Why I hate my local police.

The BBQ Pit
1

A while ago I had a pit thread about my car being hit and totalled by a drunk driver. I would search for the thread but it would take two hours on my computer. So here is a brief synopsis

A) Drunk driver hits my car, and runs
B) Police find out where he is at within 15 minutes
C) Police wait to a week later to arrest him, therefore losing the DUI charge, as it is not an offence that they go kicking in doors for.
Anyway This month we are finally going to court about this. The Drunk Driver has been heckling and hassling me for monthes now. I have complained to the police about this before and they have done nothing. He and his girlfriend keep telling people that he is going to come to my house and kill me, and he told me to my face that he was going to “get me good” and that he should have shot me when he first hit my car.

Of course I think for the most part that he is all talk, so I stopped complaining to the police about it, because they weren’t doing anything about it anyway.

Then tonight my turn signal on my car, and it won’t come on. SO I stroll down to autozone to pick up a fuse, as I have seen this type of thing before. Get the fuse, it won’t fit. So mechanic looks at it. The first thing out of his mouth was “WHo messed up your car” Someone ripped the fuse out and took the wires with it. I asked him three separate times to be sure that the signals could not have possibly been working with out the fuse. he very patiently explains to me there was no way that the signals could have been working before without the fuse.(it was missing when i opened up the box) I asked him and got details because that meant that someone broke into my car to do it. So I did what I thought I should do. I went to the police station.

I do not know if the drunk driver did this to my car- he lives around the block from me, and his GF and they have pulled up here before to yell at my house at me- and he just told me the other day that he was going to fuck me up. Now why anyone would take a fucking fuse is beyond me, but he is the only person I know that might be it, seeing that he keeps on threatening me.
But someone indeed ripped it out of my car.

I got to the police station, because I wanted to again complain about him threatening me, and to report that someone had broken into my car to vandalise it. They made me wait for 45 minutes when there was a slew of officers there. That was ok- maybe something was going on, maybe they were busy. The police officer finally came out- he asked me if I was Deadly nightlight, and when i said yes, he turned his back on me and started walking out to my car. I followed him, because I suppose thats what I was supposed to do. He looked at it and said that nothing was wrong with it. I explained to him that I just had a mechanic look at it and the mechanic told me it had to have been ripped out and there was no way it was working with out the fuse and all the wires. The police officer told me that he knew al about cars, and mine was fine. I was thinking, “well if you are suck a mechanic fix my car and quit police work” but I kept quiet.

The police officer told me that no one in their right mind would rip out a fuse and that I was imagining things. How the hell am I supposed to know who pulled it out? Which brought me to the next part of the reason i was there- which was to see what I could do about Drunk Driver Man threatening me. The police officer looked at me, rolled his eyes and said that I should just avoid DDM and everything will be ok. Like I am going out of my way to run into to DDM and his GF. I finally got angry because I was being completley blown off. I asked the police officer What does it take? Does DDM actually have to shoot me? Or put his hands on me? the Police officer looked at me and said, “this is your problem until he does something that is a real issue”

Is someone threatening me all the time not an issue? Maybe DDM is not the person who did it, but thats all besides the point. My two points were
A) I am being threatened by someone, what can I do?
and
B)Someone vandalised my car, i would like to report it.

I was just adding that I have a clue who might have done.

So in short, Because The police officer knows “a little something” about cars, and in his non mechanic opinion, nothing was wrong, The mechanic was wrong and has no clue what he was talking about.

and

That DDM threatening me is a non issue because he has not physically done anything to me.

Now I know I made a mistake by not reporting everytime, but after the first few times, they did nothing. So I stopped, now I know for the future, and I will call them EVERYTIME, no matter what. But I do not expect Eye rolling and condascension when I go to the police. Its not like I went and talked about aliens taking over my mind by inhabiting my diaphragm, I went in with a legitimate problem, two of them, and got blew off.

2

Ever considered going to court yourself and getting a restraining order?

3

I thought you had to have the police do that?

4

Here’s an idea, how about taking it to the local news. It seems like a good scoop to me. Someone you are pressing criminal charges against you is threatening you, and a police force that is apathetic and incompetent.

5

It’s conceivable that if they get smeared all over TV, they might be sufficiently inspired to keep a very close eye on their buddy Deadly Nightlight from now on.

6

Unfortunately, DL, they only have your word for it that the fuse was stolen, let alone that someone broke into your car to remove it or who they might have been.

To the local police, you and DDM are equally likely to be a liar, thief or vandal. For all they know, you trumped up a further charge against DDM for revenge purposes. It would have been better (armchair quarterback, I know) to simply have reported the fact that someone broke into your car, and then volunteered DDM’s name if they said “Any idea who it might have been?”. Can you get them to just focus on that? Having a fuse yanked out of your car is scary, and that should be followed up on even if it turns out not to be DDM.

7

I would suggest that it’s time to invest in a camcorder. What if this asshuffer goes after your brakes next time? Be very careful, okay?

8

Deadly Nightlight, you are definitely not getting the service that you deserve from your local cops. I would suggest going back in and asking to speak to a supervisor and see if he or she will actually take a report from you. Before you do, see if the mechanic will give you a quick written statement documenting what damage was done to your car, and bring that in with you.

