Strangely speedy police activity in front of my apartment

Huh. About three or four years ago there were tons of undercover cars doing things exactly like that all over Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. The scary thing was that the cars drove in a manner that would always make me think that they were about to do a drive by. Really, they were just jumping out of their cars at random times and patting people down. (In a way that used to be considered unconstitutional. But now, after seven years of Bush, it's probably a.o.k.) Maybe it was something on that order. But that is weird.
I always call 911 when I hear stuff, and it's a good idea, even when everything ends quickly or turns out well. The police like to know that people are watching and the more that people bother to call, the more likely they are to respond. But it is kind of creepy to see cops behaving in such an intimidating and seemingly criminal way, right?

I don't know about criminal, but NYC cops aren't normally in the habit of explaining to ANYONE what they happen to be doing at any particular time. Most of them are pretty rude, frankly. I'm sure the episode WAS creepy. I would think it's pretty natural to wonder what the hell all of those guys were doing in the middle of the street, yelling at each other. Luckily, apollonia minded her own business (relatively speaking) and didn't go downstairs to ask what was happening. I'm sure the cops would have been less than pleasant, if they had decided to answer her at all.

Subject: actually, I am a fan

I wrote and posted a long reply to KWAC last night at about 9:54, only to discover the system was down. It never posted and when I went to look for it, I thought I'd sent KWAC a pm by mistake, which wouldn't have been the end of the world. But it didn't turn up in my outbox or here, so I'll have to do it again. Trouble is, I'm on my way out the door.
It will have to wait, but it's similar to apolonia's story, only it involves my former neighbors.
And yes, actually, I am a fan of the police. My dad was in law enforcement in another major city, so I grew up around them and believe I have some idea of the brutal dilemmas they face on a daily basis.
I am not "Guest," by the way.
Also, I can't imagaine when burnt french fries have ever been a matter of life and death. Who among us has ever served them to to you? Kwac, you should complain if your food is served to you incorrectly, wherever you are. But when was the last time a server turned up at your table with burnt fries and a gun on her waist?

I don't have the stamina for a huge post, but i'll do my best to respond. My french fry comment is in refernce to asking Police to explain their actions to uninvolved parties. If your in a place of business, lets say the Post office, and you see a Postal Employee balancing letters like dominoes in the back, is it in within your Right to have an explanation for this conduct which you don't understand? Now how many 1000's of Police encounters do you think occur in the City on a daily basis? Do you think that Police officers have to explain their conduct to all onlookers? What might seem bizarre to you, might be completley reasonable when looking at the totality of all the circumstances. Often people see the end of a Police encounter and don't see the events that actually lead to it ie: The Warren case on Vanderbilt-Atlantic ave.
Everyone knows who the cops are, and often good people are turned away at these scenes. Maybe you just happened to be the 19th person that asked the same question. Like "excuse me do you mind if I go under the Police line I promise I wont step in the blood"
Don't think I'm excusing all Police conduct, just realize it's an extremely dangerous job and all of it's enemies are not known.

