I have a friend who works in the records department of the San Mateo shariff's office. She's on the graveyard shift, which is slow, and they're constantly getting crazy calls about all manner of things.
It wouldn't surprise me if there were policies or protocols around when reported information is considered actionable considering all the silly stories I've heard about loonies calling the local PD.
Long ago, living with my brother in an Atlanta suburb, his car was broken into and the stereo was stolen overnight.
Before we even woke up in the morning, the police were knocking at our door.
They'd caught the thieves, sitting in some office park parking lot at night with all their loot. The cops didn't know what they were up to, just that they were where no one was supposed to be, so they pulled up to talk to them. They arrested them and made them ride in the police car showing where they'd stolen everything from. All before my brother even knew it was stolen.
They were convicted, my brother got his stereo back, and restitution checks that totaled more than the damage to his car.
It wouldn't surprise me if there were policies or protocols around when reported information is considered actionable considering all the silly stories I've heard about loonies calling the local PD.