Well friday morning I got to work to realize my air conditioner was stolen the night before. I did not know that the copper market was so hot, so I did a search on the current prices of copper less than $4.00 a pound. SO these thieves went through all the hard work in a frozen driveway climbed up the stand and stole the WHOLE coil of the AC unit.
Now I dont like thieves at all, but the worst part of it. I called the police department. Granted the roads had been bad, but Friday they were not at all. The dispatcher asked if it was ok if a officer called me. I said sure. Sure enough a lady police officer calls me and ask me 3 questions about the ac unit. Then asks me all this personal information, that in my mind has nothing to do with the ac. My hair color is not going to capture the thief.
When the police asked for mysocial security number I said that has nothing to do with this report. My SS # is not an indentifer to the police department only to the social security commision. I truly hate when people ask that like they have a right to know. I informed the poilce that, she then said she could not file a report because I was being uncoopertive.
How was I being that, just because I felt like I was the criminal ??? The monday before that, there was 2 police officers that had pulled over a one legged man in a motorized wheelchair trying to get to his DR's appt. Granted there are no sidewalks in OKC at all, so where else is he supposed to roll on??? So we pull over a wheelchair by 2 okc police officers like the man is going to outrun not one but 2 police cars??? What a sight to see if he had tried.

I just think nowdays that OKC police are more reporters and not people that actually go after the "real criminals' it is sad when Victims are victimized over and over again most of the time in the hands of the people hired to protect us.
The shopping center I have my business in has been broken into 9 times in the last year. Now we are starting to carry weapons and protect ourselves.
There is not deterant to crime in this area other than protecting yourself no matter what. You can not rely on the police department to do anything at all
At least that is how I see it

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"You can't fix stupid it's foreverrrrrrrrr!!" Ron White

It's just the typical treatment from the Police you'll get anywhere...they cant admit they are wrong so they treat the good guy like a criminal...makes them feel they still have the upperhand...I know alot of cops and they have no need for your SSN unless you are booked on a crime.

It's all about money...it's true the officers are told to write tickets to bring in revenue so they tried or maybe did write the guy in the wheelchair a ticket knowing damn well they were in the wrong it's all about money. Pulling people over for no seatbelt is safer and more profitable than busting up a drug deal where there is no money to be made and then cops are usually too lazy to want to write a report. I witnessed a drug deal at the gas station one night at the next pump over...the police department is literally right across the street so I called the police with an exact description of both parties involved and a license plate number and description of the vehicle...well guess what the street divides two different cities so they told me to call the city I was in...good team work there but two different cities will pull you over if you are speeding through both cities..I know I have been involved in that situation with my buddy one night and both cities pulled us over..one of the cities actually arrested us because we had his brother in the car who was 16 at the time and he was out after midnight with us.One of my buddys stops by at times on his shift and actually gets mad when the dispatcher calls him on a run an hour before it is time to go home...I told him to stop complaining and he had a job to do...go do it. Botom line is cops are just lazy. Perfect example last night...there was an accident and instead of bending over to pick up a tailight one cop just kicks it aside..one actually bent over and picked it up.

It is at the point where you can't depend on the police anymore. They don't seem to want to respond to the lower priority calls because there is not enough excitement for them. They also hate to do reports, especially when it is some kind of theft. To them, it's petty.

The one thing they love to do, even though most won't admit it, is be involved in a police pursuit. You will notice, after a pursuit, that it looks like the entire force is on the scene.

I actually did a ride-along with a day shift officer a couple of years ago, and learned quite a bit from this officer. He is a 22 year veteran, so he has been around for a while. I asked him what the procedures are on a foot pursuit. He told me that HIS procedure is to let them go. He told me that he has a bum knee and a bad shoulder, and that his days of chasing suspects on foot are over. He just let's them go. He says he leaves the foot pursuits to the rookies and the gung ho officers.

Another situation that dissappointed me was when we received a call about a drunk driver that was weaving all over the road. We were actually in the area where the drunk driver was......but guess what? It was an hour before this officer's shift ended, so when dispatch tried to find a unit to take the call....nobody would respond. This officer informed me that he had to be at his sons soccer game by 5:30 PM, and that there was no way he was going to get involved in anything that would result in an arrest, and make him work overtime. As a matter of fact, he sped up and went the other way so that he could avoid the drunk driver.

Not all officers are this bad, however, it does give you a glimpse of how some of the veteran officers perform their duties. Plus, a major at the Santa Fe Division informed me that OKC police are very shorthanded. Not good news.

So, do we have good police protection in OKC? In my opinion, we don't.

While I agree with what you said, I think you took it too personally. Yes you were victimized, yes it impacts you and your business, and yes you have a certain expectation of the police. The problem - nobody else cares about your situation but you.

While the victim is freaking out that someone dared come onto their property and steal from them, the police mentality is 'so what, do you know how many times a day this happens and besides you should have insurance, so what do we care.'

Try having your actual home broken into in OKC. They could have taken everything you own, sat down and ate your food and used your toilet and still OCPD will not even attempt to lift a single finger print. When asked, the answer I got was - we don't have the resources and you should have insurance to get you new stuff.

Hell a mechanic friend of mine had his garage broken into. Tools were taken, stuff was broken. The thief even left the bolt cutters behind he used to get the garage door open. He specifically asked the police to take fingerprints and told them he had no insurance on the contents of his building. Police didn't care.

I too have family members that are cops. Some are good people and are only limited by the rules/laws placed on them. Many others though are the sterotypical bullies with badges and have an attitude that everyone else is guilty of a crime, it's just a matter of figuring out which crime.

