A Week in Review: F*ck the Police

My neighbors at the end of the street have two dogs. One is a vicious little old white dog. When I say vicious, I mean like rabid vicious. The other one is a juvenile pitbull that they have had for awhile. I recall them having another pitbull which was nice but slowly started to turn mean. I knew this one would do the same but I could not prove that they were mistreating the dog in any way. The pitbull started being able to nose his way under the fence and get to Khaleesi to attack her. He would never cause her injury but attacks like that (which have happened several times with other dogs in the neighborhood) cause her to distrust other dogs. I finally saw one of the teenagers in the house strike that poor dog. Still, I did not want to cause trouble but I felt horrible for not reporting it. The lady who lives there told me not to walk my dog on that sidewalk anymore. When I saw the dog out, I would cross to the other side of the road usually, but I would give them mean looks and tell Khaleesi how good of a dog she was, unlike the other dog and his rotten owners.

Last month, I was walking in the middle of the road because the sidewalk was closed due to construction. The dog still growled and managed to get under the fence. I pulled my dog away and yelled at the dog who then proceeded to go in the front yard and on the porch. A young adult female with cornrows and a young boy went to go in the house. I told the adult what had happened. She stated that it was not her dog. Against my best judgement, I did the same to the boy, hoping he would tell his mother but ultimately upsetting him (which I felt bad for but did not go back to apologize because I did not think it would be a good idea to return there). The adult asked why I had not called law enforcement, so I walked my dog home and called Animal Control.

The very next day, I was walking my dog on the opposite side of the neighborhood nowhere near the house with the dog. A teenager, looking about 14 or 15 years of age, drove up to me. Her friend in the passenger side, who looked about the same age, asked my name and if I was the lady who called the police on her dog. I admitted to it. The driver and passenger got out of the car and began talking to me. Then we began arguing and they were talking over me. Passenger proceeded to go chest to chest with me, screaming in my face. She began poking my right cheek really hard, so I grabbed her wrist in a defensive maneuver and said in a clear tone "Don't touch me." I emphasized every word. She told me to "get the fuck off of her" which is when I let her go. She threatened to attack me again, called me a fatass bitch, and she and her passenger got back into her car and sped away.

I got information from my witnesses and one walked me home. Needless to say, I had kept my composure until then. I burst out crying and could not breathe. It was the conflict and drama that had started. All I wanted to do was scare them into fixing the fence and stop hitting the dog.

I dialed 311 and told them what happened. An officer arrived but did not write up a report, which I thought was strange. He told me I had to go downtown to press charges. I drove back to where the incident happened and talked to one of my witnesses. He told me that the officer did not follow protocol, call 9-1-1, and make him give me a report. I called 9-1-1 and they sent the same officer who would not write anything down until I got a pen and paper to get his name and badge number. I still did not get a report though. He said there was nothing to report because no one was home at the residence where the passenger lives. He also said that since she is a juvenile, the only thing they would do at the commissioners office (where I have to go to press charges) would be give her a citation. At first I wanted to press charges but honestly if these children were bold enough to do that, who knows how many guns the adults have in that house? I carry around mace when I walk my dog now and I don't walk her anywhere near that house..

My MAIN concern is the police officer who did not follow protocol (as confirmed by a higher-up who recieved this and the next paragraph of "chew out"). He would not take any contact information of my witnesses and did not even give me one of those "victims" pamphlets with his information on it. I had to DEMAND his info and he was set on giving me as little info as possible. This worries me because it was a small incident with little protocol to follow. What happens when something major happens? And he told me that even if I were to press charges, not much would come of it. So, it once again sounds like a waste of my time to report this kind of thing to the police.

I know there is a lot of pressure on the Baltimore City Police but when an assault seems to be better handled without the police, that's a problem. We need to work together. The community needs to be able to trust the police, and the police need us to cooperate and support them. But small incidences like this which are not properly handled makes me think if something more serious had happened, I would not be able to trust the police to handle it. It would just cause more trouble for me.

Our neighborhood association found out that the house is rented and contacted the landlord. I have yet to hear back from anyone, but it sucks that I have to have mace prepared when someone comes to my door too. Like I needed something else on my plate.