So this morning I wake up and headed out to the gym at 7 AM. I open the front door to my brownstone and there sits a drunk dude on the stoop with a little booze in a snapple bottle. He asks me if I live in the first floor apartment. I say I do and I ask why. (Already to much information given to a person who could be a potential problem) He says because he used to know a girl who lived in that apartment, then he asked me if I knew the people who lived there before me. I say yes but say it was not a woman (It was a French woman and an English dude with two kids who were dirty as hell.) I know it sounds like I should not even engage this dude, but I want to try to get a feeling for where he is mentally and if my family is in danger.
So after talking to him, I leave, and call the cops. (The 311 operator seemed like she did not want to be bothered, but the 911 operator was like "I'll send a car right away") But the key to showing how my neighborhood has changed is the cops showed up in about 15 minutes. In the past the cops would not come to your house unless you told them another cop was shot or they heard a crime being commited while you were on the phone.
I think it also might have helped my case when I left my name with the police. Click HERE to see how.
PS - the 311 operator asked me if the homeless man was black, spanish, or white.
1 comment:
When I lived in The Bronx I called the police (the local precinct, not 911) to tell them there was a non-resident sleeping in the lobby and would they please come kick him out.
The person who answered the phone told me it wasn't a police matter and that I should ask the super to deal with it.
I said "If your mother came home and found someone in her house would you not consider that a police matter? Tresspassing is tresspassing. He doesn't live here and doesn't belong here."
I got nowhere with her so I did finally have to call 911.
-Shaun Eli
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