Question about law enforcement

Can someone who was in law enforcement please explain the heirarchy to me?

If you disagree with something that a local cop is doing (or not doing, as the case may be) or you think a law is bull****, where do you go? Can you call State police? Do they have like "absolute jurisdiction?"

Calling a supervisor won't help. I've already tried that.

Superfly said:

Can someone who was in law enforcement please explain the heirarchy to me?

If you disagree with something that a local cop is doing (or not doing, as the case may be) or you think a law is bull****, where do you go? Can you call State police? Do they have like "absolute jurisdiction?"

Calling a supervisor won't help. I've already tried that.

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I'm not in law enforcement, but I don't think the State Police have authority over other jurisdictions unless they are called in to investigate wrong doing. The highest in the an individual jurisdiction is usually the Captain or Commander. Not a shift supervisor.

A call to the state's Attorney General's office should give you help.

Superfly said:

Can someone who was in law enforcement please explain the heirarchy to me?

If you disagree with something that a local cop is doing (or not doing, as the case may be) or you think a law is bull****, where do you go? Can you call State police? Do they have like "absolute jurisdiction?"

Calling a supervisor won't help. I've already tried that.

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I agree that you should talk to your state's Attorney General's office if the problem is a big one. I have family in law enforcement and one of them once reported a death in the jail that had been swept under the rug.

If you're not in law enforcement and the problem isn't as great, try writing a Letter to the Editor to be published in your local paper, describing the situation and how your complaint was ignored. You don't have to put the officer's name, but you can, depending on how strongly you feel.

Before you do that, however, you might want to contact the City/County Attorney and tell him/her what you're preparing to do. A lot of things are handled behind the scenes and that might be enough for the attorney to lean on the police/sheriff's department and get a fire lit under them.

And, you say you talked to a "supervisor" but bypass them and go right to the top -- either the Chief of Police or the Sheriff, depending on the department. The are often elected officials and will get the ball rolling.

Don't give up.

Superfly said:

Can someone who was in law enforcement please explain the heirarchy to me?

If you disagree with something that a local cop is doing (or not doing, as the case may be) or you think a law is bull****, where do you go? Can you call State police? Do they have like "absolute jurisdiction?"

Calling a supervisor won't help. I've already tried that.

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Go through the State AG office.

First thing you do is check out how the police department is set up. Most big city forces have clear complaint procedures and people on staff to run them. Small forces probably not. Forces that are big on community policing in theory welcome such input.

Only after dealing with the PD has failed do you escalate I think.

Superfly said:

Can someone who was in law enforcement please explain the heirarchy to me?

If you disagree with something that a local cop is doing (or not doing, as the case may be) or you think a law is bull****, where do you go? Can you call State police? Do they have like "absolute jurisdiction?"

Calling a supervisor won't help. I've already tried that.

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You have described two entirely different problems; 1) the action/inaction of a single LEO and 2) the law itself.

1) is an executive problem and 2) is a legislative problem. In either case you have little power alone and should seek out others to assist you in bringing this problem more attention.

I suggest explaining the problem (with help from as many supporters as you can muster doing the same) to an elected official (executive or legislative, as appropriate) in the responsible governing body. If that yields no satisfactory explanation or action then the next step is probably to try to involve the press (mass media) to present the issue either as a news item or a letter to the editor.

On paper, settling such disputes would seem to fall under the judicial system but, in reality, you can rest assured that would likely be a very expensive waste of your time.

Hawkeye10 said:

First thing you do is check out how the police department is set up. Most big city forces have clear complaint procedures and people on staff to run them. Small forces probably not. Forces that are big on community policing in theory welcome such input.

Only after dealing with the PD has failed do you escalate I think.

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That is certainly worth a try but it has been my experience that course of action will result in nothing except the generation of a form letter to you thanking you for bringing the matter to their attention.

ttwtt78640 said:

That is certainly worth a try but it has been my experience that course of action will result in nothing except the generation of a form letter to you thanking you for bringing the matter to their attention.

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Ya, me the hopeless optimist.....

HowardBThiname said:

I agree that you should talk to your state's Attorney General's office if the problem is a big one. I have family in law enforcement and one of them once reported a death in the jail that had been swept under the rug.

If you're not in law enforcement and the problem isn't as great, try writing a Letter to the Editor to be published in your local paper, describing the situation and how your complaint was ignored. You don't have to put the officer's name, but you can, depending on how strongly you feel.

Before you do that, however, you might want to contact the City/County Attorney and tell him/her what you're preparing to do. A lot of things are handled behind the scenes and that might be enough for the attorney to lean on the police/sheriff's department and get a fire lit under them.

