Your local police reports

[calmloki]

I love Oregon. The local paper notes that:

"At 1:52 pm, a large tree fell across the front end of a Ford Ranger and ripped the front bumper off and shattered the windshield on Highway 22 at Milepost 9. About 20 people exited their vehicles and two had large chainsaws and had the tree removed within minutes".

What local paper stories from your area tickle you?

 

[audreyh1]

Oregon - good idea to travel with a chainsaw in your vehicle.

 

[W2R]

Oregon - good idea to travel with a chainsaw in your vehicle.

Around here people pretty much have to do that after a major hurricane hits. If you wait for the government to remove trees blocking the roads, you might die of old age first. When returning from our Katrina evacuation, we found that half the trees in our neighborhood were knocked down. F used his chainsaw to help with two trees that were blocking the least obstructed way to his house. Then he got to work on the neighbors' trees that fell into his back yard since they weren't back yet. I helped by moving the pieces of logs to the curb which for someone like me was back-breaking work. Welcome home.

Here's some interesting local news, from a densely populated neighborhood not far from the New Orleans business district:

Large animal remains blocked Religious Street in the Irish Channel for a short time Thursday afternoon.

City officials warned drivers to stay away from the area while crews worked to clean up the spill.

It wasn't clear what kind of animal remains they were; several social media posts speculated that they were whale innards, given their size. City officials later said an initial analysis revealed the remains were from a large land mammal, likely a cow.

Believe me, there are no cows within 20 miles of there. Someone saw a dump truck dropping off the remains so it was intentional.

 

[Koolau]

Rarely read the local paper but during the Pandemic, I got a kick out of the local TV news showing night after night 3 police officers hiding in the mangroves waiting to pounce on a girl in a bikini who was not wearing a mask.

Why it would take 3 burley guys to arrest one 100 lb woman alone on the beach (with no place to hide a weapon) I do not know. It might have been that the potential "crime" was a misdemeanor and could subject the "criminal" to a $5000 fine and a 1-year prison sentence. In addition to the draconian penalties, said young woman would be unlikely ever to find employment with such a conviction on her record. We have multi-thousands of such cases pending in our courts - stymied by the Pandemic. About 1/3 have already been dismissed but many apparently will go the full jury trial route.

Oh, and it turns out the police were abusing their overtime guidelines in order to arrest folks on the beach. It's a real mess with no potential winners - but lots of potential losers. YMMV

 

[travelover]

.........
Why it would take 3 burly guys to arrest one 100 lb woman alone on the beach (with no place to hide a weapon) I do not know........

Probably wanted to be sure they had witnesses in case it went to court.

 

[CoolRich59]

I recall an item from our local paper:

At appx 1:00am, Officer Blank observed a couple of local youths who were “up to no good”. Officer Blank stopped the youths, “gave them a good talking to”, and sent them home.

It was years ago, and I still regret not clipping that out and saving it.

 

[marko]

Our local police log is so hysterical, I keep a separate log of the best. Here's just a very few over the years: (I've redacted the street names)

At 7:56 a.m., a XXX Street crossing guard reported to police that a boy in a car with his mother said he had seen a man in the woods wearing camouflage and scaring children. The principal was notified, and police scoured the woods without results. A teacher said the boy was in the eighth grade and she had never seen him panic like this. The principal re-interviewed the student, who was unable to add anything. At 1:30 p.m., police determined that a tree stump had been misidentified as a man wearing camouflage.

A XXXXX Street woman called police, at 8:30 p.m., to notify them of a suspicious blue cooler with a white top sitting by the sidewalk. She said it wasn’t there when she went by earlier. She said she was concerned because of all the kooks out there. An officer responded that there were no coolers in the area. There was, however, a blue recycling bin with a white trash bag sticking out the top.

A woman called from XXXX Avenue at 8:22 a.m. to report the sound of distant gunshots. Police sat and listened for a while, hearing what they believe were actually the sounds of workers replacing a roof.

A XXX Street resident called police, at 9:50 p.m., to report someone was fumbling with her door handle, attempting to get into her apartment. The officer checked and advised her that the Christmas ornaments on the door were blowing around.

