[gps-talkusers] Re: They thought I was a terrorist off topic do not respond

Hello everyone,
Yes I too was intrigued with this discussion but it has gone on long enough considering the topic of this users list. 

Lets put to rest the Police officer identification topic.

Thank you
Charles LaPierre
CTO Sendero Group



At 08:58 AM 9/26/2007, you wrote:

Robert,
Actually, that doesn't prove anything. In fact, if I wanted to impersonate an officer, I would behave in just the way you described. Most of us (and I have to admit I'm among the many) tend to take an authoritative declaration at face value. 

Steve

----- Original Message ----- From: "robert stigile" <rstigile@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 10:02
Subject: [gps-talkusers] e: Re: FW: Re: They thought I was a terrorist



Hello All,
I have had the police come to my door twice before, and both times, they knocked on the door and rang the door bell as they shouted out, "Los Angeles Police Department!" 
So, I knew right away.
Hth,

Robert Stigile



----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Gammon" <jgammon1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date sent: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:26:14 -0700
Subject: [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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Charles M. La Pierre CTO
Sendero Group, LLC

Lat. 37 15' 25" N  Lon: 121 53' 04" W

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