(no subject)

[libberding.livejournal.com]

Just an FYI:

So I'm sitting out on my porch a little while ago (just after midnight) on Henry Avenue, and this group of mid-to-late teens (about 6 or 7 of them) come ambling down the street, trying to break into each car.  (Part of me was like, wait, you don't SEE ME sitting here smoking my cigarette and reading my book?  WTH?)

After they turned the corner onto Lexington and were out of earshot, I called the Somerville police non-emergency line, and within three or four minutes, two cop cars were in the area.  (Well done on the response, SPD!)

Just a friendly reminder to lock all doors and remove valuables from your vehicle!

Comments

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

It was probably this group of shits that stole a small pile of tshirts from the back of my car on Friday.

I'll have to try calling the cops tomorrow to see if they got any of them. (The shirts are unique — I had them made.)

Thanks for the info.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

As your neighbor on Lexington, I gotta say first, thanks for calling the cops! But also I gotta ask: why not call the cops while they're in earshot? I mean, I get that you might be hoping the cops will be more likely to catch them if the kids don't know they're coming, but as crime-prevention I'd think "oh, people call the cops the second they hear something" might be more effective (especially if this is just "crime of opportunity" rather than something actually planned) than hoping the cops see something 5 minutes later. That's long enough to cut through the park over to Morrison, and be gone. Also, I'm all for not abusing 911, but maybe "attempted robbery-in-progress" could actually be considered a police-emergency? I'm not sure which way I'd go on that choice either though, if I had heard it.

Thanks for being someone who will actually make the call! YaY for Neighbors!

[libberding.livejournal.com]

Well, me rabidly avoiding confrontation aside, 7-to-1 is not so good on the odds. Even if they were 'just kids'. I'll admit it - I scare easy, and had they known it was me, they know where I live, as I'm sitting on my own front porch looking all comfy with my pjs and such.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Um, casually step inside and make the call the from there?

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I understand not calling immediately, but I think this would be an ok reason to call 911 instead of the non emergency number.

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

The "why not call immediately" was my first thought too - but then I recalled an incident from when I lived in Chicago and some gang banger's little brother broke into my car to steal my crappy speakers (idiot - I would have given them to him compared to the cost of the window).

The cops had caught the kid and called me - this was at 4 am. One of the cops asked me if I wanted to press charges. At first I was all "damned right I do" but then I saw the look on the cop's face and asked him what he thought. I'll never forget - he just said simply "They know where you live."

DS isn't anything like Wicker Park was back then but I can understand someone not wanting to get location 'tagged' by "wilders" (even the tepid DS version).

[libberding.livejournal.com]

This.

Plus, I fully admit that I'm a big fukken wuss.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

Still, the non-emergency number? I don't get it.

[libberding.livejournal.com]

Either way, like I said, there were cops in the area within 5 minutes. That's what's important - not what number was called.

[lunarcamel.livejournal.com]

I think it's ridiculous that people are picking apart what you did (especially considering THE FREAKIN KIDS WERE CAUGHT) when you did the right thing.

Most of us are lucky enough to not be regularly confronted with instances when the cops need called, so our reflexes, if present, are a little rusty. You did well.

[libberding.livejournal.com]

Thank you, by the way. I've been a little appalled that some people are like ZOMG WHY DIDN'T YOU DO X? Ok, well, maybe I should have, but hey - I did SOMETHING, so GTFO man.

/not-enough-caffeine-rant

[ron_newman]

My apologies if I came across that way in my reply. My only concern was with the speed of police response from calling the non-emergency number, and I guess that turned out not to be a problem.

(but, where does it say that the kids were caught?) never mind, answered immediately below.

[libberding.livejournal.com]

It's ok - I just get on the defensive pretty easily. Maybe next time, I won't do anything and just let the kids break into everyone's cars, lol.

Since I'm so close to Davis, I figured it wouldn't take cops long to get there, since there seems to almost always be a car in the area. Also, the kids were clearly not giving a damn if anyone saw them, so that bought me more time, too.

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

Were they caught? I don't think that was in the entry?...

[libberding.livejournal.com]

AFAIK, they were not. But like I said, cops were in the area within 5 minutes. Once I saw the police cars go by, I went back inside and let it be.

[lunarcamel.livejournal.com]

Oh sorry, for some reason my eyeballs just sort of picked up that knowledge on their own. Apologies for the confusion.

[genesayssitdown.livejournal.com]

the trick i found was to just leave nothing valuable in my car and leave the doors unlocked, so at least i wouldn't have to deal with a smashed window

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

Seconded. I lose the change in my console from time to time, but nothing valuable.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

You should keep it filled to the brim with Canadian quarters. ;-)

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

Aw your icon! I think that's a really underutilized line :)

[ron_newman]

If you're watching a crime in progress (multiple attempted breakins), I'd use 911 instead of the non-emergency line.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

What *is* the non-emergency number? A few example of appropriate uses would be helpful too.

[libberding.livejournal.com]

617-625-1600 is the non-emergency line. Then it asks you for an extension or a last name, or you can wait or press 0 to get to the operator.

[dcltdw]

Yay to you for calling!

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

seconding the Yay here, and offering some mad props as well. a lot of people might have just seen that and been too scared (or apathetic) to call at all.

registration theft

[lglglglglg.livejournal.com]

we live up the road in the hillside part of medford and woke up at 3:30 am Tuesday night to our car alarm going off in our driveway. as somerville transplants, we generally leave the doors unlocked [preventing the smashed window, as discussed] but alarm on. my bf hunted the kids down [a lovely pair] and had some "words" with them, and i don't think it'll happen again.

we assumed they were looking for fancy electronics [we keep nothing in the car] but i came to find out the next morning they had taken the REGISTRATION from my glove box! annoying. i called the non-emergency police line the next morning to ask if they can do any real damage with it [creepy that they know my name and address, but it doesn't have my SSN so i couldn't think of any real harm...?]. mr cop said no and suggested i lock my doors, which made me feel like a tool. just a heads up that kids must target these for whatever reason, we had it happen a couple of years ago behind the armory on highland ave too.

Group of Teens

[lfitzb.livejournal.com]

I too have a group of teens that gather on my street.

They are idiots, we sit there smoking our porch pretty much all the time. we have a long stairway to our porch-porch, so they sit at the bottom. We call them Stoop Sloths. They even ordered a pizza to our stoop once. It's ridiculous. We told them they can't do that any more.

They still use our front yard as a hand off point for booze and usually squabble over a few dollars someone is owed.

THEN last night we were smoking on our porch, this car zooms down the street pulls up almost smashed my car, Kid gets out of drivers seat and jumps up the enbankment and we hear AND see him and then he starts pissing.

"Excuse me? are you pissing in our Bushes??"
Kid: "Yeah..."
Me: "That's fucking disgusting. Can you not do that anymore?"
Kid: "uuhhh...yeah?"

Zips up and jumps away into the car.

Seriously kid?? Seriously?? He did it like he's done it before like no reservations about jumping up and pissing. We told the cops that watch the kids at the Old Broadway school.