Tonight I watched a pizza shop owner run into a family's yard where he threatened the 5, 6, and 7 year old children of two families with a beating, and screamed at them at the top of his lungs that if they did "that" again, it'd be the last thing they'd ever do. The youngest kid ran upstairs and hid. Another hid in the backyard for the next 40 minutes. The other two just stood flabbergasted. What they'd done, was been running around the backyard with sticks and one of the sticks accidentally banged off the pizza place's vent, apparently making a banging sound inside. His immediate answer was the prior story. Not a request, not asking, not even talking to the parents who were home at the time. But going and threatening to beat the 5-7 year olds to death.
I confronted him about this in a reasonable manner, telling him he'd gone too far and maybe being more reasonable next time would be good. His answer was to come back and continue to give the kids a hard time. He threatened to call the police on them when their 12 year old sister and 15 year old sister yelled at him about his previous actions. So they called the police. After all, kids have been taught that the police are here to protect right?
The police showed up, listened to myself, an adult tell them the full story (I'd been sitting right next to my window where I'm sitting now as I write this, and observed the whole thing), then said he wasn't sure he could do anything. I asked him wasn't threatening 6 year olds a crime? He answered sure, but maybe the shop owner would want him to arrest the kids too. I used my flashlight (by the time they arrived it was dark out) to show him the back of the shop was a concrete wall and no damage had been, or could be done by the 6 year old children. He said they might have broken a window and he wanted to get the shop owner's side. (Bear in mind, there are no windows on the back wall of this building.)
He went and spoke to the owner, then called someone and spoke on the phone for a few minutes. He returned to advise us no crime had been committed by the owner trespassing on the property to threaten the children, and that he was going to tell him not to do it again. He blamed his sergeant, saying he was the one who had said no crime had been committed.
If you're a police officer in this city-or any city-and you're not there to help 6 year olds being threatened by angry strangers over-reacting to them playing, then what exactly are you here to do? Is there anyone in this city more deserving of your protection? Shame on you officer, and your sergeant, for not doing your job for those in this city that need your help the most.
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