[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Just a few years ago here in the greater Seattle area, we had a rather tech savvy young lady helping her parents with a stolen car. She had left her laptop, or her phone, or some other such electronic device in her parents' car. The car got stolen. She was able to invoke "find my computer (or phone)" and her parents were quickly able to find their car.

They called the police, telling them what had happened, and explaining they had their car, in sight, as they were speaking. The 911 operator told them to stand down, not to engage, and to break off contact. They refused, and continued to follow their stolen vehicle. This went on for over an hour, with no response from police. They stayed on the phone with the dispatcher, who kept telling them to leave.

Eventually, the perps noticed they were being followed, and confronted the owners. Things got ugly. People (not the perps) got hurt. The police never responded. I'm not sure the vehicle was ever recovered.

So, well, good for you that the police actually responded. Many do not enjoy that luxury. Oh - and this was years before Seattle voted to defund the police.

I'm sure that non-violent crimes are not terribly high on the list of "respond immediately" kind of stuff.

"I saw one of them carrying a gun" probably would have gotten a lot more action. Granted, the cops would probably be pissed when they didn't find a gun. If you're going to chase bad guys, you should be fully prepared for things to get ugly and assume that any bad guy could/might be a killer.