WHAT THE F**K!

Please forgive me for being a bit profane here today. This post deals with recent events that are very frustrating and I feel it’s best if I just say what’s on my mind.

WHAT THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO?

I am going to describe below some things that have occurred here lately. I’ll tell you what happened and how I responded. I would like to hear any feedback about how I might have handled the situations better.

ARE THE FORT WAYNE POLICE NOT SEARCHING FOR A BLUE VAN?

Okay, maybe I heard the story wrong. Maybe it wasn’t a blue van. Maybe a child wasn’t killed. Or maybe, just maybe, FWPD should hire at least one person who has at least half a fucking brain in their head.

Early this morning, just after midnight, several police cars congregated at the intersection a block north of my house. One of them remained parked there as the two others drove away. One of those patrol cars sped quickly past my house towards Pontiac Street. Less than a minute later, a blue van pulled out of an alley without it’s headlights on. As it sped past my house and towards Pontiac Street, the lights finally came on.

It seemed plausible to me that the driver of this van was trying to elude the police who were in the area. I called FWPD to report this. Our conversation follows.

ME: You have some officers out here at Warsaw and Taber Streets for something. Do you know if they are searching for a blue van?
FWPD: Sir, we don’t have anyone at that location right now.
ME: Look, I can see one of your cars is parked at Warsaw and Taber right now. Others have been driving the area. Just after one of your cars passed my house, a blue van pulled out of an ally and was driving erratically down the street. I thought this might be who you were looking for. I just wanted to let you know that this blue van is speeding south on Warsaw Street right now.
FWPD: Sir, I’m not sure what’s going on there. Do you need me to send an officer to speak with you?
ME: No, that’s all right, just forget it.

More patrol cars drove through the area during the next few minutes and the one car remained at the intersection north of my home. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the blue van that was driving erratically with it’s headlights off might be who they were searching for. I thought that maybe there was just a lapse in communication between the officers on the scene and their dispatch. Perhaps the operator I spoke with had not been fully apprised of the situation when I called.

If I thought this was just a drunk driver, a drug-dealer, or a thief, I would have just ignored it. As I’ve said many times before, the police have made it very clear to me that they really don’t care about “insignificant” crimes here. It was only because the police had been searching for a blue van in connection with the recent hit-and-run death of an infant that I couldn’t let it go. With so many officers suddenly appearing in the area, there must have been something going on. It made sense that the officer driving around here might actually know what was going on, or at least be able to better communicate with me about the matter.

I flagged down the next patrol car that drove past my house and asked “Are you out here looking for a blue van right now?” The officer simply replied “I’m (emphasis his) not looking for a blue van,” then stared at me without saying or asking anything. What a dumb fuck! The way that officer phrased his response, it could have been that another officer was actually looking for the blue van. I just didn’t ask the question the right way so I have to endure the stupid stare as a result. This is a real fun game to play. I’m trying to help the stupid fucks and they’re just staring blankly at me in response.

At this point I wasn’t going to waste my time explaining what I had seen to this idiot officer. I threw my arms in the air and said “Fine, forget it. There is no blue van. Fuck it” I turned to walk back to the house and the officer drove away saying “Have a nice evening.” I turned back and shouted “Fuck you, fuck you all!” This officer drove on and was immediately followed by another patrol car. I was still ranting when he began passing my house and I pointed at the car and just said “Fuck you too!” This officer stopped and asked what was going on. I simply said “Never mind. Forget it,” and turned to walk back to the house. The officer asked again (with a very pleasant demeanor) what the problem was, so I explained the situation.

Since this officer seemed sympathetic, I said “Look, I’m just trying to help. I only called about this because I heard you guys were looking for a blue van with that kid that was killed a couple days ago. I’m trying to help and everything your department does seems designed to tell me to just shut the fuck up.” This officer explained that the suspect in the hit-and-run had turned himself in already. He also said he knew what was going on in my neighborhood, referencing the letter I had sent to Chief York in 2006, and that hewas trying to work on the problems here.

This cop seemed to not have his head up his ass, so I calmed down a bit. I apologized for losing my cool and told him I appreciate his help. I also asked him to apologize on my behalf to the other officer that I had shouted at. In hindsight though, I don’t really think that apology was necessary. Although my response may have been overblown, I think the anger that brought it forth was well founded. When I asked if he was searching for a blue van, he asked no questions. He just stared blankly as if to say that he really didn’t want to hear what I had to say. Then, as I’m standing on the sidewalk shouting “Fuck you!,” he casually drove away. I think it is this type of disengagement by many officers which is a big part of the problem here. The police say the reason they can’t arrest anybody for any of the dozen homicides that have recently occurred is because so many citizens don’t give a damn. That’s a bullshit explanation without adding the other half of the equation, which is that many of this city’s police officers don’t give a damn either.

