I got to the store early today. Actually on time. Usually I wait for Lisa as the girl can handle it on her own but now that it is getting warmer we are getting busy a little earlier. The bra fitting is labor intensive so I have to watch the front store and direct traffic to get the maximum potential out of the foot traffic.
We are opening and there is this homeless black emotionally disturbed guy right outside the store. He is standing there mumbling to himself and dropping to the floor and doing push ups. Then he walks over and bangs his hand against the lock where the electric box is to raise the gate.
The behavior he is exhibiting signals that he either just got out of prison or he is signaling Dian Fossey through the mists. Now I can't really confront him as it would go south fast. It would turn into a beef at best or a fist fight at worse. I could walk out with my bat and tell him to move along and then I could get arrested for protecting my business. So I decide to call the precient.
I thought that would be better than just calling 911. Why escalate the situation. If I called the cop shop and they sent a car over to move the guy down the highway we could take care of it without fuss or muss.
So I am on the phone with the 76th and the mook on the line goes "Well is he bothering anybody?" "Yes anybody who wants to come into my store while he is doing push ups and cursing right in front of my door. Oh he is walking down the block." "Ok bye.' And she hangs up.
No questions. No follow up. No help. No concern for a business in the neighborhood. I know in the 1960's they had a pad where they had to pay the beat cops every week. It wasn't a lot. Five bucks. But they would show up when you called.
Why can't we go back to that?
Maybe when the next time the cops show up because some asshole tagged my store I can ask for a cell phone number. Then I can tip them when they show up like the UPS guy. I think that is the only way I can get the cops to show up when I need them.
5 comments:
No questions. No follow up. No help. No concern for a business in the neighborhood.
Also...no concern for an obviously mentally ill (or on drugs) person who is in need of some help. Just let him wander off down the street and get mugged, harassed, raped or killed by the other mentally ill roaming around.
At least you have some cops around to do something. We have a couple of roaming sheriffs who are handling an area of about 150 square miles.
Sooner or later, you and everyone else will have to come to the same realization that we have....we are on our own.
Sorry your city is crumbling back into a jungle status. :-< Protect yourselves.
That's the thing. You can't even protect yourself. Because if you do you are the one who is arrested. If I got in a beef with this guy I wouldn't take a chance. I would kneecap him with my bat to put him on the ground. How would that play? Old white guy hits "innocent" black man because he was on the street in front of his store.
I would be ruined. Even if he robbed me and I resisted I still would be destroyed.
It's going downhill faster and faster.
We have this revolving door of dirtbags that get arrested for robbery and small time drug crimes. They get arrested and within a few weeks or months, they are back in the area. Plus we get dumped the losers from other areas into our rural communities. I guess the law types think out of sight out of mind. Dump 'em out here and they won't be in THEIR hair anymore.
Everyone knows who they are. The cops know who they are. Everyone knows where they are too. Everyone knows that they are just going to do more burglaries, rip off more people, get arrested and then back again through the revolving door. The cops don't care. They are probably as disgusted as everyone else at this system.
People are getting tired of having to be paranoid when they decide to take a day or two to go out of town. Have to start locking their buildings at night. Be armed at night and during the day. We have been looking into security cameras for our plumbing building which is full of tools, pumps, electrical components and copper piping. Prime targets for the dirtbags.
Recently we have been hearing people comment along the lines of...."Gee, wouldn't it be just too darned bad if Mr or Miss DirtBag #1 should go missing" (wink wink nudge nudge) It could easily happen in our rural area with lots of wilderness in which a person could have an unfortunate accident, disappear into the maw of scavengers and everyone would be minus one less dirtbag to worry about. No one would miss them.
OF COURSE ....WE, personally, would never consider such a thing. However, we won't be surprised when vigilante justice is being served up in the absence of any real policing or punishment for known criminals.
People are getting real tired of the pretense of law enforcement or that government is going to protect us.
"Even if he robbed me and I resisted I still would be destroyed."
Too bad you can't go to some "Godfather" character. I bet they would improve things. Of course, then you'd owe them one.
I assume they don't exist anymore.
If only those reparations came through, then everything would be okay…
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