HOW TO STAY SAFE

Prevention can be a powerful force against crime in our community. If you have any tips or advice on how to stay safe in any situation, please email Martin Sullivan with your ideas.

Star+677

Star+677 is a feature that allows citizens to dial police dispatch directly to gather information about unmarked police cars. Please read the story below to discover the significance and effect of this tool.

“It was about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and Lauren was driving to visit a friend. An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put his lights on. (Lauren’s parents have always told them never to pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather to wait until they get to a gas station, etc).

Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice, and promptly dialed Star+677 on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that she would not pull over right away. She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that there was an unmarked police car with a flashing red light on his rooftop behind her. The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars where she and there weren’t, and he told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had back up already on the way.

Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground. The man was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes.”

You should never pull over for an unmarked car. Police respect your right to keep going to a safe place. You should make some signals that you acknowledge them (i.e. put on your hazard lights) or call Star+677 like Lauren did.

Home