# Small town cops, gotta love em



## nuggett (Apr 25, 2006)

While waiting for my daughters in a Girl Scout meeting, I spied a very large, old apartment house being renovated nearby. Being an electrical contractor, curiousity got the best of me. So flashlights in hand and pockets, I explored the gutted building. 
I had a RAW, L4, and a Wolf-Eyes Eagle 4. 
Real 2x4 wood, old coal burning fireplaces, various generations of wiring and a very cool "lookout" room on top.. 
So I am done with my history lesson, and standing outside in the driveway I can see 2 figures inside the building I just left. Cops! They said they have a report of someone with a flashlight inside the building. (who me? :Flashlights bulging out of my pockets) I confessed right away, and as they holstered thier weapons,  (whew!) The next words out of thier mouths were, "what kind of flashlight is that?'(The RAW) These poor guys had one Stinger and what looked like a 3 cell rechargable Mag, but I wont even call them lights. I didnt even know they were using the lights. Clearly the batts were old and weak. The RAW on low blew them away. So we talked about lights for 15 minutes, comparing beamshots, showed them the SF L4, then to affirm their suspicions I was a "live"one, I pulled out the Wolf Eyes. I must say, it was a true Mayberry moment. We talked about the old building, flashlights and bid a pleasant good night. We are lucky to have such guys on the PD.


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## nethiker (Apr 25, 2006)

Great story. Did you tell them about CPF? Sounds like a good recruitment opportunity.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Apr 25, 2006)

Cool story! 

Around here you might just get shot first.... but probably not if it's a couple of them I know.


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## cheapo (Apr 26, 2006)

why is it that people associate the use of flashlights with crime? As far as I am concerned, it just means that their is a guy there who cant see without light.... I dont think I'd report it unless I had any reason to suspect foul play. Gee, its only a matter of time before I get called in  . It is cool to have people like that keeping our streets safe.

-David


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## greenLED (Apr 26, 2006)

cheapo said:


> why is it that people associate the use of flashlights with crime?


It's an unidentified individual walking around a construction site (private property?), it's dark, they have a flashlight (or a bunch of them)... who knows what they're up to? That seems suspicious enough for me to call the police.


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## coldsolderjoint (Apr 26, 2006)

Their Mag Charger must have been in serious dis-repair. (old version bulb plus busted battery) Mine is very impressive, even with the stock bulb. Not to mention a brand new pack and an 1160. WOW! 

I guess they thought their lighting instruments were inferior, so theyd just shoot allittle to the side of your lights.


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## Lee1959 (Apr 26, 2006)

It was not the association of lights that made it a possible crime, the flashlight just allowed someone to see him, and since it is a building site, very possibly he was there to steal equipment, tools or plumbing copper. It happens all the time.


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## prof (Apr 26, 2006)

A few weeks ago I went to the mailbox after dark, using an arc for a little extra light (and to play, of course). My older, rather eccentric, neighbor sat there and watched and watched to see what was going on...I've only lived in the same place for 7 years.

Sometimes I wonder about people. Most of them are great, but sometimes I don't know.


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## greenLED (Apr 26, 2006)

prof said:


> ...My older, rather eccentric, neighbor sat there and watched and watched to see what was going on...


Buy him a light.


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## Flying Turtle (Apr 26, 2006)

I must admit that I try to refrain from shining my lights on the house or the back yard late at night for fear a neighbor might think a burglar was "casing the joint".

Geoff


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## Robban (Apr 26, 2006)

I don't know about you guys but if I was trying to steal something I'd do it WITHOUT the aid of a flashlight so that I wouldn't be spotted from miles away...

Nice story though. Nothing ever happens to me and my lights  ....


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## nuggett (Apr 26, 2006)

Turns out, the local homeless settled in soon after the work started, and the apartments wern't quite ready yet! Go figure!
It is the type of place where you might like to spend the night and tell ghost stories. I emailed the department with a link to CPF, I really hope they upgrade their lights.


