News-Record.com

Were the perps still on the scene, threatening you? If they were, I'd say you have a valid compliant. If not, well...

"It is very clear that if there is a complaint about drugs or any illegal activity on a specific side of town, the police will be there with no problem."

How is this "very clear"? Do you have inside information as to the goings on of the police dept.?

I guess I'm not very educated--I can't tell somebody's skin color based on their car's appearance. I didn't think my vehicle was white because I am. Actually my vehicle is gray and I've seen people of all sorts driving similar vehicles.

Yet another heavily burdened taxpayer who feels his problem is more important than anyone else's in the city.
It's called asset management- prioritized response based upon pre-determined criteria. If there is a crime in progress, there will be quicker response. If the crime occurred earlier,and there is no suspect present, and little or no evidence present- then you owe it to the 299,999 citizens to give your report over the telephone, call your insurance company, and suck it up.
It appears from your lte that you feel that you deserve special treatment because of your race.

Thank you for this Monday morning laugh. That is the stupidest letter I've read in many a month.

"...I don’t believe in using race as an excuse to get by in life, BUT.....

"this time I do believe race was a factor..."

"It is relevant that racism still exists today"

"The thing with racism..."

Always look for the word BUT, it is very telling.

you may be confused about the crime that occured, or I may be confused at what you are conveying.

A burglary is the breaking and entering of a home at night. This is a very serious crime, on that the police take seriously. Breaking into a car, on the other hand, is far less serious, though still a felony, and one in which arrests are rarely made due to the criminal being able to flee virtually anywhere at a moments notice.

I would be inclined to believe that the police would put off a call about someone's car being broken into, but would be very surprised if they put off a call about someone's home being broken into.

I lived in DC for a long time. My car was broken into almost regularly. I would call the police and they would take a report over the phone. They never showed up. Never. Not a single time. According to them there was really nothing they could do and would just try to catch the guy at the pawn shop with my stuff. They never did. Furthermore, when asked why I should even call the police if they wouldn't do anything, they said that this was the only way to generate a polcie report to satisfy my insurance company. I then asked how they intended to verify that a breaking and entering did occur to my vehicle without sending a cop to at least look at it, and recived a stiff, unfriendly response asking me whether I wanted to make a phone report or not. End of conversation.

As a white person in a largely african american city, I didn't attribute this response, or lack thereof towards any type of racism or bias. Perhaps poor customer service by the police, but nothing worse than that.

I suspect your situation is the same. When you are the victim of a crime, you want the police to take it seriously. When they don't, it is upsetting. If it was your car, though, my experiences tell me that is simply how the police operate (as unfortunate as that may be) and not anything more than that.

You said "This crime occurred on Spring Garden Street, and when I was asked the model of my car, and once the dispatcher could tell my ethnicity, I think that was the reason my situation was taken lightly. It is relevant that racism still exists today."

Could they tell your ethnicity from your model of car or did they ask you?

Christopher, if you look hard enough for racisim you will spot it anywhere you wish it to be.

Not investigating personal property crimes has been the GPD status quo for at least 7 years when a similar event as the letter writer had happened to a good friend of mine.

And if you want to drive drunk, Sunday night appears to be the best time. A couple of years ago I had 911 on the phone for 10 minutes following a drunk who was weaving all over the road and the dispatcher said that all available officers busy were answering other calls and would respond when they had finished.

"The thing with racism is anybody can talk about it but it takes a strong individual to take a stand. That is what needs to be done in Greensboro."

Huh? What stand is being taken? I agree with Rock. In a newspaper that publishes many stupid letters, this is one of them. What would Greensboro be if it didn't have its racism?

As justsomedude pointed out, this sounds like B/E of vehicle as opposed to a burglary. When a property crime happens and the suspects are not around or even witnessed, there is no point in sending a police officer out to the scene with no hope of catching anybody in the area. If you call and make a report over the phone, you have the option of having a crime scene technician respond in order to take photos or collect any evidence or fingerprints. Follow up to the report will then be conducted by a detective, while the insurance company has the required paper work to process a claim.

Even if there was a burglary to a home, if someone comes home to find it well after the fact the response may be the same. It boils down to some people only feeling better if an officer shows up, regardless of whether they actually serve a practical function. Of course, some people will misconstrue anything as racism. It's a shame that people like Mr. Monds will form life long opinions based on ignorance. Unfortunately racial reasoning like that affects all of us, but I try my best to ignore it.

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Chris, here are a few steps you should take now:

1) Get a refund from the college that educated you. They ripped you off.

2) Read the definition of burglary: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/burglary

3) Jaywalking is a crime. Murder is a crime. In that context, kick back and reflect upon your statement that "...I think a crime is a crime no matter the seriousness."

4) Learn that 911 is an emergency number, not a reporting resource for non-emergency issues. Try to grasp the difference.

And a note to the News and Record: Gee, thanks, guys! It's always helpful to stir the racism pot here when some bozo, black or white, writes an idiot's tale of discrimination. You're so helpful in making this a better place to live.

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