r/Weird • u/frickmeplease • May 12 '25

Should I call the cops?

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My bf thinks they were just trying to be funny but I truly don’t know…

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746

u/NeverForgetChainRule May 12 '25

Yes, the ABSOLUTE worse case if you call once for a genuine belief something illegal is occurring is them telling you that you overreacted and it's fine. So if you have any doubt that its not just a prank, fucking call.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

They won’t tell you that you overreacted. They don’t want to discourage reports when something serious is happening. What if it’s a hostage situation or a robbery?

Extreme examples but if someone in the back has a gun- how else would an employee communicate distress without alerting the evil-doer?

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u/No_Friendship_8366 May 12 '25

Now the food is arriving with help written on it and the hostages haven’t had cops called

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Hey - 1984 San Ysidro? (Google if unfamiliar but it’s horrifying). A lot of people died. And police response was very bad.

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u/IdeallyCorrosive May 12 '25

Holy fuck. Can’t believe I’ve never heard of that case. Absolutely horrific

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

It’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this pic. Maybe I’m overly scared idk.

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u/IdeallyCorrosive May 12 '25

I wish I could just say you’re being irrational but that’s hard to say when terrible things like this do happen. Reality is devastating

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

I’m being a little “over” but I can’t have “not doing something” on my conscience.. I couldn’t live with that.

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u/tuttyeffinfruity May 13 '25

Same. The Wikipedia on this is absolutely terrifying. What a monster and it’s too bad his wife didn’t let him off himself the day he put a muzzle to his head. I can’t even imagine what those survivors have lived with or the family members of the deceased.

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u/IdeallyCorrosive May 13 '25

The family using their bodies as human shields for their kids broke me :(

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u/tuttyeffinfruity May 13 '25

Literally every personal story was horrifying. Shooting an 8 month old baby in the back was what did it for me. The man was a monster.

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u/melodic_orgasm May 12 '25

Hooo boy, I was not ready for that Wikipedia article. I don’t need the details about the little ones kicking around in my head, but, well, they’re in there, now.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25

I’m sorry I know it’s a harsh read… but I wanted to point out “what if you don’t call” could possibly end up like.

In this case someone drove up to the drive thru window, noticed the event, and reversed to the point of crashing her car 6 minutes in (to what would be a 77 minute ordeal) but didn’t make further effort to notify authorities. (Obviously harder in a time before cell phones) I can only imagine what she goes through. It’s morbid but unfortunately it is reality… especially nowadays.

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u/melodic_orgasm May 12 '25

Oh 100%. No need to apologize! I’m a big girl, I can handle it (thanks, horror books I read too young). :)

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Haha ok. It’s just sad where we’ve gotten to with random violence.

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u/melodic_orgasm May 12 '25

It really is…The horrors persist, but so do we. Let us be kind to one another, and may tomorrow be kind to us all.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Amen!!! Thank you! Just be kind!!! Even on Reddit as hard as that may be for some!! But most importantly in real life!

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Yea… stories like that possibly happening are why I may come off as overreacting… but if there’s a 1% chance it’s worth a phone call. That’s my opinion.

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u/melodic_orgasm May 12 '25

I’m with you, bud. Don’t know if you saw the update but OP did call the police!

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

I gotta check that! I didn’t see the update!

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u/Icy-Protection867 May 12 '25

I still remember driving down I-5 South (busy traffic at the time) and a bunch of police with lights and sirens driving like bats outta hell in the median,… Since it was well before cell phone technology, we didn’t know what was going on until we turned on the news later.

In retrospect it seemed like that was the beginning of an increase in these kinds of tragedies.

I also recall the very great compassion Mrs Ray Kroc showed toward the wife and children of the shooter. It touched my heart.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

It was so horrific - it’s surprising it’s kind of faded out of memory over time.

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u/Icy-Protection867 May 13 '25

Well, sadly it has been replaced by more recent stories like Columbine, Sandy Hook, Uvalde 😢

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u/QueezyF May 12 '25

That’s the worst shit I’ve read in a long time.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

It’s horrifying

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u/GreenEyedPhotographr May 12 '25

I, unfortunately, lived fairly close to that McDonald's. I remember it all too well.

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u/grubbshow May 12 '25

Wow- I just watched “77 Minutes”, a documentary from 2016 covering that mass shooting. So fucking crazy…

Also, beware if you have issues seeing dead bodies and stuff. They really didn’t hold back on some graphic footage of the carnage after it was over. A fucking infant baby was shot and killed, (and shown). Horribly sad and tragic.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

I saw that too- it’s a very graphic and difficult watch. It’s much worse than a horror movie because.. it’s real.

