I ain't making this up

[danceswithfools]

I was dispatched to a call regarding a young male who was covered in blood, staggering back and forth in a roadside ditch. At least one and possibly two other young males had been seen brandishing pistols. I was working alone, so after a Warp 6 run to the scene, I took all necessary cautions and a very tactical position.

Turns out the three stooges were fledgling film makers from the local HS Drama class. Their idea for a project was to film a mafia style hit with Blair Witch Project style techniques. The blood was a combination corn syrup and food dye. The pistols were very realistic non-firing stage props.

It seems it never occurred to the trio, to consider the possible outcome of running around in black trenchcoats carrying guns. Thank God they were unarmed when I arrived and I didn't end up shooting anyone.

Anyone else ever have anything like this happen? I still can't decide whether to laugh at the absurdity of it or smack them for being so stupid.

[Metro174]

We actually had two goofs outside a metro station that were brandishing swords. The officer who got the initial report from a patron got it as "two guys fighting with swords". When he went outside sure enough the fools were "fighting". He called it out on the radio and everybody went flying to the scene. He drew down on them and initially they didn't drop the swords. He ordered them again and finally they complied. Turns out they were "practicing". He still got them for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. I always wondered just what in the hell was going through their heads and if they realize just how close they came to being shot.

[Lictalon]

Two summers ago I had a small part in a smaller independent film. My job, as the local scary gun guy, was to secure and make safe the stage props.

Having this type of situation in mind, I contacted the local police and informed them what were doing, when we were doing it, where we were doing it, and who was responsible.

The PD in question was very accomodating and glad that I had informed them...I'm amazed that anyone over the age of 12 could be so blind as to just go out and do it.

[Mitzi]

I remember Candid Camera thought it would be funny to handcuff 2 guys and have them just walk down the street. Local police didn't think it was too funny. The LEOS had their guns drawn and put them in the back of the police car and took off to the police station. I don't think the police were at all amused.

[kirch]

I've been on the other side of this topic.

Back in the academy we spent a few days working on high-risk traffic stops. This culminated in some practical scenarios using two of the academy's retired unmarked squad cars. All the scenarios took place behind the academy, adjacent to a wooded section.

My "partner" and I were waiting a few blocks off campus to be called in to our scenario. When the call for assistance came in, we started towards the scene but only got a little ways before the other "officers" advised us that one of the bad guys had bolted into the woods. At that point, we happened to be right next to the woods and I saw him. I told my partner to pull over.

The bad guy saw us as we stopped and he headed back the way he came. We held our position with red guns drawn and told the others that the BG was coming back their way. They advised us to stay in position until they had the BG in custody.

So we waited.

A few minutes passed and traffic started to back up on the street where we were parked. Soon I started to hear sirens approaching. I knew this wasn't one of the academy squads because the sirens didn't work in either of them. Just as we got the word that the BG was in custody, the REAL police showed up.

The first cop on scene jumped out of his squad, drew his firearm and ordered us to "Drop the weapons!" We immediately complied. Then he saw the red guns, duty gear and unmarked squad and asked, "What the hell's going on here?" We explained the situation and he started getting pretty hot. He told us to take him to our instructors and I had the feeling he was getting worked up to a good ***-chewing.

We pulled into the parking lot and it turns out one of our instructors is the cop's supervisor. As you can imagine, no ***-chewing was handed out. The instructors apologized, saying they had forgotten to call the local PD and inform them of the practice session.

It turns out someone in one of the cars that had backed up had called 911 asking what was going on. The local PD had no knowledge of anything and was in the process of sending half the force to our location before the cop who arrived downgraded things.

I gotta tell you, staring down the barrel of a .40 is not something I would like to ever repeat. Needless to say those instructors did not get very complimentary evaluations from my classmate or me at the end of the class.

[Evnings]

We've got some wanna be WWFer's that like to practice in city parks. They look like they are seriously getting after killing each other. They always did it on Saturdays or Sundays when there were a lot of people in the park. We got a lot of calls on them.

I was able to get the calls stopped by suggesting to them if they were tired of seeing the police show up at all their practices, they put up a sign in big bold letters stating what they were doing. Worked like a charm. One idea of mine that actually worked.

[Pigskin]

When I was in college one of the guys in our dorm was doing a western film as some sort of class project. He got a whole bunch of us to dress up like cowboys & we went to a ranch to film this western. We stopped off in a neighboring town to get some lunch supplies & one of the guys had on his gunbelt as he waited outside by the car. The next thing we knew a town constable had drawn down on us. We did as he said & the guy dropped the gunbelt. After explaining what we were going to do & getting chewed out, we were run out of town.

