| Author | Message | ||
| R. TERRY (205.188.208.39)
Rating: N/A |
Undeniably, the most insurmountable obstacle in the road to a smooth recovery of my stolen 40ft RTS transit bus and the speedy apprehension of the guys responsible for its disappearance has been the police. That may not sound very fair. For the sake of argument, let’s play the Devil’s Advocate for a minute and come to their defense. Last year, more than 25,600 motor vehicles were stolen in the Phoenix area. 8063 vehicles, of which mine is included, have been ripped off this year through April. My guess is, every one of those owners wants their vehicle back, and they want it back now. An impossible scenario when you consider that the Phoenix Police Department only has 13 detective case workers assigned to the Vehicle Theft Unit. It appears to me that the task is far too formidable. I began to get a minor taste of the problem when the detective assigned to my case made a comment about my bus being worth only a thousand dollars. I interpreted that to mean, they can only allocate so much in the way of resources for a vehicle worth a mere $1000. I suppose I was lucky the guy even talked to me at all. To further appreciate the dilemma, while the detective was interviewing Randall Rubin from a desk phone, his cell phone rang. He interrupted his call and spoke briefly to somebody about a car problem involving some high ranking city official, the Deputy Mayor or Assistant Director whatever. Stolen, I presume, from the way the conversation was going. Well, that’s a no-brainer in the priority department, huh? Who’s stolen vehicle shall we allocate resources to? The Deputy Mayor’s, or the guy with a $1000 surplus transit bus? What’s a police department to do? As you might expect, I look at it differently. Recently I saw a local news report about a man who walked into a convenience store, grabbed a six-pack of beer and fled without paying. Three police cruisers and a police helicopter pursued, apprehended the suspect, read him his rights and took him to jail. All of this worthy of a live TV broadcast and the efforts of at least eight of the City’s Finest. This, for shoplifting less than 10 dollars-worth of merchandise? Isn’t my $1000 bus worth more than a six-pack of beer? Yes, but that’s not the point. The police were not on the job to return the beer to the store clerk, they were on the job to apprehend the criminal. A crime had been committed, the police responded, an arrest was made, and justice was served. It had little to do with the price of beer. And my case has nothing to do with the arbitrary value of my bus. It has to do with apprehending the criminal who stole it! This is not obvious to the police. (Even if it did have to do with the value of the vehicle, $1000 is the wrong value as far as I am concerned. Completely parted out, that bus may be worth, say, $25,000. Lots of beer. Sold as a working transit bus in Central America, maybe as much as $15,000. Converted to a motorhome, say, $75,000. Or, sold on eBay, as much as $4500 for a really good unit.) It has been 10 days since I went to the police with information given to me by Randall Rubin alleging that my bus had been “sold” to one Thomas Bradley of Klamath Falls, Oregon. I later reported to the police that a Valley Metro transit bus was sighted in Medford, Oregon, about 79 miles from Klamath Falls. Yet, as of this writing, I have been apprised of absolutely nothing -- no word from the Klamath Falls Police and no word from the Phoenix Police about any buses in Klamath Falls or anywhere. This most profoundly important piece of information in what is supposed to be a police investigation, has so far yielded no response worthy of my notification. Here’s how it went. The Phoenix Police told me to call the various city police departments in Oregon myself; they wouldn’t do it. The Medford Police wanted to know the NIC number before they would initiate any action. I got that from the Phoenix Police, gave it to the Medford Police and asked them to let me know what they found out. They never called back. When I found out the bus was no longer in Medford, I called the Klamath Falls Police. They are only open 8-5 Mon-thru-Fri, so I had to call back the next day. In the mean time, I found out I had reported the wrong bus stolen (a shocking discovery!). That meant the police reports and the NIC had to be updated, and quickly. When I called the Phoenix Police, I found out something else: The detective assigned to my case was no longer with the Vehicle Theft Unit. Now I faced having to explain all this twisted hokey pokey to yet another officer, one so disinterested, she would not come down to talk to me in person. I was told the new NIC number would be issued in one hour. By the end of the day, it had still not been updated. I was advised to call back tomorrow, which I did. With both a new police report number and new NIC, I called the Klamath Falls Police, chomping at the bit to get this thing rolling. Patiently, the Klamath Falls officer listened as I.... wait. I mean.... I patiently explained to the Klamath Falls officer what this was all about. Unfortunately, that didn’t matter, he was going to be out of town until Monday. “Please,” I implored, “take down this information and give it to the officer on duty tomorrow.” No can do, was the reply. They could not act on a request from an unknown caller. It had to come directly from the Phoenix Police via fax. Fine, another day shot to hell. The next day, I asked the Phoenix Police to fax the new info to the Klamath Falls Police, as per their instructions, and to let me know anything as soon as they find it out. I asked the Klamath Falls Police to do the same and gave everybody my cell phone number. I must have been speaking Chinese at the time because I am still waiting. R. TERRY | ||