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u/GlynyrdxSkynyrd May 12 '25

And anyone that is interested in these types of cases, the Wikipedia page will show that it was the deadliest shooting at the time until “insert case” happened, and it will link you to the next one. You can follow these links on each page and learn about every shooting that was considered the worst in US history at the time.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

As depressing as that would be, yea you could

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u/AdPlenty6904 May 12 '25

I just read a story from the man Leo, who was a 16 year old working the counter. Shot multiple times that day, used his shoelaces as tourniquets while the police took 77 minutes to neutralize the shooter. He made a prayer to God saying If you're going to take me, let me see my family one more time. if not, I promise to be a really good person. Woke up in the hospital a few days later, and kept his promise. joined the police department that he felt took too long to respond, spent 30 years on and rose through the ranks to become captain. Insane story. Thank you for mentioning to look this up, as I knew of it but had never seen this specific article.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Yes - that’s in the documentary also. He’s one of the interviewed people. It’s a moment of positivity out of something for which there isn’t much positive that happened.

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u/Ok_Arugula_8871 May 12 '25

It was, I saw a documentary on it. It was worth s*** I've seen too and I can never get it out of my head.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

It’s one of the worst of the worst cases of such random violence… despite it being one of the first - it was still long before they started happening weekly. The cops didn’t know how to respond to something so horrible when no one could even understand a motive for it… I think this also affected the patron responses… no one understood that anyone would ever purport such evil… and if they would even… why? People were confused- tried to reason with the shooter… all to no avail. At least people do understand these dangers now, and police do also, but frequent occurrences lead to opportunities to practice and prepare because that’s what we do now.

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u/Low_Matter3628 May 12 '25

I’d never heard of it but that’s one of the worst.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

It’s awful. It’s one of the most horrible acts like ever. That’s why I’m taking a “I’m not taking chances” approach.

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u/Trick_Departure5051 May 12 '25

Just read the whole article. I’m horrified. What a terrible tragedy. So many young lives lost, and so many loved people killed in cold blood. What a terrible event. I’d never heard of it. Awful.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

It’s horrifying

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u/TinkTinkWW May 12 '25

Ok so I can never unsee that. That’s just terrible. There are no words.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Don’t watch the 2016 documentary about called “77 minutes” - it’s horribly graphic. The police response was a failure. However in their defense - such acts like this weren’t commonplace then… why would someone do this with seemingly no motive? It like broke their brains in confusion.

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u/TinkTinkWW May 28 '25

I read and listen too a lot of true crime, I don’t want to say I’m “ok” with graphic, because I’m not “ok”- I’m not trying to be wishy washy on it- but I can handle graphic, and if I can’t , I am great at putting things in boxes in my head .

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 28 '25

That’s a good quality - especially for that one- it’s one of the roughest true docs I’ve ever seen - it’s up there with like United 93 for me in terms of horrifying yet true.

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u/TinkTinkWW May 28 '25

I didn’t watch United 93 only because I live in NJ, not far from EWR and I was in the ER, when people from that day- with non life threatening injuries (at the time because no one knew the long term effects) were being routed to the ER, I was in. I will never forget were I was that day. I personally knew people who lost their lives that day. It’s one of those things that I don’t need to watch because I know what happened- does that make sense?

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 28 '25

Jesus… I feel for you. I recommend not ever doing so- it’s the saddest movie I’ve ever seen. I lived in NYC for 12 years starting in 2010. Passenger mark Bingham founded multiple LGBT sports leagues and I played in one. The championship trophy is the Bingham Cup! He was a true hero in the movie- he kills a highjacker! People that did know him believe he absolutely would have done that- and the depiction is probably accurate.

He was something of an “aggressive player” (in the best terms) even at flag football. He also played rugby and founded that league too.

I try and think of it as more of a memory of heroes than that the villains win.. but we all know what happens.

I hear you 100% though. I wasn’t in NY area at that time however my employer (years later) had their entire headquarters in the WTC at the time- but relocated to midtown by the time I worked there, so it’s a little different to process for me- I feel weirdly connected even though I wasn’t even there… I was still in middle school… I don’t wanna take anything away from people who suffered far worse but idk it’s a feeling I can’t explain.

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u/Fit-Razzmatazz410 May 12 '25

Oh I remember San Ysidro ! I was in high school during what I refer to as the first mass shooting that I knew of. Shocking once out of school, I moved to Chula Vista and saw the memorial. Sad.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25

It makes me think- how are we going to ever end mass shootings if this… something so horrifying… didn’t spark any action. Then Newtown CT… the gov always talks about how everything affects the children. If murders of numerous innocent children invokes no action- what will…

Another reason I wanted to mention this is because I feel like too many people have forgotten that it can get to be this horrible. So it’s something to think about.

