Comments on: Dear PoPville – At What Point Do I Call the Police?

By: adl

adl — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 23:13:04 +0000

“Part of them feels guilty for being an Urban Pioneer and pricing out the locals (so they really don’t feel good about getting these people in trouble with the cops)”…have never once felt guilt about going outside and telling them to move along, or to call the police when warranted, nor should anyone else. Poor assumption on your part.

By: PetworthRes

PetworthRes — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:35:53 +0000

I always say call. We used to have an active drug house on our block and all sorts of mayhem going on. I would call 911 to report drug dealing whenever I saw it; I also called whenever I saw fights, which was pretty often (example – once saw a man holding a woman down on the sidewalk, while another woman punched her in the face). The frequency of 911 calls was used in the court case which resulted in the owner being forced to sell the house (google dc drug nuisance property for more info). The house was sold, completely renovated, and sold again. And our block is so quiet, it’s awesome

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:28:11 +0000

Some lines are blurry: what about the house across the street, where the negligent old aunt lets her nephew RUIN the block by partying on the front porch EVERY DAY from noon untiil 6 with half-a-dozen (or more) other loud, foul-mouthed, shiftless, druggy-drunks, who hoot and holler and down endless beer and curse and chain smoke, with every 4th word being some variation on f*ck or sh*t.

Yeah, I know I can call the cops when they stagger over to the alley (or to the side of my house!) to piss, or when they quite obviously are doing little deals. Maybe even when they drop their bottles and fast-food wrappers everywhere. But what about for spewing loud profanity during the day? Any recourse?

They, alone, ruin our otherwise half-decent block ghetto. Because of them, I avoid taking my kids out front and keep the front windows closed.

By: Kam

Kam — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:51:12 +0000

Props

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:58:23 +0000

This is why I worry about walking in this city…that I’ll cry out for help, and no one will call 911.

By: sb

sb — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:34:22 +0000

It really isn’t a big deal to call 911. I’ve had to do it twice in the past month–once for a guy passed out and unresponsive at my bus stop, and once for a bus flashing “Emergency–Call 911″ on it. I figure the police can prioritize these with everything else. I’ve also called over the past couple years for hearing gunshots (twice), a car with no plates parked in a traffic lane during a snowstorm (worried it would cause a crash), a bleeding man who couldn’t stand up, and probably others (once I saw a guy selling DVD players out of a truck full of them…I didn’t call for that but happened to walk by a cop on the next block and mentioned it).

My litmus test is first to make sure I wouldn’t cause harm to myself from calling. That means getting away from gunshots and out of hearing range of a potential criminal. Second, I compare how bad I would feel if I got scolded by a 911 operator (hasn’t ever happened, by the way) versus how I’d feel if I read in the paper the next day that someone died from the thing I hadn’t called about. In situations like an unconscious person or a shooting that truly could be life or death, it’s easy to err on the side of calling.

By: Prince Of Petworth

Prince Of Petworth — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:33:13 +0000

I’ve asked OUC and unfortunately was only told:

“you should call 911 for all police services and fire and emergency medical services.”

I’m hoping they can give more examples, like this one for instance, and I’ll post if they respond.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:28:31 +0000

I totally disagree. I have been an “urban pioneer” now owning two homes in some seriously dicey neighborhoods back in the day. I have never had one minute of white gentrifying guilt. Im not part of the problem. Hell I don’t know anyone who has guilt moving into a transitional neighborhood. Im not the one dealing drugs on a freakin playground in Parkview, yelling profanities at all hours of the night on the corner, I don’t throw trash on the street on in other peoples yards, I don’t rob, beat anyone or smash car windows. Im the solution, not the problem. And hell yeah, I call the cops all the time. Sometimes they come, sometimes they don’t. THATS city living. Maybe I am crazy and maybe entitled is not the right word but I think its reasonable to expect that I can live in a neighborhood without all this BS happening all the time. it won’t happen over night but I am super involved and I do more than just rant on the PoP…

By: sb

sb — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:26:43 +0000

The Office of Unified Communication runs 911 and 311. They summon the police as needed. So it might be worth interviewing someone from OUC.

By: AK

AK — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:25:42 +0000

It “sounded like the woman was being hit,” but “I’m hesitant to bother the police unless someone’s clearly being hurt”?

If it sounds or looks like someone is maybe, sort of, possibly being hurt, please call the police.