At 7:47 a.m., a XXXXXX resident called police to inform them that there was an armed police officer helping children cross the street nearby and that “it would scare the children if they saw the police officer with the gun.” The caller also said she didn’t “understand why resources are being utilized this way.”

 

[MichaelB]

When I’m looking for something offbeat I read “best of Nextdoor” twitter feed, and occasionally the local news for “The Villages”. Some things are just too crazy to be made up.

 

[Time2]

Rarely read the local paper but during the Pandemic, I got a kick out of the local TV news showing night after night 3 police officers hiding in the mangroves waiting to pounce on a girl in a bikini who was not wearing a mask.

Why it would take 3 burley guys to arrest one 100 lb woman alone on the beach (with no place to hide a weapon) I do not know. It might have been that the potential "crime" was a misdemeanor and could subject the "criminal" to a $5000 fine and a 1-year prison sentence. In addition to the draconian penalties, said young woman would be unlikely ever to find employment with such a conviction on her record. We have multi-thousands of such cases pending in our courts - stymied by the Pandemic. About 1/3 have already been dismissed but many apparently will go the full jury trial route.

Oh, and it turns out the police were abusing their overtime guidelines in order to arrest folks on the beach. It's a real mess with no potential winners - but lots of potential losers. YMMV

Government creating criminals.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Rarely read the local paper but during the Pandemic, I got a kick out of the local TV news showing night after night 3 police officers hiding in the mangroves waiting to pounce on a girl in a bikini who was not wearing a mask.

Why it would take 3 burley guys to arrest one 100 lb woman alone on the beach (with no place to hide a weapon) I do not know. It might have been that the potential "crime" was a misdemeanor and could subject the "criminal" to a $5000 fine and a 1-year prison sentence. In addition to the draconian penalties, said young woman would be unlikely ever to find employment with such a conviction on her record. We have multi-thousands of such cases pending in our courts - stymied by the Pandemic. About 1/3 have already been dismissed but many apparently will go the full jury trial route.

Oh, and it turns out the police were abusing their overtime guidelines in order to arrest folks on the beach. It's a real mess with no potential winners - but lots of potential losers. YMMV

I wonder what else they had in mind? This is not funny at all. The woman could have been sexually abused by these men.

 

[Kerfuffle]

Seriously, Nextdoor is a gold mine. Almost every night, someone hears fireworks and puts urgent posts that there were gunshots, and the ensuing comments are hilarious. We also have the type of people living here who will post pictures of people walking down the street wearing a backpack to ask if they're homeless. And someone who is always very concerned about a veteran who walks by and leaves an empty beer can in their garbage can several times a week. People are really something.

 

[Koolau]

I wonder what else they had in mind? This is not funny at all. The woman could have been sexually abused by these men.

I think that would be unlikely as there WERE a few other people in the area - not to mention local news was filming the whole incident. In all this ridiculousness, I've never heard a complaint against HPD for what you suggest.

At the time it was LEGAL to be in the water but not ON the sand - except to walk to or from the water or be "exercising." Because the young woman had laid out a towel and was reclining on it, she (apparently) was committing a misdemeanor which IS a CRIMINAL offense - not a civil offense.

This was NOT an isolated event. Hundreds of such arrests were made. These folks will, in all likelihood be forced to hire attorneys and FIGHT to hopefully prevent a conviction that will haunt them in the same way a drug offense might. YMMV

 

[rk911]

...Why it would take 3 burley guys to arrest one 100 lb woman alone on the beach (with no place to hide a weapon) I do not know...

i recall working a 3-11 tour one new years eve. all my squads were busy in various and sundry requests for service and new calls for service were coming in. a typical NYE. the street sargeant was holding all new calls until an officer became available. and then THE call of the shift came in...a very loud, drunken party in A mid-rise apt bldg. what made this loud, drunken party different and caused the sgt. to head over with most of the others en route? everyone ar the party was sans clothing and partying on the balconey. this is likely why three officers were on mask duty on the beach.

