress."

... residents are shocked to learn that "men with guns" and "domestic batteries" occur in their town. (My favorite quote from residents is "nothing every really happens around here, does it?" See below).

... residents are shocked to learn (after their iPod, GPS, and $150 in cash have been stolen) that even though Chicago is a whole 10 miles away, they DO still need to LOCK THEIR CARS AT NIGHT.

... all the high school kids will try and educate you as to why weed is good for you and should be legalized.

... the guy driving a Bentley is amazed that you don't defer to his judgement and cower away when he yells at you.

... your police dispatch desk receives citizen complaints of "black man in town."

[Cockney Corner.]

... your police dispatch desk receives citizen complaints of "black man in town."

Oh yeah. It generally comes in as "suspicious male". "Control, could you get back to the caller and find out what he's doing that is suspicious exactly". Then you find out that he's black.

[Bing_Oh]

Fahrenheit, if it didn't say "Chicago area" under your location, I'd think you were working in my town!

[miami-k9]

People offer you and your dog water when your working a search.

Violent crime victims apologize for wasting your time.

If they saw a guy running, they actually tell you they saw him, and point you in the right direction.

$10k worth of home entertainment system is protected by a sliding glass door........that is unlocked.

The family pool is in the ground........and has water in it.

When you tell them to go inside...........they do it.

They offer help.

When they speak, I can understand them.

When I ask a question, the reply is not "Who me?"

They know their adresses.

Their children have at least as many books, as they do video games.

Gunshots are something people are actually concerned about.

People walk their dogs. At night. By themselves.

Every car on the block runs.

When you walk in a home, your not afraid to sit on the sofa.

The toddlers have more than a diaper on, and wear shoes to go outside.

Men wear shirts when outside.

Women wearing belly shirts, have bellies you might enjoy looking at.

Whats cooking on the stove, is something you might want to eat.






Im sure I could think of a few dozen more.

[Frank Booth]

....edit...............

[kansaslawdog31]

... your police dispatch desk receives citizen complaints of "black man in town."

Classic one that goes right along with this one....Dispatch gets a call form a concerned citizen inquiring if one of the department's squad cars was stolen. Dispatch asks the caller why they think the squad is stolen and without missing a beat the caller advises because a black man is driving it. Turns out the "suspect" is a new officer who just started out on the road and goes to take the report. It would have been priceless to see the look on the face of the caller when the officer arrived to take the report..

[cstelz]

... your police dispatch desk receives citizen complaints of "black man in town."[/QUOTE]


That made me laugh. We get that all the time. :)

[e-man]

Oh yeah. It generally comes in as "suspicious male". "Control, could you get back to the caller and find out what he's doing that is suspicious exactly". Then you find out that he's black.

HOLY CRAP, and I thought it was just my new 'hood.

OK, heres a few more
There are absolutely NO houses with broken windows and broken fornt door jambs..
The repair guys leave their back doors to the repair vans open and not worry about theft {not smart but they do}
The domestic violence defendant actually COMPLETES all 10 hours of D.V. classes :D

[kicket]

Every other door does not have crime scene tape on it.and the gras is not 10 feet high.

[kansaslawdog31]

You are assigned to serve an arrest warrant on a local resident for failing to license their dog...

The only self-initated activity you can find on mids is checking for open garage doors...

You go to a loud music complaint, request the person to turn it down and they actually do it and leave it turned down...

The worst call you respond to on your shift is the theft of a newspaper from a driveway...

[SammyCal1]

[QUOTE
your police dispatch desk receives citizen complaints of "black man in town."[/QUOTE]

All of the time. We call it the "B.I.L.F." call (Black in Little Falls). I had a suspicious person call because a black guy wearing a dark suit was sitting in a Lincoln. Could it be that he is a chauffer???

Sammy

[rookie2812]

you guys are spoiled

[fahrenheit]

you guys are spoiled

I won't argue with you. I'm lucky enough to work in an affluent suburb near a big city (Chicago) with decent bosses and citizens who are (for the most part) decent people. We deal with a lot of little BS calls and domestics, but we also get to deal with things like murder/suicides, calls for guns in the school, and drug dealers (although I must admit that surburban drug dealers are a totally different breed).

I get paid more than the big city coppers, too.