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## sig-in-tx (Apr 26, 2006)

PlayboyJoeShmoe said:


> Cool story!
> 
> Around here you might just get shot first.... but probably not if it's a couple of them I know.



If they shoot any thing like some I have shot with at the range, the scare me with how bad they are. Half the time there lucky to just keep it on the paper.


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## cheapo (Apr 26, 2006)

greenLED said:


> It's an unidentified individual walking around a construction site (private property?), it's dark, they have a flashlight (or a bunch of them)... who knows what they're up to? That seems suspicious enough for me to call the police.



really?? I might only call the police if they looked like they were doing something wrong.

-David


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## cheapo (Apr 26, 2006)

Ok, yeah, that makes sense. If he was in a building and he was "allowed" to be there, he would be comfortable to have turned the lights on, and he'd have no reason to use a flashlight.

-David


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## cheapo (Apr 26, 2006)

Robban said:


> I don't know about you guys but if I was trying to steal something I'd do it WITHOUT the aid of a flashlight so that I wouldn't be spotted from miles away...
> 
> Nice story though. Nothing ever happens to me and my lights  ....



for real.


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## prof (Apr 27, 2006)

greenLED said:


> Buy him a light.



Not sure he'd appreciate it...although he spent $800 for a dog that he can't house break...my humane society puppy managed that in 3 days...


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## f22shift (May 25, 2010)

joined the club last night.

had a knocking at the door around midnight. i thought, did i have my music on too loud? it's an officer. someone reported flashlight seen and thought it was a burgulary. and just then a big police truck pulled in and the officer waved him away.
good thing i heard the knocking otherwise maybe if no one answered.
it's weird. i had my lights on upstairs. just used flashlight to go downstairs for a midnight snack. car in the parking spot too. i guess they have to check if it's reported.
do burgulars actually use flashlights? i wouldn't. i would just go in the daytime with some fios jumpsuit pretending to be a repairman.
weird also that the officer didn't check id, just asked for my info which i could've made up. ben dover? hugh jass?

i guess a good reason to have moonlight mode. use a flashlight in your own house in peace.


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## cm_mtb (May 25, 2010)

I've had a similar experience...

I was walking around my house after 11 PM with the lights out, a flashlight in hand, a couple months ago. As I walked by the front door, a cop happened to be driving by. I believe he thought the flashlight looked suspicious, because he slowed down and stopped just down the road from my house. After about 30 seconds, he continued on, though.

On another occasion, though, I was playing with a new SF in my backyard, and a neighbor thought _*I*_ was a cop.


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## Apollo Cree (May 26, 2010)

cm_mtb said:


> On another occasion, though, I was playing with a new SF in my backyard, and a neighbor thought _*I*_ was a cop.



Been there, done that. 

I guess sometimes the bright light scares away the bad guys by making them think there's a cop or something in the area. I guess it could get you shot at by someone thinking you're a cop, too.


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## W.Y.N.I (May 26, 2010)

f22shift said:


> do burgulars actually use flashlights? i wouldn't. i would just go in the daytime with some fios jumpsuit pretending to be a repairman.



I have dealt with two burglars who had flashlights on them. The first was in a totally unlit industrial unit. Sensible, they had obviously carried out a health and safety risk assessment first. The other was a house burglar, who it appeared was using it in order to avoid turning on lights and disturbing the sleeping houseowners. Both were pretty poor to be fair. Most of the burglars where I work now just stroll/climb in during the middle of the day.


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## ypsifly (May 26, 2010)

The last time I walked out of an abandoned building and the cops were standing there I got thrown to the ground and had guns pointed at me.

They do things a little different in Detroit.....


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## dodge_911 (May 26, 2010)

Had a run-in with the local PD here last night too...