JUST ANOTHER DRUG DEALER WITH A GUN

Last week, several of the young drug dealers had been standing on the corner for a couple hours. I overheard a telephone conversation in which one of these guys sounded as though he were arranging the purchase of a gun. Now these guys do talk a lot of bullshit some days, so I take everything I hear with a bit of skepticism. But after listening to the group talk for the next five minutes, it became apparent that someone was actually on there way here to sell this guy a gun.

What to do? If I called the FWPD front desk, the best they would do would send a uniformed officer in a marked car. Okay, that just means the dealer will forgo buying the gun until the police are out of sight. I thought about calling Officer Jefferson, the member of FWPD Command Staff who has given me his cell phone number. But if you recall, the last time we spoke he indicated that I should call Vice and Narcotics myself to explain what is going on here. Then, when I began to explain to him that I have actually done that many times before, he abruptly ended the conversation.

Again, what to do? Am I supposed to just set there and watch this eighteen year old purchase a gun right in front of my home? The police obviously don’t give a damn about the drug trafficking here, but I still thought that they might be concerned about felony possession of a weapon. After all, there are still a dozen unsolved murders this year in Fort Wayne. I believe that all but one was committed using a gun. I also suspect that a large majority of the murder weapons were illicit. I was trying to give FWPD the opportunity to not only stop another guy from getting a gun, but perhaps to actually arrest somebody that is channeling these guns into the hands of people who should not have them.

Once again, my conscious trumped my common sense as I called FWPD Vice and Narcotics division myself. The elderly lady who answered the phone stated that she was not a police officer and that no officers were in the department at that time. I explained the situation to her. She suggested sending a patrol car through the area. I told her that was not a wise option for the reasons mentioned above. I told her that she should send a plain clothed officer to my house and just act like he is here working with me. He would see and hear everything that I do. I told her I understand that this probably can’t happen now, on such short notice, but that she should mention this to the detectives when they return. She ended the conversation by stating that she would forward my information to the ATF. I’m still waiting on their call (LOL).

So, I’m back outside trying to decide if I will just ignore it or try to intercept it myself when the gun exchange takes place. I know for a fact that the guy buying the gun is only eighteen. You can not obtain a permit to carry until you’re twenty-one. By definition, this person would have been committing a felony for simply possessing the weapon. I would have been legally correct if I took action. I just couldn’t stop thinking about how idiotic the FWPD has been here. I still have a police report that I believe was a falsified in order to protect one of their confidential informants. I guess the truth doesn’t matter when you’ve got a job to do. Hell, for all I know, if I did intervene, the first officer on the scene might lie and say that I was the one with the weapon. After all, they can’t have me taking their people off the corner. How else are they going to find out what is going on down here if they don’t have the credible reports of the drug dealers who they have collared to rely on.

I was trying hard to appear as though I had no idea what was going on when a vehicle began approaching. The guys on the corner got very excited and it was obvious from what they were saying that this was to be the deliverer of the gun. I turned and looked just as the truck was pulling over and made eye contact with the driver. Apparently this made her nervous, and she pulled back away from the curb and drove on down the road. The guys were screaming for the truck to stop as it sped away. The potential gun buyer got on his cell phone and walked around the corner for a moment. He returned to the group and told them “It’s cool now.”

A few minutes later the same vehicle approached, and the previous incident was repeated. After the third time of this truck approaching then leaving, the gun buyer walked away from the area while talking on his cell phone (presumably to the gun seller). Damn I feel like Charlie Brown kicking the football, but I keep thinking that eventually I’m going to find an FWPD officer that is both halfway intelligent and does actually give a damn. I called Vice and Narcotics again and this time a Detective (who of course, did not identify himself) answered.

I explained the situation. I gave him a description of the vehicle and the two people inside it. I told him that the truck and the guy looking to buy the gun had moved towards another location. I knew exactly where that guy was going, and I gave this information to the Officer. I told him the name of the street and what hundred block these people were most likely at and at that very moment preparing to conduct an illegal gun sale. I suggested that if he couldn’t send an out of uniform officer with such short notice that he should immediately send a marked patrol car through the area. If they can’t (don’t want to) stop the drug trafficking here, they should at least be concerned about an eighteen year old getting a gun.

I really have no idea what, if anything, FWPD did about the information I gave them. I was very close to attempting to interdict an illegal gun sale myself. I can’t ignore this shit when it happens right in front of my home. I have no formal training for this shit, yet FWPD constantly refuses to do their job. I feel as though I am fighting a two-front war against both the drug dealers and the idiotic FWPD. Things here are tense now, and the situation is most likely to turn very ugly eventually. Don’t be surprised if in the near future you open the newspaper to read about a tragic event that occurred on Warsaw Street. And when the Dick Heads at FWPD put their spin on it, explaining how hard they have tried to work on the problems here, remember this post. I just hope that I’ll still be around to hear the story.