| Ross Carlisle (Ross) (216.107.197.7)
Rating: N/A |
You should go the the newspaper with this. They love doing public interest stories on the incompetence of government officials. If I were a resident of these towns, I'd find it interesting that the local cops have no interest in recovering stolen vehicles. Ross | ||
| Don KS/TX (65.150.145.194)
Rating: N/A |
Kinda reminds me of a very similar story that happened to me in Columbus GA. It was not a bus, but might be the same outcome. I broke the rear axle backing out of a parking place in my 40 Willys Sedan one night. I got a ride home, went to work the next day, and in the evening went to put in a new axle: the car was gone! I immediately called the police, and followed up almost daily. After all, who would want or could hide a 40 Willys sedan! I got the same run arounds for 6 weeks, and then I spotted my car! Since it was in the police impoundment lot, I assumed they had found my car. No, seems they had towed it off, from the very spot they stood and wrote the theft report only hours later! Even though it had Willys written on each side, they had decided to call it a Hudson on the tow report, and never even bothered to look in their own impoundment lot for it. Worst of all, I had to pay the tow bill and storage on it! | ||
| unknown (66.90.217.168) Rating: N/A |
one thing you have to remember,police,politians,&preachers are not here to do things"FOR" you they are here to do things "TO" you...if you want your bus,go get it. | ||
| CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.211) Rating: N/A |
I agree with the "UNKNOWN" converter. I have not had one experience with the police,law enforcement or what ever you would want to call them, where they have been cordial. Every time I needed help from these people that are paid to "Serve and Protect", I end up losing out, getting delayed, ignored or insulted. Sorry, I wont give these guys the benefit of the doubt like I used to because they dont show any indication that they deserve it. These people go out of their way to humiliate you, They certainly DONT Serve us and I dont know what they do to PROTECT. Its more like they do things to Attack us. A mild example is the fact that they no longer act as a deterrant on the highway, they sneek and hide and jump on you. One area around me, they dont follow the rule book of keeping with the flow of traffic. In the name of money, they just interprit the part that says if you are over 55 mph, you are breaking the law. Forget the fact that thousands of drivers are tooling down the road and if you did do 55mph, you would be getting the single finger salute by all who you are pissing off by driving slower than the flow. This is just another ploy for these jerks to get money for the office. And then they have the Guts to call you and ask for a DONATION to the Federation Of Police. Yeah, right. I heard one COP talking one night to a friend, he was in uniform, his friend was a renta cop, and they were talking about the great POT they were smoking the night before. Some of these area cops actually pressure the donut shops and restaurants for free food, implying that if they didnt get it free, it might take longer to answer a call from that store. One citizen actually went to city hall to the meeting and complained about the rudeness and how rough she was treated when she was stopped. I know how this is cause I was stopped recently and this jerk was playing games with me too. The council member spoke up and said that the fact that she wasnt in jail indicated that she was treated fairly. It is a conspiracy of those in power agianst the citizens that pay their paychecks. The fact that you might get any response to help find your bus that is only worth $1000 will be incredible. To serve and to protect doesnt mean you get put on a list because some other guys car is stolen and is worth $5000 and yours is only worth $1000. In short they are rude, critical, abusive, want to play games because they have you at their mercy, feel they are above the law and do not respond to the average public, us, the ones paying the bills. If you think about it, you know that is about right too. the statement "To Serve and Protect" is true but it does not mean YOU the public, it means the organization that they hide behind. | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (209.210.116.27)
Rating: N/A |
Have you seriously considered publishing all this? Bet you that sixpack you could sell to someone. Great story we all need to hear. Keep it coming. Good luck.  Henry of CJ | ||
| FAST FRED (67.75.96.50) Rating: N/A |
