Screw that - I'm getting a cell phone!

[Ryder]

I saw an extremely suspicious situation on the way to work tonight. I thought I might have been witness to a kidnapping.

There was a young woman sitting on the pavement in front of a running car with doors open and surrounded by three large men in an out of the way carpool parking lot. She was obviously pleading for them to not touch her. Looked like they had perhaps knocked her down and were wanting to assault her more. The three gave me a hard look as I flew by.

Took 20 mintes to get to work and I was kicking myself hard all the way. If I could have stopped or quickly circled back to ensure her safety I would have. I am not defenseless, she obviously was. It would have taken me 10 minutes to comback for a second look using the nearest turnaround so I continued on to work and called it in to 911 once I got there.

Turns out the authorities were already aware of the situation. They said she had been crushed between two cars. I still feel bad about not being able to provide immediate assistance. Shows me the value of a cell phone in a new light. I'm getting one now. No two ways about it.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Definitely get a cellular phone. Besides calling the cavalry (or anybody who may be nearby), the presence of an opened phone makes may BGs hesitate.

 

[Bob F.]

cell phone ='s excellent security device (provided you have a signal-not always the case in this area).

 

[larry_minn]

What I think Bob F was getting at is if you feel you can't afford/need/want a cell phone you can get a used one and keep it for 911 calls only. No monthly service fees. Set it up to roam A/B Digital/Analog and you should get signal most anywhere I give my old ones to older drivers to keep in car. I suggest they plug phone in once a month. (would like weekly) I am sure you ask around you will find friend/family/co-workers who have a couple in drawer they would be happy to give you.

 

[Ryder]

That's some interesting information Larry. Some of that is greek to me but I'm going to check into that.

Thank you.

 

[patent]

We also keep an old cell phone upstairs in the bedroom at home. No service for it, but you can always call 911 from any cell phone, if you can get reception. Figure it might be handy if the phone service were to go down and we still needed to call 911.

patent

 

[armoredman]

Get a prepaid. Cheapest and no real tie down to a contract with name/address on it.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Cell phone service in the Ozarks is pretty spotty -- and none where I live. However, since declaring my candidacy for Congress, I've started carrying one everywhere, and they make a great difference.

If I could get a signal at home, it would be even better.

 

[ksnecktieman]

You do not need to purchase a phone. Anyone that uses a cell and has for very long has some in a drawer he does not use. I have one in each of my cars, and I have given some to all of my friends that do not use a cell. The cellular companies provide the 911 service for free. If you get a signal, you can dial 911 without charge. A car charger to go with it, and you can plug it into your cig liter and call.

If anyone has some in a drawer, get them out and pass them around to family and friends. Even if they just break down, most police departments will send a wrecker if you are on the street. ( Of course, that is up to the discretion of the dispatcher that answers, if you are old, or handicapped, or have children with you it will get better response).

 

[orangeninja]

I was chasing a robber off duty once who had holed up in the back yard of someones house. I was armed with a CZ PCR and thats it. It was about 2AM...I was off duty and WAY out of jurisdiction. I couldn't see the dude and was blocking his only way out. A light was illuminating me and obstructing my view.

I would have had him dead to rights if I had a cell phone. But instead just left. Not gonna shoot it out over a stolen bycicle. However, my information did lead to this guys arrest and eventually they searched his home....so much stolen stuff was recovered it was UNBELIEVEABLE.....including motorized vehicles. This was a serious thief. Better to be a live witness than a dead hero.

If he had a gun I would have made an easy target that night. I almost silouetted the crap out of myself.

 

[larry_minn]

Basicly I was saying have the phone set up to accept ANY signal. I set my phone to accept ONLY my cell carrier (free use of phone) IF I go outside my (home) area it will notify me and I MUST change it for the phone to work. That way they can't try to charge me for roaming when I was not. BUT phone will not work out of my home area. If I stay on Digital only or ANalog only same thing. So by telling my phone "I don't care who/how/what kinda signal you can find just connect me with 911" It does.
Anyone who is stingy/frugal/cheap/etc and has cell phone should be able to do this to your phone in minutes. As you don't pay for 911 what do you care who you contact thru? Even if they did/could charge you it would be worth $$$ to be able to get help/report problem YOURSELF instead of unknown person who may not have a good idea of who did what to whome.

 

[Ryder]

Here's the news release of what I saw

Troopers were sent to a car pool and found a 26-year-old woman had driven into the car pool lot and struck another vehicle, pinning the other vehicle’s owner between the two vehicles.
The woman told troopers she was meeting someone at the lot in relation to a Super Bowl party.
The woman was arrested for operating while intoxicated. The other person was treated at MidMichigan Medical Center for a leg injury and released.

 

[R127]

deleted

 

[another okie]

A cheap disposable camera in the glove box is a good idea, too.

 

[Binkus]

Im sure youll hear this from others if not already but by law any cellpone/cellpone provider has to allow you to place 911 call without charge or even current service. Might be something to consider if you dont feel like paying the other bills. For me personlly its cheaper and easer to just have a cell phone and no land line. Either way a cell can be a extermyly usefull tool for your kit bag and worht the small investment.

 

[tyme]

You might consider getting a ham license and radio. Though technically it's legal to transmit on ham frequencies (any frequencies, actually) in an emergency, people might wonder why you have a ham radio at all, and you might have trouble buying one as most places ask for your callsign. The standard cop-out is "I took the test but haven't gotten my license yet."

Of course, they're expensive, but there's no monthly service fee, and radios tend to be in the same pricerange as mid-to-expensively-priced cellphones. If you're in a city and start making friends with other HAM crazies, there's probably a repeater or three that will let you make phone calls. Maybe even free local calls, if you join a club or some repeater owner is particularly generous.

CB is an option, but does anyone use it except truckers? Do city police even monitor channel 9 these days? Truckers tend to be less helpful than HAM geeks WRT everything except speed traps.

 

[Black92LX]

wow that's a really good idea. i had no idea about the 911 thing with no provider. i pulled out one of my old phones and sure enough up came all 5 bars for full signal!

 

[106rr]

Be advised that a 911 cell phone call in California does not connect to local police. It connects only to a dispatcher in Sacramento. They cannot do anything if you don't have the full name of the cross sreets.
I called 911 on two ex cons (in appearance) waiting in a van near a playground. They both had their hair dyed the same color and had an obscured license plate. The playground wasn't close to the cross street so they sent the cops to a location about 1/3 of a mile away. Frustrating!

Insomnia

 

[artherd]

EVERY GODDAMNED TIME I've dialed 911 on my cell phone, I've been placed on hold.

Every time, it was in excess of *5 minuites*. Once it was over 11 minuites. Before anyone answered. I could have been dead, robbed, and burried by then.

There ought to be a law.

Instead, I dial the non-emergency number of the local PD, and talk my way to a dispatcher. "Listen, I CAN'T hang up, and if you don't connect me NOW, someone may die as a result. PATCH ME THROUGH."

 

[LASur5r]

3 cells

Here in soCAl...my family has one cell phone each (family plan) and my office issued me one.

Seems to be the thing to have. Used to have to find the emergency phones along the freeway. Sometimes we'd obviously see someone in need of roadside help we'd have to find a freeway phone to call the cavalry.

Now with the cellphone we've called in suspicious situations, we've called in about 7 times for help for someone else.

Product of my upbringing...kind of trying to make a difference.