Having to deal with police today REALLY wiped me out!
Okay, so Saturday evening someone that lives next to the Burras House (very old house owned by my family, see the current “abandoned” house photos) sent me a message that the back door and a window on the place were torn open.
Sunday I went and investigated. The door is still locked and on it’s hinges, but the whole middle was torn out. Someone(s) had gone through the house smashing up the already broken windows from the inside, breaking up the wood and trying to smash through the window coverings. I covered the open places in a makeshift way, because it was raining. My brother showed up, but that really just meant he got to see it first hand and we talked about “things”.
Monday I did a LOT of measuring. I needed to give my brother info on the doors and windows so he can arrange repairs/securing the place. (He’s still debating what to do) It isn’t easy when the house was built in the 1700s so not standard, has all sorts of bits added for prior security, and bits missing because of decay. Plus, big windows and tape measure that droops while I try to read it in the dark (for inside) or stand on a ladder (outside).
Today I needed to make a police report. Look, I know it was probably kids, and while I think they need grounding or something so they KNOW there are consequences, I’m not keen on the consequences being legal. Most kids would be tempted to go into an abandoned house, and while I never broke did go in a few. But my brother wanted me to report it, and damage was done that will be expensive to deal with. So I had to bite the bullet and do it.
I am scared of cops and scared of phone calls, and I wasn’t sure what the proper sheriff’s department** number was to call. I tried asking folks how you do it, but nobody knew. So, yeah, I was nervous as heck,
Anyway, long story short, it turned out making a report meant more than a call. I had to meet up with a cop at the Burras House, give him the tour, answer questions. And then he called in another cop to dust for prints, and show him everything. And then another cop showed up to investigate….
Three cops, investigating petty vandalism. The prints WERE kids’ prints, like I expected. They were still going to contact the school behind the Burras House to check security cameras and go talk to the neighbors ***.
Mixed feelings about all this.
I mean, it’s a nice surprise that they are actually interested. When we got robbed years ago with things actually stolen and when arsonists burned down the tug pilot house at our boat landing, the cops then had been useless, not even interested in dusting for prints. I had expected a shrug at something as minor as this.
But….I also don’t like so many resources being devoted to something so minor. Worse, if they succeed in identifying the kid(s) the punishment could be more severe than necessary.
Not that they will find the kids, so I’m feeling guilty for nothing.
TBH the bigger regret should be realizing I’ve been judging the local cops’ interest in investigating based on my history with them, and not necessarily the current people running the place. Suppose I’d called them when the tools were stolen, or the car broken into, or when I caught those folks hiding out on the farm to sort through their “loot”, or….
Then again, they probably would NOT have been able to catch anyone in those cases either. Maybe if fingerprints were found, and fingerprints were on record that matched….
But there is no point in regret. Odds of catching the tool thieves would be very low, and chance of getting the tools back even lower, and my decision to not report it was based on weighing that against the stress on me from calling in the cops. Judging how it drained me, and that’s with this so unexpectedly painless****, there would have been a cost. I dunno if calling the cops back during those previous incidents would have been worth it.
Sorry. Rambling. Today was super stressful for me, and I’m feeling frazzle brained. It went okay, for once, but still…. I sure hope this is the end of my having to deal with the police for a long, long time!
**My town has no police. It’s the county sheriff’s department you call.
*** I told them what the neighbors told me, so highly unlikely they will get anymore info. The neighbors just noticed the “open” door and window and messaged me in case I hadn’t noticed. They didn’t even know it was a break in, thinking the wind had blown the door actually open and knocked the window covering off.
****This time the cops were polite, did their job well, nothing personal stolen, actual evidence, no cop kicking a cat (yes, investigating our many years ago robbery one cop KICKED a cat. Deliberately, for the sin of getting near him. My brother has always chided me for revealing my outrage, a dangerous thing with cops) . When I say painless, I mean it was my first positive interaction with police….ever!
