Some of our best witnesses in recent months have been citizens who just happen to be in the area when a serious crime takes place. From a motorist driving by and witnessing an abduction in broad daylight, to a woman on her way to work and seeing masked and armed suspects storm a bank, to the spouse of an officer calling in a shots fired.
So, with all these cases in mind, I had a conversation with my kids about what to do if we were driving along and something happened right in front of us. I explained that if the situation were such that I could safely leave them in the car or in a nearby business, I would do so and then assist with whatever was happening.
We had this conversation in the car, and we talked about what our course of action would be. We also practiced what to say if they ever had to call 911, with the most important fact being location, location, location. Even though my cell phone is GPS enabled, theirs is not.
I taught them how to read street signs, and to know what city we were in as we regularly drive through about five different jurisdictions.
We practiced calling 911, with me acting as the call taker. As we were already in the car, I stopped at different locations and gave each of the kids a scenario.
First up was my daughter. I stopped at a residential intersection and said a man was breaking into a house, and then I pointed out a random house with the homeowner working in the front yard. We went from there, and it sounded something like this:
daughter ‘calls’ 911
Me: 911. Police, ambulance or fire?
Daughter: Police, please.
Me: For what city?
Daughter: Vancouver
Me: Just wait a moment while I put you through….
pause
Me: Vancouver Police, what’s your emergency?
Daughter: A man is breaking into a house (she is looking around for the street signs by this time)
Me: Alright, can you tell me where?
Daughter: It’s a blue house by the intersection of E 54th St and Sherbrooke St.
Me: Can you see the address?
Daughter: No
Me: Alright. Is the house on 54th or on Sherbrooke?
Daughter: Um, Sherbrooke St
Me: Alright. What did the man do?
Daughter: (she looks at me and I pantomime kicking in a door) He broke the front door down.
Me: Alright, can you describe him?
Daughter: (she looks at the homeowner as he unknowingly becomes a player in our scenario) He’s old, with gray hair, a blue t-shirt and shorts.
For the next scenario, I told my son the people in the car ahead of us had robbed a store. After the regular preamble with getting to speak to police dispatch, the call went like this:
Son: We’re following some guys who just robbed a store
Me: What store?
Son: I don’t know. A corner store back there.
Me: Alright. Where are you now?
Son: (he almost gives himself whiplash trying to read the passing street signs). We are on E 57th St.
Me: Which cross street?
Son: We are almost at Knight St.
Me: Are you walking or in a car?
Son: We are in a car and so are they. It’s a red Honda.
Me: Can you see the license plate?
Son: Yup. 5-5-5-A-B-C
Me: 5-5-5-A-B-V?
Son: No, C, like cat.
We had finished with the ‘game’, which is what the kids called it, and they were chattering away about license plates and street signs, and how cool it was to pretend to be a witness when our lane of traffic came to a screeching halt. My tires locked up, all our seatbelts proved they were able to hold us in our seats and there was the awful sound of crunching and disintegrating metal up ahead of us and just out of sight.
Then, in between the line of stopped and zig zagged cars I could see the tangled remains of a motorcycle and the figure of the rider writhing around on the ground. At least he was moving. The kids were silent but very alert and they looked at me with the question of what had happened in their wide eyes. I pulled over to the side of the road, saw that about six people were already on their cell phones, and told the kids there had just been an accident.
Both of them looked for and found the street signs, and my daughter reached for the cell phone as my son waved his hand at my door in a ‘well, aren’t you going to go help’ gesture. I had to laugh, and told them to stay put, that this time they didn’t have to call 911 as lots of people were already calling. Then I proceeded to get out and went to see if I could be of any help.
Later, when I returned to the car, I told the kids the motorcyclist had been broadsided by car. The fellow had a broken leg, but his motorcycle had taken most of the impact. He was going to be fine.
My son, the one of dry wit and constant observation, piped up that what had happened was spooky as we had just been talking about how to call 911. I told them it was Murphy’s Law.
“Who’s Murphy? He has his own law? Cool!”