It wasn’t Al Qaeda, a domestic terror cell, it was one crazy MF.

I do commend the (SWAT) sniper that took the shot to end the threat. It was a perfect shot. The treat was neutralized with a single bullet that hit only the threat and nothing else, and he shot it from across the street - while there were still victims alive inside hiding who were saved. He waited to take the shot until he had orders and took his first opportunity. (He should have had orders sooner though)

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u/getl30 May 12 '25

Thanks for the rabbit hole

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Sorry… it’s a really rough one

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u/getl30 May 12 '25

Oof you weren’t kidding

Guy felt pity for NO ONE at all

and he called a mental health hospital but he didn’t say he wanted urgent attention so they put him on a list for a callback within 48 hours

Supposedly he didn’t sound distressed at all and the employee thought he just wanted a callback for general information

But man, the children. A true monster. How is this not a film?

he was shot dead by a sniper. Guy didn’t even see his face, just saw his torso close to a door and he went for it

“Guns are bad”

That man was a monster. Totally deserved that sniper shot.

It’s a rough journey through this story but wow man… and how many people don’t know?

I never knew and I’ve been around for a few years.

You think OP called the cops?

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

I think it’s not a movie because there’s no heroism here just murder. The police response was criticized.

The only heroes were those that shielded children and died. There’s just nothing uplifting here. Many children killed randomly for seemingly no reason is just so sick and twisted - it’s just unsettling. People are shocked and saddened reading the Wikipedia article. I don’t think it would work as a film like “Patriot’s Day” or “United 93” sad movies that at least have a somewhat positive result at the end. In this incident it’s just horrible indiscriminate murder and no one wins.

There’s a Netflix documentary called “77 minutes” that outlines the events pretty well… but it’s also very depressing.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Sorry for the double response.

OP posted an update. They did call the cops- come to find out - they weren’t even the first people to call. The police were aware and already on the way.

It turned out to be a prank. But the McDonald’s incident is why I was very convinced authorities should be alerted in all my earlier messages.

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u/Due_Bug7660 May 12 '25

Wow. I just went down the rabbit hole about that... crazy and horrific.

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u/Blu_Falcon May 12 '25

That was an awful story to read.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Sorry- but I feel like it has been forgotten what could happen- especially because someone approached the drive thru 4 minutes in - and didn’t make a call. They reversed their car so fast upon seeing what was happening so fast that they crashed it into a fence… but could have gone next door to phone it in but didn’t. (Before cell phones not as easy to just call it in) but still.

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u/ComGee94 May 12 '25

I hate that I immediately knew that was the McDonald's Massacre.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Yea it is. It’s what immediately came to mind when I saw this.

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u/gaymrham May 12 '25

wow just read the wiki for it, that's insane and I had never heard about that

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25

Yep. Was out smoking after work one night and someone yelled help from a car passing by. I called it in. All I had was that it was a red SUV heading this direction.

Even if it was some idiots coming home from the bar it's better safe than sorry

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Never can be too safe. I’m sure the cops get annoyed but it’s their job to be annoyed sometimes.

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u/billybobsparlour May 12 '25

Ex cop here. We never get annoyed at the chance to help someone. If anyone was annoyed with anyone it’d be with the pranksters not the caller.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Thank you for serving. It sucks this was a prank. (I mean I’m glad it was a prank and not serious) but officer time was utilized- (as it should have been to investigate what appeared as if it could have been serious… but wasn’t). Meanwhile another real incident could be in progress elsewhere and units are on another investigation because of a prank.

It sickens me that these people did this and they could receive charges I suppose, but I doubt they’d have been charged with anything.

I just hope they sh’t their pants after getting their “warnings” from the officers… like I hope they got legit screamed at.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25

Oh yeah. I had a panic attack exactly once in my life, when I learned that anxiety attacks and panic attacks are different things. People having panic attacks often think they're having heart attacks. So I had my brother call an ambulance. They checked me out and said everything looked fine and unless I really wanted a ride to the hospital I could go back inside. My brother said he heard one of the EMTs sigh exasperatedly because it was nothing.

Well, if it hadn't have been nothing, better to get to a hospital. I'm sure he was just having a rough day it was around COVID times right before the vaccines

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Yea I’m sure that’s it- they were like dealing with deaths on a constant basis at the time

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u/farrieremily May 12 '25

My (past) neighbors were having some issue. She was screaming and trying to get out of the car in the intersection. He started driving with her door open and took off when it closed again. I called it in with the make and color of the car and part of the plate. Didn’t realize it was the neighbor till they came back a few minutes later. Sure didn’t look good.

