Pub crawl and cops
A pub crawl went by my house in South Baltimore over the weekend. Ordinarily, I don't mind these creative ways to spend a lovely Saturday afternoon -- the people are loud and usually drunk by the time they reach my bar-lined street. I'd love to hear from my buddy Sam Sessa over on the Midnight Sun on this!
The noise usually lasts only a few minutes, and this crew wearing white T-shirts (they've done this before, I think) appeared to fall into the same pattern. They stood outside one bar and everything was ok until the leader decided it was time to go someplace else. That seemed to create a problem, as some didn't want to leave. Shouting ensued, using language unfit for the children I count as neighbors. A large group stood in front of my house, bottles of beer in hand, and some thought it would be funny to tip flower pots over.
That was my first call to the Baltimore Police Department's 311 line.
The tipping over and the breaking of flower pots is a common activity in my neighborhood -- it's a fairly common site upon waking up Saturday and Sunday mornings. And again I don't mind the bar crawls and people walking around with bottles of beer in their hands. But is it too much to ask them to be responsible? These weren't kids. These were young adults. Breaking other people's property.
I called 311 about an hour later when they were still there and breaking beer bottles on the sidewalk.
Not a single police car showed up. Too bad. These are the kind of problems that drive neighborhoods crazy.
After the group moved noisely down the street, I collected beer bottles off my steps and swept broken glass into a trash bag. I went back inside and had a beer.
Comments
That's also a problem in SE. When the police do show up, they don't document anything and treat myself and other neighbors who call 311 as part of the problem. I'm not even talking about pub crawls. The folks that frequent these "neighborhood" bars are not from the neighborhood and treat the bars' neighbors with contempt, threaten violence and destroy property. Of course the police respond with, "What do you want me to do, they left when I showed up."
Posted by: Brian | October 20, 2008 10:33 AM
It's pretty sad to contemplate that the words "manners" and "shame" have completely exited our collective lexicon.
Can you imagine 40-50 years ago a group engaging in this kind of behavior? If this had happened, someone would have confronted the group or a policeman would have been by walking a beat to thump some skulls.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | October 20, 2008 11:21 AM
Anyone with more than a passing interest in crime should know that you only use 311 for non-serious incidents that are not ongoing. Call for an abandoned car. If you want an immediate response, then call 911. Worst comes to worse, if you are wrong, then the 911 operator will transfer you to 311. Always call 911 if you want an immediate response to an ongoing situation.
Posted by: Anon | October 20, 2008 5:16 PM