unacceptable police response to a 911 call

temtew

what i had hoped would be a nice easter sunday turned tragic about 1pm when i heard a dog screaming in obvious pain. my boyfriend and i looked out the window and saw a neighbor behind us three houses down beating the dog with an object of some kind, kicking it and punching it.
when my boyfriend yelled out "why don't you just kill the dog?" he replied without missing a beat, "that's what i'm trying to do", and then started beating and choking the dog again.
we dialed 911, but since we didn't know the address of the house, she said she couldn't send a car. i ran around the block to get the address, and came back to my street, where there was a patrol car in front of my building. i immediately thought that he had given them our address to save time, so i flagged the car down. three cops inside, the one in the back seat reading the post, the passenger eating and the driver, who didn't look like he was going to stop. i asked them if they were there for my call. he said "oh, yeah, we heard that on the radio, but we're working on something else right now" rolled up the window and drove off at about 5 mph, obviously in a hurry to get to whatever they were working on.
we called the 79th later that night, only to be told that no car was ever sent.
i understand that yes, there are "greater" crimes going on and that police have to use their resources as effectively as possible. i've only lived in the neighborhood under a year and keep hearing from all my neighbors about how the new police presence is so great. but not only did they not respond to my call, the officer who i flagged down to tell about a crime still in progress ignored me and drove off.
luckily the aspca officers have been much more responsive to this. unfortunately, they weren't able to respond until monday and a crime that could have been prevented wasn't.

carmen

that makes me want to vomit. This is the reason that people have a horrible attitude about the NYPD

supergirl

What happened to the dog?

jimmylegs

that sucks. i suppose you could complain to higher ups, but that sucks even worse that regular citizens have to expend more effort because of bad police work.

get a pellet gun and shoot the MFer next time he's out in the yard.

temtew

carmen- i don't know what's worse, the police response or knowing that i have a psychopath in my back yard.

supergirl- i doubt very much that the dog survived, but haven't been able to find anything else out. luckily i had the presence of mind to photograph him during the incident, and the aspca has the photos as evidence.

jimmy legs- the sickest thing is that him and some buddies were out there again later in the day playing soccer and drinking beer. they had another dog with them. he's gonna have a long miserable summer, and the police are going to get sick of being called every time i so much as hear a peep coming from that yard. i've already lodged a complaint at the 79th, but i'm not holding my breath.
also, i'm planning on contacting his landlord. illegal activity such as this is definitely grounds for being evicted.

limestonekid

I commend you for having the presence of mind to take photographs of the situation.

Why was it you weren't able to identify which house they lived in?

It's a disturbing story, to say the least.

boygabriel

disturbing.

temtew, i commend you for doing the right thing

leffertsgirl

ugh. sickening. good for you for taking photos and attempting to get police involved. heaven help the lost soul in the backyard. between you and karma, i'm sure he'll get what he deserves.

boygabriel

I was the 88th Pct community meeting last night when Commissioner Ray Kelly spoke. During the open Q&A someone specifically asked about Police responses to reports of animal abuse. In a very respectful and honest way, Kelly said that except in times of extreme emergency, they try to avoid dealing with crimes against animals, directing the person asking the question to the SPCA.

To a certain extent I understand where Kelly is coming from. Crimes against animals are simply not in the police mandate. As Kelly said, they will respond in times of emergency (which they should have done in the case of this original poster). But I found it interesting, if questionable, that the Police do not respond to animal emergencies.

anonymous

"Funny thing about WASPs....they love animals but hate people"

- Gordon Gecko
"Wall Street"

Animals are on my list, but I haven't been able to get down past the povery, homelessness, etc. facing humans.

oiseau

Boygabriel wrote: Crimes against animals are simply not in the police mandate.

Basically doing work is not a police mandate.

There is always a cop standing around during the morning rush hour on the 7th ave Q train platform. What is that cop doing there? Checkin out the babes? I don't get it.

The police only do what they have to do.

boygabriel

Hey Oiseau, how do you feel about the Police?

carnivore

Boygabriel wrote: Hey Oiseau, how do you feel about the Police?

I'm sure he'll agree that they were one of the great bands of the early 80s.

oiseau

They are, but I appreciated them more in the late 80's. In the early eighties I was still in my Pink Floyd/Led Zeppelin phase.

limestonekid

Oiseau wrote: [quote=Boygabriel]Crimes against animals are simply not in the police mandate.

Basically doing work is not a police mandate.

There is always a cop standing around during the morning rush hour on the 7th ave Q train platform. What is that cop doing there? Checkin out the babes? I don't get it.

The police only do what they have to do.

What would you like the cop to be doing?

Doing a "Stop & Frisk" of everyone you think is an undesirable?

oiseau

No, they could actually be helping out, instead of quietly observing. Oh, and when there is two or more of them they are anything but quiet.

temtew

Boygabriel wrote:
Crimes against animals are simply not in the police mandate.

Huh- I find it interesting and a little sad that the Ray Kelly isn't familiar with his own department's protocol. The SPCA website specifically says that if you witness animal abuse you should immediately call 911. The problem with calling SPCA is that you end up in their voicemail system or on hold for a long time. It's just frustrating that I witnessed a possible felony in progress, called the cops and got no response whatsoever.

boygabriel

temtew wrote: Huh- I find it interesting and a little sad that the Ray Kelly isn't familiar with his own department's protocol. The SPCA website specifically says that if you witness animal abuse you should immediately call 911. The problem with calling SPCA is that you end up in their voicemail system or on hold for a long time. It's just frustrating that I witnessed a possible felony in progress, called the cops and got no response whatsoever.

Yeah but does calling 911 mean that it leads to a police response? or do they contact an SPCA (or some other organization's) emergency line?

