GET THE FUCK OFF THE PHONE

On the second of January, 2009, I wrote a post for Humid City regarding the failure of the 5th District Police station to properly do it’s job, spurned on, mainly, by another column. Written by Billy Sothern for the Times-picayune, it describes his experience with getting robbed in the Marigny, reporting the robbery, and also alerting the 5th District cops that his wife’s stolen cell phone was still being used, and offering them the number it was calling, after said theft. They never responded. This robbery was about 4 weeks before New Year’s Eve. I am writing today to follow up. This is not merely a case of bureaucratic failure in fighting crime. It’s not enough that the Police Superintendent goes on camera to blame citizens and failed families, a bad school system, et al. The crooks are still out there. And on New Years Eve, approximately 27 days after Billy & his wife & friends were robbed, a very good friend of mine was held up at gun point, mere blocks from the original scene, by two young robbers, fitting the same description, down to the gun itself. These guys are still out there, still robbing and still waving a gun in people’s faces. And I’ll bet hard cash that the 5th distrcit never got back to Bill Sothern to get that number, or investigated that robbery in any serious way. “We can’t predict crime”, they always say. How about two robbers making calls on a stolen phone, and the victim bringing you the number they call? Had you looked into that, perhaps my buddy wouldn’t have started his New Year laying face down on the street with a gun to his head. After he was robbed, my friend went to look for his car, since they had taken his keys, too. Of course, it was gone. He went to the Royal Street station to report it, since it had been parked across Elysian Fields, in another district. The lady cop on duty gave him her raised palm to look at, known as ‘giving the hand’, while she had a lengthy & personal conversation on her cell phone. In fact, she finally stopped another officer to talk with him, so as to not have to interupt her private and personal conversation, being held as she worked the report desk. He told me he could hear other phones ringing, unanswered, as she chatted on. Silence is Violence recently held a ’strike’ or something like it, asking locals to wear red or put up “Crime Happened Here” signs in the Marigny. While I support the huge and ongoing efforts they have made, I found this a little to little and a lot too late. For instance, nobody put one in front of Helen Hill’s door, because other people live there now, I suppose. I drove around the Marigny Bywater area a bit and saw a couple of signs. What this is supposed to accomplish, I have no idea. Those of us who live here already know. The cops don’t give a shit as they ride around looking for free Wifi, single girls, and a place to talk on their cell phones undetected. I respondedto this ‘Strike’ by suggesting that those who have been robbed or otherwise violated, and subsequently ignored or blown off by the NOPD, especially at the 5th district, get together and create a list of these incidents, and present it, en masse, as a ‘failure to perform’ memo, both to the NOPD, at the 5th district and City Hall, and to the local news, perhaps Mister Zurik at WWLTV. Let’s see how they respond to a hundred citizen complaints at a time. I offered to do this at my home, next to the 5th district station, fully aware of the ire I might recieve in return. I even offered to video tape the whole shebang for the media and the protection of those involved. You know how many responses I got back? One. One person was willing to come forward and rally as a citizen, rebuking the Police Who Won’t Help. Still, my offer stands. Email me. skull-club@cox.net Go on. Try me. In the meantime, I’m sure we’ll all hear lots of noise about “Those bastards don’t care” and read lots of blogs about “If this city wants to survive…” You know what? Put up or shut up. The police don’t care how many people wore red arm bands last week. The robbers don’t care how many signs you put up on your block. The police will continue to use their power and priviledge to abuse traffic laws and intimidate citizens to get to the front of the line. And the local citizens will continue to bitch about ‘fairness’ and ‘making a statement’. And sooner or later, one of these new young thugs is gonna fucking kill somebody. You could help stop it right now. But will you? Until we stand up for ourselves, in large numbers, and tell these public servants, in no uncertain terms, to do their fucking jobs, expect to live in fear and under someone’s boot. If you are afraid to walk in to your local police station and state your mind, even with back-up, then you have already lost. Everything. And the only way to get it back is to stand up and look it directly in the eyes. But will you? Will you ring your hands at the end of 2009 when the list is another 179 people dead? Will you say to yourself, I went down there and gave them what for, along with dozens of other people, and it’s not fixed yet, but it’s getting better. Or will you shed a tear for another dead innocent, one whose murder was preventable, but you just didn’t have the time to get involved. It’s your city. If you want it back, take it back. Lord David Skull Club New Orleans