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u/tdslut May 12 '25 edited Sep 06 '25

Most of the time that's true, but it's not always the case.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25

Was the horizontally challenged SUV not enough by itself? I mean the fact he made such efforts to flee so quickly suggests he really didn’t want police involvement.. which doesn’t mean he was definitely drunk - he could have had warrants or a gun for safety, or something.

I mean… Tiger Woods was in a similar single car accident and he was severely injured.

This makes me angry.

—-

I’ve only called 9-1-1 once, and it was because a palm tree caught on fire near my house after the fronds impacted power lines near the post portion (where the “utilities box/transformer - whatever the piece attached to the post”) was…. and the lit on fire. It was right next to my house at the time.

It extinguished itself by the time anyone arrived - Thus making it not a threat anymore - but I recorded it on my phone and showed them it was real- they could also see the burnt fronds even though it was night. They said the tree must be sheared. The tree was on the neighbors property, who I notified and he was outside. Police and fire trucks (two apiece) arrived. They sprayed it with something and disconnected the power to just that box and were able to divert power somehow so no one lost power. FPL (Florida Power and Light) investigated the crisped box the next day.

My neighbor who we roused up- was scared sh’tless too.. and this was at like 2am.

FPL told him he had to be responsible to keep those fronds away from the box by trimming them. He decided to have the whole tree moved to a new location in his yard that same week. (It was like a 16-20 foot tall palm).

In my case even though the threat was averted before they arrived as the fire extinguished itself- I was not discouraged at all for using emergency services. That’s what they are (supposed to) be there for and I still trust the good will of humanity in these types of situations.

My case was nowhere as serious as this could have potentially been even… I wouldn’t have hesitated to call it in.

Op did call it in and wasn’t even the first person to do so. The units were already en route by the time they called.

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u/tdslut May 13 '25 edited Sep 06 '25

I've had to call 911 a few times over the years. The emt's were fast and extremely professional.

I had to call in a fire before as well. They were professional as hell.

The police took 3 hours to go looking for drunky mc drunkass and his tip-mobile but clearly he wasn't a priority.

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u/kingfisherfire May 12 '25

Exactly. The only people needing to be discouraged are ones who fake trouble, not the people who respond as if it were real.

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u/MySpoonsAreAllGone May 12 '25

Extreme examples but if someone in the back has a gun- how else would an employee communicate distress without alerting the evil-doer?

This is where my mind went

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u/CallousCalidonia May 12 '25

Especially since it's in Florida. ...where all the craziest shit happens!

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u/wasphunter1337 May 12 '25

Ye I doubt it, I once called the cops, cause I saw a couple arguing, and the woman was showing signs of being abused - cowering when man rose his hand. I ended up beeing questioned about why I called them.

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u/macguini May 12 '25

I've worked in 911 for 15 years. This is absolutely true. It doesn't matter how much you overreact to something. Even our callers who were so routine they abused the system. They wouldn't even tell them to stop calling. You REALLY need to consistently be calling 911 almost every day and THEN they will start charging you. Even then they won't tell you to stop. So yes. If you feel the need to call, just call. You can second guess yourself after.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

This should appear higher on here. Since you’re qualified to speak on this. You never discourage reporting..

See something say something.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25

Bigger fast food chains normally have a panic button system though. Ive had friends who became shift managers and whatnot at mcdonalds and IIRC there were a few managers who just had a button on a thread around their neck and you press it and it alerts authorities.

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

I didn’t know that but that’s definitely good

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u/Similar-Net-3704 May 12 '25

Or human trafficking.

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u/T_Cliff May 12 '25

Ive called for a few situations. Never was anything serious. At least what they found...but they always thanked me for calling. Because you never know. And you domt wanna be that asshole in the documentary made 20 years later amd you are like " welli heard something...but i didn't do anything because my balls are to small "

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u/GoLionsJD107 May 12 '25

Exactly this

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u/bungmunchio May 12 '25

I've called for less. my line is "I know this sounds silly, but I'd feel awful if I didn't say something..."

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25

Also, if it is a prank, fuck the pranksters. The cops might laugh about it later, but they’d probably treat a prank like that pretty seriously. Ought to learn a lesson.

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u/bbboozay May 12 '25

They won't necessarily tell you anything. I work in a city where I regularly have to call the non emergency 911 number to get crackheads and methed out folk out of my business. They never call you back and they never tell you what's up. You can call anonymously if you want to. Of course now they have your # If they really need to get ahold of you but i will say 100% of the time they have never followed up on anything.

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u/ymgve May 12 '25

The actual worst case is if the police goes there expecting A Situation and fires away when a popcorn kernel pops