And, you say you talked to a "supervisor" but bypass them and go right to the top -- either the Chief of Police or the Sheriff, depending on the department. The are often elected officials and will get the ball rolling.

Don't give up.

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Thanks. This is so frustrating.

Reader's Digest Condensed Version - my daughter's dirtbag boyfriend stole her keys yesterday while she was in bed sick with the flu. As of 12:00 noon, EST, he has not returned the car. He is laughing at her when she tells him to bring it back. At one point, he told her that he doesn't know where the car is, and that he loaned it to somebody else.

She called the police and reported it stolen. The police said it wasn't stolen because she gave it to him previously to drive, which established permission. I guess they don't care that he has no license or insurance. :roll: Anyway, he "says" he doesn't have the car anymore, and that he gave it to somebody else to drive. At this point, nobody knows where the car is.

The car has been missing now for almost 24 hours and nobody is doing anything about it. I don't know what to do. The car is still in my name.

Superfly said:

Thanks. This is so frustrating.

Reader's Digest Condensed Version - my daughter's dirtbag boyfriend stole her keys yesterday while she was in bed sick with the flu. As of 12:00 noon, EST, he has not returned the car. He is laughing at her when she tells him to bring it back. At one point, he told her that he doesn't know where the car is, and that he loaned it to somebody else.

She called the police and reported it stolen. The police said it wasn't stolen because she gave it to him previously to drive, which established permission. I guess they don't care that he has no license or insurance. :roll: Anyway, he "says" he doesn't have the car anymore, and that he gave it to somebody else to drive. At this point, nobody knows where the car is.

The car has been missing now for almost 24 hours and nobody is doing anything about it. I don't know what to do. The car is still in my name.

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Oh crud. That is a problem.

It is true that departments like to steer clear of those kinds of problems because if they follow up like they would on a regular car theft -- if they find the car and arrest the boyfriend, there's a good chance the young couple will make up and then it might be tough to get your daughter to testify against the boyfriend so the case goes in the crapper.

Still, officers here would go to the boyfriend's home or parents' home and ask some questions. Sometimes, that's all that's needed to get the wayward party to start acting like a human being.

You may be able to report it stolen since it's in your name. They can't stop you from filing a report. Sometimes you have to say very firmly that you want to file a report. Then, they have to do a least a little to deal with it.

The hardest part is that our kids rarely listen when we tell them that they people they're dating are trouble. Hopefully, your daughter will see him for the scumbag he is after this.

If by tomorrow nobody's still helping you, call the Police Department and tell them you're getting ready to call the Attorney General because your car has been stolen and no one's lifting a finger to help you. And, then, if you have to, go ahead and call them. Usually, even if it's not something they can directly help with, they will offer some ideas about how you can go about getting the situation remedied.

I wish you the best of luck. Been there. Could have written the book. It gets better with time.

Superfly said:

Thanks. This is so frustrating.

Reader's Digest Condensed Version - my daughter's dirtbag boyfriend stole her keys yesterday while she was in bed sick with the flu. As of 12:00 noon, EST, he has not returned the car. He is laughing at her when she tells him to bring it back. At one point, he told her that he doesn't know where the car is, and that he loaned it to somebody else.

She called the police and reported it stolen. The police said it wasn't stolen because she gave it to him previously to drive, which established permission. I guess they don't care that he has no license or insurance. :roll: Anyway, he "says" he doesn't have the car anymore, and that he gave it to somebody else to drive. At this point, nobody knows where the car is.

The car has been missing now for almost 24 hours and nobody is doing anything about it. I don't know what to do. The car is still in my name.

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You own the car so you need to report it stolen. As far as permission goes you can try telling the cops that since it's your car you need to give him permission, not your daughter, and you did not. They may still view it as a family squabble and blow you off but it's worth a try. I'd also do it in person and not over the phone.

Gaius46 said:

You own the car so you need to report it stolen. As far as permission goes you can try telling the cops that since it's your car you need to give him permission, not your daughter, and you did not. They may still view it as a family squabble and blow you off but it's worth a try. I'd also do it in person and not over the phone.

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Tried that. Got so angry (yelling at cops at 2 in the morning to do their damn jobs) that I could have easily gotten arrested if I'd been there in person. That phone actually saved me. :lol:

They said that because we gave her the car, even though it's still in our name, she now has custody of the car, and she can give permission to whomever she wants to drive the car. She gave him permission previously (though not last night) and he is going based off that previous permission. The cop then said that he could give permission to whomever HE wanted to, and that technically, he didn't even have to bring the car back, because once upon a time, she gave him permission. This is the craziest thing I have ever had to deal with.

