"It's Not REALLY A Crime...

[Mr. Security]

sadly when it comes to trespassing it's usually considered a low priority. There has been several times where I've had to detain someone who was barred for trespassing and when calling the police to pick them up have taken several hours and i'm not joking about this the police would call each hour and go "Are they gone yet?" and when I would tell them no they would go "Oh, well were really busy it will be a while yet" we usually would have to let them go as were really don't have a place to keep them and since it's a library I work at they don't let us use cuffs so it can be a really frustrating.

[emax4]

I bet if the person who had cuffed them had also cuffed them to the fence on the upper part of the mall and just left them there overnight, there would have been some serious consequences for both parties.

[LillFilly]

I really figure maybe the officer was just having a bad day or something, I mean, they're still human. I REALLY wish, though, that I could be a fly on the wall when those 3-guys get their letters of what they're being charged with

[protege]

We were all pretty gobsmacked about this. A crime DID occur; trespassing and disorderly conduct. The guys were let go after coworkers got their information and issued ban letters.

Something similar happened not far from where I live. The store in question, was one of the last *independent* grocers inside the Pittsburgh city limits. Said store was in one of the more "interesting" parts of town--along Second Avenue in Hazelwood. Anyway, after being robbed *multiple* times, and after lots of shoplifting...and being told by the cops that there was little they could do...the owners decided they'd had enough. They closed down after the last robbery. Meaning, they gave the entire neighborhood a giant "fuck you" in return.

Unfortunately, that means that the good people no longer have a grocery store nearby. The closest place is up the hill in Greenfield, or across the Mon on the South Side. Just another example of how sucky customers ruin things for everyone

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Okay Folks . . .

I believe I specifically asked for this NOT stray into Fratching territory.

Last warning.

[wagegoth]

Police officers are not judges. They are not supposed to decide what is a crime and what is not. They don't even get to decide what charges are brought, as that's up to the prosecutor.

[RealUnimportant]

Last I heard, an investigation had to occur before it could be determined whether or not a crime had occured! Glad this guy's going to get reminded of the basics.

[PepperElf]

Glad it got sorted out for you.

You should never have to accept people breaking in and running amuck in your store or mall. even if they claim it was a "prank".

[LillFilly]

So it never occurred to this cop that these kids could have been causing a distraction to keep security busy while friends of theirs broke in somewhere else? I know there are alarms & cameras but that doesn't always stop thieves. Point being, it's not always what it looks like.

That's about what I thought.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I agree there's a lot of suck to go around.

But let's keep it confined to SC behavior and not let this stray into any territory that should go to Fratching.

[MoonCat]

So it never occurred to this cop that these kids could have been causing a distraction to keep security busy while friends of theirs broke in somewhere else? I know there are alarms & cameras but that doesn't always stop thieves. Point being, it's not always what it looks like.

[BroSCFischer]

Technically, X was not injured by the 3-suspects; he slipped while running, so they could argue that they didn't cause his injuries; they didn't touch or push. It will still be covered under workmen's comp as an on the job accident though. And security getting injured isn't the same as a police officer getting injured. If anything, he might be able to go after the guys civilly.

But the injury occurred as a RESULT of the crime. If they hadn't been idiots X wouldn't have had to chase them.

SC

[Merriweather]

Since the police chief certainly did not seem to condone the actions of the dispatcher (or whoever made the decission to not show up), I'd let it slide - once. If it ever happened again, anything even remotely like that, I'd be going to the media. I know police can be overstretched and sometimes have to make judgement calls on priorities of order and so forth, but to simply decide not to show up?

People expect police to respond when they feel threatened, even if all that happens is the police come out and detemine there is no threat after investigating. They don't need police making that decision (that there's no real threat) from a distance, without a detailed account of what's happened, and without checking things out. I can see the eventual headlines "Elderly woman found shot by burglar when police fail to respond", with a quote from the police "well, she did call us before it happened, but we just figured she was an old woman, living alone, and was paranoid over any noise, that it was probably a racoon or something she heard, so we never bothered to go look".

[Pixilated]

Glad to hear the local police chief was *ahem* not pleased with the officer who said it "wasn't really a crime." Bet he won't do that again ... ya never know who has friends in high(er) places when you pull something like that.

[South Texan]

...the police chief had no words for his officer's actions and told us that said officer will be having 'an attitude adjustment' ...

THAT was the best part of the story, in my opinion.