Unit 5: Written Examination Preparation

Prowler Calls

While the heading for this section is “Prowler Calls,” the information applies to a variety of situations that a law enforcement officer may be confronted with, locating and apprehending a fugitive, for example. Knowledge of this information is also important to more than the officers assigned to the call. It is important to the individuals who might receive these types of calls and those who may relay the information to others.

The report of a prowler is one of the calls most frequently received by a police department, but one that usually results in an extremely low suspect apprehension rate. The caller is usually a female. Typically, the caller gives a visible indication to the prowler that he has been seen and phones the police shortly afterwards. As soon as the prowler believes that he has been observed, he usually will leave the area immediately. By the time the police arrive, the suspect has been gone for some time.

However, you cannot be sure that the prowler has left the area. Too often, officers develop a casual attitude toward answering prowler calls. Since this type of call seldom results in an arrest, they simply conduct a superficial search after they arrive. There are cases on record where an officer has passed his flashlight beam across a suspect who was hiding in the bushes and did not see him because the officer was convinced before he arrived on the scene that there probably was no prowler. When a prowler call is received, all that is known is that the caller believes there is someone on her property. It cannot be known why the suspect is in the area.

The supposed prowler may be a burglar who is casing a house, a burglar who was surprised in the act, or a peeping tom. He may also be a drunk who has wandered into the wrong yard while trying to find his way home, or a jealous suitor or ex-husband who is planning an assault. The prowler may even be a neighborhood child taking a shortcut through the backyard on his way home. The call must not be dismissed as being unfounded until a complete and thorough investigation can be made.