[Washingtonian]

... when you can say "Oh, i'm sorry sir/maam, we don't handle that. You need to call your homeowners association with that complaint."

[1code12]

...when the yearly magazine solicitors come into town (usually employing several young black and hispanic males) and everyone calls in a suspicious person....because of their skin color

...when blocking traffic at an accident and someone tells you they need to get through because they live nearby, and although they have lived in the area for many years have no idea on other detours to take to get home

...when you ID the 'gangsta wannabees' on a traffic stop and find out that their first names are 'Brent, Tyler, Dylan, Trevor'...etc.

...When the typical neighbor dispute is a result of grass clippings going into someones yard

...a injured deer in someones backyard will undoubtedly result in someone pleading with you 'Please take the deer in your patrol car to a vet hospital!'

...turning on your red and blues result in 80% of the passing public to stare, then stop, and then ask, 'Is everything ok?'

...elderly people in large vehicles WILL NOT pull over for you.

[e-man]

When you get a bank robbery suspect caught and a drunk and wasted junkie arrest in the same shift, its a BUSY SHIFT :D

When you can go 2-3 hours in a shift and NOT have to jump out of the car.

When you need to FORCE yourself to get out of the car eery hour or so to stretch "just in case" that foot pursuit comes to YOUR TOWN :D

[msptrooper]

...a injured deer in someones backyard will undoubtedly result in someone pleading with you 'Please take the deer in your patrol car to a vet hospital!'

Yeah that's a good one. If you work in a full service county here, you go from the lowest of the trailer parks to the highest of nice development houses. Your scene changes in an instant.

[e-man]

...when the Escalades and Range Rovers are driven by people who ACTUALLY WORK for a living...

[MIDeputy]

I work for a full-service Sheriff's Dept. in Michigan. We are centrally located between four major cities. So in the last several years we have been getting people moving out to the country from the city, but the city folks are trying to make the country folks like them. My favorite calls are gun shots heard. Yeah no kidding, you live on 5 acres of property and your neighbor owns 10 acres and today is the opening day of deer season. Same goes for ORV/ATV complaints. Yes I know it's hard to understand sir or ma'am, but they are allowed to ride a 4-wheeler on their 15 acres of property on a Saturday at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. We also get the "suspicious person" calls when someone see's a person other than white in the area. Mind you Black person's only make up 0.6% of the counties 200,000+ population. Another classic is "someone ran my mailbox over, it's a federal crime!' No, it's funny is what it is! Mailbox vandalism is a high schoolers second job in the summer around here.
I was originally from the city and actually worked for the Detroit PD before I moved out to the Sheriff's Office. Man what a change it was going from typical stuff that occurred in Detroit, to the Sheriff's Dept. where people call because they saw an injured raccoon or opossum on the side of the road and they were concerned.

[J_Mann]

.....when every person that drives by while you are directing traffic around a scene stops to ask you what is going on.....

hahah! i love it!

[J_Mann]

Here's one that kills me.

you know you're working in the 'burbs' when...

you have a power-outage and they call dispatch to ask when it's going to be back on and what the problem is.


Me: Call AEP, thanks. *click*

[stealth600]

....when you are talking with a three year old kid and he tells you that you work for him because he heard his dad say that he pays your salary!!!

[e-man]

...when you go to criminal court [not local magistrate or traffic} and the guys from your old inner city department say "Hey E, what are you here for? Cow tipping, maybe a felony mailbox batter?"
:mad:
NO IDIOT. remember that Stolen car, and stolen gun I got a few yrs ago???
Its coming up now.... :rolleyes:

[Garbage Man]

You get a family disturbance call because the couples son locks himself in his room, wont obey them at all and smokes pot all day .....and he's 35

[nrneuha]

Oh yeah. It generally comes in as "suspicious male". "Control, could you get back to the caller and find out what he's doing that is suspicious exactly". Then you find out that he's black.

Or "Naked black dude in the laundromat". Seriously. :eek:

[SammyCal1]

Here's one that kills me.

you know you're working in the 'burbs' when...

you have a power-outage and they call dispatch to ask when it's going to be back on and what the problem is.


Me: Call AEP, thanks. *click*

All the friggin' time. As if we caused the outage and are the ones working on it.

