Last year, I was sitting in the apartment, doing something inconsequential when the doorbell rang. I NEVER get unannounced guests, AND I've gotten my share of death threats from neo-Nazis. Because of this, I never go to the door without my Chief's Special in my hip pocket.
I headed for the front door and ran into the flaky woman who had recently gone into hysterics because I'd taken her finished wash out of the washing machine after it had sat for an hour. She started babbling, "Call the police, call the police, call the police!"
It took me three tries of asking, "Why?" before I got the answer that some sleazy looking guy was ringing all of the doorbells, trying to "social engineer" his way into the building.
I walked to the front door, and sure enough, there was a meth-billy looking dude standing in the vestibule. Given the apparent veracity of the woman's statement, I went back to my apartment and called the Rocky River PD and explained the situation. I went back out again, and Jethro Codeine was still standing in the lobby. The cops showed up in not much more than ten minutes, by which time the suspicious character had left. I let them in, explained the situation and pointed them in the direction of the woman, since I had no direct contact with the individual in question. They went and talked to her, walked around the building, and left.
I think they came about as fast as reasonably could be expected. They were professional and courteous. If the guy had been a real threat, they would have been no use other than to file a report, but again, that's not any reflection on them. And nobody ever was the wiser that I had a loaded handgun in my pocket. I was indoors, on private property, so they didn't need to know anyway. So far, I've been as favorably impressed by the Rocky River PD as any other department.
Now the Cleveland cops I tried to notify face to face of a fistfight in the middle of Lorain Rd., they were another story entirely...
