"You're on your own" Stories

[Unistat]

Do any of you have good "You're on your own stories?" By which I mean, you show up for a call and tell the person(s) there that they are on their own.

Not stuff like animal calls or vehicle lock-outs, but really bizzare situations where there is literally no one to call and you sure as heck aren't going to deal with it.

By the way, thanks for humoring me. I really like reading some of the stories on here. Very amusing.

[PhilipCal]

Not certain exactly what you're referring to. If the call or request for service is one the Officer/Agency is empowered or equipped to deal with, that's what is done. If the call is a civil matter or one the Agency does not handle as a matter of law or policy, the citizen is advised accordingly.

[Rblake]

The only thing that comes to mind are uncontrollable juvenile calls. Parents call because their kids won't do their homework, or clean their rooms, or refrain from swearing. Barring any disturbing or dangerous behavior, it usually ends up with me speaking with the child, then nicely telling mom & dad I am not "little Jimmy's" parent and to call the juvenile crisis hotline next time they have a non emergency problem with their child, not the police.

[Dingo990]

Lots and lots of civil calls.

One of our more common calls is this: person leases an apartment or owns a house. They meet a boy/girl and let them move in without updating the lease or ownership and a few months later the relationship goes south. People expect us to just immediately throw their ex out onto the street because they "aren't on the lease".... doesn't really work like that.

Also we get a lot of people wanting to report "thefts" in similar situations.

[DeputySC]

We 'cant' tell people something like that no matter how stupid or ignorant the call. We sugar coat everything for a warm/cozy feeling. One call that comes to mind.....

This guy called 911 because when he parked his vehicle in his driveway he couldnt get it to turn off and demanded to see a police officer. Once I arrived he had the keys out the ignition but the car was still on. I knew a few ways that may have got the car to shut off but didnt feel comfortable suggesting anything to him incase he got hurt or his car messed up he may try to blame it on me. I could be held responsible civily or get an internal affairs complaint and probabily written up. So I got him to go inside his house, sat him down at his kitchen table with a phone book, and got him started looking through the automotive section looking for a 24/7 mechanic. (it was like 4am.) Once he was good and busy making phone calls I left. After I left he eventually called back because he was having no luck finding a mechanic at 4am, but dispatch, who is not part of our department didnt send us back out. Otherwise we would have had to go.


We get a TON of civil calls that are not criminal in nature where we as police officers cant legally do anything. A common one, a group of family members will all live in different homes on the same 3 acers of property. The actual family member who officially 'owns' the property and allowed her relatives to build homes on it will be deceased or MIA. All the living relatives will be fighting over land bounderies, possessions, and such. We usually get called to these places over and over, and over. And have to tell them the same thing over, and over, and over, and over. All they can do take the matter to civil/probate court.

[Unistat]

Not certain exactly what you're referring to. If the call or request for service is one the Officer/Agency is empowered or equipped to deal with, that's what is done. If the call is a civil matter or one the Agency does not handle as a matter of law or policy, the citizen is advised accordingly.

Well I just read all of these weird, crazy stories here, and I was just wondering what, if anything, was too weird and crazy. Like, I don't know, getting called for ghosts or something.

DeputySC; I imagine that the situation above with the guy in his driveway must have required extreme patience. I'm pretty sure I would have given him the card for the police contracted towing and said "Have a nice night."

[BigDog4907]

On Your Own Stories. Isn't that the last parting shot the FTO gives to the newbie as he boots him from the PV?

[careerchange#2]

Juvenile calls are our biggest issue with "you're on you own" situations. Normally these start rolling in early in the AM when Johnny or Susie won't go to school. We had two back-to-back, and my partner was a little less kosher than I was:

Me: "Ma'am I only get a small snap shot of what's going on in this house every day. I can't fix the problems, all I can do is try to make things safe and livable for a brief period of time."

Partner: "Lady I can't un-f$%^ in 15 minutes what took you 16 years to f$%^ up."

[Rblake]

Qft!!

partner: "lady i can't un-f$%^ in 15 minutes what took you 16 years to f$%^ up."

[Unistat]

Partner: "Lady I can't un-f$%^ in 15 minutes what took you 16 years to f$%^ up."

My wife, who is a social worker, thought this was the funniest thing she's heard in a week!

[fahrenheit]

We responded to an "assist the fire department" call at 0-dark-thirty for an older lady who had reported that her house was flooding. Upon arrival, it was discovered that she couldn't shut off her kitchen sink faucet. The faucet was only on about halfway and the drain was handling it nicely. She was very politely informed (because we are the kinder, gentler police) that she needed a plumber, not 911.

I take a call at least once per shift where I honestly wonder what made the complainant think that the police were the right people to call for that problem.

[RustyHook]

Post deleted - Only sworn LEO may reply in this section

[Rblake]

We 'cant' tell people something like that no matter how stupid or ignorant the call. We sugar coat everything for a warm/cozy feeling. One call that comes to mind.....

We get a TON of civil calls that are not criminal in nature where we as police officers cant legally do anything. A common one, a group of family members will all live in different homes on the same 3 acers of property. The actual family member who officially 'owns' the property and allowed her relatives to build homes on it will be deceased or MIA. All the living relatives will be fighting over land bounderies, possessions, and such. We usually get called to these places over and over, and over. And have to tell them the same thing over, and over, and over, and over. All they can do take the matter to civil/probate court.

omg...I'm sorry to hear that. We explain the civil aspect nicely the first one or two times, but after that, I flat out tell them to STOP calling 9-1-1 for non emergencies or I'm writing THEM a ticket for misuse.

Heard about a lady up in Oregon a few years back. Had trouble with a contractor and withheld payment. Guy started shooting at her house. She called and was told 5 hours wait time for response to her residence. In the boonies. Told her to stay inside and hold tight.

At least OR is a shall issue state that is relatively pro-firearms. So any reasonably intelligent person should have one in their home, especially if they live so far out as she did. Luckily, nobody hurt. They took a report a few hours later and only a few holes in the wall for her.

We had a similar one a few weeks ago where a contractor left this lady's kitchen floor muddy and didn't finish fixing whatever he was working on. After humoring her attempt @ trumping up a vandalism charge for the mud, it was "sorry to hear that ma'am." Civil matter, 10-8

[luckydog]

The out of control juvenile calls are aggravating. I usually tell the parent to take a belt to the kid's rear. Worked on my father, worked on me, and works on my son. Other than that I am not going to discipline someone else's child for them, so they are on their own.

Also, barking dog complaints. WTF do you want us to do? Arrest the dog? Call animal control when they open in the morning and see if they will do something about it.

Loud party/music complaints. We do not have a noise ordinance that we can enforce like that. Our only noise ordinance is for industrial and business properties. Nothing that we can do about you crappy neighbor, but you can contact the county commissioner for your area and see if he will get the ball rolling on a decent noise ordinance.

Civil issues, people wanting to be escorted somewhere to retrieve their belongings, people wanting to get directions to XXXXX while I am on a call or traffic stop, ect. are all on their own too. What do people not understand about law enforcement's purpose is to enforce laws, not make them... or play babysitter or every little problem solver. Oh, we are not a taxi service and not AAA or whatever roadside service either.

[Crimy]

Pretty much already mentioned most of them. A few that I really hate is dealing with people who call because a neighbors parks their vehicle in front of their house on the public street or blocking a mailbox. When you try to explain to them that its public property and the vehicle is legally parked they turn into a **** very quickly. Especially on the mailbox ones. Ya i get it the post office wont deliver if the box is blocked, call your state representative to have the law updated and that would help me out a lot but until then sorry.