Cheating death and fighting communism: that is how a fellow officer once described our job. It was meant to be funny, but as time went on it seemed all too true.
I spent more than ten years in law enforcement, all of it on the street in uniform patrol. I've been a patrol officer, instructor, sergeant and lieutenant.
Do not report crimes here. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. All opinions are my own.
No exact routes are ever taken/repeated. It would be a good way to be ambushed and that's never a good day.
Why would you think that it would be even remotely ok to shoot children with a BB gun?
1. None of this is legal advice. Consult an attorney. Wrongful use force against another, especially a child, can land you in prison for a long time.
2. The use of force is generally resricted to "reasonable" self defense. Re-read #1.
3. BB guns are not toys. They can and have killed people. Use Google and you will see multiple stories about BB guns killing people. For example: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/21/florida-boy-10-dies-after-brother-accidentally-shoots-him-with-bb-gun/
4. BB guns can also take out an eye or do other serious injury even if they were incapable of killing. Re-read #1.
5. You're not Alvin York and your aim on a moving target isn't that good. I don't care how good a shot you think you are, you can't guarantee where you would hit someone anyway. Re-read #1.
6. None of this excuses whatever trespass these children may have done, but shooting them with a BB gun sounds way beyond the realm of reasonableness. What would you do if your child had been shot by an adult with a BB gun? Re-read #1.
7. Use of force is generally restricted to the defense of persons, not property. Re-read #1.
8. If someone is coming into your home and you feel threatened, things are different. Re-read #1.
9. Re-read #1.
Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. They will know what to do.
It is impossible for me to tell you where you might like to work. If you've never lived in a large city, you might love - or hate- it. Same thing about working in a smaller area.
From my personal experience, I would prefer a smaller department of 50-75 officers if I was starting all over. Ideally, it would be suburban to rural. I've worked for a very urban area and for a smaller department in a suburban bordering on rural area. You get a lot more of the exciting calls in a short amount of time in the urban areas, but you can also burn out much quicker.
The upside to a large agency is you get a lot of opportunity to work in specialized units that you don't have in smaller areas/departments. For example, a marine unit, aviation unit, SWAT unit, etc. But smaller areas will sometimes pool resources for multi-jurisdictional units (like SWAT teams formed with officers from several regional departments.)
I'd suggest doing a few ride-alongs with different departments in different areas and get a feel for what things are like.
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Every department has their own protocol. First duty is to protect life: citizens, officers, criminals (and in that order.) Until the scene is made safe, no investigation can begin. Once everything is safe, medical aid is rendered for anybody that is injured. By this time, a sergeant or lieutenant is on scene and takes command. Depending on the agency, either they or an outside department will handle the investigation of the use of force. A CSI unit would probably be involved, but they are only a support unit to document and collect evidence. They don't do any investigation.
The involved officers give a brief statement to the responding supervisor about what happened and are separated from the other officers who are investigating the incident. How/when the officers are interviewed varies from department to department. Officers are entitled to legal counsel as is anyone being investigated for potential criminal acts.
You should probably contact a criminal defense lawyer. Most attorneys will talk to you free, and only charge you if you have them perform some action (such as contacting the victim) for you. If you (through your lawyer) act before the company realizes they have been defrauded, there is a possibility you can square things with them before they call law enforcement. A lawyer can help with this.
Reasonable suspicion and probable cause are built by the totality of the circumstances, which may include a citizen complaint. It is impossible for me to tell you how the officers in your case established either since I was not there and I am not privy to the details of the investigation.
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