Suspect Description: Fill & Download for Free

As a young patrolman driving down the highway on a sunny afternoon a BOLO (Be On the Lookout for) came over the radio with a vehicle and suspect description for a Robbery and Auto Theft that was committed in the next jurisdiction. The suspects were allegedly in the stolen car.Looking out over the hood of my patrol car there in front of me was the suspect vehicle and suspects. A perfect match for the description in every way.I called it in and requested backup and was content to follow the vehicle until help arrived. Before they did however the suspect vehicle pulled into a busy gas station and up to the gas pump to, I found out later, get gas.As the vehicle stopped I now had my flashing lights flashing and was getting out of my car, shotgun in hand, and screaming commands to the occupants. Both the driver and passenger had already opened their doors and were exiting the suspect vehicle and thankfully obeyed my commands and stood straight up with their hands in the air behind their individual doors.From the fueling lane left of the driver and on the other side of the gas pump, an elderly female walked up to the driver (suspect #1) and asked him if everything was all right. I am now screaming commands at the elderly woman looking at the possibility of the driver grabbing her as a possible hostage.The elderly woman then noticed me, the flashing lights, and my screaming to get away from these guys. She gave me a dirty look and walked away. Thank you very much. But we were not done yet.I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and then observed a teenage female in the gas station uniform exiting the building. This young lady then proceeded to walk over to the suspect vehicle despite my screams to back away, walked up to the passenger side of the vehicle in front of the now-open passenger side door with other suspect (#2) still standing there with his hands in the air, pulled out a spray bottle and a rag, and proceeded to wash the windshield of the suspect vehicle.It took several very loud and direct commands to get the young lady to notice me, the flashing lights, etc., and realize that she was probably not in a good place and returned to the office.Backup arrived shortly thereafter and the suspects were taken into custody without incident. Can’t make this stuff up…

When I worked as a 9-1-1 operator there was a line of questioning developed to determine the priority of the call.These calls usually originated in a certain part of the city and the person calling usually reported a Black or Latino person acting "suspiciously." Well 9-1-1 operators wanted to catch the bad guys, too. So we would try to determine what the "suspicious" behavior was.Was the person looking into car windows? House windows? Were they walking down the street? They would report a Black or Latino male who was walking down the street or sitting in his car eating lunch. We erred on the safe side and would put out an information only call. Officers are aware of crime trends in the area and if an area has been experiencing a higher number of vehicle or house burglaries, then the information broadcast might be useful to the car that is patrolling that area.One night a woman called from the West side of the city, frantic because she heard a noise on the side of her house. There was a car nearby and we sent on a possible prowler at the location, no suspect description. We told her the police were on the way and to call back if she had a description.She called back."I have a description!""Yes Ma'am, is the suspect Black, White, Latino or Asian?""They're two of them, and... and they are Black!""What color shirt and pants are they wearing?""They're both wearing dark clothing! Where are the police! Oh my God!!! They are on the side of my house looking around! Get the police out here now! Hello? Hello?""Unit at ____ the P/R is on the line. She describes the suspects as two male Blacks wearing dark clothing on the side of the house right now.""Control, that's us. The P/R is describing us. We're two Black officers. We're wearing dark clothing, our uniform. Tell the P/R to open the door and come out and talk to us. The noise she's reporting is a tree branch."The operators had it easy, it's a tougher call for an officer. Err on the side of safety and treat people respectfully and hope that situation turns out okay for everyone.My motto, everyone gets to go home.

Yes. Here's an example. If I stop a car with a couple guys I suspect of being involved in a drive by shooting a week before, because they match the vehicle, suspect description and are from the gang that did the driveby, I may not have enough info to arrest them, so I will copy their info in my little book, or onto an FIR card, tell them to slow down, and send them on their way. Or maybe I will tell them, the car matched a vehicle used in a shoplifting, apologize and say adios. Then I will pass that info onto my detective's. I will not tell them why I really stopped them, because, if they are the suspects, they will go home and get rid of any incriminating evidence, or just beat feet out of the area.Thats one reason people complain about cops stopping them, "… Because they SAID I matched a description." The people stopped think it's a made up lieIt is kind of a made up lie. The person did match a description, just not the description he was told.