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.
Depends on the department. There could be a desk officer, detectives and dispatchers in addition to any officers at the station taking a meal break, submitting evidence or completing paperwork. At other departments, there may be no one at the station. It just depends.
If a police officer can develop reasonable, articulable suspicion that you are involved in criminal activity, you can be detained. You are not free to leave in this case.
Any police officer can walk up and start talking to you, including asking for ID, without any articulable suspicion. However, you are free to leave in this circumstance.
If you want to leave, and don't know if you are able to, politely ask the officer if you may leave. He or she will let you know.
Many 911 centers have call takers who answer the phones. They enter information into a computer (often called a call screen because it shows information about all of the active calls for service).
A dispatcher pulls the information from the call screen and relays it to the patrol officers. This can be done via computer (many agencies use computer aided dispatching), by voice transmission on the radio, or through a combination of both.
As the call taker gets more information, the call screen is updated in real time.
Depending on the size of the agency, call takers and dispatchers may be separate positions or all of the communication staff may be cross-trained and do all of the jobs. At a small department, only one or two people may be on duty and have to do all of the call taking and dispatching. Other departments may employ dozens or even hundreds of communications employees.
Off duty officers are rarely contacted. In those cases it is typically because of manpower shortages and/or emergencies. For example, a hostage situation requires the presence of a large number of officers, so off-duty officers could be called in to assist with normal patrol calls. This tends to be uncommon at most departments.
I'm unclear on your situation, and it is a civil matter regardless. Your best bet is to contact a family law attorney and talk to him or her.
He will likely have to initiate court proceedings if he wants to obtain parental rights of a child born out of wedlock. On the other hand, if you are trying to obtain child support from him, you would likely need to start court proceedings.
None of this is legal advice, and you should really contact a family law attorney.
Swim Instructor
Do parents ever get angry at you personally if their kid isn't learning fast enough?Football Official
Were the replacement refs actually worse than the regular refs?SWAT Team Commander (Retired)
How do you decide whether to try and kill a hostage taker?Police screening should be mandatory. It should start when they apply to attend the academy or apply for a job with a department (depending on what the proceedures are for your state.) Any earlier is called spying; any later would be foolish.
Blackmail is illegal, regardless of who the victim is. State laws vary on what constitutes blackmail.
Depending on the nature of the photos and how someone came into their possession there could be other criminal activity. For example, did someone hack into your computer and steal data (illegal) or photograph you in a public location (legal)?
I don't know why they are withholding information. It is very possible that it is an open investigation and exempt from open records laws.
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