As you may already know, yesterday we honored a Milwaukee Police Officer who was a witness to an armed robbery while off duty. His actions and descriptions of the suspects led the Greenfield Police to a speedy arrest of all the suspects. A few days later, a resident called the Greenfield Police Department stating that he observed a person enter his neighbor's vehicle. He was able to give a suspect description and the suspects direction of travel which led the responding officers to an immediate arrest of a suspect that had been entering cars and stealing from them. Being a supervisor and a trainer for the Greenfield Police Department I would like to say that it was the training and top quality officers that led to these arrests but the key to both successes was the response of both witnesses.
There are a few simple guidelines to follow when being a good witness.
1) Call the police as soon as you suspect a crime is occuring.
All to often when well intentioned citizens see a possible crime occuring they try to stop the crime and chase off the suspect. This allows the suspect to get away, makes for a delayed response by the police, and can end in witness injuries.
2) Maintain a visual contact from a position of safety.
If you are calling from inside your residence stay inside, turn off any lights on in the room, and observe the suspect while talking to the dispatchers. They will be sending squad cars to your location as they speak to you.
3) Try to observe details.
The dispatchers will help you with this. Try to observe the sex, race, height, weight, and clothing of the suspect. For vehicles note the license plate letters and numbers, color, style of vehicle and number of occupants. Orient yourself to direction so you can tell the dispatcher the direction of travel for the suspect or suspect vehicle.
4) Never put yourself in harms way.
Remember that the police are equiped and trained to handle criminal activity. They have legal priveledges granted to them for apprehending criminals that the general public does not have. Let them handle the apprehension.
By following these simple guidelines you can help eliminate crime from your community.
