911:: Local Data Bases (was Busman's Holiday)

[Guest guest]

On Sun, 26 Aug 2001 at o2:34:26 PDT Olmstead

wrote, in part:

>

>... many of 'em expect the dispatcher to look this and

>that up in a local database to complete a task that

>could be so much easier if the officer(s) would just

>provide the subject's DOB.

>

>That last little trick is something that would never

>happen in my department; we don't HAVE " local law

>enforcement databases " right at our fingertips. I've

>visited Roy Mumaw at Arroyo Grande PD (approximately

>35 miles south of PRPD) and he's mentioned some of his

>officers pull that stunt with him, too. Must be a

>regional thing, I guess.

Only if 'regional' extends all the way to the right

coast. <snickers>

>So, while Deleena was talking to RPs and calling

>rotation tows, answering the radio, documenting calls

>and unit activity, she's also got to switch to one

>particular screen just to get a DOB for subjects to

>RUN 'em for DL and warrants, and there wasn't just two

>or three units out there.

I am thankful when my troops give me a name. A more

typical query goes something like, " Can you find the

Afro-Amer-Asian that I arrested for armed robbery by

firearm in the spring of '99? I thought I saw him.

Find out if he was released and the terms of his

parole 'cause if it was him, he's hanging with T-R-G "

('Tiny Rascal Gangsters,' an often violent Asian gang

running extortion and protection rackets that the

AOCTF [Asian Organized Crime Task Force] is trying

to break up).

Well, given time, yes, we can (do). Search " TYPE - Armed

Robbery " from Feb to Jun 99 and get the list of report

numbers, dates, locations. etc. Find those near the Eden

Center, largest cluster of Vietnamese (and other southeast

Asian) businesses east of California. Switch to report

screen to find out if requesting officer was listed in any

of those reports (he was involved in all of them). Go thru

the name indexes associated with those reports.

Ah, Patyahvungkormatkhmehrtang, Khmaerrangthanh. AKA Bad,

Big Bopper, Bop, BFour (big bad black bopper). Race is

Asian, Ethnic Thai, Complexion dark, age 23, gang

affiliation TRG. Bingo! At six one, he's tall. Ask

the officer to verify that he's very tall. Then a QH.

Yep, Virginia lists him 'Active Probationer.' Not

currently wanted. Run QR (criminal record or 'rap sheet'

for all you fire and EMS folks). Yep, just released.

Cautions: firearms; conceals knife against leg in

groin area; muscular. (Obviously, the name was changed

to protect the guilty.)

Switch computers and sign onto the Internet and go to the

State Police web site to see if he's convicted of a sex

offense or crime against a child. Nope, not listed. I do

run his SSN thru DMV to get a local address, then go to

our mug shot index to pull and copy our last photo. Clip

it all together for the officer to verify when he or she

comes in.

All part of a typical night's work along with the phones and

radio... and it sure beats the old days when we'd get out the

microfiche and scan reports for 'the spring of xx' to find

the information. Thanks to computers, we no longer even have

microfiche/film readers in dispatch. The troops go to

records on their own if they want info prior to 1990 (altho

we have searchable automated indexes back to 1980 that tell

which microfilm roll or microfiche to look in).

>I hope to make another visit or two before I go home

>in a couple of days; maybe I can also meet the other

>two list-members who work for PRPD: Tess Serna and

>Lori ...

I like visiting other centers to look at their toys which

are usually newer than ours. At work, though, I like to

'do it all' rather than just working phones or just the

radio or just the tty or just service desk or just whatever.

Oh, and the hours of frantic chaos are balanced by hours of

boredom, time to catch up on paperwork, read the list, etc.

Always take good care of yourself and yours,

Calls occur randomly... all at the same time!

R J 'Tree' Greenwood

Falls Church & Fauquier County VA

doctree@...

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