My Friday. Typically I cannot work a Saturday and get off on time. Why I don't know. Usually because people tell me I can't keep my eyes, nor mouth shut.
A call comes in of a missing 8-year old girl. The units are sent emergency with lights and sirens running. However, the girl has been missing for four hours. Not like she just vanished. With about six cars flying at break neck speed to someone missing for hours was not prudent nor safe. I told them all to slow down. Now, some may think "George it's a missing child you need to get there pronto!" I agree. However in my view, running code 1 (as we call it) is dangerous and should be reserved for in progress emergencies. The kid has been missing for four hours before we were even called. That means family and friends have already been looking for her. Plus, in this case I feel it was more for show for spectators than for practical purposes. I get there and learn we haven't talked to the girl's parents. I'm starting to wonder if we even have a missing child since the parents hadn't called us. After some confusion we learn another child called us to report the girl missing. While everyone is out looking for the girl, I start looking for her parents. Before I go off hunting I want to hear it from the parents who are normally eager to meet with us and give us anything we need to find their child. The fact that the parents can't be found nor contacted bothers me. We also learn that she has a habit of wandering off. One evening she was found in the park, by herself at night. Another night she was wandering the streets and someone on a motorcycle brought her home. This bothered me as well. I decided to notify CPS (childrens protective services) because clearly the parents weren't keen on supervising their child. While shuffling through confusing stories and mistaken identities the girl comes riding her bike back into the park where she was. She doesn't understand why people are hovering around her. She said she was playing with a friend named Jake that nobody knew. The worse case scenario was that this girl was at a child molester's house for the last four hours. She doesn't know Jake's last name or how old he is, but that he's a kid. We also find out the girl lives with her grandparents and not her parents. Her parents are in Connecticut and her mother is in rehab for heroin addiction. I can't help but wonder if she used during pregnancy because this girl's behavior was, well slow for lack of a better word. We get her to show us where she was. A man opens the door and his family, including 4-year old Jake was standing behind him. We all breathed a sigh of relief and called it a day.
Later on in the shift I'm filling up some coffee when an officer gets on the radio with his siren blaring stating he's got one refusing to stop. By the time I get there it's all over and the driver is in custody. He had three warrants and I think he was just trying to get his truck to a parking lot hoping it wouldn't be towed. He played dumb trying to deny that he knew he was being followed. Yet when you see the tape the officer is right up on his tail and when he's being arrested he's apologizing.
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