SWCC crime thread

[dogfaceboy]

Originally Posted by lbphilly

Hee. As if...

Please remember: I am a MODERATOR. I can delete posts and move threads. It takes an admin to banish a user and they don't do it lightly.

I wasn't pointin no finger, Ma'am.

[Lolly]

Originally Posted by taylork

That's not the word I'd use. Asking the police why they're shining a light on your bed from the roof at 4am doesn't qualify as an interrogation to me. Quite frankly, they should expect that Zangtron would go out and ask what was going on. But Zang, you probably coould have been more polite than immediately asking for their CO, though at 4am afterbeing startled out of bed, anything goes.
As far the floating drug dealing that's going on, everyone seems to know who these people are and where they hang out, so why can't the 17th do anything about it?

It's funny that you think repeatedly questioning the police while they're trying to pursue a criminal is OK & totally within someone's rights, but I guess you don't think suspected criminals have any rights at all. We may all "know" who the bad guys are, but there are still procedures & rules, things like probable cause, that have to be followed. Not to mention that there's a "crime emergency" going on in this city & a shortage of officers, and last but not least, poor leadership. I for one have high hopes for Michael Nutter's new police chief.

Who knows, maybe the bad guys know their days are numbered too & are trying to get in their last hurrahs now. (Just kidding of course.)

Meanwhile, I for one have a tremendous amount of respect for the cops in this town. Yeah I guess they aren't always perfectly polite & patient with those of us law-abiding citizens, who might happen to be in the way when they're trying to do their jobs now & then, but I think we can cut them some slack in these cases.

PS So zangtron, did you speak with Captain Bethel yet? Did they catch the guy?

[taylork]

Originally Posted by Lolly

It's funny that you think repeatedly questioning the police while they're trying to pursue a criminal is OK & totally within someone's rights, but I guess you don't think suspected criminals have any rights at all.

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant.

So let me get this straight, when someone shines a light in your bedroom from the roof at 4am you're not supposed to ask them what's going on? It's not a sign of disrespect, (glad to know you respect the police BTW as opposed to those who disagree with you on this issue, we just hate them sooo much), it's a sign of wanting to know what the hell is going on above head. If the police can't tell you why they're on your roof looking down on you than we've got serious problems.

And at what point did I suggest just pulling up and arresting people and violating their rights? Explain to me how saying "why can't the 17th do something about it if everyone knows what's going on?" translate into breaking due process? The fact of the matter is all the neighbors seem to know that these people are dealing drugs, which would mean that the dealers aren't exactly being inconspicous. So it seems like it wouldn't be too hard to get probable cause.

[Mr. Brightside]

Originally Posted by taylork

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant.

So let me get this straight, when someone shines a light in your bedroom from the roof at 4am you're not supposed to ask them what's going on? It's not a sign of disrespect, (glad to know you respect the police BTW as opposed to those who disagree with you on this issue, we just hate them sooo much), it's a sign of wanting to know what the hell is going on above head. If the police can't tell you why they're on your roof looking down on you than we've got serious problems.

And at what point did I suggest just pulling up and arresting people and violating their rights? Explain to me how saying "why can't the 17th do something about it if everyone knows what's going on?" translate into breaking due process? The fact of the matter is all the neighbors seem to know that these people are dealing drugs, which would mean that the dealers aren't exactly being inconspicous. So it seems like it wouldn't be too hard to get probable cause.

Demanding the name of the CO and badge numbers of the responding officers is a great way to start any dialogue.

[Lolly]

Originally Posted by taylork

I thought I remember someone mentioning that they set up camera on their house to look down on the street. Was it in this area or someplace else?

I don't know about any cameras over there, but our neighbor, near the corner of 20th & Carpenter, is having some cameras installed soon. He said he's going to give us monitoring (via web) access. Should be interesting to see what they spot.

[Lolly]

Originally Posted by taylork

So let me get this straight, when someone shines a light in your bedroom from the roof at 4am you're not supposed to ask them what's going on?

Go back & read the original post. I have no problem with the part up until the first time the police said "We're looking for a guy." And probably even the answer to "On my roof at 4 am?" ("We tried knocking, but no one answered"). But after that, I don't think it's really very fair to the police to say an "impolite officer barked" nor do I think the rest of the exchange was necessary. There's a time & a place for all that, and I don't think that was the right time. That's all I'm saying.

[Lolly]

Originally Posted by taylork

And at what point did I suggest just pulling up and arresting people and violating their rights? Explain to me how saying "why can't the 17th do something about it if everyone knows what's going on?" translate into breaking due process? The fact of the matter is all the neighbors seem to know that these people are dealing drugs, which would mean that the dealers aren't exactly being inconspicous.

I totally agree (& already said) that what these bad guys are doing is probably pretty obvious to everyone, and I'm betting the police are well aware of it too. But there's a difference between "knowing" what goes on in general & actually having the ability to act. I'm also sure that when one jerk is arrested there's probably several more to take their place. So basically, all I'm trying to say is that it's not as easy as your comments might imply, and that I think policing is a very tough job & that the cops deserve us cutting them some slack. After all, that's not the only location in the district with similar problems. Who knows though, maybe (hopefully) some of the cameras that neighbors are starting to install will help the police do their jobs. And meanwhile I just think we all need to be a bit patient & try to cooperate as much as we can.

[zangtron]

The 17th is going to call me back. I feel what all of you have said. None of us, even myself, even know if there was somebody on my roof, or their intent. Anyhow, that said, I may not agree with certain tactics of the police, I do respect them and the increasingly difficult job they face daily.

I started this to see if anyone else knew anything about it instead getting into a debate over attitudes towards the police, however I welcome the debate.

[lbphilly]

Originally Posted by zangtron

The 17th is going to call me back. I feel what all of you have said. None of us, even myself, even know if there was somebody on my roof, or their intent. Anyhow, that said, I may not agree with certain tactics of the police, I do respect them and the increasingly difficult job they face daily.

I started this to see if anyone else knew anything about it instead getting into a debate over attitudes towards the police, however I welcome the debate.

Okay, now back to really important stuff. I went out to water my windowboxes* just now, and I discovered shrubnapping has taken place! Someone made off with the little mini christmas tree I bought a couple of years ago.

They did me a favor, actually. I wanted to get rid of it because it wasn't particularly nice looking, but it's hard for me to uproot and kill a living plant.

*The eaves keep them from getting rained on very much.

[taylork]

Somone took one of my boxes right after I moved in. Seems like an odd thing to steal, especially when there were three others ones they didn't take.