Here’s an interesting post on Brooklynian by someone named parkslopeboy that, at first, we thought was about vandalism of cars on Park Place in Park Slope, but it turns out to have some added information about what happened when two suspects were found by the police:
We were at our neighbor’s house on Park Place between 5th & 6th last night when we heard a loud noise (sounded like car windows being smashed) so we went out to the stoop. We didn’t see anything unusual (no broken windows etc.) but we did see two young men walking right in front of us, down the street. They then stopped and knifed the tires of a car…right in front of us (and a few others walking their dogs)! I couldn’t believe these guys! We figured the noise we had heard earlier was actually a tire being slashed.
So we immediately called 911 and reported that we saw two guys in their late 20s, one with a light gray sweatshirt and baseball cap and the other with a dark blue shirt, walking down Park Place randomly slashing up people’s car tires. The cops arrived within minutes and said that they had found the two guys we had described and asked us to accompany them to identify the two suspects. My neighbor and I took a quick ride with the cops and went and identified the two men, who matched the description we had provided over our 911 call.
So what do the cops do? NOTHING! They kept asking us if we were sure…and said that they two guys were coming from a local bar and the bartender there vouched for these two guys and said that they were in a bar near Warren and 5th and were walking the other way. The cops said they didn’t want to lock up the wrong guys and that even reporting them would mean a lot of paperwork. We couldn’t believe it. I was extremely frustrating because more than two people had witnessed it…we accurately described the suspects even before they were caught…and the cops drove around and saw that at least two car’s tires had been slashed. (They didn’t find a knife on the suspects) We just wanted to keep our neighborhood safe and were being good Samaritans…and the cops couldn’t care less.
Anyway, I was really disappointed with the City’s Finest yesterday. If you or any of your neighbors had their tires slashed last night the area, know that there were witnesses who identified the suspects and the cops decided not to take any actions. Sorry, we tried.
Interesting story about the response, if it is accurate.
5 responses so far ↓
1 eah919 // May 20, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I had (2) similar experience with the boys from the 88th, over in Clinton Hill. Once, I was mugged and they told me, “ah, that gun was probably just a toy- sure you want us to write it up?” Another time, someone stole a credit card from my mailbox and got caught red-handed trying to use it at Bloomingdale’s. I was told (after a long run-around) by the sargeant on duty that “uh, I don’t think that’s actually a crime, unless the transaction actually goes through…”
I guess this is what we get for making local precincts ‘accountable’ for their ‘crime statistics’ (and explains decreasing crime statistics)…
2 S // May 20, 2008 at 8:43 pm
If this happens to you, say you want to speak with the patrol supervisor. When the beat cops say “Well, we might have to wait awhile” say “That’s fine, let’s wait.”
Stand your ground if you feel officers are blowing you off. They do NOT want to do the paperwork for quality of life crimes. They WILL attempt to discourage you.
Insist. Ask for a patrol supervisor. Say “I have rights.” Incidentally, as much as I was not a huge fan of Giuliani, it was under his administration that they clamped down on minor crimes such as this, because statistics have shown that those committing “minor” crimes are the same individuals that are (or will be) committing major crimes. Those same tire slashers the cops didn’t want to deal with may have committed other crimes that very same night. They should have been arrested right there and then.
3 BakiShamil // May 20, 2008 at 11:13 pm
To S…you are a moon bat…thats why you were not a huge fan of Giuliani. Giuliani made this city a better and safer place to live in. Screw you all who think Giuliani did not share your views on stupidity….under dick head dickens city was in horrible place and crime was high
4 Joe Blow // May 21, 2008 at 7:13 pm
BakiShamil you’re a douchebag. That policy was put into place by Dinkins and Giuliani just reaped the rewards. The man’s a joke, and all he’s good for now is giving third world nations like Mexico his safety ‘expertise’ for millions of dollars. Hopefully hes learned not to put the anti terrorism headquarters on top of the biggest bullseye down there. Getting rid of a couple squeegee men didn’t turn the city into what its become, that was already in motion.
5 BakiShamil // May 22, 2008 at 8:48 am
Joe Blow you are just a delusional moon bat. I refuse to have valid arguments with idiots