Subject: Thank you, Lil b

I second Lilbangladesh's assertion that questioning the conduct of police officers, who are paid by our tax dollars, is not only our right as citizens, but is also within reason and, more likely, our duty.
The "creepy" activity to which I was referring was activity that looked criminal and turned out to be police activity. A la Appolonia's post. If I saw men screaming at eachother and a car pointed the wrong direction on a one way street, I'd assume that there was criminal activity involved.
What I saw all over Crown Hts and Bed-Stuy four years ago was exactly that, and the Sean Bell case comes to mind. but first, my account.
I was driving home one night when a car sped up to my bumper and then pulled around and put on its breaks right in front of me. This was on St. Marks bet. Classon and Franklin. I swerved to avoid a collision and the car sped up and pulled into the middle of the street so that I couldn't get around it. I slowed way down. It's a very dark block and this was late at night. I moved to the right to try to pass the car but it wouldn't let me. At the next light, it continued in a slowly prowling kind of way down the block and then an arm came out of the window, motioning me to pass them. I looked inside and knew they were NYPD because of the other incidents I'd been witnessing all summer around my neighborhood. There were four beefy white guys inside wearing football jerseys.
A month or so earlier I was standing outside of my building, watering my plants at 11:00 or so at night. My neighbors were on the adjoining stoop with their two year old son, passing a hot night out of doors. An unmarked car came to a screeching halt in front of my house and four white beefy guys in football jerseys got out and walked aggressively toward my neighbors. They had them standing up and were turning out their pockets within a minute without ever identifying themselves as police. My neighbors had nothing so much as a beer on them and were sitting on their landlord's stoop-- a piece of private property that they'd been given permission to use. Meanwhile, their two year old was mortified. When the four turned and saw me standing there with my watering can, quietly observing, their eyes got as big as saucers and they hurried to their car and left. I could almost hear the wheels turning in their heads: shit, she's white, she might know that what we've done is probably a violation of the constitution. My husband, who is not white, witnessed the entire event as he strode home from the corner store. He said, "You could see them physically start when they noticed you. What were they doing to N and J anyway?"
After that incident, I saw several more like them (before the whole driving home thing) and my husband and I started calling them the "jump out squad" because that's what they did. They jumped out of their cars, walked up on people in a threatening manner and frisked them, without ever identifying themselves as police.
Two things. One, the fact that they were all white is not in itself inherently problematic. The fact that they never once identified themselves as police officers is certainly problematic. I mean no verbal notification, no badge, nadda. Two, the fact that they are acting aggressively and appear to be a random group of white guys in an almost entirely non-white community, is very problematic.
The accounts of the Bell case are of undercover officers not identifying themselves and pulling their guns. And by the way, the undercovers in that case were multi-racial. If I were leaving a club and several people who I'd seen inside suddenly pulled guns on me, I would do the same thing, namely, try to get the hell out of there, running them over if need be.
As I said in an earlier post, I grew up around detectives and patrolmen and I am sensitive to their issues. I am also friends with many NYPD members and most of them are not white. They range in age and rank and specificity of location. What I know to be true is that 90 percent of them really are in it to try to make a positive change. But I also know that many cops, regardless of their own ethnicity and heritage assume that people of color (how I hate that term, but I'll use it anyway) are ignorant of their rights, or, if they know their rights are too afraid to protest police harrassment. This is crap.
We need police protection in the worst way where I live. I honor and respect their duty and their situation. But when you go around the hood harrassing hardworking parents who pay their rent, (or own their homes) who benefits? Also, the night my neighbors got frisked the cops had driven by a very active drug corner to get to them.
I realize that to get a predator one often has to behave like a predator, but come on and use some sense.
As far as my use of the word "creepy." I find it creepy when I identify a behavior and define it as threatening and potentially criminal, only to find out it was being perpetrated by the "good guys." Wouldn't you?
And yes, I would expect to be called out for serving a bad order of french fries. That's my job. It is the duty of the police to patrol and protect the community, not harrass it. And I'm all for some muscle flexing on the part of the police, but does it have to be so ignorant and misguided?
I met a cop once who told me seven years ago that I was regarded as a druggie for living in a non-white neighborhood. What the f---is that?
having said all of this, I do attend community council meetings and board meetings. something gotta get done somehow, somewhere.

No it's not against the law, its more of a Dept. guideline. 99.9% of the people who are being stopped by Police know they are Police. A shield should be displayed however.

King without a crown wrote: No it's not against the law, its more of a Dept. guideline. 99.9% of the people who are being stopped by Police know they are Police. A shield should be displayed however.

Am I correct in assuming that you mean the people being stopped by the police have done something wrong therefore they know the people stopping them are police?

I could understand the neglect of identifying oneself if it's someone you've stopped before.

But if I, who have never been stopped by the police, get stopped by people I don't recognize and who refuse to identify themselves, isn't it understandable that I might panic?

Deadly situations are being caused by police not identifying themselves as police. How are we, ordinary non-criminals with few run-ins with the law, supposed to tell if we are being stopped by the police or assaulted by criminals? And knowing whether or not you are dealing with the cops DOES change behavior which affects the ultimate outcome of the incident.

He didn't have to because he was in uniform and I was in the precinct to pick up a wallet that a cop had called me to tell me was in the station. And then when I arrive, the cops had no idea what I was talking about. Then the tall cop told me, "Go home to your parents, little girl."

I was 25 with a postgraduate degree. I said, "My parents are in Boston." As soon as I said that, he picked me up by the neck and dangled me about 4 feet off the ground. Now I was smaller back then, but not that small. I was 5'5" and 115 lbs.

That whole experience terrified and traumatized me and it took me years before I could even talk about it. And then that night, the cop called me again and said, "Why didn't you pick up your wallet?" I tried to file a complaint with Internal Affairs, but I was too traumatized to go through with it.

There are good cops out there, but I have been mistreated by a number of them (like those cops who not only refused to do anything about my stalker, but actually HELPED my stalker stalke me) to give me a lifelong healthy fear of them.

Do you think theres a pattern here? Getting stalked? Getting dangled by your neck by cops? Pissing off the stove people? Just to name a few, I didn't have the time to review all of your 131 Posts, but I'm sure theres more. Do you leave room for the possibility that maybe you are doing something to elicit these responses in people, therefore creating these negative interactions?

what are stove people? they sound helpful

I think that KWAC actually posted an article that had directly to do with the place you were planning on visiting. don't just blow off crime stats. do keep living without fear, but do so reasonably. sounds like you do, for the most part.