Cheating death and fighting communism: that is how a fellow officer once described our job. It was meant to be funny, but as time went on it seemed all too true.
I spent more than ten years in law enforcement, all of it on the street in uniform patrol. I've been a patrol officer, instructor, sergeant and lieutenant.
Do not report crimes here. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. All opinions are my own.
If no evidence exists, and no witnesses have presented themselves, then what additional actions would you suggest the officers take (within the confines of the law)? Maybe your neighbor did it, maybe she did not. People should never be arrested for "maybe."
IF you neighbor damaged your tires, and IF she admitted to tampering with your mail, it sounds like your best bet is to file a report with the postal police and see if they develop probable cause to arrest her. IF they do, then her probation can be revoked also.
It won't likely keep her in jail for very long, regardless.
If the officer is acting as a police officer and provided his or her name (Officer Smith or whatever) and that the department he or she works for, that may be all of the information he or she is obligated to provide. A specific zone, precinct, or other information may not be required.
If the officer is acting as an employee of the property owner, and not as a representative of the city/county/whatever, he or she may not even need to provide that.
Patrol officers are assigned to zones or beats. These are specific geographic areas that the officer is responsible for. A non-emergency call in that zone will be held for the zone officer to handle. Emergency calls will typically fall to the officer assigned to that zone, or if he/she is unavailable, the next closest unit.
Certain calls may be held for certain officers. For example, a department with officers who receive specialized training in dealing with the mentally ill may dispatch one of those officers outside of his or her zone to handle an incident that involves someone who is mentally ill.
I'm not familiar with Colorado law in that respect. If you call the local Sheriff's Department, they should be able to tell you.
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It depends on the size of the department. For any agency of more than about 15-20 officers, the chief is not likely to be involved in any case other than as a spokesperson in a high-profile incident.
For small agencies, a chief may patrol and handle calls like the rest of the officers. There are many departments in the US where there are fewer than five officers. In those areas, the chief handles a lot of the calls and investigations.
In a nutshell, the injured intruders would be transported to the hospital under police guard. When released, they would be arrested and transported to jail pending trial.
The homeowners would be interviewed on scene but not arrested or charged with any crime based on the facts provided.
If the intruders were killed, pretty much the same as above, but the deputies would be in the house a lot longer and the M.E. would respond and take custody of the corpses.
There are a lot of minute details that go into any investigation, especially major felony cases like this, but that is the quick and dirty.
Detectives can participate in a warrant service, and frequently do.
A high risk warrant service is usually handled by a SWAT team, which can have detectives on the team. Once the scene is secure, non-SWAT officers/detectives will frequently be responsible for the securing and documenting of evidence.
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