911 Calls – How to use the system properly:

We often respond to 911 calls where a child has recently learned from school or another source how to summon a police officer or medical help by dialing 911. The children, not knowing any better, dials 911 to “test it out” or for a problem like mom not letting them play Nintendo or Sega. Often, the parents scream at the children after we arrive, telling them that we were going to take them to jail for making a ” false” 911 call.

Is this the image you want your child to remember? Dial 911 and go to jail?

If you plant the seed for your child to be afraid of police or 911, what happens when a real emergency arises? Medical emergencies can mean life or death with seconds to spare. A stranger breaking into your house? Do you want your child to hesitate dialing 911 in a situation like this? Because they fear “going to jail”?

Please explain to your children that police & firemen are there to help. Don’t threaten them with punishment or jail if they call. A hesitation could mean the difference between life and death. It is important to explain the seriousness of 911, it’s meaning and purpose, and its benefits if used properly.

And along the same lines, Please, if you see us in a store, don’t tell your child:
“He’s gonna take you away for being bad”
“Better straighten up, the cops here to take you away forever”
“Now your in trouble. The cops are here”

• The last thing we want to do is scare a child, to make them afraid to call us in an emergency. Explain the 911 system to your child, what happens when 911 is dialed, and the time that is wasted by making false calls. Don’t threaten your child with arrest or worse to make them afraid of 911 or us. Because seconds count. We understand mistakes, just don’t make us out as the bad guys that your child will fear forever. We are there to help, to save lives. That is what all of our children need to understand. If you need additional information on explaining the 911 system to your child, or have any questions about this topic, feel free to contact NetCops at our e-mail address for further information.

Remember, 911 is there to save lives, not create fear.

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(09-19) 17:32 PDT ANTIOCH – A word to burglars: Don’t break into a building full of police officers undergoing training.

Two men learned the hard way in Antioch and ended up being arrested, police said today.

James Ayers, 26, of Bethel Island and Frederick Guilliee, 38, of Antioch broke into a vacant building at 1700 West Fourth St. about 6 p.m. Tuesday in hopes of stealing copper wiring, police said.

They had no idea that the Antioch police K-9 unit was due for a training session at the building, which once housed a cardboard-processing plant.

And at first, the police had no idea that the burglary suspects were inside.

As part of the training, an officer hid inside the 40,000-square-foot building. A K-9 officer then called out that a dog was about to be released and that anyone inside should immediately give up or risk getting bitten.

That’s when Ayers surrendered, police said.

K-9 officers then searched the building and found Guilliee, police said.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

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If it’s one thing that we do literally thousands and thousands of times throughout our careers as Officers, it’s turning on the Red and Blue lights to make a car stop. The difference between the Cops and you the Motorist is that WE know why we are pulling you over. You don’t.

There are several hundred reasons listed in the Vehicle Code for an Officer to stop your car. Many of the primary reasons we have for stopping a vehicle don’t have anything to do with enforcing the Vehicle Code.

Example: I see a suspicious looking van cruising several times through a closed shopping center at 2:am. (A shopping center that was recently burglarized I might add.) I see that the van doesn’t have a light over the rear license plate as required by the State Vehicle Code.

I turn on the Red and Blue lights and stop the van. I could really care less about the van having a license plate lamp out, but that’s the “Technical” and “Legal” reasons I use for making the stop. This gives me legal cause to check for License status, Vehicle registration, and proof of Insurance. You would be amazed at how many arrests the Cops in your Town or City make, originating from simple little mechanical infractions like this. Warrant arrest, Dope arrest, Weapons arrest, Stolen Property arrest, Locating Runaway
Juveniles.

Most the good Cops I know use the Vehicle Code as a tool. Of course if we see something unsafe we’re going to let you know about it. You might even get a “Fix it Ticket”. Just be aware that there are literally hundreds of reasons to stop a vehicle for poor driving or equipment violations. If you want to browse through it yourself, go down to your local Department of Motor Vehicles and get a copy of the Vehicle Code. You’ll get the same book they give us to use!

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Junk mail can not only be a pain to sift through each day, but it can cause long term headaches. False charges, ruined credit history, and more if not disposed of properly. Most crooks are rather stupid, but some are just the opposite. Some crooks drive through residential neighborhoods grabbing mail from street-side mailboxes. Police and Sheriff’s Departments often stop vehicles that are loaded with stolen mail. What are the thieves looking for? Mostly incoming checks, credit cards, or outgoing checks. Thieves use a technique to remove the payee name and put their bogus name, keeping the valid signature and other information on the check. Or they may write in the name of a fellow crook giving them a percentage to cash the check. All this happens before anyone suspects a thing.

