I want to talk about the crock of shit that an "attempt to locate vehicle- no charges pending" entry is. If some dumb ass person in your jurisdiction has lent out their vehicle (in this case to a damn crackhead) and said person does not return with the vehicle-- they have fucking stolen it. That's right, I said it.
But, since my department honors the farce that is ATLV (no NCIC entry, in county radio message only) this is the scenario I dealt with tonight.
Officer calls about an ATLV broadcast two days ago. He would now like an out of county message sent over the teletype system to the "Western area of The Big City" because the owner of the vehicle thinks the thief is buying drugs in the area. I break it down for him: I'm going to send this message, their HUGE, almost New York City sized comm center is going to ignore it because it's not in NCIC and there are no charges. On the off chance they do broadcast it to break up the monotony of a crushingly slow night shift, you're relying on officer memory because the vehicle is not in NCIC and nothing is going to ping on their terminal. I hint in the strongest possible terms that he should push to enter this stolen and then do what he asked.
He calls back. He wants it rebroadcast in county. Fine. I can farm that out to the newbies running districts tonight with minimal effort.
He calls back again. "Hey, I was wondering if you could send that to--"
"No."
"What do you mean n-"
"Either this vehicle is stolen or I am washing my hands of it. I'm not kidding. She gave it to a crackhead. It's stolen or she gifted it."
"The owner won't say it's stolen. I can't."
"ItshouldbeenteredintoncicohmygodwhatiswrongwithyoumakingmedoallthisworkjustputitinncicNOW."
Now, here's the thing. Am I playing the role of bitchy dispatcher? Yes. But with good reason. This is making me do stupid work that the NCIC system would do automatically and much more efficiently. The NCIC police are not going to arrest you for putting a car in. Furthermore, I don't give a damn about your stats. Someone has the car who should no longer have it. It's stolen. Rental cars certainly enter them as stolen if the client doesn't come back on time. IT'S STOLEN. ENTER IT.
Also, multiple phone calls to me to accomplish what could have happened in one? Annoying. Don't do that. Get your shit together before you call me.
End dispatcher rant.
Hee, I guess that's one advantage of living in a sparsely populated area. I can call the local PD and say, hey, this person lent their car and its overdue. They say, Who did they lend it to? I tell them. They laugh. Then they say, you'd better enter that one 'cause its GONE.
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you; THE DAY I read this, we got an ATL on a pickup truck. With several firearms in it. And a briefcase full of blank car titles.
ReplyDeleteI laughed.
See?! CURSED!
ReplyDelete