[RP TownTalk] car break-in

Sun Oct 11 01:37:13 UTC 2015

When your house gets robbed and ransacked you may change your mind.
On Oct 10, 2015 21:28, "Heather Cronk" <heather.cronk at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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