Totally appropriate situations for dialing 911

[Triforcer]

I know I've seen a dialing 911 situation stupider than this somewhere, but not by much.  I hope she gets like 90 days in jail. 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504125,00.html

[UnSub]

It was a McEmergency.

[Oban]

Three times, oh wow.

[FatuousTwat]

I know I've seen a dialing 911 situation stupider than this somewhere, but not by much.  I hope she gets the fucking death penalty. 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504125,00.html

Fixed.

[Ozzu]

As someone who answers 911 calls for a living, you'd be surprised at just how many calls for shit just like this we get.

[Strazos]

She's into nuggets, Y'all.

 

[Abagadro]

Totally stupid to call 911 but what is up with a restaurant taking money for a product, then saying they could not deliver the product, and then refusing to give back the money.  That's borderline theft.

[tazelbain]

Better than swatting.

[Oban]

McDonald's statement:

"Satisfying each and every customer that visits our restaurants is very important to us.

Regarding this isolated incident, we apologize for the inconvenience caused.

In the event that we are unable to fill an order, a customer should be offered the choice of a full refund or alternative menu items. We regret that in this instance, that wasn't the case.

We want to correct our mistake. We will be sending the customer her refund, along with an Arch card for a complimentary meal on us.

We never want to disappoint a McNuggets fan or any McDonald's customer.

Customer satisfaction is our top priority."

Carlos Solorzano
McDonald's Operations Manager Florida Region

[Triforcer]

So the stupid are rewarded?  Sigh.

[Oban]

So the stupid are rewarded?  Sigh.

Not sure which of these slogans would be better for this story:

You deserve a break today

McDonald's is your kind of place

Food, folks and fun

I think this one is best though...

The closest thing to home

[Yegolev]

McDonald's recently was seriously considering switching to Pepsi and only recently decided to remain with Coke.  Just thought I'd toss that out there.

[Nebu]

Totally stupid to call 911 but what is up with a restaurant taking money for a product, then saying they could not deliver the product, and then refusing to give back the money.  That's borderline theft.

I think this is a function of the employees rather than the operation.  When it comes to qualified help, you get what you pay for. 

[gryeyes]

She is a moron for calling 9-11 but she has a legitimate right to cause drama. Refusing a refund even tho you are unable to render the goods you paid for? That cannot be legal and i highly doubt they would refuse to refund if it was not a company policy.

[Broughden]

She is a moron for calling 9-11 but she has a legitimate right to cause drama. Refusing a refund even tho you are unable to render the goods you paid for? That cannot be legal and i highly doubt they would refuse to refund if it was not a company policy.

A) The police officer who arrives will say, "This is a civil matter. Take them to court." Then leave. Or stick around long enough to make sure the caller doesnt cause anymore problems and leaves the property.

B) My partner and I once got a call of a child kidnapping. It was a 14 year old boy whose mother wouldnt let him out of the house because he wouldnt do his homework.  We got a call once from an African female emigrant because an African emigrant man in her building told her to keep her kids in the hallway quiet and to respect men. She couldnt believe we werent going to arrest him for that.

[IainC]

There's a pretty funny write up on El Reg.

[gryeyes]

They took your money and freely admit being unable to provide you the item. That has to be some form of crime. I don't think a police officer is going to be able to help but at least you will have a police report of the incident. If i receive money for goods that I freely admit i cannot render and refuse to refund the amount the police will be all over me.

[Paelos]

Calling the cops is ridiculous. Agreed the people that didn't give her the money back are idiots, but then you go to the manager. If the manager is an idiot, just take the substitute, get their names, and write in to the company. Then, never go back to that store.

That's the normal way to deal with a complaint that amounts to probably $3.

[Cyrrex]

Not to mention that if you politely complain to a company like McDonalds, they will eventually give you your money back and quite a bit more.  Has happened to me a number of times when calling to complain about a drive-through order gone wrong.

[Fordel]

I'm a fan of letter writing.

Seriously, it works.

[WayAbvPar]

Are we sure that someone dumb enough to call 911 three times over some McNuggets is literate?

[Samwise]

No.  Neither are most McDonald's customers.  Which is why letter-writing works so well; anyone who is capable of wielding the power of the printed word is in the 99th percentile of their customer base, and clearly not someone to fuck with.

[Oban]

Which is why letter-writing works so well; anyone who is capable of wielding the power of the printed word is in the 99th percentile of their customer base, and clearly not someone to fuck with.

Thank god for sites like the Consumerist, Amazon and Slashdot. 

[Kail]

McDonald's recently was seriously considering switching to Pepsi and-

Hello, 9-1-1?  Get me the president.

[schild]

No.  Neither are most McDonald's customers.  Which is why letter-writing works so well; anyone who is capable of wielding the power of the printed word is in the 99th percentile of their customer base, and clearly not someone to fuck with.

Hellgate London.

[Broughden]

They took your money and freely admit being unable to provide you the item. That has to be some form of crime. I don't think a police officer is going to be able to help but at least you will have a police report of the incident. If i receive money for goods that I freely admit i cannot render and refuse to refund the amount the police will be all over me.

No they wouldnt. In NYC we would say, "Its a civil matter between a person and business. Take them to court."
There would be no report.
Especially if an employee said, "We dont offer refunds but we offered a substitute."

I dont think you fully understand how much police actually try to get out of writing paperwork. The only thing the police supervisors want are tickets and summonses, as these provide a revenue stream for the city.
Serious crimes COST money and get tracked on the FBI database making your city look dangerous which isnt good for the tourist industry.

Look up COMPSTAT.

[DeathInABottle]

No they wouldnt. In NYC we would say, "Its a civil matter between a person and business. Take them to court."
There would be no report.
Especially if an employee said, "We dont offer refunds but we offered a substitute."

