I have never heard of the following, if true it needs to be made more public...
Subject: FW: Unmarked Police Cars
Lauren was 19 yr. old and in college. This story takes place over the Christmas/New Year's holiday break. It was the Saturday before New Year's and it was about 1PM 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 4 children (high school and college age) and have always told them never to pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather wait until they get a gas station, etc., so Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice, and promptly called #77 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 where police cars where she was and there wasn'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. I never knew about the #77 Cell Phone Feature, but especially for a woman alone in a car, you should not pull over for an unmarked car. Apparently police have to respect your right to keep going to a "safe" place. You obviously need to make some signals that you acknowledge them (i.e. put on your hazard lights) or call #77 like Lauren did.
Too bad the cell phone companies don't give you this little bit of wonderful information. So now it's your turn to let your friends know about #77.
Posts: 2258 | Location: Naples, Florida, United States | Registered: 06-03-02
Are the details of this particular story true? -They don't appear to be. This is a more recent version, with the inconsistent details (in the original there is another, marked, real, police car in from of her).
Have men masqueraded as police officers in order to rape/sexually assault women? -Yes.
Should you be worried about it? -NY State Governor Pataki issued an order a few years ago saying that unmarked cars in NY can no longer pull people over for routine traffic violations, citing the growing number of cases across the country, so you're probably better safe than sorry.
Should you dial #77 if this happens to you? -Probably not. Some states use #77, some use different numbers, some don't have a number.
