Corwin Ericson was a colleague of mine at UMass Amherst. He keeps track of the police blotter in Amherst, MA and surrounding areas. A few years back he published a great piece called "Checked Out Okay" in Harpers, Poetry Daily, and many other places. I couldn't find that piece on the web, but the sequel "Checked Out Okay - The Animal Edition" is online. Great work, Corey!

12:02 p.m. ~ Police told the owner of two emus that they were seen running loose on Station Road.

4:24 p.m. ~ College-age men, wearing only underwear and running around Nutting Avenue were gone when police got there.

10:53 a.m. ~ A man licking the pavement on Main Street in front of Subway was gone when police got there.

8:41 a.m. ~ A squirrel that was acting oddly on North East Street was gone when police got there.

9:15 p.m. ~ A golden retriever by the side of Montague Road was just taking a nap and had not been hit by a vehicle.

Update: The original from Feb 2002 Harper's and Jubilat #3 winter 2000 "Checked Out OK" by Corwin Ericson can be found at

The original from Feb 2002 Harper's and Jubilat #3 winter 2000
"Checked Out OK" by Corwin Ericson can be found at
http://web.archive.org/web/20020803133802/www.poems.com/checkeri.htm

This is a delightful read, but it was made better when Cory (over dinner) explained the perfectness of this form of communication - the police report. When done well, they leave one wondering what's behind the story (and/or making one up). He even found one that was Haiku. How the police must roll their eyes when they respond to these calls! I like their choice of words when reporting - it almost seems like they want to say more, but then again - don't want to say more.