Q&A with Redmond Police Community Faciltator Jim Bove

Our neighborhood had an attempted burglary and the person fled after the alarm went off. What do you all suggest we do if we hear a burglar outside? Should we pretend to sleep to avoid confrontation or make noise too to scare the burglar away?

 

Not sure if you have a Neighborhood Watch, but this is great information to circulate to all your neighbors as soon as it occurs. It’s not common for these to happen in the middle of the night as seen on TV/movies, it’s usually during the day. That said, you need to do what you feel comfortable with. Definitely call 911 asap, preferably from a landline—that way even if you can’t talk we’ll still be in route because it will show your address. Don’t wait for the alarm company to call us because that can take several minutes. These people aren’t usually armed; they are looking to get in and out as quickly as possible without being noticed. Sometimes something as simple as turning on a light can signal to the burglar that someone is home. Grant it, it doesn’t help us catch them because they’ve already taken off, but it does keep you safe which is priority #1. That said, you never want to assume that the burglar does or does not have a weapon-so don’t get involved.  Read More >>

 

Hello Officer Bove, A white van with license plate (omitted) has been driving through our neighborhood for a few days at different times during the last few days. The man drives rather slowly and takes a look at several homes. I've asked if he needed something or was looking for someone and he pulls away. A few neighbors have also asked me how to report something they feel is suspicious. Can you please let me know the proper way to do that?

 

First, I’m not an officer so, please, call me Jim. Second, suspicious activity should be reported by calling 911 when it’s occurring. Calling an hour later or the next day doesn’t do anyone any good. But, you have to articulate why it’s suspicious. If you don’t feel comfortable calling 911, the administrative/non-emergency number is 425-556-2500 but the calls are all routed to the same friendly, smiling dispatchers.

 

 

Regarding producing a vehicle registration if pulled over (while also trying to hide it from prowlers who may take your address and then break into your home), is a digital image of the registration an acceptable alternative to the paper copy?  Many people have smart phones on which they could store a digital image of their registration. If they could show the officer the digital image, they would not need to leave a paper copy in their auto.

 

Good question. Directly from one of our traffic officers:

 

The RCW 46.16.260 states the registration certificate needs to be carried in the vehicle and provided to Law Enforcement upon demand. A digital copy is difficult to confirm authenticity, just like a photocopy of a birth certificate…..and we need to be able to scan the bar code on the registration certificate; when it’s altered it’s difficult or impossible to scan.

 

The big thing here is to produce the original when asked (not that anyone on this list would ever be pulled over for anything, of course). Don’t put so much thought into it – keep it hidden where a prowler can’t find it, but somewhere you can easily tell an officer where it is. Even if an officer gets frustrated, hopefully they’ll understand why you have it tucked away and even if they don’t it’s far better to frustrate an officer than to keep a criminal in business.

 

 

A neighbor had her car broken into last week and they attempted to steal the stereo. They didn’t remove it, just destroyed the dash. I am emailing as she informed us that she wasn’t planning on reporting it to the police because she didn’t feel like anything would come of it. We tried to convince her that it was important.

 

Grrrr. Unfortunately, we can’t take a report from a third party. And, honestly, at this point, trying to get any evidence (fingerprints, etc.) is unlikely if she’s already entered the vehicle. But yes, please encourage her to report it anyway – when we make an arrest (even months or years later), we can often tie that person to many crimes, plus it gives us accurate information as to where crimes are occurring and where we need to patrol.