[gps-talkusers] Re: FW: Re: They thought I was a terrorist

Sarai,you are right. I am kind of scared of the same thing. I have often pondered what I would do if a person came to the door and identified him/her self as a cop. Since I have a scanner, I'd probably have them wait, I'd get the scanner and ask them to call in their location. For those without scanners, you could have them ask the department dispatcher to call your phone or cell for that matter. People do impersonate cops and carry badges and even drive cars that look like cop cars with the right kind of lights, sirens, and all. Fortunately, that happens pretty infrequently. Jim
----- Original Message ----- From: "Sarai D. Bucciarelli" <bucc7465@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
To: <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 8:20 PM
Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: FW: Re: They thought I was a terrorist



I agree:
But how do you really know if they are a cop. As a woman traveling alone,
that can be scary.


Sarai
-----Original Message-----
From: gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 4:19 PM
To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gps-talkusers] FW: Re: They thought I was a terrorist


Hello all:
Please forgive the slightly off-topic post, but since Mike has already gone 
there, I guess it's okay.
The whole issue of how does a police officer identify him or herself to a
blind citizen is very interesting. When I was doing some work under a grant 
with  DOJ (actually AFB was the grantee and I was the project
officer) during the early 90's, this issue came up. I remember that some
departments actually put braille and raised print on the back of an
officer's badge such as "MPDC #1254" for "Metropolitan Police of DC badge
#1254". This was coupled with some disability awareness training, but I
never actually got into the training part of it (although that would have
been fascinating). I wonder if this sort of thing is still being done.
In the times we live in, I think it is even more important for a mechanism
to be in place to help identify first responders to a blind person. What do 
you think? I bet this idea has some PR and press value as well.
If somebody decides to run with this, be sure my name is spelled right in
the footnote! <grin>

Scott
-----Original Message-----
From: gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael May
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 1:44 PM
To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: They thought I was a terrorist

Rick,

I have felt selfconscious a time or two wondering what people think of the
electronic rig. I don't think anyone ever called the cops on me, and you are 
right about the officer not identifying himself.
Mike


At 07:22 AM 9/25/2007, you wrote:

Hi folks,
Sunday was a perfect late September day in New Jersey, where I live, so

I decided to take me and my guide dog on a 2-mile walk at around 8 am.
We have a wonderful route in a quiet residential neighborhood.

I was carrying mhy BrailleNote QT 32, and my old Magellan receiver,

since I had left my newer one at work. I stopped to adjust some route
settings and proceeded.

About 5 minutes later a car pulled up beside me, and the driver said,

"Excuse me, are you blind?"

I told him yes, though I thought it a strange question with my dog and

harness in full view.

"What's that thing on your shoulder?" he inquired.
I told him about the BrailleNote and the GPS, and some things it could
do, and then I heard the police radio. I found that one of the neighbors was 
concerned and suspicious because I was typing into a little computer in
front of the house. For the life of me, I don't know what they thought I
might be doing in full view in broad daylight.

The thing that bothered me most about this amusing encounter was the
officer didn't immediately identify himself as a policeman before asking me questions. A person believing a questioner to be a civilian might ignore him 
or tell him to go to Hell or worse, which is not the kind of talk a
policeman likes to hear.



Rick Fox
VP, Field Operations
De Witt & Associates
700 Godwin Avenue
Suite 110
Midland Park, NJ 07432
Voice: 201-447-6500 Ext. 213
Fax: 201-447-1187
Email: <mailto:rick@xxxxxxxxxxx>rick@xxxxxxxxxxx
www.4dewitt.com


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