 

[TrvlBug]

Seriously, Nextdoor is a gold mine. Almost every night, someone hears fireworks and puts urgent posts that there were gunshots, and the ensuing comments are hilarious. We also have the type of people living here who will post pictures of people walking down the street wearing a backpack to ask if they're homeless. And someone who is always very concerned about a veteran who walks by and leaves an empty beer can in their garbage can several times a week. People are really something.

Yep, today's winner were the complaints about leafblowers again. Someone complained 'not again' or the like. Comment to that was 'be thankful it's not the usual about dog poop' .

 

[CaptTom]

My favorite was many years ago. My first apartment in a small New England city. I signed up for delivery of the local daily paper. There wasn't much news some days, and one time the editor must have gotten lazy and just pulled a front-page headline from the first entry in the police report:

"Woman Finds Shoes on Lawn."

I figured there must be more to the story. Nope. That was it. Some lady called the police to report finding a pair of shoes on her front lawn. Stop the presses!

Then there was the story in another New England town about the conflict between the Chamber of Commerce and a break-away group of businesses who didn't like the way the Chamber was being run:

"Chamber, New Group Butt Heads."

I wondered what those groups did to be called butt heads.

But my all-time favorite wasn't a headline. It was the story about how the local police took down a prostitution ring operating out of a local "health club."

The task force made the arrests after a three-month "undercover" operation.

Some guys get all the good duties!

 

[EastWest Gal]

I think that would be unlikely as there WERE a few other people in the area - not to mention local news was filming the whole incident. In all this ridiculousness, I've never heard a complaint against HPD for what you suggest.



At the time it was LEGAL to be in the water but not ON the sand - except to walk to or from the water or be "exercising." Because the young woman had laid out a towel and was reclining on it, she (apparently) was committing a misdemeanor which IS a CRIMINAL offense - not a civil offense.



This was NOT an isolated event. Hundreds of such arrests were made. These folks will, in all likelihood be forced to hire attorneys and FIGHT to hopefully prevent a conviction that will haunt them in the same way a drug offense might. YMMV

Four burly men arresting a small bikini clad woman? Greeted by smirks on this forum? It’s predatory IMO. I was assaulted 3 times between 16 and 21. Twice wearing shorts on hot days, truly minding my own business, on campus and resting in a park during an 8 hour drive. Once just walking down the street between school and home. My niece was raped. The implications of what they were doing and how they handled it are appalling. The implications of men with guns manhandling a woman in a bikini, greeted by a smirk on this forum, are disgusting.

Young women’s bodies do not exist for male exploitation. The implications here is that such an incident is funny. It is not.

 

[Koolau]

i recall working a 3-11 tour one new years eve. all my squads were busy in various and sundry requests for service and new calls for service were coming in. a typical NYE. the street sargeant was holding all new calls until an officer became available. and then THE call of the shift came in...a very loud, drunken party in A mid-rise apt bldg. what made this loud, drunken party different and caused the sgt. to head over with most of the others en route? everyone ar the party was sans clothing and partying on the balconey. this is likely why three officers were on mask duty on the beach.

I'm sure I have missed your point. Nothing about this beach situation coincides with the conditions you mention. It was out in the open, no alcohol is allowed on the beach, there was no crowd or disturbance/noise, clothing is NOT optional on the beach. There were always "legal exercisers" in the vicinity who would have noticed any untoward behaviors.

In the case of "enforcing" the "no beach" rule, HPD (Based on numerous videos of the beach on TV) posted 3 officers in the bushes, behind trees or lurking behind buildings. The Waikiki police station is a block or two from where many Waikiki citations were made. I'm sure the officers had no fear of being accused of any crimes as there were a few folks in the water or running on the beach, not to mention walk/running on the sidewalk adjacent to the beach. In fact, while there was plenty of outrage about multiple police officers wasting time arresting tourists on the beach, there were no complaints of improper behavior toward those they arrested. Later, the police dept. and individual officers WERE accused of abusing their overtime policy.

If I misunderstood your point, I apologize but I see no similarities.

 

[Alan]

The thread has now drifted off into emotive subjects not needed here so we have decided to close the thread. Note that some posts have been removed.