Police in America

[Rogue25]

Hello - I am contemplating a story about a young cop in the US who ends up with an older housewife - but I need to understand what cops do over there?! Can anyone help?

So a few questions:
1. Do they provide people with the facility to call anyone at the scene of the crime if the person doesn't have their own phone?
2. Are cops allowed to follow up cases in person on a 121 basis, with just the victim at their home?
3. Are the cops allowed to give people a ride home if they don't have their own transport?

Apologies this may seem obvious but laws differ around the world so just checking.

Thanks everyone

 

[mtwain4u]

Hello - I am contemplating a story about a young cop in the US who ends up with an older housewife - but I need to understand what cops do over there?! Can anyone help?

So a few questions:
1. Do they provide people with the facility to call anyone at the scene of the crime if the person doesn't have their own phone?
2. Are cops allowed to follow up cases in person on a 121 basis, with just the victim at their home?
3. Are the cops allowed to give people a ride home if they don't have their own transport?

Apologies this may seem obvious but laws differ around the world so just checking.

Thanks everyone

Not sure what you mean by #1.
#2 best practice is interviews at the station or at home. But if at home they are usually done in pairs to avoid he said/he said scenarios.
#3 yes cops can give people a ride home.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

So a few questions:
1. Do they provide people with the facility to call anyone at the scene of the crime if the person doesn't have their own phone?

First responders, the Uni's (Uniformed Police) just secure the crime scene and wait for the detectives to arrive(middle to big city police departments). Small town cops do everything they can, then call in the county or state police.

2. Are cops allowed to follow up cases in person on a 121 basis, with just the victim at their home?

Detectives (again middle to big city departments, county and state departments) follow up. The uni's don't.

3. Are the cops allowed to give people a ride home if they don't have their own transport?

Yes. From the crime scene or the station. Do they? Most will, some don't. They will let you use the phone in the station to call a ride.

Everything depends on the department and how big it is. If the town only has two cops, they do everything, but depend on the county and state for resources they don't have. Also the FBI gets a lot of requests from local PDs to perform tests on evidence. Big PDs have the resources to do almost everything themselves.

New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston - the four biggest cities in the US all have their own patrol, detective, crime lab, medical examiner, etc. and basically self sufficient and usually only request resources from the FBI when needed.

Other large cities, over 100,000 people will have several of the aforementioned division. Cities under 100,000 might have a detective division.

I hope this helps. But basically, even though a Uniformed Officer might happen upon the crime, they don't do the investigating, in most cases and will have nothing to do with it after they leave the crime scene.

 

[Rogue25]

Everything depends on the department and how big it is. If the town only has two cops, they do everything, but depend on the county and state for resources they don't have. Also the FBI gets a lot of requests from local PDs to perform tests on evidence. Big PDs have the resources to do almost everything themselves.

New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston - the four biggest cities in the US all have their own patrol, detective, crime lab, medical examiner, etc. and basically self sufficient and usually only request resources from the FBI when needed.

Other large cities, over 100,000 people will have several of the aforementioned division. Cities under 100,000 might have a detective division.

I hope this helps. But basically, even though a Uniformed Officer might happen upon the crime, they don't do the investigating, in most cases and will have nothing to do with it after they leave the crime scene.

Thank you for your detailed reply. I think I may have to stick with unis and just change the story for a bit more flexibility if I can. We will see.

Thanks again

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Thank you for your detailed reply. I think I may have to stick with unis and just change the story for a bit more flexibility if I can. We will see.

Thanks again

Your welcome.

One more piece of information...

Uni's investigate traffic accidents. They may followup, but rarely. The next time that uni is seen by anyone involved in the traffic accident is in traffic court. This is assuming no one died in the accident. Death triggers a detective investigating the scene and performing any followups.

 

[Weird Harold]

Thank you for your detailed reply. I think I may have to stick with unis and just change the story for a bit more flexibility if I can. We will see.

Thanks again

The nice thing about your idea is that somewhere in the US there is a police force of the right size and attitude that will accept your fantasies as "normal operations."

Also, what a Police Officer does during his off hours is generally not covered by "normal procedures." Your protagonist can investigate (and/or seduce) your person-of-interest on his own time or manufacture excuses to encounter her in an official capacity.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

The nice thing about your idea is that somewhere in the US there is a police force of the right size and attitude that will accept your fantasies as "normal operations."

Also, what a Police Officer does during his off hours is generally not covered by "normal procedures." Your protagonist can investigate (and/or seduce) your person-of-interest on his own time or manufacture excuses to encounter her in an official capacity.

That's true. Off duty, it's his/her time. And who knows how many times a uni will encounter the complaint in a week or month or whenever.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Your welcome.

One more piece of information...

Uni's investigate traffic accidents. They may followup, but rarely. The next time that uni is seen by anyone involved in the traffic accident is in traffic court. This is assuming no one died in the accident. Death triggers a detective investigating the scene and performing any followups.

What you report is generally accurate but there are odd-ball events controlled by other legal authority. where street cops are expected to co-investigate putative crime. In such events the street cop is a passive observer but may interact with her companion who's an investigator from a different legal authority. Say, the medical examiners office or the fire department or fish and wildlife or whatever. And cops handle plenty of events they witness. Battery on LEO comes to mind.

 

[Que]

The nice thing about your idea is that somewhere in the US there is a police force of the right size and attitude that will accept your fantasies as "normal operations."

Also, what a Police Officer does during his off hours is generally not covered by "normal procedures." Your protagonist can investigate (and/or seduce) your person-of-interest on his own time or manufacture excuses to encounter her in an official capacity.

Some fun plot bunnies in there.

Depending on the story, the protagonist could, with some difficulty, talk himself into violating procedures at the risk of his job if his interest is strong enough and he has some idea he can get away with it. He is going to need some pretty solid encouragement. On the lower risk end of the scale would be asking for a citizen's number while on the job or following up after hours "out of concern." Even that, could get a cop fired, easily.

Abuse of power under color of law is another interesting device someone could play with. Implying that another person has to do something or to accompany you when not under arrest, that sort of thing.

The reality is that getting your time in as a cop and getting to that retirement without getting shot or fired is kind of a priority with most cops. Most cops will not want to be in a one on one situation and risk a misunderstanding or false or inflated allegations. They like to have another guy with a badge as a witness.

Two guys who have worked together a while and socialize on and off the job are a more likely scenario for something unofficial and possibly inappropriate to occur. Even that is asking a lot of a d in an age with cellphones and cameras everywhere.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Your welcome.

One more piece of information...

Uni's investigate traffic accidents. They may followup, but rarely. The next time that uni is seen by anyone involved in the traffic accident is in traffic court. This is assuming no one died in the accident. Death triggers a detective investigating the scene and performing any followups.

I'm no expert on US rules, but I think the OP might find it easier to make their story work if it was set in a small town. A small town makes it more plausible to have one cop doing multiple jobs, and more flexibility about procedure (apart from major crime stuff).

 

[Rogue25]

Thank you all for your replies again. I may just go with a uni who follows up "After hours", it will just give me more opportunity potentially. Thanks again.