I dont think you fully understand how much police actually try to get out of writing paperwork. The only thing the police supervisors want are tickets and summonses, as these provide a revenue stream for the city.
Serious crimes COST money and get tracked on the FBI database making your city look dangerous which isnt good for the tourist industry.

Look up COMPSTAT.

So the portrayal of the Baltimore Police Dep't on The Wire isn't an exaggeration?  And it's true everywhere?  Juuuuust great.

[Hindenburg]

The alternative would be far worse.

[Sky]

Serious crimes COST money and get tracked on the FBI database making your city look dangerous which isnt good for the tourist industry.

Similar thing happens with teachers and shitty students. Costs a lot to get them a proper education and makes cities look bad. Just give 'em a good grade and pass 'em on.

[Broughden]

No they wouldnt. In NYC we would say, "Its a civil matter between a person and business. Take them to court."
There would be no report.
Especially if an employee said, "We dont offer refunds but we offered a substitute."

I dont think you fully understand how much police actually try to get out of writing paperwork. The only thing the police supervisors want are tickets and summonses, as these provide a revenue stream for the city.
Serious crimes COST money and get tracked on the FBI database making your city look dangerous which isnt good for the tourist industry.

Look up COMPSTAT.

So the portrayal of the Baltimore Police Dep't on The Wire isn't an exaggeration?  And it's true everywhere?  Juuuuust great.

This is how retarded the system is.
One of the last precincts I served in, in the South Bronx, the 41 precinct, we had a reduction for 2007 from 12 homicides the year prior to 2 homicides. You would think the commander would be happy and looking forward to all the praise he would get right? No he was pissed and scared shitless. If homicides went up to 4 in 2008 it would be seen as a 100% JUMP IN THE HOMICIDE RATE!?!?!? No one would look at the fact that it went from 2 to 4, just the 100% percentage increase and he would get creamed by the higher ups. He was actually hoping a few more people got killed in December to still show an over all decrease but one he could match or attain the following year.

A married couple who mutually tried to stab each other to death? I charged them both with felony Assault 1 (ie what you would call attempted murder), I have never gotten my ass chewed so hard. Felony Assault is tracked by the FBI as an Index Crime, and shows up in national databases.

Or each precinct has special teams called SNEU (Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit), and none of the narcotics crimes are on the Index. So precinct commanders love to get large numbers of narcotics arrests in their precincts to impress the higher ups. But would the SNEU teams go out and do surveillance and look for dealers and actual real police work? Nope. They would wait to find 4 guys passing around 1 spliff in a stairwell and hit them all with possession and sale/distribution of narcotics (you can charge sale even if no money is exchanged and by passing it to your buddy you have "sold"). An easy 4 arrests requiring no actual work.

[Sky]

As a former fairly heavy user (not dealer) of marijuana, I'm curious about a new shift in arrests. Back in the 80s, if I had a few bags on me (say a head stash of really good cola bud, a second bag of decent bud and a "party bag" of crap bud and clippings if there were a lot of bogarts around), I'd get intent to sell at the very least. Guaranteed! Even having empty bags would be intent to sell. They pushed so hard for intent to sell it was sometimes ludicrous. 

Over the last year, I've noticed all the busts in the paper that list multiple baggies are simple possession charges.

Now, I'm one who thinks the weed should be legal, and I'm happy that if folks have to get hassled, at least they're not pushing for misdemeanors and felony charges, but there have been many clear-cut cases of dealers (multiple dimebags, known drug hangouts) that have gotten off with possession tickets. Just find that kind of odd, wonder what the shift was, might have to do with a database thing?

[gryeyes]

Completely dependent on the State and their criteria for the crime. Some states have zero tolerance where any amount of pot is an automatic felony. In Washington as long as your total amount doesn't exceed something like an ounce its a misdemeanor and if the amount is obviously just for your consumption probably wont even be charged.

Ive known people who have gotten caught with 3 ounces/scale/bagged up and still didn't receive intent to distribute.

[Sky]

Same state. Same county. Same town.

I don't know the current laws, as I'm quite retired, willingly or no. But it used to be anything under an ounce was a violation, just a ticket. But if you had a dimebag and an empty bag, you're going to jail.

[Broughden]

Same state. Same county. Same town.

I don't know the current laws, as I'm quite retired, willingly or no. But it used to be anything under an ounce was a violation, just a ticket. But if you had a dimebag and an empty bag, you're going to jail.

No. In NYC if you have an unlit joint in your possesion but hidden from public view (in your pocket or under your hat or in your car) its a ticket. But you ask, "How do the cops find it if its hidden?" They conduct an illegal search of your person, claim it was in plain view, or some other violation of your rights, and then arrest you for the misdemeanor. If you have a lit joint but are in the privacy of your home, its also only a violation. The only way they could really find the joint and give you the "C" summons (ie ticket) is if you admitted to having it, or were arrested for another charge and they found it during a SILA (Search Incident to Lawful Arrest).

Now why are a lot of these arrests where intent to distribute could get charged being dropped down to simple possesion?

Because
A) The DA's know the rookie cops are lying. These rookies are on probation for the first 2 years, can be fired for no reason at all during such time and have tremendous pressure on them to make arrests by their superiors. So the DA's simply drop the charges down to possession, the person generally pays a fine and thats that.
B) The DA's are beyond overloaded and most rookie DA's are paid LESS than police officers. Yes, a Bronx ADA for their first 5+ years make less than a cop. They simply dont have the time or energy for such bullshit charges over some damn pot.

[Abagadro]

There is also the small matter of having nowhere to put people given prison time.