Another one of my burb favorites is "I'm a tax payer." As if everyone else around here is living for free and we are supposed to violate someone else's rights just because "I'm a tax payer" says so.

Sammy

[e-man]

Got a great one...
Call to a local elementary school 'cause a student refuses to come back into school after recess. :eek: YEP and he is 10 y.o.

[Staubb00]

...when blocking traffic at an accident and someone tells you they need to get through because they live nearby, and although they have lived in the area for many years have no idea on other detours to take to get home


that one always blew my mind. telling them to take a different route home gets a reaction on their face like you just tased them. i guess some people are more set in their routines than others

[kansaslawdog31]

Here's one that kills me. You know you're working in the 'burbs' when...you have a power-outage and they call dispatch to ask when it's going to be back on and what the problem is.

Me: Call AEP, thanks. *click*

You mean you guys don't have that "secret squirrel" power switch for the entire jurisdiction? :)

[J_Mann]

You mean you guys don't have that "secret squirrel" power switch for the entire jurisdiction? :)


We were looking into getting it, but it's an expensive program.

[MIDeputy]

One of my all-time favorites is you know you're working in the "burbs" when...

the Condominium Complex Association calls in a trespassing comlaint on the tenants in Unit 12, because they are using the community swimming pool and they failed to pay their monthly association dues this month.

I don't know this sounds more like a job for David Hasselhoff, maybe he can dive in the pool and physically remove these criminals for trespassing in the community pool.

[ChiTownDet]

When you pull up on a scene, ask the crowd if they saw anything, and instead of blank stares and laughing, 10 people step foreward with descriptions and plate numbers scribbled on paper.

And in the ultra-liberal suburb I worked in, when you'd ask a victim if the offender was black, white or hispanic, get the reply "What difference does THAT make?"

[RBrodowski]

When you're surrounding a house with a shotgun pointed at the front door and atleast 3 neighbors approach you to ask if anything is wrong....

When you ask a 16yo to do SFST he advises you that his lawyer told him he shouldn't....

The 16yo drives a car that costs more than your yearly salary....

People are shocked to learn that when you don't lock the doors to your car, their GPS, laptop, and $100 in the glove box are stolen....

Some people actually thank you when you take them to jail....

You get complained on for "being mean" and you didn't even cuss....

You get complaints that "the tree service hasn't finished cleaning up when they said they would" (which I go to 5+ times a year) or "my neighbor's dog barks when he is let outside to use the bathroom" (I go to 10+ times a year).

People make it a point to tell you their the president of their home owners association, like its really that important....

You get calls on people violating "our home owners association bylaws" and they get mad at you for not enforcing them (most of the time its "that person doesn't live here, they can't be parked at the pool)...

Oh there are so many more.....not enough time :P.

[SammyCal1]

When every night we get a suspicious person call for a black guy driving a white car though the condo complex. Could it be the security guard the condo assn. hired???

When the IA complaints are mostly of the officer being rude because he spoke sternly to them.

When everyone wants to tell you they know the mayor. Well so do we and nobody likes him so who are you impressing?

Sammy

[Daywalker846]

........You get called to 123 Main St, the resident called 911 because the garbage men didn't pick up their trash that morning. (Yes that actually happened, I had to have the dispatcher repeat it twice, I was laughing too loud and wasn't able to hear the whole call)

........You respond to 456 4th St for the 5th time that month because their neighbor at 457 4th St keeps throwing buckeyes in their yard even though a buckeye tree is sitting right on the property line :rolleyes:

........Your Dept is told by council to start writing parking tickets for people parking in the wrong direction on a dead end street.

.......The biggest investigation you have for the month is concerning newspapers being stolen from the newspaper machine in front of the post office.

[e-man]

........You get called to 123 Main St, the resident called 911 because the garbage men didn't pick up their trash that morning. (Yes that actually happened, I had to have the dispatcher repeat it twice, I was laughing too loud and wasn't able to hear the whole call)

........You respond to 456 4th St for the 5th time that month because their neighbor at 457 4th St keeps throwing buckeyes in their yard even though a buckeye tree is sitting right on the property line :rolleyes:

........Your Dept is told by council to start writing parking tickets for people parking in the wrong direction on a dead end street.

.......The biggest investigation you have for the month is concerning newspapers being stolen from the newspaper machine in front of the post office.
Welcome aboard DAYwalker...

