Police have to respond to any call that comes in with a citizen being concerned. This can range from a suspicious person walking through the neighborhood to person(s) with a firearm. Yes the individual(s) may be lawfully carrying their firearms however the info that police originally collect is/are from 911 caller(s). If you have someone freaking out about someone else with guns (whether legal or not legal), the police are going to show up to investigate. Also a report will be done no matter what, that is for certain. It doesn't matter whether a crime is committed or not, when a 911 call comes in a report number is generated automatically for future reference or whatever, all info collected will be put into the report. So any agency stating that there is no report is full of it.
Have to disagree. A call number is generated. The call is built with basic info such as the type of call (domestic, disturbance, fight, medical call, shooting, assist citizen, suspicious activity, etc.)
That call is then filled initially with whatever info they have from the caller (or officer if initiated by them like say a traffic stop). So maybe a location, description of complaint, name of person calling and contact/ call back info.
The officer then goes based on that information. The officer can then CLEAR said call however they want (in accordance with dept. Policy since it can dictate that certain call types do require a report). No report is generated unless it is REQUESTED and assigned by the dispatch to said officer.
For example... Caller says there is someone suspicious standing outside. They don't have any info other then a location and description of them and their actions.
Officer arrives, see that its Joe Snuffy hanging out. Maybe he gets the guys name and runs his name. Then Joe Snuffy would be logged (if dispatch is on top of it), into the CALL notes that you had Joe Snuffy and his DOB. You chat for a second and see he's legal. So you tell him to have a great night. You leave and clear the call "assisted" or 04 for a clearance code. Even better... You DONT get his name. Well then there's no name to report.
Dispatch then clears call out with the code you tell them.
If you did a FOIA request you would get the dispatch call log. It would show time, date, location, original call notes, and then you'd see Joe snuffy's name and DOB (if he gave it). That's it. No field notes no reports, no Nada.
Nothing to report. You approached a guy named Joe Snuffy. He gave you a name and dob because he felt like it. You determined he wasn't bothering anyone and you left him. Done.
If i had to write a full friggin report on every call I went to in a night I'd never be able to leave at the end of my shift.
Now there is the OPTION to do a report. And this is very OC related. Say you have a group of guys OCing. Someone calls and complains. You show up determine they are all legal. Well you can do what we call a FIR. Or a field interview report. Its just a form of report saying you interacted with them and this is what you saw. We utilize that with our gangs a lot. You had a group of members standing on a corner. Well a call comes in they are disturbing. You show up get info and do a FIR saying you spoke with them any Intel you have. But that's a CHOICE.
Disclaimer: again department policy dictates what a report is needed for. So this will vary according to location. Some may require a report for a barking dog. Others may only require them for arrests/complaints.
The point is that statement "a report is always generated and they are lying if say it isn't " is completely false.
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