Every morning, my room-mate Jake and I go for a walk.
Sometimes, we witness behavior that seems suspicious. For example, a carful of people pulls up to a house, a person gets out, knocks on the door and is admitted. Within about a minute, the person exits, gets in the car, and the gang drives away.
When we see this happening frequently, it appears that something is going on. Maybe they’re borrowing a few eggs for breakfast, but I think it’s drugs.
After a few days, this seems to stop happening, only to begin again in a few weeks.
Last October, I observed this same behavior occurring over what seemed an extended period. This prompted me to call the Brattleboro Police and tell them what I had been seeing.
I called, identified myself, and asked to speak to “The officer in charge of investigating narcotics”.
I was told he was not in, but I could leave a voice mail, which I did.
He never called me back.
About a week later, we were still observing this sort of thing, so I called back.
Again, no response.
Then, the behavior seemed to stop.
In Mid-November, activity picked up again, but with a new wrinkle. One of the “visitors” was a friend of mine who I knew had been in jail for drug-related activity. This disturbed me because I knew he had been clean and was trying to pull his life back together.
After seeing him a few times, I decided to call the police again, without mentioning his identity.
Again they failed to return my call.
I gave up.
This week, on our walk, my attention was drawn to a car traveling at a very high rate of speed. Others on the street noticed this as well, indicated by them watching the speeder. I also remember the car because I used to drive one just like it: Make, model and color.
As I passed the abovementioned house, a man emerged, entered a car which then drove away. It was the same car.
So, I called the police again, ID’d myself and asked for the same narcotics officer.
I got the same voice mail, but nobody ever called me back.
Now, I didn’t reveal anything about where I saw anything, or what it was I had seen.
My question is, how can the police continue to ignore when a citizen wants to report what might be a crime?
It’s no secret there is drug activity going on in Brattleboro.
Why don’t the cops give a $H!T?
Civilian Insensitivity
I’m actually surprised and disappointed by this behavior.
Not the cop’s behavior, but yours.
Everything you relate here is based on an assumption based on suspicion. At no time do you actually seem to possess any concrete evidence of either wrongdoing or intentional harm. And, the few times you see your friend in this “pattern” you do not give him the benefit of the doubt. Some friend you are. Instead of a “friendly” word of concern to him you call the police, but, you do him a favor because you don’t mention his identity.
What exactly would you have said to the police if they had called you back?
When you called the police you “didn’t reveal anything about where I saw anything, or what it was I had seen.” You immediately give the police the impression that you’re unreliable. You call in and give them hearsay, you do give your identity, but no substantiating information and when they don’t call back you conclude that the police don’t give a “$hit”” which is insulting. Then you go on to demean them by replacing the letter “s” with “$” implying that they are corrupt.
I thought you understood that the problem with drugs is not the people, but that it is the drug war’s criminalization of people for their behavior that is the problem. There are “drugs” in every town. And while, it’s true, that the majority of drug use, across the board, is not abuse, there are a minority who do have abuse problems. But this drug war mentality breeds suspicion and irrational behavior based on that minority.
If you are really concerned about so-called drugs in Brattleboro, perhaps your response could have been a bit more deliberative and a better use of knowledge and the ability to judge the particular situation.
It's a No Brainer
Of course the police should have returned the call. I don’t understand your need to go off on someone for trying to do the right thing.
Why go off on the police…?
Just because someone has suspicions doesn’t mean that the action taken as described above was “doing the right thing.” As CDoubleday mentions, it was completely circumstantial and under current law police rightfully go after the big movers.
And, no I don’t agree that the police should have returned the call, again, based on the description above. We do not possess enough info from either side as to what happened here.
Moreover, this is a small town. I see no reason why he couldn’t have walked to the police station and addressed this directly with them, if he was put off by no call returned, and if, he was as concerned as he claims.
His narrative above describes passage of time of nearly half of a year!
Gee, how important could it have been for him to “do the right thing” but yet allow 6 months to go by??
Vidda, you missed the point completely.
It’s not about drugs, it’s about the police.
When I called, I told them my name and phone number. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn’t reveal my location. The police didn’t even know if it was about a crime, real or imaginary.
When a citizen calls the police four times, to not call back, or have somebody else do it is negligence.
—What exactly would you have said to the police if they had called you back—
I would have told them that I regularly see behavior that circumstantially suggests drug activity to me, and if they are not aware of it, they should check it out. I would then describe the behavior and identify the location. I would leave the investigation, if any, to them to follow up if they felt it necessary. I don’t see anything here that suggests reliability, or lack thereof. I gave nobody “hearsay”
—Then you go on to demean them by replacing the letter “s” with “$” implying that they are corrupt..—
Again, you miss the point and assume too much. Replacing the letter “s” with “$” is simply a device for avoiding filters. I also substituted an “!” for an “i” for the same reason.
I personally feel that drugs, (ALL drugs) should be legal (not just decriminalized), controlled and taxed, just like we do with alcohol and tobacco. I believe that making drugs illegal and then declaring a phony “war” on them has harmed individuals and society as a whole far more than the drugs themselves ever could. And it’s spawned a whole new privatized prison industry. (Provides jobs, though).
In addition, the very illegality of drugs has made it very lucrative to trade in them, a fact well known by Mafias, urban street gangs and even our government, its intel agencies and military.(And other governments as well). Illicit drug dealing has paid for “black ops” for years: for stuff they didn’t want the public to know about, or for which they could not get funding from congress, etc.
