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When You Report Crime or Suspicious Activity

I, like a lot of LEO in here get asked, "What should I say when I report suspicious activity to law enforcement?"

THIS TRAINING ARTICLE IS FOR YOU NON LEO's. I hope it helps.

When You Report Crime or Suspicious Activity

When you believe that you are a victim of crime or see suspicious activity call the appropriate law enforcement agency. If the incident is non emergency or life threatening call the non-emergency lines. One must keep in mind that the dispatcher will have questions so be prepared to answer them. Learn what to look for so, you’ll be able to give appropriate and correct information. The information you give is all the officers know until they arrive on scene.

Questions To Expect From Dispatch Center

Here is a list of general questions the dispatcher will ask you:

1. What type of incident is it?
2. If appropriate, the next question is the incident still in progress?
3. Where is the incident occurring?
4. How many people are involved?
5. Are there weapons involved? If so, what kind?
6. If subjects are leaving or not. If so, they’ll ask direction of travel, vehicle description and suspect descriptions.

Questions To Expect From Responding Officer

If you are a victim of home burglary, there are steps that must be taken before entering your home. When returning home and you notice that your home is broken into, leave and call the appropriate law enforcement agency. Use a cell phone, neighbors or payphone. The burglar could still be in the house.

The responding officer will enter your home to ensure it is safe for your return. This officer will protect evidence when searching for suspects. Officers are training what to touch and not touch, as well as where to step through out the home. The officer after making sure your home has no burglars inside will need the following information.

1. What time was the last family member inside?
2. What time was it when the burglary was discovered and by who?
3. Do you have any suspects? This doesn’t mean you think your suspicious are correct in your suspect assumptions. It simply gives the detectives a better place to start investigating.
4. What property was taken from inside or outside of the home? Also, where was it located exactly on the property and the last time anyone saw the item.
5. Do you have serial numbers and/or pictures of the items taken?

The initial officer will file the report of the crime. Therefore, this report should have all available information that the report requires, as it is the report the home owners insurance gets. The insurance agent needs a concise and complete report in order to file your claim.

The initial officer will also gather evidence and sometimes preserve evidence until the CSI detectives arrive. Some evidence can easily be inadvertently destroyed, therefore, be careful as you could contaminate evidence that could lead to the burglars arrest and conviction.

Suspects Descriptions

If you are a victim of a crime or are reporting suspicious activity in which you see the perpetrator, a description is imperative. When calling 911 or non emergency number memorize the following as you will be asked by the dispatcher.

1. Do you know the suspect?
2. What is the suspect’s race?
3. What is the suspect’s approximate age?
4. What is the suspect wearing? Be descriptive by clothing type and colors.
5. What are the suspect’s personal traits? Such as hair color, style and length.
6. Did you see any distinguishing marks? Such as tattoos or scars.
7. Did you see a weapon? If so, a rifle, shotgun or pistol. The weapon could be a knife or even a stick. Be descriptive.
8. Did the suspect leave in a vehicle? If so, the color, make, model, year and license plate number are the most valuable information. However, sometimes the vehicle can have distinguishing marks as well. Such as bumper stickers, cracked windshield, body damage or even loud exhaust.

So there is much more to reporting crime and suspicious activity than dialing 911. Today, we in law enforcement need citizens’ help and resources in order to help solve crimes committed.

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