My cousin (a cop) admits that his only friends are cops because 'they are the only people that understand me.' Pleez - He annoys the heck out of everyone and think he's are a lawyer that's why.

I was very sad to see it took new DA Prater no time at all to snuggle up to OCPD and drop the charges on the cop who beat the guy up in the county jail. Like he himself said - "its a brotherhood."

Two things that would make this country a safer place to live Ted Nugent for President and Public Hangings...I can really only blame taxpayers for most of our problems because most taxpayers dont have the balls to stand up for how they feel...rather they just sit back and complain doing nothing.

Oh, what a bummer... sorry Hottcutz that you had to go through that!

Maybe you should contact 5 on your Side or something similar... but even then, you don't know who might get mad and start to target you. ie parking tickets etc.. sometimes it's a no win situation. Hope it gets better!

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" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

What I hope they do is crack down on copper thieves. I think the best way is to target the buyers. There are only a handful of recyclers in the metro. If Target is gonna collect my data with every sale and/or refund, why can't a recycler be forced to also. I say take a photo and copy the id from every copper seller. Make them declare how they came about the copper. However, I'm haven't quite figured out how that info is gonna help LE.

If you call an organization for help, they have the right to ask anything they feel is revelant and to expect an answer. Did you think about the possibility that the crime report might be filed under your social security number? Plus. did you think about the fact that every call is recorded and if the number was used to commit a crime, the officer would easily be caught? Did you think about the fact that it was a commisioned law enforcement officer that called you? No. I doubt it. I do not blame them for not filing the report. Because of your lack of cooperation, it is possible a crime ring will not be stopped.

I hope your insurance, if you have any, denies your claim. Maybe it will teach you to cooperate next time.

Ever hear of identity theft?


Be careful for what you wish for - what goes around comes around

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" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

It was a police officer who called her for Gods sake. Think about that.

And, we all know that police officers are upstanding citizens who would never, ever, ever break the law.

It's sort of redundant for you to add ' think about that' after every point you make. It's a no brainer for most people to 'think' about something they read.

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" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

Oh my God - more words of wisdom from Anderson. Please tell me you didn't produce offspring.

He didn't, no worries, BailJumper

How could you possibly say to someone, "I hope your insurance denies your claim."

WTF?

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Still corrupting young minds

Also, to the original poster:

From what my husband just told me (I spoke with him about your ordeal) the police officer asked for your social security number because when people buy copper, they have to give their information because it's such a "hot" market right now...think along the lines of having to give up information for Sudafed and other sudoephedrine (sp?) products...and they track that information. Also, they want to make sure that you aren't posting a fraudulent claim.

You're understandably upset, and the police officer more than likely could have made it to your place to do the report in person, which I know I would feel more comfortable about. I don't like giving my SS# out much, either, unless I know it's absolutely necessary.

I do hope that you have insurance, and that they ACCEPT your claim. You are the victim here. The police officer could have explained why they needed the SS# instead of getting all crappy toward you. But, as it has been proposed already, cops are often a little power-trippy.

I wish you well, and I hope it all works out.

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Still corrupting young minds

How do you really know it was a police officer? have you ever heard of people impersonating an officer?...One of my good cop buddys just left my house...the only honest one I know and you do not have to give your SS number over the phone to anyone no matter what...in person is a qualified reason but not over the phone...and that is not uncoperative it is being within your rights.

Me too...please

Mr.Anderson. I think you are intentionally bating people in here . You are very negative and YES I have insurance, so I am not to worried about it. But remember Karma.. I seem to believe good people have bad things happen to them. I guess your not in that league yet???
I surely hope the police is better in the case you need them. God bless you Mr Anderson .. I hope today is REALLY GOOD FOR YOU and the rest of your life.

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"You can't fix stupid it's foreverrrrrrrrr!!" Ron White

That seems so mean spirited, Mr. Anderson. Wouldn't you wish something a little more positive for another human being? She felt uncomfortable giving her ss #....why should she feel obligated to do something that makes her uncomfortable? And why should the police make her feel like a criminal for being uncomfortable...wouldn't they want to ease her fears by explaining the necessity of needing her ss# if it were relevant to their report? You brought up so many reasons why they may have wanted her #, but isn't it THEIR job to explain things to her and not bully her into giving an answer? How about a little compassion for someone who was traumatized and invaded by a thief.

What I said should teach someone a lesson. I teach by example and by prior experience. By not getting the insurance due to no police report, that may teach a person to be more cooperative. The police are just doing their jobs by asking questions they need to ask. An answer is expoected and a reasonable request. Plus, I bet the cop was polite. Most are.

This should be the OKC Police Dept. slogan. I know one cop, and yeah, he's a nice guy. But the few times I have had to deal with cops when they were in uniform, they were anything but polite, kind, or nice.

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Still corrupting young minds

There are examples of good and bad in every profession....police included. We can't always assume "most are" polite. I don't think you taught a lesson- I think you were more set on proving a point and in a mean spirited way. What was your related prior experience here?
She has the right to ask questions, and receive a reasonable answer to her questions. If they had answered as to the necessity of needing the # in the first place, I would bet she would have been more than willing to comply with their request for this very, very (did I stress, very???) personal information. Yet, they deemed her uncooperative because she refused to give out her # without a reasonable answer as to why it was pertinent to their report. Again, she was not the criminal here, she was the one who was traumatized.

Most are not...most have this attitude that you are inferior to them.

-M