I'm not doubting you, but I do doubt that Ray Kelly isn't familiar with a major protocol (or lack thereof) such as this.

anonymous

If I ever see that I will call 911 and tell them I am going over there and will kill that guy if he doesn't stop abusing the dog and the cops don't come then I will kill him.

No one is going to abuse an animal / a child when I am around and I will see to that on my own. I don't need apathic ghetto cops with an IQ below 85 to help me with that.

limestonekid

Oiseau wrote: [quote=Boygabriel]Crimes against animals are simply not in the police mandate.

Basically doing work is not a police mandate.

There is always a cop standing around during the morning rush hour on the 7th ave Q train platform. What is that cop doing there? Checkin out the babes? I don't get it.

The police only do what they have to do.

In case you haven't noticed every time a "cop" pulls someone over for a traffic violation it's a potentially life threatening situation. Or have you not seen any of the news regarding the shooting of a trooper in Upstate New York?

Every time they respond to a domestic dispute it's potentially life threatening situation so if they happen to be "anything but quiet when there is two or more of them" I think you should cut them a bit of slack.

There are pressures that are inherent in the job that unless you've been there you'll never understand. Don't get me wrong as I'm not a big fan of the police. Strangely enough they don't provide me with comfort when they step onto the subway car I'm riding. It's actually quite the opposite. At the same time I realize that they have a job to do.

anonymous

Subject: Police Tactics...Yeah right...

The 79th precinct has for years chosen to make it's main objective policing those that don't necessarily need policing. Meaning, they spend their time profiling, targeting and arresting young african-american and latino boys/girls (now we're targets too) to simply secure finger and palm prints along with ssn's and photos "for future use." We all don't wind up criminals.

Now today, in NYC, I happened to witness two 16 year old boys attempting to board a subway car while 3 police undercovers (2 white/1 brown skin latino) step out of the same car, intentionally bump into both boys and when they reacted, the boys were asked for identification and were told how they should dress to walk down the street. Bothering no one, I know for sure that had I not stopped with my 9.5 year old son to make certain that they were treated fairly - both boys would have been cuffed and hauled off. I wished they would treat us like they did that poor, unfortunate dog and leave us alone! These, however, are NYPD tactics. Don't believe the hype and know your rights!

anonymous

Subject: bad cops

which is the precinct on lafayette and classon? that one is HORRIBLE. the cops there actually stole my ipod when i was there. they are extremely unhelpful and dishonest.

limestonekid

Subject: Re: bad cops

cookie wrote: which is the precinct on lafayette and classon? that one is HORRIBLE. the cops there actually stole my ipod when i was there. they are extremely unhelpful and dishonest.

Did you file a police report?

oiseau

LimestoneKid wrote: I think you should cut them a bit of slack.

I think not. I'll cut them as much slack as they've given me. None.

And can someone please tell me what that cop is doing standing there in the mornings on the 7th avenue Q train station?

Has there actually been a crime in the subway station during the morning hours that justifies this cop just standing around down there? I'm pretty sure he probably despises just about everyone on that platform as a bunch of "libs".

He should be out on the street, directing traffic or making himself useful in some way.

limestonekid

Oiseau wrote: [quote=LimestoneKid] I think you should cut them a bit of slack.

I think not. I'll cut them as much slack as they've given me. None.

Maybe, just maybe, you don't deserve to be cut any slack. Obviously you don't give the police any respect and they're just giving it right back to you.

And can someone please tell me what that cop is doing standing there in the mornings on the 7th avenue Q train station?

What a great opportunity you've got to go up to that police officer and talk to him/her. Find out why they're there and how they feel about being there. Remember the old adage "chram them to disarm them". You might be surprised at what you discover.

Has there actually been a crime in the subway station during the morning hours that justifies this cop just standing around down there? I'm pretty sure he probably despises just about everyone on that platform as a bunch of "libs".

Maybe the reason there hasn't been a crime is because the officer is there? Did you ever think of that? And I really like how you're projecting your own bias on to the officers cause it's really quite obvious that you despise all police officers.

He should be out on the street, directing traffic or making himself useful in some way.

So serving as a deterrent to crime isn't being useful? What do you see the role of police officers in our society being? It sounds like you want them to be glorified station attendants. Do you have any sort of alternative solution for law enforcement or do you just like bitching about cops?

Lastly, way to take one sentence out of my whole post and use that as your complete focus. I guess you don't want to admit to the fact that there are inherent dangers involved with being a police officer. As I stated before every traffic stop can quickly turn into a life threatening situation for the police officer. And if they're not going to do it, who? You? I don't think so.

anonymous

Subject: Re: bad cops

LimestoneKid wrote: [quote=cookie]which is the precinct on lafayette and classon? that one is HORRIBLE. the cops there actually stole my ipod when i was there. they are extremely unhelpful and dishonest.

Did you file a police report?

hmm...didn't occur to me to ask the cops who stole my ipod to write a report about it. i called them a few times and they gave me the runaround. life goes on.

anonymous

I don't believe that the cops in the station house stole your Ipod but anyway you should go to the precinct council meetings to voice your concerns.

88th Precinct Community & Youth Council
When: 5-15-2007, 7:30 PM
Where: Teen Challenge, Inc.
444 Clinton Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Contact: 88th Pct. Community Affairs (718) 636-6526


444 Clinton Avenue is between Gates and Greene Avenues



History of Teen Challenge:

Teen Challenge Brooklyn began in 1958 through the efforts of Rev. David Wilkerson to reach out to youth trapped in cycles of addiction and gangs. It has since grown to 300 centers on all six continents. A federal government study of Teen Challenge found that 86% of those who graduated from Teen Challenge continued to live drug free.

The 88th Precinct Community & Youth Council thanks Teen Challenge, Inc. for hosting our May meeting.