The Week in Review: 21 February - 28 February 2008

Well, this has been a busy week as the annotated bibliography for my research paper is due tomorrow. I don’t understand why they have to make everything so complicated in college with all this research and citations. I’m sure I’ll never need to use that stuff on the blogs. It’s also been an interesting week in the ‘hood. Let’s see now, let me take a look at my journal.

Thursday (21st), 3:30 P.M. Several guys came out to stand on one of the corners to shout at passing cars. There was a patrol car parked only fifteen yards from them when they arrived. Often, a patrol car will park somewhere here and just observe things. These guys noticed the car and occasionally turned towards it making some type of taunting gestures. What is funny is that I know that cop, and I know who’s house he was inside at the time. When that cop comes here, he comes to visit a friend, and he doesn’t even look at the corners. But it’s mere presence was enough to make these guys act goofy.

Suddenly, one of these guys ran up on somebody’s porch and crouched down. A minute later, a patrol car actually passed by. After the cops passed, he came back to the corner. A couple minutes later, as yet another patrol car passed by, most of these guys began walking away. Either they had something in their pockets, or they had warrants I suppose. The police did not return, but a few minutes later the remaining two left, so I guess the patrols do help. What’s really funny about this is that the porch where the guy hid from the passing cop - that’s the house that the other cop was inside at the time.

Friday, 3:30 P.M. Darrell, Carl and a few other guys spent the better part of two hours hanging around on the corners. The only illicit activity I witnessed was Carl buying some pirate CD’s from another guy, so nothing to worry about there. Carl is down here at least two or three times a week, which is kind of strange since the house he used to live in is now condemned. I know he has family here, so I am not at all saying the guy doesn’t have the right to be here. It just seems a little strange to be standing on the sidewalk for a half hour or more in freezing weather.

As I stepped out to get my mail, they were all walking away, but they stopped on the other side of the street. When I left about ten minutes later, a patrol car (occupied) was parked a little ways down the street, and I expect the officer was just taking note of who and what was happening.

Saturday, 3:00 A.M. Heard voices outside and went to check. A patrol car and an unmarked car were parked in the road and there were three or four officers standing on the sidewalk talking with Darrell (I couldn’t see him, but recognized his voice) and another guy. It sounded as though they were standing on Darrell’s front porch. I couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, but the officers seemed frustrated. After an exchange of words with Darrell and friend, the officers turned to confer among themselves for a minute. One of them turned back towards Darrell and said something like “Well, we’ll talk to Officer Black about this,” then they went back to their cars. Another patrol car pulled up at that time, so they had another little conference. Sure am glad I didn’t have to go to work at that time.

I think this is what happened that night: First of all, you should understand that Officer Black is one of the lead officers in this area. He knows all the dealers, and they all know him. In the past, I have personally witnessed Officer Black engaging in what I am certain are “off the record” conversations with some of the dealers here. If the situation was not studied well, it could appear to some that Officer Black is even in collaboration with the dealers. Personally, I do not think that is the case, but I guess it depends upon your definition of collaborate.

If a cop says “I’ll allow you to sell drugs here, as long as you give me a cut,” that is clearly illegal and could easily fall under the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) statute, depending upon the degree of the narcotics activity. But what if a cop realizes that he is in a neighborhood that is saturated with dealers, and that the only way it could be totally eliminated would be to have 24/7 patrols? And what if this cop knows he doesn’t have the resources for that?

So suppose he tells some of these guys “I’m not giving you permission to deal drugs, but I can say this; If one of my guys drives by and sees you standing in your own yard, or on the sidewalk in front of your own house, it’s very likely we won’t even stop to talk to you. If you’re seen on one of the abandoned properties here, it’s very likely we’ll come back through to check on you and possibly even stop to “talk.” But you should know that if you are found on the property of somebody who has expressly notified both you and FWPD that they don’t want you there, it’s almost certain you’ll be stopped and searched. And if you’re seen standing on the sidewalk in front of such property for extended periods of time, it’s still very likely you’ll be stopped.”

I am pretty certain that this is what Officer Black has told these guys. He has effectively invited them to regulate themselves; keep quiet, no large groups, stay off other peoples property, keep things low-key when the school buses are around, and don’t harass the residents here who don’t want to play the game. And you know what, I’m OK with that! With it’s “War on Drugs,” the federal government has saddled cities with a law enforcement burden that they can not possible meet. I consider it a reasonable measure for them to try and regulate this mess in a manner that ensures that most of the victims are people who chose to play, rather than innocent bystanders.

I’m leaning towards the political now, and I want to leave my full opinion on that till much later in my story. But I will say this much right now. - The federal government’s “War on Drugs” is a joke. They either need to legalize the drugs, or they need to seriously increase the funding and enforcement. As it is, there are two groups of people that fall victim to drugs; willing participants, and innocent bystanders. The willing participants will probably be harmed equally whether we legalize or enforce. But our currently unrealistic approach is the one that benefits them the most. It’s also probably the one that is most harmful to the innocents. So at this point all I’m saying is that I think we should either legalize or we should increase funding to the point that the laws can actually be enforced, but I won’t say yet which I favor.

Any way, back to the cops talking with Darrell on his front porch. I think him and his friend were probably standing where they weren’t supposed to be (probably my front yard!) when the cops saw them and approached. But by the time they got there he had already gotten to his “safe base.” I think their reference to him about talking with Officer Black was just a reminder of the rules. What the cops don’t know is that immediately after they left, Darrell’s mother opened the front door and chased him and his friend away saying “Boy you know better than to bring that bullshit up to my house. I told you I’m tired of it. That key aint gonna work on these doors no more if you don’t straighten up.”

She obviously doesn’t condone his activities (that’s not the first time I’ve heard such an exchange between them.) Yet if she really wanted to totally disassociate her home from drugs she would have chased him off the porch while the cops were still there. So, is she a bad mother - for not wanting to send her drug dealing son to prison?

Tuesday, 11:00 A.M. Saw a marked Allen County Sherriff car pass by, must have been looking to serve a warrant.

Wednesday, 4:30 P.M. There was an unmarked police car parked down the street and an officer was walking from a house back to his car. He left, but I noticed a patrol car was parked in an alley about a block away. Several people were out on the sidewalks, including some of the dealers that I had noticed out there a couple hours earlier shouting at passing cars. After about five or ten minutes everyone had either went inside their house or walked away. The patrol car remained in the alley for about another five minutes then left. Some might say this overbearing surveillance constitutes harassment but hey, they gotta do their paperwork somewhere don’t they? Actually, I’ve offered to let them use my front porch for that. I believe my exact words were “If I come home and find a cop car parked in my front yard and two cops sitting on my front porch, the first thing I’m going to say is - Can I get you officers a cup of coffee?” Well, I guess they can’t say that nobody here gives a damn.

Thursday (28th), 1:45 A.M. Sounded like people arguing outside so I went to check. There was a man lying face down on the sidewalk across the street, pounding his fist against the ground and shouting “Oh God, somebody please help me.” I was considering walking over there to check on him, so I went to get my coat. When I came back, he was still lying down and saying “I don’t want to be like this no more. Please, God. I don’t know how I ever got this way. Please help me God.” He lay there sobbing for a minute, then got up and walked away. I guess it’s rough when there’s nobody standing on the corner to keep you pumped up. About five minutes later a patrol car passed by, so I assume somebody called them - not me, I ain't no narc!

Well, I was going to post a story about some of the past events here, but I guess that this weeks current events are enough for now. And sorry for the lack of a YouTube video on this post. I just couldn't find anything to match all this.