The System of Reporting Issues to Police Needs to be Improved

The other day I witnessed someone littering by throwing bags of garbage out of their car into a parking lot. If you follow this blog you know that I take littering very seriously and I also believe in taking action when you see something that is not right.

So as soon as it happened I got my phone camera out and managed to get a picture of the license plate and make and model of the car. I thought about calling in a police report right then but I needed some time to review the evidence and put together all the details so I decided to wait until I got home to send it in.

Once home, I emailed the picture and all the information I had to the local police. I thought for sure they would be able to identify the person and maybe even issue a ticket for a fine, but instead I got a reply saying they cannot accept police reports by email so if I wanted to report it, I had to call 911.

I have called 911 in the past so I kind of know what to expect, but I don't really like calling it unless it is an emergency. But for this case I really wanted to see if something could be done if enough steps were taken. So the next morning I called and placed the report by giving them all the information they asked for.

I thought that was pretty good and maybe they will be able to issue a ticket or at least put it on their record or something. Then a short while later I get a call from a police officer who was following up on it so I explained all the details to him.

Unfortunately the officer said there was not much they could do. He recommended calling it in as soon as it happened, but really I don't think that would have made any difference. I was able to give more information by taking the time to assemble all the details of the case.

He said they would need video evidence, but I got the evidence in the picture with the identifying information and the garbage next to their car with the lights illuminated on the car showing they were about to drive away. So really it seems like they could have done something about it if they wanted to but just didn't want to bother with it.  

Something I found surprising was that he seemed to be more interested in my information than the person who committed the crime. He was asking details like my birth date and even middle initial. I should have asked why but I didn't want him to think I was trying to hide anything. I'm sure he just wanted to look me up in the system to get more of an idea of who he was talking to.

Anyway, I came away from the experience being pretty disappointed with the police service. I caught someone in the act committing a crime and got enough evidence to identify them and still justice was not served.

Crimes need to be able to be reported by email, not just by phone. These days many people do not even like talking on the phone anymore. In a case like mine where there is picture evidence to submit, it needs to be done by email. Reporting by phone is good for an emergency, but for other issues, they should be submitted using an online form. Hopefully changes can be made in the near future to improve this system.

Ben and Jerrys Mint Chocoloate Cookie Non-Dairy Ice Cream Review

My favorite ice cream flavor for a long time has Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie, so when I saw it was offered in a non-dairy version, I had to try it out. I have tried other non-dairy ice creams in the past and usually they are ok but not nearly as good as the original dairy versions. 

Upon trying this one out, I was surprised at how similar it tastes compared to the original Mint Chocolate Cookie. The main mint and cookie flavors are identical. The ice cream itself seems to be nearly identical but I would describe it as slightly more icy as if it were made with a slightly lower fat milk. 

How do they manage to get it to taste so similar without dairy? For the ingredients it uses sunflower milk instead of cream. There are a few other differences in the ingredients but this seems to be the main change. 

For the nutrition it is a little lower in fat but still has a surprisingly high amount of saturated fat considering it is non-dairy. I guess this is needed to keep the creamy texture like the original. It does have 0 cholesterol which is much lower than the original. It is still pretty high in sugar at 26g. It does have about 1/3 the amount of protein compared to the dairy version. I noticed they added pea protein to the ingredients to help get some protein in there. 

Overall I am very impressed with the Ben & Jerry's non-dairy Mint Chocolate Cookie. They did a fantastic job replicating the original flavor and texture while adhering to the change in the ingredients. If you like the original flavor and are interested in trying the non-dairy version, I highly recommend it!