Think “Iran Contra”. Do most people realize these illicit trades were funded by cocaine? Where is the opium (and its derivative, heroin) coming from that is flooding the world? Do you think the Afghan warlords could get it to market without the cooperation of our military and government agencies? What were the “opium wars of the 19th century all about?
This is not an innocent thing, like kids selling each other joints. This is breeding other forms of crime. On a local level, due to its proximity to I-91, Brattleboro has become a gateway town. People living in the cities down country where drugs are abundant, bring them up here and set up shop. In October 2013, a federal jury in Rutland found Frank Caraballo, of Holyoke, MA, guilty of murder and conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine and crack. The prosecution accused Caraballo of murdering Melissa Barratt of Brattleboro, who made money selling drugs for him, with a gunshot to the head in the woods off Dummerston’s East West Road. Caraballo had suspected Barratt of stealing a safe containing thousands of dollars of drugs, which her former roommate testified she indeed did.
It costs money to “do” drugs like Coke and Heroin. More than a minimum wage job can provide. The answer is petty theft and/or dealing. (And an element of dealing is “promotion”, commonly providing free samples to non-users.)
And on another local level, automobile burglaries in Brattleboro have become so commonplace the cops no longer investigate them. About once a week, someone I know complains their car has been broken into. Locking your car is no guarantee. If they can’t jimmy the lock, they break a window. On at least 4 occasions, I have come down and found the contents of my glove compartment strewn on the pavement. It wasn’t squirrels.
Yes, I understand this is not proof of drug activity, but a simple application of “Occam’s razor” suggests that it is. It’s not mothers trying to feed their kids.
It’s not what good neighbors and good policing is all about.
Yes Tom I do know….And it is why I said I agree with you on most matters (possibly all, as I cannot remember disagreeing with you before).
Nevertheless, this narrative troubles me still. And, because I do indeed know your intent is “it’s about the police.“
But, it’s really about the fact that you called the police 4 times over roughly 5 months, each time telling them nothing, except by way of leaving your name and number in the voicemail of a narcotics officer.
Let’s say the police were negligent as you say. And, two week before this post there was a deadly incident at the place you observed. Who would be negligent then? After all, you already had 4 months of your own surveillance under your belt. And, while it’s true that you called and received no reply, neither did you advance your suspicions in the best interest of the community. Were you giving the police the proverbial “rope?”
My feeble deliberative powers would probably think then that the negligence should be equality divided. As it is, neither you nor the police followed up in those 4 months. However, had you taken the initiative, you might have forestalled my hypothetic deadly incidence.
No Tom. It is not about the police, and it has failed the “simple application of “Occam’s razor.”” The complication being that this test of wills or the lack of them is not what good neighbors and good policing is all about.
Not surprising
Really I’m with vidda on this one, it’s not surprising they didn’t call you back because it’d be a waste of their time. There’re literally thousands of drug users in Brattleboro, and the behavior you describe is both a common every day occurrence and completely circumstantial. Most likely it’s just a small time user and a few friends anyhow, but in any case it takes police months and months of research just to bust those. They’re going after the big movers, and since there’s only ONE guy in charge of the narcotics team, you can be sure he’s got his plate full with alot more important stuff than listening to some nosy neighbors complain about small time crime.
CPCC
First off, Tom, you can fill out the new forms and take the matter to the CPCC.
Second, it does seem a bit odd that three calls got no response whatsoever, regardless of the subject matter. I can see ignoring one or two, but by the third report one might think that a call back would calm the caller. Or at least shut them up for a while.
It could be that they get so many calls about this location they feel it is well known, under surveillance, and ready to be popped. Or perhaps you were reporting an undercover agent. Or, as others say, it is all just a coincidence and simply appears odd if a viewer lacks more info.
Seeing a user friend enter and leave multiple times, though… (how about asking him/her what they are doing?)
I’m assuming Jake is being walked along Elliot Street between School and Elm. If so, people have been making these sorts of reports about that vicinity, and some pretty specific addresses, for years. A friend lived across the street from for a while and noticed similar things, and I’m pretty sure made similar reports.
Citizens have been encouraged to report suspicious behavior, especially in the last decade. It often leads to nothing, or something that can be explained easily. But that only happens after it is checked out, officially. Not getting a response might lead one to NOT report something in the future.
Tough issue, and Brattleboro isn’t alone. There seems to be an explosion of people relieving their pain in all sorts of strange new ways.
Snitching is another form of surveillance
I’m familiar with the opinions of Tom and Chris and am usually in agreement, particularly, Chris’s comments here I see as constructive.
But as this story is presented, it troubles me, some of which I’ve mentioned above.
Since 9/11 one of the “explosions” I’ve seen is that we are turning too many people into snitches. NYC is rife with a snitching culture.
One oft-repeated slogan is “If you see something, say something.” This slogan is ubiquitous in the city. They announce it over the entire subway PA system. It’s almost as if “reasonable suspicion” isn’t what’s important, but that if you see anything that doesn’t fit your peg, you report it. Well, NYC is now a police state. It is a militaristically armed camp, with soldiers dressed in camouflage, armed with multiple weapons and who knows what, frequently accompanied by sniff dogs. (Why they dress in jungle camouflage I think is meant as an intimidate, otherwise, camouflage there is useless.
Snitching is another form of surveillance, only we are the hot-blooded drones.
I don’t expect this useless drug-war to end in my lifetime…too much money in war, any war.
But the least we can do is change our attitudes about the “minority” who have abuse problems and be more understanding and supportive of the “majority “ who use, but do not abuse drugs (with the exception of cigarettes, of course…).
A Solution
Tom, there’s a simple solution. Next time you call, switch the word “terrorist” for the word “drugs.”
?
?