Phone Dragnet Redefines 'APB'

Cops in Boston suburb use reverse 911 calls to 24K in search for hit-and-run driver
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 18, 2008 3:50 PM CDT
Phone Dragnet Redefines 'APB'
Thousands of residents of Somerville, Mass., got a phone message from the police this week.   ((c) ThrasherDave)

Foiled in their attempts to track down a hit-and-run driver by conventional means, cops in a Boston suburb are enlisting the help of thousands of city residents—by phone. A BMW struck a 9-year-old girl Saturday, leaving her with a fractured skull and investigators with little info. They sent a recorded message to more than 24,000 households and now have dozens of leads, WBZ-TV reports.

"The number of manpower hours it would take us to contact 26,000 homes, it's just unbelievable," a Somerville., Mass., police captain told the Boston Globe. (More crime stories.)

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