“MPD AirTag/Tile Giveaway Debacle”

“Dear PoPville,

So after parking outside the inaccurate address listed in the MPD announcement (100 Eye Street SE is an apartment building) as the location for 1D’s AirTag/Tile giveaway, I followed the directions on the hastily-made sign to a cluster of MPD vehicles and officers at the north end of Navy Yard’s Canal Park.

When I got there an MPD officer informed me that even though I could produce my vehicle registration and license showing I live within 1D, they had to “install the tracker” on my car and couldn’t just hand it to me. She then pointed to a blocks long line of cars — at that point it made more sense for me to just head home, as there was less than half an hour left for the event.

I’m not sure what sort of installation work is required to place a device intended to track luggage in a car, other than maybe assisting less tech-savvy citizens who need help setting it up on their phone — I assume these are just getting thrown under floor mats.

Did anyone else have this terrible an experience?”