These thieves usually look for the completed documents to alter into profits for themselves. There are a few precautions you can take against mailbox thefts that we will talk about in a moment.

I’m sure if you have good credit, you get bombarded with several pieces of mail EACH DAY offering refinancing for home loans, offers for free credit cards, pre-approved loans, etc. Most people just throw them in the trash and forget about them. But for some crooks, that is just what they want.

Here is a short story of what can happen:

You get an offer (one of several you receive daily) for a free Visa credit card. You pick out the needed mail and throw the junk mail in the trash. If you live in a real nice area, you may have thieves take or go through your garbage at night to find these precious treasures. Other thieves actually go to the dump, and go through garbage. You would be surprised at what they find. Stuff you throw away without even looking at it or thinking about it. Things that disclose all of your personal information. Drivers License numbers, Social Security numbers, your phone number, family member names and even your signature. It is like leaving a key out which opens your financial doors.

A crook can take one of those unopened credit card offers that you tossed in the garbage like a hot potato, along with a little personal info. they found in the same garbage bag and fill out the application. They even found a signature of yours in the garbage. With personal information such as a driver’s license or social security number on the application, very few credit card companies will call you to verify that you sent in the application. A month or two later, you get a Visa bill in the mail with a 3-4 thousand dollar balance. WOW, that’s not even your visa company. What happened? After the crooks sent in your application (the one they found in your garbage nice and intact, not even opened) they began to check your mailbox a few weeks later, right when the mail truck leaves. Or they stop the mail truck down the street from your house and ask the mailman if he has any mail for such and such address, (yours) that they had to leave and could they please get their mail. Most will succeed unless the mailman knows you on sight.

Now the crooks have a credit card in your name, and even your signature from the garbage. A crime spree begins. After several days of shopping, the crooks have thousands of dollars of merchandise. Alot of stores simply run credit cards through a scanner to find stolen or closed account cards. Since you are unaware this card even exists; it will show as good until you or the company find out what happened. Some companies, after seeing lots of activity or high dollar purchases on a card will contact you to see if you are aware of the cards usage. But by the time this happens, the crooks discard or sell the card to another thief after they made quite a profit selling the merchandise they bought with the card IN YOUR NAME. Chances are you will not be liable for the charged amounts after the situation is discovered, but it will be a pain for you to take the time to straighten the matter out, having to provide proof to the company that it was not you, and hopefully you were not reported to the credit bureau yet. What a nightmare to try to straighten out bad credit reports in your name. Remember, alot of stores rarely ask for another form of ID if the card passes the scanner. I compliment the stores who do ask for a driver’s license or other ID. All this, just because you threw away a piece of junk mail you didn’t want (but alot of other people do) I accidentally lost a gas credit card at a gas station once. Luckily, this company kept track of a customer’s average usage and if that was exceeded, they called you. I was unaware of the lost card since I only used it once a week. About 4-5 days after I lost my card, I got a call from the company asking if I still had my cards, Yeah, I said, what’s the problem. They asked if I could physically check for my card to make sure, and I discovered mine was lost. They then informed me that over $400 was charged to my card in the last 4 days, and due to the large increase in usage, they called to verify the charges. A dirtbag was using my card, offering other dirtbags to fill up on my card for $10 cash. What a scam! Luckily, I was not held liable for the charges, but it was a hassle to work out which charges were mine, to cancel all my cards and to get new ones.
We all pay for these types of illegal charges. Through higher pump prices at the gas station, higher prices at the store checkout counters, higher interest rates on the credit cards. We all pay in the end through higher prices or rates. I was shocked one day, as I was arresting a woman caught embezzling money from a major department store in my city (she had been doing it for about a month prior to being caught) and I asked about the dollar loss from shoplifting, forgery, and employee theft. The security manager told me “about $50,000″ I asked a year? and they said no, a month. One store in a chain, $50,000 a month. Who do you think pays for that? You and me, every time we go through the checkstand. Think of the whole chain dollar loss across the states, that’s ALOT of money. To stores, that’s part of doing business.

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