[Vision2020] Say What?

[Tom Hansen]

Roger -

The question does not concern whether or no police should respond to a
reported/suspected burglary.  They should.

The question concerns HOW they respond to a reported/suspected burglary.

I will give you a "for instance" . . .

It is known that I live in an apartment complex of which 99% of the
inhabitants are students.  Trust me.  I can tell you some stories.

A few (maybe five) years ago our mid-twenties, unemployed next-door
neighbor had been embibing in cannabis (smoking pot) on somewhat of a
regular basis).  Eventually the Moscow Police Department was called and
informed of this situation.  The police were informed (apparently) that
"somebody on the first floor was smoking marijuana.  The pungent odor was
evident in the hallway.

Sure enough, the cops show up (about 8:00 or 9:00 PM) and knock on my
door.  I answered.  They kinda leaned in (without entering the premises)
and sniffed around.   Realizing that the odor was not originating from my
apartment, they simply asked me if I had been smoking marijuana.  I said
"No".  That only left one apartment from where the odor could have
originated.

The police asked if they could enter my apartment to gain back-door access
to our neighbor's apartment.  They entered and stood at the back patio
while their backup knocked on the neighbor's front door.  As soon as the
neighbor's door was opened, a small lilght brown cloud disipated into the
hallway.

Needless to say . . .

What I am getting at:  Unlike the Amherst Gestapo, the Moscow Police
department handled everything "according to Hoyle" and it turned out to be
a very uneventful evening . . . with the exceptioon of the cat in the
hallway scratching at the neighbor's door.

What made this particularly strange was that an MPD officer was living
upstairs at the time.

Gee.  I wonder who made the call.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown