Trust your instincts - and call 911

By Diane Hettrick

"Trust your instincts - and call 911." That's the advice from Shoreline Chief of Police Dan Pingrey.

"If we were a pro-active department," he said, "we'd have an officer on every block. But we're not. We're a reactive department - we come when we're called. We depend on the citizens to be our eyes and ears and to call us to check things out."

You know what is normal for your street. If you see something that is out of the ordinary, the Chief wants you to call 911 so an officer can check it out. If it turns out to be the meter reader, or a guy waiting for a ride home after working on your neighbor's house, or someone who lives in the neighborhood, the officer will be polite and professional. But they want to check out the things that "don't look right" and make you suspicious.

There was a report in one of the blotters about a man who saw a truck in front of his neighbor's house and men in overalls moving the furniture out. He thought it was odd because he didn't know the neighbor was moving. If he had called 911, the daylight burglars might not have been able to clear out the entire house.

Pingrey says that a typical burglary team will have a man in the house, a man outside with a cell phone, and a man in a car parked up the street.

A standard tactic of burglars is to walk up to the front door and knock. If no one answers, the burglar goes to the back and breaks in. If someone answers, they make some excuse about collecting for charity or selling a product. Genuine solicitors are supposed to register with the City and get a license. If a solicitor can't show a license, a 911 call is in order. If they are legit, the officer will ask them to leave until they have a license to show.

You do not have to have proof of wrong-doing to contact the police. They will investigate and they will make the decision. If you wonder about the house across the street that has a lot of traffic during the night, that would be a good call for 911. If there are a bunch of kids in the park across the street and you wonder if they are dealing drugs, call 911 and an officer will check it out.

"We try to check out every call," said Pingrey. "Even if we can't, we read all the reports that come in from 911." He said that they look for patterns, trends, and clusters of activity. He even wants to get the calls about identify theft and fraud as well as vandalism and graffiti. "We like to know what's happening in our community."

As to what number to call - 911 is the fastest routing and certainly the easiest to remember. You can call the "non-emergency number" 206-296-3311 if you want to, but the routing is exactly the same as 911 - it goes to King County 911 Dispatch where the same operators ask the same questions.

People sometimes call the Shoreline station or the east or west storefronts. The stations can route the call to 911 but it's faster just to call 911 first.

One of the things that people get frustrated about, Pingrey said, is that the 911 operators keep asking questions. What people don't realize is that the operator has dispatched an officer or an Aid unit while they are talking.

You do not have to make the decision. Your job is to report your suspicions and let the police do their job of protecting you.