As promised, here is the final installment for my mini-series on ‘How to be a Good Witness’.
So you’ve found yourself in the position where a crime unfolds itself right in front of you, and you are fortunate enough to have in your possession a fully charged cell phone. You are able to make the call in to 911, and as you are speaking to the call taker, the suspect in the crime flees the scene. Besides getting a good description of the suspect and his mode of transportation, the next most important bit of information you can give the police is the suspects direction of travel.
“Which way did he go?”
You would be amazed at how often a witness is not able to answer this question. Maybe the witness is in a part of town they are unfamiliar with, or they are just not that adept at figuring out which way is North. This is okay, we understand when this happens - even the best are sometimes stumped when trying to figure out which way is up. But what happens with some regularity is the witness, with the absolute best intentions, guesses as to which direction the suspect fled in. When this occurs the police have, at best, a one-in-four chance of starting off in the right direction. And when it comes to crimes and the suspects fleeing them, time is of the essence. If you do not know which way the suspects have gone, do not guess. You are better off waiting until a police officer shows up to speak with you.
Now, here are a couple tips (mostly landmarks) to help you figure out ‘which way is up’ when you are in Vancouver:
- North – when you can see the North Shore Mountains, or the lights on the ski hills
- South – the direction you go when you drive to the airport/Richmond
- East - the direction you go when you drive to Burnaby/Metrotown/Coquitlam/Port Mann Bridge
- West – towards downtown/Stanley Park/English Bay/where the fireworks take place in the summer
Even I have been stymied on where the heck I’ve been on a few occasions, and I am a born & raised Vancouverite. So please, if you are unsure about ‘direction of travel’, you are better off admitting to this than sending us off to chase our tails with a guess.
After reading a comment left by Molly on the ‘Theft from Auto’ post, I found it discouraging to hear her building management would not install cameras in the building or underground parking lot, even after repeated break-ins and vehicle thefts. Security systems are a proven deterrent. Even if a crime does take place, the cameras provide the police with invaluable information such as a suspect description and any possible suspect vehicle involved. However, these security systems can be expensive, and are not an option for some buildings.
In the absence of cameras, police depend on witnesses to identify suspects. I’ll go over some things that you can do to aid the police when witnessing a crime, but first, I must stress this:
If witnessing a crime, do not get involved. Do not place yourself at risk to apprehend a suspect, as suspects will often become very hostile, aggressive and combative in an effort to escape. Too many people have been injured trying to stop a thief, and some have been killed. Your life, health and safety are worth far more than any piece of property.
So now you ask, “What am I suppose to do if I see someone committing a crime?” My answer is for you to be the best witness possible. By following some of the these suggestions, you can increase the likelihood that a suspect will get apprehended by the police:
- Be quiet – you do not want the suspect to know you have seen him
- Make sure you have an ‘out’- always make sure you can get away. If your safety is at all compromised, then back away and leave. Your safety comes first.
- Call 911 – report to the call taker exactly what it is you are witnessing – still call 911 even if you have had to back away for safety purposes
- Give your location – we cannot help you if we do not know where you are
- Suspect description – give as detailed a description of the suspect as possible
- Suspect vehicle – take a look around for a get away car
- Additional suspects – take a look around for accomplices
- Weapons/tools – look for any weapons involved, or tools the suspect may be using. Tools can become weapons, so remember what I said about ensuring your own safety
- Direction of travel – if the suspect leaves before police arrive, be able to tell the call taker which direction the suspect went in
- Mode of travel – did the suspect leave on foot? On a bike? In a car?
- Stay on the phone until police arrive – you may be able to give some last minute details
Ideally, if you happen to witness a crime, you will already be somewhere safe, like in a building. Several of our calls for service are from witnesses inside their own homes, watching a suspect break into a car parked on the street. These calls, and any call where someone is watching it ‘live’, are considered ‘in progress’ and will get a quick response from police.
Tomorrow, I’ll give you some tips to help you with giving suspect descriptions.
Until then, stay warm, and have fun in the snow!
Sandra