...work in the burbs when you have to shoot a injured deer and the neighbors all gather round asking "Is that the one deer thats been around all week?" LIke its a homeless person...
Gas drive-offs get a major follow up investigation EVEN though the store/victim has a No Prosecution policy....
Write reports for EVERYTHING just 'to get the kid in the system' so we know who he is 2 yrs down the road

[11Bto5-0]

...you get two calls inside ten minutes for "suspicious male" when there's a door-to-door salesman in town who happens to be African American. (actually, one of the two calls was a possible burglary in progress because the black male had a bag with him...a bag full of stuff he was trying to sell)

[SubCop82]

Citizen complaints in the burbs...

-kids are playing baseball in the cul-de-sac
-the neighbors tree is hanging over my property line
-the neighbors kids basketball keeps bouncing into our yard
-those people have their garbage out too early
-the train that is stopped on the track behind my house is too loud
-skateboarders, skateboarders, skateboarders
-barking dogs
-loud music in the middle of the afternoon
-a car is parked on the street and it's after 3am
-a car is parked on the treelawn
-a car is parked blocking the sidewalk
-injured squirrels, possums, rabbits, raccoons to be removed

[Daywalker846]

Welcome aboard DAYwalker...

Well thanks.....but to be honest, I've been on these forums for awhile. I used to go by ccpd8512, I recently hired on to a new department. My old name was the initials and unit # of my old department. Figured this time I'd use a generic name.

[firestone88]

...when you get a complaint filed because you wore sunglasses while speaking to the RP.

...when you get a complaint filed because you didn't want to write the RP's neighbor for her barking dog when the RP's dog was the one barking. (had to write serious paper on that one)

...when you are asked "Do you work for the Police Department?" at the Subway when you're trying to get lunch. I guess they can't read the patch.

...when people ask you if the Taser M26 on your belt is a squirt gun.

...when you go four hours with not a single call every Sunday on the second watch.

[MIDeputy]

You get a call about a suspicious vehicle at approximately 0500, and the RP reports that it keeps stopping in front of their driveway every morning at about the same time. Hmmm...hey Columbo did you every stop to think that it your freaking newspaper delivery guy?

[YoMammy]

...or after a heavy rainstorm people calling in wanting you to come out for water in the roadway...

...when on traffic for speeding they say "Don't you have anything more important, or any real crime to prevent, instead of stopping me for speeding"...

...or being from the north the neighbor complaint of one neighbor snow blower blowing snow into their yard, same goes with leaves...

[firestone88]

I got a call for another barking dog yesterday in the million-dollar home neighborhood after a whole shift of nothing but eastside calls... the RP invited me in for tea and soup. She wasn't so friendly when I didn't cite her neighbors, and she told me she was calling the supervisor.

Here we go again...

[EDWARD96]

...you get two calls inside ten minutes for "suspicious male" when there's a door-to-door salesman in town who happens to be African American. (actually, one of the two calls was a possible burglary in progress because the black male had a bag with him...a bag full of stuff he was trying to sell)

My partner (he is Hmong) answers a "suspicious person" call. Then points out to the RP that there is not really a law against a black man walking in her neighborhood. The RP calls the Lt. to file a complant against that smarta** mexican they sent out to her house. :D

[J_Mann]

You know you work in the 'burbs when:

People actually waive to you when you're driving around because they're actually nice people.

[e-man]

You know you work in the 'burbs when:

People actually waive to you when you're driving around because they're actually nice people.

NOPE, I think I posted it in the beginning,
THEY WAVE WITH ALL 5 FINGERs.... :D

[PB3021]

...the nieghbor's cat sh@$# on my newspaper...What do you mean you won't take a report?

[e-man]

Where I work its very woodsy and actually very nice. So we get all the deer vs. car crashes and deer in the yard caught in a fence etc.
So we also get the rabid racoons etc.
Call a few times last week for a rabid 'coon in the yard. OK I get there near SHIFT CHANGE :mad: and cant find little sucker BUT i see lady has garbage cans all over uncovered and the garage door is wide open. Matter of fact looks like it hasnt been closed in years.
I tell her, Since we cant find the racoon maybe wanna shut your garage door. UH Yeah thats a good idea officer...
WOW i dont know how some people get by without help