I knew about the red light on cars, but not the *677. 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 saw enough Datelines Shows to know that you never pull over for
an unmarked car on the
side of the road, but rather to wait until they get to a gas station, etc.
She promptly called *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 was and
there weren't, 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 *677 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 &
quiet place. You obviously need to make some signals that you acknowledge them
(I.e., put on your hazard lights) or call *677.
Too bad the cell phone companies don't generally give you this little bit of
wonderful information. *Speaking to a service representative at **Bell** Mobility
confirmed that *677 was a direct link to OPP Dispatch.