this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024
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Call 911, tell them where it is, explain that you found a trash bag somewhere and you're concerned it has a dead body in it, don't disturb it any more than you already have
I work in 911 dispatch, from my end of things this is a very straightforward call. Verify your location, one or two short lines of notes, send a cop out to check it out.
I've taken a few calls like this, luckily it's always just been trash or at worst a dead animal.
One time the responding officer found some bones in the bag and was pretty sure they weren't human, but called out our on-call coroner to be sure who confirmed that it was just a deer or something.
Similarly I once had a call from an off-duty coroner reporting a "strong smell of decomp" from the woods near a gas station or something. I guess if anyone would know it would be them. Sent a cop out, sure enough, it was a dead deer.
It's very rare that anything like this is ever as exciting as your imagination makes you think it might be. Still, always better to call if you're unsure.
Honest question, you seem like a great person to ask.
In the event fingerprints weren’t a issue…
What would be the best way go about this anonymously?
If you really want to remain anonymous for some reason, call from a payphone (they still exist,) use a burner phone, borrow a phone from a random passerby, wear a mask so no one can recognize you in case there's security cameras, make sure you're not seen getting into your own car or walking home, change your clothes somewhere in the middle, etc.
If you call from your own phone number, if we and/or the cops care enough, it's not all that hard to get phone records and get your info.
But I'm also going to let you in on something- we're not going to care. The cops may have a couple follow up questions for you (like maybe "how often do you walk this way," "so they can try to establish how long it's been there,) that I'm probably not going to ask on the initial 911 call. My job isn't to take a full report and investigate and interrogate everyone, my job is to make sure cops are sent out to do all of that, and if you don't give us a way to contact you back, you're making it harder for them to investigate the incident.
And why? They're not going to tell anyone who the random passerby was who found the bag, they're not going to try to blame it on you, and honestly wanting to remain anonymous probably makes you sound a lot more suspicious than if you just gave your name and they're probably going to put more effort into figuring out who you were and trying to drag you in for questioning than they would have otherwise.
Thanks for this. Helpful comment.
Question: Can someone report anonymously to a non emergency number?
I mean I get you probably shouldn’t call animal control or something, but if someone just really does not want to involve themselves with police/emergency services, is there a better option?
I helped open a community center in my hometown. We had more than a handful of volunteers who were brought up with a “no 911” mindset.
I guess I’m just curious if there’s an option for folks who are just flat out opposed.
Pay phone is anonymous answer, but the finger condom requirement will likely yield laziness.
So there's 2 aspects to this
What cops theoretically could do if they're properly trained and motivated and working on the crime of the century with the media and mayor's office breathing down their neck
And there's what they're actually going to do for anything else.
Theoretically it's almost impossible to be truly anonymous in the world we live in today. If you make a phone call, there's phone records the cops can get access to, security cameras everywhere, if you call from a deactivated cell phone or take out your SIM card they can try to get the the IMEI number and see who that phone was last registered to, if you submit something online they can try to trace your IP address, etc. they can try to track down witnesses who may be able to ID you, etc.
Basically none of that is ever going to happen just to trace down a witness that called 911 who's probably not going to be cooperative anyway. People watch too many CSI TV shows.
And good luck trying to get cops to try getting fingerprints for anything short of murder, and even then they're going to be looking for the suspect, not a random passerby who called it in. They're also probably not going to get useful prints off a payphone because 10,000 people have probably had their fingers all over that phone since the last time someone bothered to wipe it down. And if your prints aren't already in the system, they're not going to be able to tie them to you anyway (although from the way you're talking about it I suspect a lot of people probably have previous records and been fingerprinted)
The practical answer is call from the payphone, call from a deactivated phone without a sim card, call from a borrowed phone, call from a TextNow or similar service number. That is more than enough anonymity that in all but the most extreme serious crimes the cops aren't going to put in any real effort to try to track you down as a witness. They may put in a little more effort if they think you're a suspect, but it's usually pretty clear if that's the case. Most of the time, they're probably not even going to bother looking up the phone records even if you call into the station from your own number.
If the department has it, you can also try an anonymous tip line or submit the tip online. Those may not be checked very often, so I wouldn't necessarily count on that if you have an emergency you want to be addressed quickly.
Really, just call, they're not trying to bust people for other stuff for calling in an emergency, they're not ratting people out as the one who called, that's all counter productive and just makes more work for themselves in the long run. Make the call and leave the area if you want, we can't make you stay there and you should have at least a few minutes to skedaddle before the cops show.
Edit: call from a nearby business' phone or a borrowed cell phone, and just don't leave your name and try to stay off a security camera while you're doing it. Unless you're really distinctive looking, odds are the person who let you use the phone is probably not going be able to give much of a description of you if cops ask for some reason