HowardBThiname said:

Oh crud. That is a problem.

It is true that departments like to steer clear of those kinds of problems because if they follow up like they would on a regular car theft -- if they find the car and arrest the boyfriend, there's a good chance the young couple will make up and then it might be tough to get your daughter to testify against the boyfriend so the case goes in the crapper.

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True. But I wouldn't have a problem testifying, and it's my car. That's what I don't understand. It's my car. In my name. A man with no license and no insurance is driving my car, without my permission. The only person who we gave permission to drive this car is our daughter. None of that matters, though. It's like crazytown. Like opposite day or something.

Still, officers here would go to the boyfriend's home or parents' home and ask some questions. Sometimes, that's all that's needed to get the wayward party to start acting like a human being.

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Nope. They wouldn't do that. They said that they will have absolutely nothing to do with this issue, because according to them, it's not against the law.

You may be able to report it stolen since it's in your name. They can't stop you from filing a report. Sometimes you have to say very firmly that you want to file a report. Then, they have to do a least a little to deal with it.

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I told them 4 times last night I want to file a report to have this car listed as stolen. They wouldn't do it. They simply said no. I asked for a supervisor. He also said no. Just no.

The hardest part is that our kids rarely listen when we tell them that they people they're dating are trouble. Hopefully, your daughter will see him for the scumbag he is after this.

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Certainly hope so, but my daughter doesn't have a good track record for picking stable boyfriends. She likes the bad boys, and then doesn't understand why they steal her car at 2am and go cheat on her with her best friend. Who knew, right? That bad boys were, I don't know, bad?

If by tomorrow nobody's still helping you, call the Police Department and tell them you're getting ready to call the Attorney General because your car has been stolen and no one's lifting a finger to help you. And, then, if you have to, go ahead and call them. Usually, even if it's not something they can directly help with, they will offer some ideas about how you can go about getting the situation remedied.

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Thanks. Well, there's an update. The boyfriend's cousin contacted her and told her where the car was. It was with another woman, that he was cheating on both my daughter and her friend with. Sheesh. :roll: So my daughter went there and the guy was not there, but the girl he was cheating with was there. She was pissed, because he took her car without permission, so hopefully she can have him arrested.

My husband and son in law took the car to my son in law's house, and he disconnected the coil pack, so it can't be driven. My older daughter is keeping the keys with her at all times. This bull**** will not happen again. The officer I talked to this morning was more help than anyone. He told me if the car wasn't back by tomorrow morning, to get up and go find a judge and explain to them what is happening. He said that the judge could issue a bench warrant for theft, because the judge has more power than the cops do to handle something like this. Thank God we don't have to now, but sheesh. This has been a nightmare.

I wish you the best of luck. Been there. Could have written the book. It gets better with time.

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If you ever need a co-author, let me know. And thanks for the help.

Superfly said:

Tried that. Got so angry (yelling at cops at 2 in the morning to do their damn jobs) that I could have easily gotten arrested if I'd been there in person. That phone actually saved me. :lol:

They said that because we gave her the car, even though it's still in our name, she now has custody of the car, and she can give permission to whomever she wants to drive the car. She gave him permission previously (though not last night) and he is going based off that previous permission. The cop then said that he could give permission to whomever HE wanted to, and that technically, he didn't even have to bring the car back, because once upon a time, she gave him permission. This is the craziest thing I have ever had to deal with.

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That cannot possibly be right. Giving someone permission to use something does not imply that you're granting them permission to allow someone else to use it. At most I'd think there's some kind of implied consent if you knew he was loaning it out and didn't stop him.

Only other thing I can think of is tell the boyfriend that permission to use the car has been withdrawn and that he's to return it immediately. Then tell the cops the same thing when he doesn't return it. After that I think you might need a real lawyer.

Thanks, Gaius. I swear, it doesn't sound right, but after the original officer told us this, I requested a supervisor. I was just gobsmacked that this was the law. The Lt. told me the same thing when he called me. So I called the city police this morning, and they, too, said the same thing.

We do have the car back. The douchebag's cousin told my daughter where it was and who had the keys, so she went and grabbed the car before he came back. My son in law has it now and has disabled it so no one can drive it.

But yes, that is the law. SMH.

Superfly said:

Thanks, Gaius. I swear, it doesn't sound right, but after the original officer told us this, I requested a supervisor. I was just gobsmacked that this was the law. The Lt. told me the same thing when he called me. So I called the city police this morning, and they, too, said the same thing.