The Police I have met were self selected from the bottom 5% of the High Skool graduating class. Being very lazy is a big plus. FAST FRED | ||
| unknown (66.90.217.237) Rating: N/A |
O.K>......go on...what about the preachers & priests that molest kids...& keep on preaching....I think they should be taken out & shot...you hold 'em...i'll shoot 'em and ...the politians......poor little Monica....wasteing time on Bill Clinton...when she could have been doing that to me...... NO.............WIRE...............hangers !!!!!!! | ||
| brandon s owen (Brando) (65.230.154.120)
Rating: N/A |
if i were a cop, id be pretty imbarassed if this all got put in a local news paper. just think of all the sneers they would get from all the townies! i would think that embarassment and money both are two weighty levers to get them off there bottoms and start workin on it! | ||
| Bruce Wayne (24.242.119.9) Rating: N/A |
I was talking to a young adult man recently. he has a shaved head and tattoos. I was surprised when he told me he is a city cop. Then he said that he doesnt consider himself a real cop, he said he just wanted the job so he could legally carry a gun and bust heads. I cant imagine why a female would want to be a cop. I told one cop that he doesnt 'serve and protect', he just comes along after the fact and makes a report. He didnt say a thing. If our government could protect us, 9-11 WTC would have never happened | ||
| Steve (208.19.55.81) Rating: N/A |
Anybody out there of presbyterian following faith? As of yesterday, they appointed a openly gay man to be a bishop. My question is, Is this man and his "life companion" going to encourage their lifestyle to the young and inocent(easily persuaded) youth of that denomination? I know, I know, the Baptist, catholics, tv ministries, Jesse jacksons and others, all have problems. Nuff said, Steve | ||
| unknown (66.90.216.13) Rating: N/A |
atta boy steve....let 'em have it....now what about Monica..........ohhhhh monica | ||
| Dwight (67.213.8.195) Rating: N/A |
Kind of reminds me of problems we once had in New Orleans untill they arrested the cops doing the murders !!!! | ||
| CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.242) Rating: N/A |
Dont you find it ODD, in this ocuntry of freedoms, freedom to speak, freedom to think, freedom of press, all these freedoms and it goes on for sure, that you are not presumed innocent, as the writing states, RATHER, you are presumed GUILTY! In the case of Michael Jackson, HE HAS NEVER BEEN CONVICTED OF ANYTHING, not even a shred of evidence to imply that he has done anything wrong, yet look what the world thinks of him. How many people have been convicted and sent to jail only to be found innocent later, Whoa to those that were put to death with a death sentence, what do we do, say OOPS! The learned church has its problems but its job is to bring in the sheeps, not to comdemn them, and is'nt that what we are supposed to be a part of? Human nature is a bad thing when it takes over a persons life and theres a whole lot of people out there who hate purely on rumour. Many people became disenchanted with the church because of all the double standards or because the only slot in life the church was filling was where you stood in the social ladder. Give people a break, when you can, Lifes' to short to go looking for targets or spreading rumours - cd | ||
| unknown (66.90.217.98) Rating: N/A |
Wasn't Klamoth Falls where Carol Burnett was from ???? | ||
| Johnny (63.159.125.103)
Rating: N/A |
I'm with Corey--I drive wreckers (among other things--I have 2 jobs). If I go a week without getting hassled, it's a minor miracle. If the company goes 3 days without it...well, I don't know, since that hasn't happened in at least 3 years. Most cops are arrogant, swaggering bullies on a power trip. | ||
| Chris (207.239.72.45) Rating: N/A |
Bus for sale on Ebay. Rumor has it that it is for sale by a guy named Randy? It is from AZ. Any connection? | ||
| Ross Carlisle (Ross) (216.107.197.140)
Rating: N/A |
Randy Fulkerton has 2 or 3 busses on eBay right now, but I think it's been estab;ished that this Randy does not have anything to do with the missing bus. I've been waiting for part 9....progress in finding the bus must be slow. Ross | ||
| brandon s owen (Brando) (208.251.255.26)
Rating: N/A |
this is getting good, better than tv..well tv never was all that any way. i cant wait to find out what happens to the stiky fingered bus thieves and the jelly filled cops. by the way, the so called modern church does have its problems.. ever thought where the problems came from? not GOD but from humans. if we could all be humble and help each other out instead of argueing about what denomination is better (denominations are man made too).. hmmmmm just a thought. maybe a can-o-worms...... | ||
| TVP (63.122.65.97) Rating: N/A |
seems Randy Ford is still buying buses ... I see he is bidding on a couple over on irail .... if any of you guys are looking for buses, check over there !! COTA just listed a BUNCH !! ohio rust buckets no doubt :\ TVP | ||
| Tony H. (Bluegrass) (216.207.2.122)
Rating: N/A |
Do you have a link for these sites | ||
| timterhune (209.202.131.89)
Rating: N/A |
This might be it, but it looks like you have to register to view and use. http://marketplace.irail.com/ Tim. |