To catch a thief?

Last week’s thread about local burglaries has fallen off this page, but it just drew a comment that we thought deserved wider consideration. We won’t be able to try to get a police-department response to this till Monday, but we promise to try. Click to read the commenter’s story:

If it’s the same guys who burglarized our place, I have their DNA. They bled on our furniture when entering. I’ve called to arrange turning it over, but the SPD seems to have lost interest. Sadly, ours was even classified as a hate crime.

9-1-1 REFUSED to dispatch when our neighbor discovered it and called. He called us, we called on the way home and they said “call back when you get there.” We called again when we got home – three hours and four MORE calls later (each time “don’t touch anything, don’t close your door, don’t go in, they may still be in there…”)

They finally showed up – it was dark at that point and the officer made fun of me for finding fingerprints he hadn’t bothered to check for.

While I’ve also had some excellent experiences with the officers in our area, I’ve felt entirely blown off in this one. They don’t seem too worried about solving this string. Seriously, pick up the DNA at least. When they’re eventually caught they can be slapped with the hate crime charge too.

Needless to say, I’m not so confident that 911 will bother to dispatch if I’m ever in an emergency situation again.

6 Replies to "To catch a thief?"

  • flipjack June 16, 2007 (9:24 am)

    Ya sure it wasn’t Starbucks juicy raspberry syrup on the furniture?

  • A June 16, 2007 (12:31 pm)

    *grin*
    positive it isn’t raspberry syrup. ha! funny tie-in though.

    In all fairness, the detective who is finally in charge of our case DOES seem to care more than anyone else has – he spent about two hours on the phone with me, all told, getting details, and seemed pretty horrified at the way it had been handled by dispatch, etc. But he’s only one detective, and assigned to two precincts, is based out of Beacon Hill and trying to cover things over in this area. I am fairly sure *he* actually does care, but he’s overworked. 911 dispatch, on the other hand, was as close to useless as they could have been. I was VERY clear in all 6 calls that day just how extreme the situation was, how violent the damage, that it wasn’t “just a burglary” that they’d destroyed our home, etc. When the officers arrived, they seemed shocked. The message had clearly been “simple burglary.” I’d link to pictures but I’d rather stay anonymous at this point. I don’t really want to invite another break-in, security measures enacted or not.

    With the condo conversions, and teardowns of single family housing (and resultant condo builds) we’ve got a population explosion over here. Simply put, we need more cops. It’s not fair to us or to the officers on duty to have only 3 cops at any given time trying to cover 2 precincts that are divided by a crowded bridge. Seems like a serious safety issue for ALL concerned.

  • scottjay June 16, 2007 (9:00 pm)

    Pretty sad response by the police. We had a situation last year where we heard a crash in the middle of the night, and though someone might be breaking into our basement. We debated for a minute, then called 911 and explained the situation–that we heard a crash and *might* have an intruder, but were really not sure.

    The door from the basement to the house is dead bolted, so we really weren’t panicked. But 3-5 police arrived in just a few minutes and checked the entire house and yard, guns drawn. It turned out that a mirror had fallen off a wall and shattered, but we were impressed by the response.

  • Chet June 18, 2007 (8:19 am)

    With the condo conversions, and teardowns of single family housing (and resultant condo builds) we’ve got a population explosion over here. Simply put, we need more cops. It’s not fair to us or to the officers on duty to have only 3 cops at any given time trying to cover 2 precincts that are divided by a crowded bridge. Seems like a serious safety issue for ALL concerned.

    I hear ya A, I have expressed concern over development in the past but I could never get anyone to agree with me or back me up so I quit. It’s easier on my health to just read the blog vs read and comment. Sorry to hear about what happened to you.

  • Jan June 18, 2007 (10:44 am)

    Chet…I, for one, concur with you re:over development…:)

  • Chet June 18, 2007 (11:06 am)

    Thanks Jan. I wish you the best with your health! I did not walk on Saturday but I have walked in the past. This cause is very near and dear to me and I am so happy for you.

Sorry, comment time is over.