We do have the car back. The douchebag's cousin told my daughter where it was and who had the keys, so she went and grabbed the car before he came back. My son in law has it now and has disabled it so no one can drive it.

But yes, that is the law. SMH.

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I hope the boyfriend is now an 'EX-boyfriend'.

RAMOSS said:

I hope the boyfriend is now an 'EX-boyfriend'.

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He is. Thank God. She has his **** in a box on the front porch. She won't even let him come inside to get it.

Superfly said:

Thanks, Gaius. I swear, it doesn't sound right, but after the original officer told us this, I requested a supervisor. I was just gobsmacked that this was the law. The Lt. told me the same thing when he called me. So I called the city police this morning, and they, too, said the same thing.

We do have the car back. The douchebag's cousin told my daughter where it was and who had the keys, so she went and grabbed the car before he came back. My son in law has it now and has disabled it so no one can drive it.

But yes, that is the law. SMH.

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If she texts him that he is no longer authorized to drive the car, he can be charged with auto theft if he tries to take it again.

It should say something along the lines of "Mr. Douche is no longer authorized to drive X car, and charges will be filled in any attempts to operate vehicle."

That's what I was told in a similar circumstance.

MovingPictures said:

If she texts him that he is no longer authorized to drive the car, he can be charged with auto theft if he tries to take it again.

It should say something along the lines of "Mr. Douche is no longer authorized to drive X car, and charges will be filled in any attempts to operate vehicle."

That's what I was told in a similar circumstances.

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Hopefully that won't be an issue again, as the car is immobile.

Problem is, the police were, too. We told them, "We revoke his permission to drive the car." They wouldn't do anything. My daughter says, "I revoke his permission to drive the car." They wouldn't do anything.

They just said, "Sorry. Not theft." So it's like forever and ever Amen, he gets to drive the car. She could be married 20 years from now, with children and grandchildren and all of a sudden, he could take the car without even asking, and drive to Alaska and she couldn't say anything.

They were completely immovable on the entire situation. It was bizarre.

I think I am going to make some phone calls tomorrow, just because of how unreal this whole thing has been. I mean, I do have the car back, but what if I had not? He had hidden the car at a girlfriend's house. What if his cousin hadn't done the stand-up guy thing and told my daughter where it was? We would still be sitting here, wondering where the car was.

This cannot be right. There has to be some kind of disconnect between the actual law, and how these Keystone Kops are interpreting it.

Superfly said:

Hopefully that won't be an issue again, as the car is immobile.

Problem is, the police were, too. We told them, "We revoke his permission to drive the car." They wouldn't do anything. My daughter says, "I revoke his permission to drive the car." They wouldn't do anything.

They just said, "Sorry. Not theft." So it's like forever and ever Amen, he gets to drive the car. She could be married 20 years from now, with children and grandchildren and all of a sudden, he could take the car without even asking, and drive to Alaska and she couldn't say anything.

They were completely immovable on the entire situation. It was bizarre.

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That's not the law anywhere, they're just lazy, and don't want to do their jobs.

Try the sheriffs department, they are sometimes more helpful -- unless they are you're local cops too.

Superfly said:

He is. Thank God. She has his **** in a box on the front porch. She won't even let him come inside to get it.

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Give him his crap on the condition that he is sign an authorization letter, that specifies he is no longer authorized to drive the car. There are letters like that on the internet, so check your state, or ask a lawyer for one.

That will put an end to it, or if does take the car again he'll be wearing orange for a bit.

MovingPictures said:

That's not the law anywhere, they're just lazy, and don't want to do their jobs.

Try the sheriffs department, they are sometimes more helpful -- unless they are you're local cops too.

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This was sheriff. Our city police only works a very small downtown district. I asked them after I talked to County. I couldn't believe that they were telling me the truth, but the City backed it up and said the same thing.

If I were you I'd get a lawyer and sue the cops.

A 38 year old lady friend of mine had a similar situation and called the local police at past 2 in the morning to make a complaint.
Same stonewalling. You see, at that late hour they do not want to be bothered with stuff unless it is some major crime.
My friend was upset, but i calmed her down and told her to wait till daytime and talk to another officer on the day shift.
I also told her she needs to "learn how to talk to the white man". A line I got from the comedy movie EVOLUTION.

There are lots of people that have trouble talking to police in a calm manner and at zero-dark-thirty, they are also out of patience.

She waited until the next day, talked to them in the manner I described and all was well and resolved.
It is all about "how to talk to the white man" and when.
This is not the time for short fuses or you will be ignored.
Screaming at them will get you even less cooperation and even them lieing to you, which they can legally do.