<div dir="ltr">Thanks for sharing this, Sarah, and I'm sorry to hear about the break-in -- that can feel like a real violation of personal safety, especially outside of your house and in your neighborhood.<div><br></div><div>However, I do want to throw one caution out there. Often the message to "be on the lookout" or to "call the police right away" can be taken as permission for folks to call the police about anyone walking in their neighborhood who they don't recognize or, worse, who they don't believe "belongs" in their neighborhood. I'm not suggesting that this is what Sarah meant. But I've heard too many stories from friends about being confronted by police when walking through a neighborhood simply because they didn't "look" like they belong.</div><div><br></div><div>I value many things about living in Riverdale -- chiefly, that it is a racially and economically diverse community. I would hate for anyone living in this community to feel threatened or policed for simply walking through our neighborhoods. So please do call the police if there is overt violence taking place -- but calling the police about anything that looks suspicious is a recipe for overpolicing and discrimination.</div><div><br></div><div>-Heather</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Oct 9, 2015 at 2:45 PM, Sarah Wayland <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sarah.wayland@gmail.com" target="_blank">sarah.wayland@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Yesterday afternoon, I went to get into my car, and someone had jimmied the driver's door open (it was locked, and my car is alarmed, but the alarm didn't go off), rifled through my glovebox and console, and took about $2 in quarters. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Having lived in Boston for many years, I don't leave stuff in my car, so it was no big deal, but it was annoying. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">A police officer came to investigate when I called to let them know (I was going to let it ride, but my town councilperson convinced me to call later that evening), and he did a *really* thorough job investigating. He was bummed that I had driven the car because he wanted to dust for fingerprints. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Apparently there have been a string of break-ins like this, east of the RR tracks, on Riverdale and Queensbury Roads over the last couple of weeks (I'm on Sheridan St.). </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Take away messages: </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">(1) Be on the lookout for strangers wandering the streets in our neighborhoods. Call the police if you see *anything* that looks suspicious. Let them decide if it's a problem or not. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">(2) Call the police right away (before you touch your car) if you think someone has broken into it. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">(3) The police actually want to investigate things like this, so let them know! It's the only way they can get the information they need to keep us all safe. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">-Sarah</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="370" style="font-size:13.6000003814697px;width:369.9pt;border-collapse:collapse;border:none"><tbody><tr style="height:26.5pt"><td width="71" style="width:70.8pt;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.5pt"><img src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B_WsXUJf7Td7cW5GNFR1clgzTGs&revid=0B_WsXUJf7Td7QXhJelRwNUpLSXNLWGlVK3RpRTJZKzd0S28wPQ" width="96" height="41"><br></td><td width="299" style="width:299.1pt;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.5pt"><p style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="color:blue;font-family:georgia;font-size:10pt">Sarah
Wayland, Ph.D. | </span><a href="http://www.guidingexceptionalparents.com/" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:10pt" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">www.GuidingExceptionalParents.com</span></a><br><span style="color:blue;font-family:georgia;font-size:10pt">Supporting
students with learning differences & their families</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
TownTalk mailing list<br>
To post to the list, send mail to <a href="mailto:TownTalk@riverdale-park.org">TownTalk@riverdale-park.org</a><br>
<a href="mailto:TownTalk-request@riverdale-park.org">TownTalk-request@riverdale-park.org</a> is for automated subscription processing only<br>
<a href="http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk</a><br>
<br>
For more information about Riverdale Park, visit <a href="http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br></div>