[RP TownTalk] car break-in

[Heather Cronk]

I appreciate the background, Sarah.  Unfortunately, the idea of calling the
police under the policy of, "If it looks weird, give us a call" doesn't
make me feel any better.

The problem is that a community policing effort that relies mostly on
subjective standards still relies on an individual's perception of danger,
or even on something being "askew." I'm all for community-driven solutions
that supplant a police force -- but the type of effort you're describing
still sounds like it's grounded on individual perception.  That individual
perception is, of course, also grounded in systems of oppression that many
of us learn at an early age.

I know that we all want to believe that "our" police force is different
than those that flagrantly abuse their power and harass people of color for
little more than walking down the street (as in the case of Eric Garner in
NY) or rolling through a stop sign (as in the case of Sandra Bland in TX)
-- and I hope that's true.  But when the evidence overwhelmingly points to
police bias and when too many of my friends report police harassment on a
regular basis, I would really rather not call the police unless I observe
someone in immediate danger.

I appreciate the conversation and hope that our police force is "listening
in" via email.  I haven't yet been able to attend a community forum with
the police chief, but I hope to do so soon.  And unless we're hearing from
the police chief that the Riverdale police force has undergone extensive
cultural competency training and has an explicit commitment to
de-escalation, I'll remain skeptical of calling the police in anything but
overtly dangerous situations.

-Heather



On Friday, October 9, 2015, Sarah Wayland <sarah.wayland at gmail.com> wrote:

> This is an important point, Heather. Let me provide some explanation &
> clarification, in the interest of starting a dialog.
>
> I used to think exactly what you wrote. Many years ago (wow, I think it's
> actually been almost 20 years now) crime was worse in our town, and a group
> of us started up a Neighborhood Watch program. (our current mayor, then a
> new resident of town, was actually one of those primarily responsible for
> setting it up!) As part of our training, we spent several hours getting
> trained by the police who told us when to call and what to call about. This
> was before cell phones were in common use, so we carried police scanners
> with us as we walked through the neighborhoods.
>
> I was stunned to learn during the training that the police *wanted* us to
> call, even about little things. I had thought this would be annoying to
> them, and that they didn't want to hear about random annoying little
> things. It turns out that what seems "a little off but not harmless" can
> often be the information that helps to the police solve a crime. The rule
> the police gave us was, "If it looks weird, give us a call."
>
> I learned that things like "cars parked on our side street that aren't
> usually there" might be a drug deal. I had no idea! Now that I know what to
> look for, I'm sorry to say I can spot a drug deal pretty easily now. They
> happen *fast*, as do most crimes.
>
> Of course the problem with this is that it's a slippery slope. A neighbor
> of ours was watching his friend's car while his friend was away on travel.
> Another neighbor called the police about the "strange car parked on the
> side street", and our neighbor's friend's car got towed without even a
> notice! That's exactly the kind of thing we don't want!
>
> In the 20 years since we started that Neighborhood Watch program, my car
> has been broken into twice, and my garage has also been broken into. It was
> never horrible, just a slight violation. The time my garage was broken
> into, a neighbor's shed was broken into just prior, and another neighbor
> called me because she was very shaken up, having just witnessed the shed
> break-in. Little did I know that while I was talking to her on the phone,
> my garage was being broken into!
>
> That string of shed break-ins, by the way, was solved when a resident
> called the police when he saw a guy jumping over a fence. The police caught
> the guy in the act of stealing stuff from another shed because they had a
> lead from someone in the community who called right away.
>
> Of course these folks usually commit their crimes when no one is looking,
> and they operate quickly. It's hard to even know whether you are seeing
> something weird, and I can personally attest to the fact that sometimes you
> don't even realize how weird it is until hours later.
>
> To be clear, what I don't mean by "weird" is "someone who looks different
> than me and my neighbors".
>
> But what *is* weird? This write up on the City of Lonsdale (MN) is quite
> consistent with what the police told us during our Neighborhood Watch
> training:
>
>
> http://www.lonsdale.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B8E39A899-29E8-4B18-AF14-ED1081ACCC6B%7D
>
> I keep thinking about another neighbor whose home was broken into while I
> was home. I heard a loud bang, but because of the noise of a nearby
> construction site, thought it was nothing unusual. I didn't call the
> police. My neighbors lost many things that were not only of monetary value,
> but also of great sentimental value. I still feel really really bad about
> that. I should have called.
>
> -Sarah
>
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