I finally got around to seeing this. I know it's only a movie, but two major issues on which the plot hinges bothered me:

Wouldn't the State Police have taken over the investigation of the rape/murder from this small town police department? Or does the State Police have to be invited? (Although I think they would have been in this instance.)

Would a police station of that size literally close for the evening?

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light on this.

Sure. This movie is not about the plot or solving a crime. I doubt they paid attention to that.

We don't really know if the State Police were involved. Perhaps they came, saw, investigated and left. As to the station closing, that doesn't seem correct. I've seen much smaller towns that at least keep a dispatcher working who would contact on call officers if a situation came up. Maybe they had one that was perhaps off site.

It's common for small towns to be dispatched through a larger neighboring agency, like a nearby city or the county sheriff. So there wouldn't necessarily be anyone, even a dispatcher, in the small town police station after hours.

Many small towns don't even have an officer actively working late at night, just an officer at home who is "on call" to respond if needed. Other small towns partner with nearby agencies to provide coverage at night. Sometimes this is two neighboring small towns that pair up, and have one officer from one of the agencies who covers both towns during the slow midnight shift. Or they sometimes rely on the county sheriff to provide law enforcement coverage late at night.

quote:

Originally posted by M'headSig:
I finally got around to seeing this. I know it's only a movie, but two major issues on which the plot hinges bothered me:

Wouldn't the State Police have taken over the investigation of the rape/murder from this small town police department? Or does the State Police have to be invited? (Although I think they would have been in this instance.)

Would a police station of that size literally close for the evening?

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light on this.

Good questions.

And I can't grantee the answer, I can guess an LE in MO.

Generally, the county Sheriff has jurisdiction, unless there is an incorporated city inside the county. The Highway Patrol (not State police, but Highway Patrol) is different here, as in they are just that, highway patrol))

It is HIGHLY likely, that in the event of a high profile case, or a case that requires the resources of a better equipped agency, that the chief LEO will call in said better equipped agency.

I'm unaware of (doesn't mean there isn't, but means I am honestly not aware of,) a law that REQUIRES anyone else to step in.

for the last question, the Highway Patrol (not state police, because we don't have state police, technically their jurisdiction ends at a certain distance from state roads or property.)

quote:

Would a police station of that size literally close for the evening?

Added to this, certainly.


Even a few suburbs that have their own PD's close. ANd then I have to handle their bullshit during their closing hours....

It isnt' common except for VERY Small places, but IS possible. Including one town that literally sits inside of my area of responsibility.

Small PD where I used to live was pretty much mon-fri, 0900-1700.

Tiny little town, department of maybe 12-15. Chief would get a call from the dispatcher if anything happened and would call officers as needed. This was in New England, so not a little "town out west" sort of scenario.

It does happen, and the town as depicted could certainly allow for it.

As for the State Police stepping in, IIRC the investigation went cold for lack of evidence. It's possible that real-world, State Police could have stepped in, but this wasn't a situation of the Chief not caring, he did everything he believed he could and couldn't progress further. Larger agencies can't necessarily get results, and may have declined to add additional manpower or resources because they didn't see enough evidence to warrant it either. That's why the Chief was secretly helping the mother keep the pressure on by paying for the billboards himself.

Everyone, thanks for clearing these questions up for me.