TEN ROUNDS WITH JOSE THE DRUG DEALER

It used to not be an uncommon thing to find people’s belongings lying in my yard. I’m not talking about trash, but perfectly good clothing, full bottles of pop, and other items that they obviously planned to come back for. I used to just toss this stuff to the sidewalk or the street, but eventually I just started throwing it in the trash can. I remember one morning I threw a nice black leather jacket away. Later that day I saw a man walking down the street appearing to be wearing this same jacket. I opened the trash can and sure enough, it was gone. Eventually they got the message and stopped leaving their belongings in my yard.

Now, they just toss it on the open sidewalk, sometimes walking away for quite a while and leaving their jacket, bicycle or other belongings lying there. A few days a go one of the dealers took his shift on the corner. He brought with him a half-full bottle of tequila. After working for a while, he sat his bottle and his jacket on the sidewalk in front of my home and walked away. I seriously contemplated picking up the bottle and dumping it down the drain, but I realized this would be seen as provocative. Instead, I waited for the guy to return.

I walked up to him and said “Look, when you leave stuff here and walk away from it, it makes it look like it’s mine. If you’re holding it or at least standing there with it, I really can’t say anything.” He interrupted and said “Oh, I just walked away for a minute. I was coming back.” I responded by saying “Take your stuff with you when you walk away. The next time I find something out here that is unattended, it’s going in the trash. Clothing, bicycle, bottle of pop or alcohol, I don’t care. If you’re not here with it, then I’m picking it up and throwing it away.” He had nothing to say in response and just walked back to where his bottle and jacket were lying.

Sometimes these guys actually respond when I talk to them like this, but usually (like this time) they just act indifferent as though they hadn’t even heard me. But I have come to realize what their silence means. If they think I have crossed a line, they’ll tell me - either with words or by pulling a weapon. The proof is in the results, and silence means they got the message. They’re just too proud to acknowledge this with words. I don’t really care about posturing though. They can stare at me and act as tough as they want to. As long as they keep their shit off my property and don’t leave it lying on the sidewalk when they walk away, there’s no need to push the issue further.

About ten minutes after talking with this guy, Officer Jefferson pulled over to the corner and spoke with him for about five minutes. Officer Jefferson knows this guy, and I am certain he knows that the guy is only eighteen years old. The bottle of Tequila was in full view at the time. Another (older) guy was on the corner also by then, so perhaps Officer Jefferson thought the bottle belonged to him. Regardless, this just shows how this neighborhood is perceived and treated by FWPD. Here it was, in the middle of the afternoon around the time that the kids get off the school buses here, and this officer ignored an open bottle of alcohol setting on a public sidewalk.

A few minutes after Officer Jefferson left the area, the dealer picked up his jacket and his bottle and walked away. About five minutes after this, patrol cars began patrolling the neighborhood. Perhaps Officer Jefferson had just given the guy a stern talk about not standing out here selling drugs. And perhaps this guy actually took Officer Jefferson’s message to heart. Of course, the fact that this same guy has returned several times since then to sell drugs here indicates otherwise. There would be no way to prove this, without having heard their full conversation, but it certainly looked like Officer Jefferson came by to warn his guys that it was show and tell time. That’s when the police clear an area first, then send other officers through who can write in their report that there is no untoward activity going on here.

I DIDN’T SEE NOTHING, OFFICER

Going back to the events of early this morning, the story did not end after I verbally assaulted one officer then calmly explained myself to another. During the next hour, I suppose at least ten patrol cars pass by my house. Maybe they were searching for someone, or maybe they just wanted to see the crazy man (me) who was setting on their front porch. During this time, several dealers were in and out of the area, trying to elude the police. I overheard one of them saying something that indicated he had done something earlier to cause the police to be called to the area.

At one point, after someone shouted “Police,” four people scrambled to get back inside a car that was parked on the street just to the west of my home. They had been in and out of this car for the past hour, probably smoking and fucking (there were three girls with them and they kept sticking their hands down inside of the guys pants when they were standing on the corner). The patrol car slowed, nearly coming to a stop, as it passed this car, then drove on. As the group disembarked from their vehicle, more trash spilled out into the street and they returned to the corner. It was obvious that they were doing something illicit, yet I just sat silently as the police passed by their car.

You know, it really is a shame that so many people like myself just sit back and refuse to get involved. I mean, how are the police supposed to help us if we won’t help ourselves. Perhaps I should go and get arrested for something. Then I can become a police C.I. Apparently the police listen better to these guys than they do to civilians who are trying to help.