Week of Nov 14, 2009

So this week was a little quieter. I've started training a new dispatcher and while I will be training during the call taking phase of training, the first two weeks of our San Jose model training program is called Academy Week and we use it to familiarize trainees with the department and the city as well as geography etc.

Because of this, I haven't spent much time on the phones this week. So the calls I have to choose from are limited. There was, however, one...

me: 911 what is your emergency?

caller: there's a guy in a van that's been following me everywhere.

me: where are you now?

caller: we're headed back to my girlfriend's house from starbucks.

me: where is your girlfriend's house?

caller: [gives address] but this van started following us when we left.

me: can you describe the van to me?

caller: yeah it's white big van, with pin striping on it.

me: so you first saw him just a couple blocks from your gf's house and then what?

caller: well we went to starbucks and then, when we got back on 64th and started back, he was there again.

me: is he gesturing at you or anything?

caller: no but he's been following us the whole time.

I wasn't really sure what kind of call this was going to be. We get lots of "road rage" incidents that start off like this where someone accidentally or intentionally cuts off another driver in traffic and the offended party is incensed. We call them traffic altercations and they can escalate quickly to more serious incidents like felony menacing (if one or more parties pulls out a knife or weapon and points it at the other party).
There were some things, though, that made it not seem like the run o' the mill traffic altercations: the driver of the van was not yelling or even glaring at the caller--and the caller stopped at a business (this particular starbucks does not have a drive-thru) and the driver of the van didn't follow him into the parking lot or try to approach him once he and his gf got out of the car.
I knew, from having lived in the area myself, that the shopping center with the starbucks held a grocery store, and a number of other businesses and just across the street is a nearly identical set up with even more fast food restaurants, another grocery store, a gas station etc. It's not rare to pull out of the neighborhood or onto the major road that goes by those stores, notice another car on the road behind or in front of you, and actually be headed to the same business as that person--and time of day plays a role as well--near lunch time, there's a possibility that the person is going to pull into Chipotle, Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell, etc and get food just as you were. Even if they choose a different fast foood joint, there's a good possibility you'll see them headed back to their house or place of employment on your return trip.
I was wondering if that was what was happening here. It does seem like the person might be following you, but it's really just a coincidence with the chances heightened due to patterns of behavior etc.

Me: where'd he go when you pulled into the shopping center with Starbucks?

caller: I don't know. but we started back going west on 64th, and he was somehow behind us?

me: but you didn't see him in the parking lot or anything?

caller: no. he came from somewhere else. he wasn't behind us when we pulled out. And I think he was smoking a bowl.

Someone in this call was experiencing a little paranoia--my money is on the person calling 911 claiming a guy in a van is following him.