As for the restraining order, laws vary from state to state. Call your local court and ask them if you can obtain an Anti-Harassment order and how to go about it. If you can obtain one, and you can prove that DDM has violated it, hopefully someone will actually do something for you.

9

Do you come from the sort of “small” town where it is possible that the Drunk Driver has a buddy in the police?

Because I’m getting the creeping suspicion that you’re not getting fair treatment from the cops here. Maybe it’s just apathy/laziness on their part, or maybe my conspiracy feelers are picking up soemething…

10

I hate stalkers. I really do. And crazy violent people.

See what it takes to get a restraining order. I don’t know all the details (the time I was in a position to do so, it was after I was attacked and injured) but in general, police don’t prevent crimes, they clean up after them. So yes, someone can threaten and intimidate you all they want, pretty much. They just can’t touch you or your things. Badge has some good advice.

Write down the when and where’s everytime they say Boo to you. Don’t always have to reprot it, but keep a written record of what was said and when and where. Just in case.

Good luck.

11

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes we are in a small town, DDM gets arrested all the time, the day he hit my car he was just released from prison for drug stuff.

I am going today to talk to someone about this, because I am just plain fed up.

Medea’s child- what happened to you? If you are up to tell ing the story.

12

Like Rilchiam pointed out, there’s not much for your side but your word. You probably want to look into video and audio recording (check the laws carefully), and keep a detailed log of threatening communications. If you can say ‘he threatened me at 1:25 on Monday, 2:45 on Teusday…’ it’s a lot more credible than ‘he threatened me several times this week’. Also you might want to consult with a local lawyer, he may know some other things to try.

13

DL, from my years working with and around cops as a crime reporter think that what Rilchiam said is more or less correct. What the cop told you, while tactless and undiplomatic, was also the truth.
Something most ordinary people don’t understand is the sheer level of petty b.s. (from their point of view) that cops are expected to deal with. And most of it is really not the types of things they can do much about. The conflict you have with the asshole who hit you is essentially a civil matter. Cops are given neither the authority nor the resources to deal with things like this that are not clear-cut criminal matters. While you might be outraged that someone broke into your car, the cop looks at it, finds nothing of real value was taken, and immediately desires to get back to his caseload of murders, rapes, and fraud amounting to thousands of dollars. (This is how he thinks of it, anyway. His actual caseload might not be so dramatic.)

Situations like yours are what civil courts are for, and I know from experience that the squeaky wheel gets the grease in these situations. Here’s a sample scenario of how you can get justice:
Begin documenting the times this guy threatens you. Get it on tape, if you can. If anyone else see/hears him, get formal statements from them. File a complaint with the police for every documented threat you have, and take the witnesses with you when you file.
These complaints, and testimony from your witnesses, are admissable in a civil suit against the jerk. Of course, even should you obtain a judgement for damages on your car, he would probably ignore it.
But then it gets interesting. The guy has served jail time, and probably has a rap sheet. And if he ignores a civil judgement against you, that is also a crime. It might take a while, but the police now have evidence that supports what you are saying, and a valid, documented excuse to make this asshole’s life difficult.

The drawback to all this is that they guy might really be dangerous. He might really try to kill you. It all depends on how bad you want justice. A lot of people think the police dispense justice, but they don’t. They just enforce the laws in the manner they were taught to do.
Sometimes you just have to stick up for yourself. Patience, and an understanding of how you can work the system to your advantage, are your allies.

14

1)Contact your local City Councilman about the disintrest on the part of your local police.
2)Go to your local Council meeting, wait your turn, & complain to the council as a whole.
3)Write a letter to the Chief Of Police, complaining about your treatment, & voicing your safety concerns. See to it that it is a registered letter, that he must sign for personally.
4) Document everything.

15

I wonder if they give this stuff to someone whos stuff gets vandalised and they have no clue who did it.

16

Go to court and get a restraining order. You do not have to ask the police permission for this. If the jerk then initiates contact with you, he can be hauled in for violating the restraining order. However, once the order is in place, you must not initiate contact with said jerk.

17

Deadly Nightlight, how do even sleep at night knowing that this prick could be lurking around the corner ready to strike at any moment? If this were my situation I’d be so full of rage my head would probably explode. Best of luck to you. Please keep us up to date on what happens from here on out.

18

To expand on Bosda’s 4th point, you should go to the mechanic and get what he said written up. Get him to document what he found to be wrong with your car and get an estimate for fixing it. Get an estimate for getting an alarm system installed. Show this to the cops and/or bring it to court.

19

Sometimes, unless it happened to everyone on the same block during the same night. Things like that get their attention.

20

Everybody gives good advice in this thread.

I’d like to offer another bit, but have a question first.

Do any law firms in your area offer free consultation?

I live in a city of about 150,000 and there are at least a dozen law firms that will have a lawyer talk on the phone for up to an hour with no charge to the customer. Your best bet, if you feel you have been seriously wronged and want to do something about it, is to get as many “free” professional opinions of this situation as you can.

I would do that before taking any other action.