Had another situation last year while filming a Crime Stoppers re-enactment at a local drive-thru bank. We had a film crew set up, the "bad guys" were wearing their stocking masks & hiding behind the air conditioner, & I was standing in plain view in full uniform with a clipboard in my hand directing the scene. A woman pulled up to one of the other drive-thru lanes & called out to see what was going on. I told her what we were doing. Another woman behind her in a van then said she was glad to hear that because she was on her cellphone calling her boss to tell him that the bank was being robbed.

[CinaC]

Now, see, the truth of the matter is that Gregory Widen IS an Immortal. Had the brilliant idea that if he made a movie and/or TV series out of the reality of it all, people would think that whackos running around parking garages with swords chopping each others heads off were just crazy reenactors.

Or did you think Widen getting decapitated last year in a run down warehouse in East LA was just a coincidence?

Actually, that's going to be the basis of a story I plan on writing

[ 09-10-2002, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: Crazy in a Jeep ]

[SGT Dave]

I worked a particularly crazy town, but one Friday evening about dusk, I saw two Ninja's (masks, swords, tabi boots, gloves, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS!) walking down Main Avenue near the intersection of 31st Street. As I stopped them, I kept my distance at first and was totally clear clear with them that I ASSUMED they had an explaination, but once I closed with them to obtain ID's, any furtive movements would result in me EMPTYING a Beretta into their vital organs.

They were immediatley cool about it, and removed their masks, and produced identification. They were both about 20 years old, and were walking to a friends house to "surprise" him for his birthday.

As I interviewed them, I found that they had walked from 2nd Street (!) So at this point, I don't know what bothered me more: that I had stopped two "Ninja's" walking through downtown with swords, or the FACT THAT THEY HAD WALKED 30 BLOCKS DOWN THE MAIN DRAG ON A FRIDAY EVENING DRESSED AS NINJA WARRIORS CARRYING SWORDS AND NO ONE HAD THOUGHT THIS WAS STRANGE ENOUGH TO CALL THE POLICE!!!!!!!!!!

[SB]

Sir Paul McCartney prompted a full turn out of Armed Response Vehicles when he was doing some filming and prop hand guns were used. He forgot to contact our special events dept to let them know / ask permission to do it. D'oh!
I was in the special events office yesterday when the sergeant took a phone call from the Royal Academy of Art on Piccadilly. They just thought they'd let us know they were going to be letting of a couple of fireworks around lunch time on Thursday the 12th. "How big?" "oh quite, about 110 decibels" They didn't even consider the reaction it would cause to the thousands of people in central London. They are now no longer going ahead with it.

[CinaC]

I was in Boston a few years ago, and a couple guys were sword fighting on the Common. Students from Emerson, I'd bet. Don't know if the police knew about it or not ... they had some nice moves, too. Quality stuff.

[explorer]

When I was on a ride along once we got a call for about 10 teens with sheets over there heads outside of 7-11 it was around 10:30pm!

We drove like maniacks there 3 units code 1 (lights and sirens)

when we got there there were 10 kids with sheets in there hands.

turns out they were doing a senior class project on gang violence, and were making a video!

well we basickly told them that ppl. thought they realy were getting ready to break in!

it was kindof funny.

stay safe
explorer

[PeteBroccolo]

Mine is pretty tame - this goes back to the winter of 1986. The Rural unit got a call from a man who lived about 2 hours away; he owned land just outside of town. A neighbour near the complainant's farm called him to say that there were trucks hauling grain from his storage bins. One of my partners, an experienced farmer, heads out there - he says that several large bins had been emptied, and the persons had used a tractor to neatly clear the snow. The neighbours got a good description of the truck involved, so my partner radioed it to us.

I just happened to see this very truck driving through town, so I pull it over and ask the driver, who happened to be my secretary's son-in-law, if he had been out to that particular farm. He says yes, the grain is in the truck. As I arrest him he says, check with the bank repossession officer.

I call the Corporal over, who talks to the truck driver, finds out where the bank guy is and lets the driver carry on. 3 of us walk into the local bar where the repo guy is half-polluted. The Corporal hauls him out, as the repo man staggers to his car to get the papers to show that the complainant was WAY behind in payments and the bank was just taking its due.

The Corporal went up one side and down the other on the bank agent, who could not understand why we may have wanted to know what he and his hired men were up to that night. The agent went back to the bar and we went back to the office so the Corporal could call the complainant and say, "Sorry, bud, but you better talk to your lawyer"!