Calling Richmond P.D.? Don't bother...

Calling the Richmond (Ill.) P.D. is a joke; only it's not funny.

After reading this morning's paper about the 11-year-old girl charged with a felony for a prank (say, a little over-reaction?), I called the P.D. for a copy of the press release. It shouldn't be a State secret, since it was published in the Northwest Herald.

I called the number I had previously called for them, and there was no answer. So I called the Village Hall and got a different number. Upon calling that number, I did reach the P.D., although the phone was answered electronically on the 5th-6th ring. Maybe you have to pay extra to have the phone answered faster, when no one is in the station.

Listening carefully to the menu, I wasn't calling with an emergency, so I didn't want to dial 9-1-1. I wasn't calling with an non-emergency (requiring an officer), so I didn't want to call the sheriff's department at the number given. The next choice was to leave a message in the general voice mailbox, and that sounded like the right option, so I dialed "2" as directed - and heard a message that no messages could be left.

Bummer. So I called the Village Manager and left a message about the operation of the P.D. voicemail system and also a request that the press release be faxed to me.

By 3:30PM the fax wasn't here, so I called back. Same mess with the P.D. phone number, and still no answer or availability of a voice mailbox for general messages.

But there is always my good friend, Mr. FOIA. So I called the Village Hall one more time for the PD's fax number. And the FOIA Request will be on the way in five minutes.