Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Question #4 Posted by DH22

Question: What are the laws and regulations regarding the use of firearms on car burglars, being that it is different from protection of life and home? Also, what is the best way to act in a situation where one sees a car burglary in progress? Notifying the police is a given but it’s possible the burglar is able to get in and out of a car within minutes and getting away before the police arrive.

Answer: California Law states that you have a right to use the amount of force necessary to protect yourself and others if you feel that your life is in danger. This doesn’t apply when using deadly force to protect your property. If you were to shoot one of the suspects, you could be arrested.

If you see a car burglary in process, call 911. Narrate to the dispatcher what the suspect looks like. Describe him/her from head to toe, including a clothing description, age and race. The dispatcher will voice your information over the radio to units in the area. Officers will then be dispatched to respond to the area. If the suspect takes off before officers arrive, they can look for him/her in the area as they pull in. Be sure to give the dispatcher the last direction that the suspect took off. If you see them get into a car on hop on a bike, be able to describe that too.

If the police catch the suspect, they will detain them. The police will then contact you for a "field show-up." Officers will then pick you up, transport you to the scene of where the suspect is being detained. You will stay in the squad car while officers take the suspect out. You will then either positively identify the suspect, or say no. If it is a positive identification, the suspect will be taken to jail.

Another factor about vehicle burglaries is that if the vehicle was unlocked, and item stolen from inside don’t exceed $400.00 it is a petty theft, and is considered a misdemeanor.

Using deadly force for a property crime is not acceptable.

Question #3 Posted by Jeff

Question: How often do officers have to use their guns? When can they use them?

Answer: There are several levels of force that the police use including and up to the use of deadly force. We first attempt to use our voices. This often times diffuses situations where we don’t even need to use a weapon. We also carry pepper spray, a baton, and a Taser in addition to our service weapons. Should the need to draw our weapon occur, we give verbal commands. We repeat commands over and over which often leads to the compliance of a hostile subject. When to use a weapon is on an individual basis and governed by California Penal Code 832. Basically, we are trained to use the amount of force necessary to stop a hostile subject who is using force that is likely to cause death or serious physical harm to ourselves or someone else. We often draw our weapons, but rarely discharge them.

Question #2 Posted by Joe

Question: Is there a place we can forward emails that appear to be scams when the sender is asking for me to send them money orders and not to tell anyone about this or I might lose out on a good opportunity?

Answer: Receiving scam e-mails can be very frustrating. This is the website that our Financial Crimes detectives refer people to for reporting Internet related issues: http://www.ic3.gov/

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).

Question #1 Posted by Robert

Question: I wanted to get some information on where I can obtain pepperspray. I am a manger in an apartment complex and I have had some trouble with people parking in our complex smoking drugs or having sex. Sometimes when tell them to leave they do get pretty upset. I’d like to get something to protect myself in case of an violent confrontation.
Thanks for the response

Answer: My advice to you is to let the police handle these problems. You never know when someone is going to be aggressive towards you or when someone is armed, and you never know if someone might try to assault you in the process. The police are trained to deal with hostile subjects, and sometimes our mere presence is enough to discourage future criminal behavior. You may use the amount of force necessary to protect yourself; however, you are not a sworn officer, and you shouldn’t go out with a can of pepper spray with the intent to confront these subjects. If you used it on these people, it may be interpreted that you have the intent to assault someone, which may be considered an assault with a deadly weapon. Even the best of intentions sometimes can go awry.

Act as a good witness. Describe the subject(s) to dispatch when you call. Get a license plate and make of the vehicle they are in. Give dispatch as much detail that you can so that they can disperse the information to responding units.

If you are having habitual problems, contact your local Problem Oriented Police (POP) team. They can help you with these types of situations.

Additionally, you may want to look into some security measures such as lighting and fencing. Contact the apartment owner as well. They have an obligation to make sure things run smoothly on their property. Good Luck!