Around midnight, I get a call from my buddy, who lives in the appartment building across the street. He says he's seen a 'rastaguy' and a dog step into the patch of dirt/land that is between my parent's funeral home and the school next to it. I live two doors down from that, and opened the roof window and shone my Polestar A6 across the part of the field that I could see and couldn't see anything. In the mean time, he had called the boys in blue... He called me again as they arrived, but to our surprise, they just drove by the entrance to the patch of land and shone their searchlight around once in passing... My buddy called me again and said to meet him at the door of his building, which gave us a nice view of the entrance. We'd wait for the cops to make a seond pass, and if they didn't, we'd go and check it out for ourselves.

I arrived at his door with two Mag 6D's with TLE-300M's installed, my A6 Polestar and an ITP Eluma SA-2, in my back pocket.
Surely enough, they made a 2nd pass, didn't notice us, so I made 'em notice us :devil: Gave them a quick flash of the ITP and they stopped and waved us over.
We explained the situation and they offered to go and do a sweep of the land. They both had a MagCharger, with crap batteries, so my mate and me offered our Mag's... The cop said : Nah, we got the same lights as you, won't matter much :sick2:
We looked at eachother, smiled and lit up the land about halfway...
We were to remain at the entrance, and advance on their signal.
We both illuminated one side of the land, and I started scanning the middle with my Polestar. In a glimpse, I see a glint of the dog's eyes as I shone my light in them and it starts barking like mad, so the cops make their way to that position, and yell the command to leash the dog and make themselves visible. Turns out it was a bum and his dog, lookin' for a place to spend the night... They took him to the nearest trainstation, but before they left, one of the guys said to me : "Come by the station sometime, with that big Mag, will ya?" 
So, I'm wondering, should I just show 'em my Maglites, or deliver the full blow, and also take my ITP's and Olights ?


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## hank (May 26, 2010)

> should I show

If you want the full impact, show people a series of lights --- starting with say a big 4- or 6-cell [email protected] with fairly old batteries and an incandescent bulb, then an old 2-D Eveready with a dropin Dorcy LED, remarkably brighter, then one after another, pull out a series of smaller-and-brighter lights.

At the end, pull out and put away a little keyfob light, and mumble about how you're not allowed to show that one unless people are wearing special dark glasses, because it has a new battery and bulb you're testing and it's really bright (grin).


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## jeeves (May 26, 2010)

dodge_911 said:


> So, I'm wondering, should I just show 'em my Maglites, or deliver the full blow, and also take my ITP's and Olights ?



Blow 'em away (figuratively). I would.


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## Kindle (May 27, 2010)

Not a flashlight tale but somewhat related...

When I was in HS we would always head out to my buddy's house to shoot every day after class. He lives in the country but there was a new subdivision that had sprung up across the street from the old farmhouse he lived in (and which his family had owned for 100 years or so). 

Of course someone from the subdivision would call the sheriff's department and a deputy would eventually show up. He would explain that they had to follow up on calls even though we were well outside city limits. He would then admire whatever we were shooting that day (Glocks were still a novelty back then)...and then the next time he was of duty he'd come shoot with us.


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## Stress_Test (May 28, 2010)

Heh, I drew some attention too while using a flashlight in my own home. It was about midnight yesterday and I was making the rounds one last time, with my 3D Mag (rebel) in hand. In the upstairs second bedroom, which faces the street and sidewalk outside, I was manually strobing/flashing against the wall with the Mag. Then I turned it off and happened to take a peak out of the window blinds. There was a lady standing on the sidewalk and staring up at the window. I guess she could see the flashes through the blinds even though they were closed. 

I recognised her as someone who lives in the apartment building behind mine. She was all dressed up and had her dog on a leash... who was crapping in my front yard... WHY THE F*** did she bring her dog all the way over here to crap, when there's a designated area that was half as far away?!? And who takes their dog out for a stroll at midnight all dressed up???


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## Kraid (May 31, 2010)

I love stories like these! I really need to make it to this section more often.


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## cistallus (Jun 1, 2010)

Stress_Test said:


> ... and had her dog on a leash... who was crapping in my front yard...


That's when you should have spotlit the dog with every lumen you had!


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