police report

On March 13th, 2018 I responded to the north end of W Twin River Way in the area it intersects with the Jordan River Parkway Trail on report of a suspicious person/activity. While I was responding to the area VECC Dispatch advised me that the caller was calling from Clinical Innovations which is located at 747 W 4170 S in Murray Utah. The complainant who was identified as Thomas Smith stated that from his office (which is located on the west side of the building) he could see what appears to be a homeless male who looks to be holding a human hand. He also stated that it is a little bit difficult to see because his building is located on the east side of the Jordan River and he is looking across the river to the trail which is located on the west side of the river.

Upon arrival I parked my patrol vehicle on the east end of Twin River Way, activated my “body cam”, and proceeded to walk south along the Jordan River Parkway Trail. I was dressed in a normal patrol uniform and was clearly identified as a police officer. After walking approximately 300 yards I located a male subject (who was later identified as James Parker) sitting near what appeared to be a homemade type tent. I identified myself to the male and asked him if he was living in this area. He stated that he was temporarily, he used to live at the homeless shelter located in Salt Lake at 210 Rio Grande St. Due to the increased presence of law enforcement he had moved out of that area and was awaiting public housing. I then asked him if he had secured public assistance in the form of housing and he stated that he did in fact have an apartment “lined up.” I then asked him why he was still living in the aforementioned tent and he stated that his apartment would not be ready for another week.

While I was talking to James I noticed that he would converse with me in a manner that seemed “normal” but then at random times he would make verbal utterances that I was unable to understand and he would make random sudden movements. I asked James if he had any medical problems and he stated that when he was younger he was diagnosed with severe ADHD and Tourette’s Syndrome but because he has been homeless for the past 10 or 11 years he has not been treated medically. I asked him if he was in any distress at the moment or needed an ambulance, he stated that he did not.

While James and I were talking I observed the belongings that James owned which were in plain sight, I did not see anything of real monetary value and began to become suspicious of his accounts mentioned earlier of having secured housing. I asked James if he had any documentation that showed he had been approved for housing and stated “hang on, I have something under my cooler”, James pointed to his right and I noticed the cooler he was referring to was blue in color and was sitting at the entry to his tent. He moved the cooler to his right to retrieve the requested paperwork from underneath the cooler. When James slid the cooler, the edge of the plastic material that the cooler was made of, stuck or got caught on a small crack that was on the asphalt of the path. When this happened the momentum that he used to push the cooler caused it to catch and tip over to the right. When the cooler tipped over, the hinged lid opened approximately 2 to 3 inches. When the lid opened I noticed what appeared to be a human finger protrude from the opening. I do not believe that James noticed what I observed as he continued to retrieve the requested paperwork.

As he was handing me the documentation I requested a backup unit to respond to my location in light of my observations. My intentions were to “play it off” like I had not observed anything suspicious, review the documents, and wait for a second unit to arrive before I began to question James about my observations. As I was waiting, I looked over what James had provided which showed a Section 8 approval letter and a residential address to The Parkgate Apartments located at 5491 S Jackies Wy. # A-201 Murray, Ut 84107. I also recorded an office number of 801-685-8000. It showed the name of James Parker being approved for housing on the date of March 20th, 2018. Just to further verify I used my department issued cell phone to contact the front office at Parkgate. When I called a female answered the phone who was identified as Jennifer Turner, I asked Jennifer to confirm that James was indeed approved for housing and he would be residing at those apartments, Jennifer confirmed this and we concluded our conversation.

A short time later Officer Durrant arrived as my back up unit (see his attached supplement), when he did, James became, what appeared to me as extremely nervous and became agitated. He asked me why I needed another officer, I responded, in an effort to calm the situation, by saying that it was standard procedure and it was simply a safety measure that is standard operating procedure for my department, his agitated state seemed to calm a little so I began to ask James about my observances prior. I stated to James…”when you were moving your cooler and it tipped over, I noticed that the lid cracked open, I saw what appeared to be a finger fall from the inside of the cooler, do I have your permission to look inside the cooler to determine if it was actually a finger.” James agreed and his consent for a search of the cooler was captured on my “body cam”. I also requested that he sign my department issued “consent to search form” to which he did and that document will be included with this report.

Officer Durrant and James moved to the side of me approximately 10 feet away and they began a conversation as I opened the lid to the cooler. I immediately noticed what appeared to be a human hand that was in early stages of decomposing. From my initial observations, the hand was intact from the wrist area and included all five digits (fingers). It appeared to have a bluish tint to the skin and several areas that seemed to be in various stages of decomposition. I also noticed various other items in the cooler that will be documented at a later time.

I again made contact with James to ask him about the hand. As there was two uniformed officers present I believe James would not feel like he was free to leave and the questions that I was going to be asking may be incriminating so I decided to read James his Miranda Rights (again, see body camera footage.) James waived said rights and agreed to speak with me. I asked James why he had a human hand in a cooler and he replied that he had found it in the bushes near where his camp was set up. I then asked why he would pick up a human hand and he replied that he didn’t really know, he just picked it up. I then asked why he did not report finding the hand by calling 911 or another non-emergency phone number, he replied that he did not have a phone to use. James’s answers seemed to be vague and not really consistent with what the average person would do or how they would act in this situation.

