A bicyclist who confronted three well-dressed men walking to their hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, pointed what looked like a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun at them and demanded money. The injured suspect's weapon turned out to be a pellet gun. E-Mail Cuff n Stuff with your Dumb Crooks stories. Because it helps answer any questions concerning the case, if we receive calls or complaints. Recently, we have had three situations that could have been resolved very easily if the Deputy had taken statements from the victim and recorded the conversations.
Stories change, information becomes manipulated and attitudes modify often times overnight.
We never know when a simple situation deteriorates into a complex one. What better evidence could you, as the reporting officer, have than a concise, complete statement of facts and a recording of what you said and what they said. If an attorney calls or the media contacts us stating that we did not do this or failed to do that, we can play the tape and review the statement for the facts. The best parallel I can give you is the old saying, A picture is worth 1,000 words. It is extremely hard to counter the actual conversation spoken at the scene.