Make the police work...
 

http://humor.beecy.net/misc/jobad/robber-shot.jpg

I wonder what the implications of such a thing are...

On one hand I have to laugh because it is a hilarious reply by him, but on the other hand it's really sad that they rushed over only when a citizen acted on his own to protect his property. Sadly we've lost most of our property rights, and even suggesting that we are protecting them results in a veritable SWAT-response.

That's just disgusting. If the police don't have the time to deal with crimes being reported, then justice should by all means be taken by the property owner. Authorities just keep making more and more rules, and acting on them less and less. Just disgusting.

It's nice that the person just forgot to mention that he was arrested for falsely reporting a crime.

Theft < gun crime, obviously.

I'm not sure if non-police citizens understand how the actual real police works, but it's not "first come first serve." Sorry, but those are the cold hard facts. A gunshot scenario will be responded to in quicker precedence than a non-violent domestic dispute or a stolen gas call.

Let's say that the police were called. Let's see...there's someone stealing tools out of a shed. Ok, that is definitely worthy of calling the police over. Let's say that there are 10 squads on that section of the town that night, and all 10 are tied up with assaults, other infractions, or are simply already on a call.

So the police are supposed to leave their current call and simply drive to you? Is it so unexpected that the police may in fact be busy every now and then? There are 500 officers at the police station I work at and they're busy to the point of being paid overtime every single shift.

Now you've mentioned that you've shot the people in the shed. The order of precedence thing goes into effect here. Now the police officers WILL leave a petty crime like stolen gas to come to a life-threatening situation, much to the displeasure of the stolen-gas employee.

This is nothing more than a probably-made-up story about citizens view on the police. Police officers are dispatched from communications based on the severity of the crime, their location of the crime, and thirdly the order in which the call was received. Sorry, but in the real world of police stations, not every citizen has their own personal police officer waiting for them when there's a crime being committed.

True. This is why people should be allowed to -- and expected to -- defend themselves and their own property. Right? :)

Just to clear things up:

The guy did not shoot the burglars, he wanted to know what would happen if he said that he did. It also (supposedly) occured in the UK.

I definitely don't disagree with that, I just don't like the flak that the police get for shit like this. Do the police make the laws? No. Are police busy? Yes.

BTW I assumed everyone knew this but just in case: if this newspaper clip is real, the police responded to the call due to the gun discharge, not due to the fact that he guarded his property or took matters into his own hands, etc. The gun being fired is what brought the police. Discharged guns = auto red flag.

If this happened in the UK, that makes perfect sense. Their philosophy on guns isn't the same as the second amendment loving people of the US.

Turns out the news clip is fake, but a similar event really did happen in Texas. Yes, he was arrested on false report charges.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/safety/response.htm

From Snopes:

Basically what I said earlier except further explained.

Somehow I imagine at least one of those officers was getting coffee, and another sitting in a useless speed trap. Obviously the former takes precedence over the later, and they both take precedence over a real crime.

The police officers at the PD I work at drop a 20 and run out the door during a meal if they're called to an emergency call. You get fired if you don't be responsible during your shift.

And yes, there are divisions at police departments, specifically a division devoted to traffic violations. A small portion of PDs are devoted to traffic -- the rest are patrol (call-taking and routine patrol). If you're sitting in a speed trap, that's your job. If an officer left the speed trap to go to another call without contacting his superior first, disciplinary action <I>would</I> be taken.

Quoted for truth. On one of my ride-alongs with the local PD (about 1AM), we were back at the station and I was chilling while he was writing up an arrest report. I had just put my 90 cents into the coke machine in the breakroom when the dispatch announced a local gas station employee had just called to report three guys with shotguns outside his gas station. The two cops in the break room fucking FLEW out the door and big fat me was huffing and puffing and waddling trying to catch my guy before he peeled out of the parking lot. I made it just as he was whipping the car around, and I never got my coke.

They didn't find anybody there, by the way, but five units responded as they all left whatever sector they were in to back up the guy who caught it.

Of course.

'Cause as we all know...real life is just like The Simpsons. And real life police officers are just like Chief Wiggum.

I'm just going on my expirience that every single time I drive past a particlar gas-station/ Dunkin Donuts, there is at least one police car there. Maybe they really don't have anything better to do, I don't know....

Since that was false, it's a cute little joke, I think anyways. Made me smile :)

With all due respect, what profession doesn't have a coffee break? When I'm on duty, I do enjoy my Tim Horton's coffee break. But I gotta tell you, I've gone many a shift when I don't get a break and I'm eating in my car because calls are coming in one after another. No complaints here. It's just part of the job. And when I do get a chance to eat lunch/dinner or grab a coffee, I take advantage of it.
Is this wrong?
Are we now going to level criticisms at emergency room doctors for prioritizing who gets treated first? Isn't all human pain equal? What about EMS? Should ambulances tear ass across town to respond to a skinned knee?
The truth of the matter is that by misusing emergency services, resources are being taken away from people who may need it the most - like warrrreagl's gas bar being held up by armed gunmen. Can you imagine the outcome that could have taken place if that b 'n e garden shed call came in minutes before the gas bar call? How much longer would it have taken for units to respond? For the sirens to be heard? (and scaring the gunmen away!)
Police, as with all emergency responders, are a limited resource. And like all limited resources, it must be managed so that a great many can benefit from the services rendered.

Hear, hear! (or is it here here?)

Or where I live its Yeeeee Haaaaaa!

ya, truth is Laz is correct.

yet.... so is everyone else, my co-worker had his car stolen at about 2 in the morning, night-shift, from the parking lot at work... he called police b/c when he went outside, he saw the car ripping out of the parking lot, police were called within 2-3 minutes of seeing this.

He told them which way they went and they said they only had 2 officers on duty and they were not in the area, and were busy at the moment. Less than 15 minutes later I went to the gas station, (and a little joy ride during break coz hell maybe I'd see the car parked off the road someplace?)

One cop was sitting in a parking lot, he could be radaring the state route about 200 yards away, but his lights were off, and he was just sitting in his car.

The other police officer was inside the gas station I always stop at, reading a paper (not eatting a donut too bad tho) and talking with the cashier. I stayed there for about 10 minutes, 5 walking around, 5 just sitting in my car eatting the sandwich I bought.

When I left the one in the gas station was still bullshitting, the other was gone. It was actually the cop in the parking lot who showed up about 2 hours later.

I also know when the police shifts switch in my town, and it sure as hell isn't 2 o'clock, they run swing shifts, but they still change at the same times everyday.

Anyway, it happens, and it happens more often than they'd want you to believe. But I hardly think it's "rampant" across everyplace.