Let's talk about police procedure.

[Baitball Blogger]

The main aggravation is police using excessive force. I understand that. But what about under-policing? Like underachieving, under-policing involves using tactics intended to underreport crime. It is the method of choice for areas that are meant to be propped up as desirable places to live. Good for real estate prices. Good to sustain the Potemkin Village Effect.

I thought about this late last night when the police lost interest in the information that I offered that might provide a clue to the whereabouts of a lost dog. The owners can't understand how it happened. The dog is very old and very sick. Hasn't made it pass the driveway in several months. Last night they went out to dinner to celebrate the wife's birthday and when they returned, the dog was gone. They thought maybe it had gone to find a place to die.

With that information, I scoured my security cams looking for signs of a fuzzy pixelated figure moving on the outskirts of the cams that faced the house. Nothing. It is not likely that it came into our development because I was working outside for most of the time that the owners were out to dinner. And my cams have a clear view of the road into the development. Nothing.

It is possible that the dog went into the development next door, but that's when I realized that at that time of the day the number of cars coming into the development spiked as people came home from work. Someone, surely, would have seen the dog. I guess it might still show up at the pound, but this is a small place and it wouldn't have been difficult to connect the dog to the house it belonged.

The one thing that I had was video of a figure moving above the shrub line. Too blurry to I.D. the man who was wearing a hat, but for someone who is very familiar with the landscape, it did appear that he walked out of his driveway and went into the next door house where the dog was staying, reappearing a minute later. You can tell a dog was not walking by his side when he returned, but at that diminutive video size, you can't confirm if he was carrying the dog. There are signs that he adjusted his walk as he returned, the way we do when we lose our grip of something bulky. The one thing I was sure of was that it needed to be looked into.

So, I told the police that the clip would need enhancement to confirm if this was a valid clue. They took the SD, took it to the car and ten-twenty minutes later, they returned with the SD claiming there was no evidence so they didn't need it. I repeated that the video would need to be enhanced - zoomed - but they left it to me to do the work. I have some DUers working on that now.

But here is the thing, they saw the video. They saw the man. They can connect the house he retreated to. And now, they have everything they need to handle the situation through backchannels. This is how it works in good ole boy towns. If they follow the pattern, they will call in the usual network in the community to see if it can be handled diplomatically. The town protects its Potemkin Village image, and the network can continue to inflict anguish and anxiety on the rest of us without worry of reprisals because of their relationship with the city. They need each other.

I'm saying that this style of under-policing should be looked into because it interferes with a fair process that will weed out abusive people from the ranks of community leadership.

[DrDan]

1. so . . . a neighbor broke into a house to steal a very old and very sick dog

but a video shows no dog at the man's side when departing the house, and no evidence that the man was carrying a dog . . . the person was just walking differently.

And the police pretty much ignored your "investigation" . . . all to protect real estate prices.

Did the dog's owners call the police to report the "break-in"? or did you? Was anything else missing other than the dog?

Seems to me the police acted appropriately.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. The dog was in the patio and I am hoping

You aren't insinuating that an old dog has no value. The point is that there was no visual evidence on the tapes that the dog walked out on its own - situation that is unlikely- and won't you feel foolish if a simple zoomed enlargement is all it takes to confirm a trespass and probable evidence that the man carried something out? At a minimum I feel they should have taken the video clip, because their response will reflect poorly on them if that is all it takes.

[mythology]

9. The dog has little value in terms of stealing the dog

No opportunity to breed or resell.

But most also video enhancing isn't like on TV. A blurry image is a blurry image.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. There is another option you are not considering.

There are some people who are very adverse to having any dog in the neighborhood that looks pitty. In the same neighborhood where people freak out whenever they see a dark skinned neighbor walking along the sideyard of their own property, you'll find people who will assume the worst of a dog with pitbullish looks. Add to that concern that real estate people around here are very presumptuous about what brings property values down and it did occur to me that someone might want to reduce the number of pitbulls in the area by one.

Oh, did I forget to mention it was a pitbull? A very, old pitbull that deserves to spend its remaining days with its human family.

And, all I needed was to zoom in, removing the extraneous material to focus on the movement of the person. I was able to accomplish that using a video editor. Took some perseverance to work the program, but now I have what I need for the next time. And trust me, in this neighborhood there will be a next time.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Take a look at the Star Tribune's latest expose on the underinvestigations of sexual assaults.

http://www.startribune.com/when-rape-is-reported-in-minnesota-and-nothing-happens/487130861/

Using excessive force is not necessarily the "greatest aggravation." The fundamental gap, ranging from a misunderstanding to outright abuse, about what the role of the police should be and what it currently appears to be is what needs to be addressed.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Something is obviously interferring with the police department's ability to do their job well.

Sometimes that's an attitude inside the police department, but in small towns I think they reflect whatever the prevailing winds in the community want them to do. In my city, they are way underpaid. Lowest salaries for years. Which means the police will be young and inexperienced.

[fescuerescue]

5. The "zoom, enhance" stuff you see on CSI

Is mostly fiction. If you can't enhance it on your own PC, the local police can't either.

Now it's possible that the FBI or CIA can -some-. Possible. Not certain. And that's using AI and heavy duty processing power and very specialized skills.

But lets put this in context. Now you would be asking the FBI/CIA to divert scarce tools and people, to investigate a crime, whereby someone snuck into a house, and stole a sick dog. (and I'm ignoring jurisdiction as neither can normally investigate local dog theft)

I like pets as much as anyone. But I think the cops did all they could, given the circumstances and assessment of the situation.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. I can zoom in. That's why I called the police.

I just don't know how to crop that zoom so people can focus on the important material.

[fescuerescue]

7. SO what did you see?

I think I missed that.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. From the vantage point it looked like someone was walking on property

and then walking out. I thought the police would want to find out who it was because maybe they saw something that could help, or perhaps it was a person who was carrying a sick dog off property. Either option was worth investigating.

In the end, I downloaded video editing software and panned into the section in question. Took me a few looks before I got another idea. Maybe it was just someone from the house who was walking out to look for the dog because they just noticed it had gone missing. So, in other words, I had more questions to pursue to determine what was going on.

I made copies of all the video I had and was prepared to hand it to the neighbor. He returned my call and told me that the dog came back. It was wet, but not dirty. He can't understand where the dog had been because we had a major storm come in the area that evening. His best guess was that it went into the neighbor's yard and fell asleep and did not hear him when he went to call.

Weird. But, since I had him on the phone I told him about the neighbor that trespasses on my yard in the morning and explained why the loss of his dog concerned me. He agreed it was strange behavior.