I contacted my supervisor and relayed my findings and requested a crime scene unit to respond to my location for evidence collection. A short time later Crime Scene Detective Smith arrived and collected the evidence (see his supplemental report.) I also requested that Detective Smith gather all the documentation from James as to where he was going to live, photographs of the camping area, surrounding area and photograph James himself for future identification purposes, all of these tasks were accomplished with the permission of James. I released James at this point pending further investigation. I also quickly traveled over to the workplace of the complainant, Thomas Smith and requested a written witness statement which will be included in this report.

From the circumstances relevant to this call, I was unable to determine where the human hand came from or if James had committed any violation of Utah law. I have gathered witness statements and included the locations of all parties who were involved. Please forward this report to the investigations division for follow up.

End of Report…Officer C. Benedict 52458

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Officer Durrant supplement March 13th 2018 Case #X18-021577 Suspicious Incident

On 3-13-2018 I responded to the Jordan River Parkway Trail on request from Officer Benedict to act as a backup officer.

Upon arrival I met with Officer Benedict who explained what he had observed and asked me to watch the male he was with as he searched the campsite. I did as requested, the male subject that Officer Benedict was with seemed to be agitated for short periods of time but after conversing with him, he seemed to calm right down and was cooperative. When Officer Benedict completed his investigation, we both cleared the scene.

End of Report…Officer F. Durrant 65485

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Detective Smith CSI supplement March 13th 2018 Case #X18-021577 Suspicious Incident

On 3-13-2018 I responded to the Jordan River Parkway Trail on request from Officer Benedict for processing of a potential crime scene.

Upon arrival I met with Officer Benedict who explained what he had observed and asked me to collect the evidence that he had observed. I asked Officer Benedict if he had obtained a warrant for the collection of evidence or if consent was given. Officer Benedict stated that the male he had been in contact with gave consent to search his property and that consent was recorded on his body cam as well as in writing.

I proceeded to collect the requested evidence by following crime scene preservation methods, standard operating procedures, and aseptic techniques. I obtained the blue cooler labeled as evidence #9485 and its contents. I also photographed all requested areas of the camp, Officer Benedicts suspect, and collected the documents labeled as evidence #9486.

All evidence will be stored in the crime lab for preservation until the assigned detective makes contact with me with requests for processing.

End of Report…Detective G. Smith CSI 65789

What you will find below is a very typical police report that has been generated from a road patrol officer who has been assigned to a 911 call for service. Reports like these are generated (depending on department size) hundreds of times per day. After road patrol officers initially respond they will take the initial report and then forward that report to the investigations division for so that the investigation can continue. The patrol division simply does not have time to investigate every aspect of every call that requires follow up. They (again, depending on department size) may handle up to 15 or 20 calls in a single shift so obviously they will not be able to provide the time needed for each call. They, patrol officers in cases like these, are simply observers and gatherers of facts and provide these facts to the investigations division for continued investigation.

Officer (C. Benedict) has responded to a location and gathered as much information as he could with his given circumstances. As an investigator you will be receiving reports very similar to this one on a daily basis, some reports will be better than others and some patrol officers will have more or less experience which will reflect in their report writing. The report in which you will be reading and following up on is quite detailed and will walk you through the process, the end of semester project will be a little more difficult.

In this report and directions for this assignment: It is early in the day and you have just finished several other cases. You are looking forward to a little break before the next case comes in when your supervisor comes into your office and hands you a case for investigation that has just come in from the patrol division.

Read the reports as they have been written here Mid-Term Reports and complete the following (narrate these questions):

Do you have any follow-up questions for the responding officer or is the report complete?
What is your response mindset and how you would initially pursue beginning this case (think back to Module 3) and begin with the progression of the investigative process even starting as basic as this report in progress or can we implement a strategic investigative response.
Review Module 4 and outline how you would use the STAIR Tool to work thru the process of investigating this suspicious incident.
Who (witnesses, suspect, CSI Detective, etc.) would like to talk to and how you would like to talk to them either in person or on the phone.
What evidence do you need to follow up on.
After compiling all of your facts and have accomplished/exhausted all investigative avenues, write a complete narrative pertinent to the situation. Will you be forwarding this case to the prosecutor’s office in an effort to charge the suspect with a crime or not charge the suspect with a crime? In this hypothetical situation we will stop short of sending this report to the prosecutor and it will be left for review by your Sgt. (me).
You may want to read ahead a little and skim over Module 11 which talks about writing narratives. This is a hypothetical “role play” type exercise, you are obviously not going to interview suspects or the victim in this case but if you did what questions would you ask, what answers would he give, etc.
As a quick guideline, a report of this nature should most likely be 4 to 6 pages minimum as you articulate your actions and the statements made of people you have interviewed, locations you have visited, described peoples mannerisms, compiled evidence to be submitted for prosecution etc. Remember you are writing as if you will be submitting this report for prosecution or to your supervisor. Again, you can jump ahead a little and review some pointers in Module 11 about report writing but the general construction of a report can be followed from reading your responding officers report.

Just to get you started on your “report” and to provide you with a starting point, you may want to start you report out something like…On 3-15-2018 I was assigned to Case #X18-021577, a suspicious Incident in which Officer C. Benedict had responded to prior. On this date I chose to review the interaction and conversation between “James” and Officer Benedict by reviewing the body cam footage first and then you are off and running into your investigation.

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