Yesterday evening (8/9/07), I received an email containing the following report that I thought was worth posting. Following that report, I do want to make some comments, some of which I’ve already shared with the sender.
Hi. I thought you might be interested in a rather frightening encounter I had about 45 minutes ago (around 5:30 PM).
I went to Hancock Fabrics on Route 355 in downtown Gaithersburg, just across the street and about a block south of the notorious “Day Laborer 7-11″. They were having a sale at Hancock Fabrics, and I parked about 50 feet from the store entrance.
As I exited the store, I walked a bit left on the sidewalk, toward my car. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of men, about 5 or 6, sitting on the curb, less than 30 feet from the store entrance. I didn’t really look directly at them, just veered away and walked toward my car. I did not look behind me.
As I reached my car to open the driver’s door, I saw that one of the men had followed me. He approached me as I opened the door, standing less than 15 feet from me. He was a generic Hispanic day-laborer type, about 5 feet 5, baseball cap, probably mid 20s/early 30s. He whined “please lady, give me a dollar”.
I very emphatically said ADIOS!! I gave him a stern look. I absolutely wanted to make it clear from the start that I would not indulge him in any way. I hoped that my clear message would result in him turning away. However, that did not happen. He moved toward me. I said ADIOS!! again, and got into the car, closing the door.
He remained standing there, and looked to both sides, as if to case the situation and determine whether there were bystanders who might see us. I became VERY frightened, and quickly turned the ignition, put the car in gear, and exited as fast as possible. He continued to stand there, almost blocking me.
This was more than just panhandling. I’ve been approached for change dozens of times, and never has it been so aggressive IN DAYLIGHT, in a very public place. I felt threatened.
While driving home I pondered whether it was worth it to report this person to the police, and decided against it, not being certain that it would be taken seriously. However, this was definitely what I would consider an act of threat and aggression, and I wonder what might have happened to me had I been less hostile to him.
Toby
I believe that this incident should be reported to the police; I’ve told the sender that it is not too late to do so. Even though it appears that nothing ultimately happened — no physical contact is reported and thus there is likely no action that the police could take even if they knew for sure who had done this — the situation did not feel right to this person, and this is very much the kind of thing that could have turned out badly. If this had been reported immediately after it occurred, a police cruiser likely would have been sent by that location just to take a look and see if there’s anything that’s getting out of hand. Even just knowing the time and place that this sort of thing might be happening — and the descriptions of people who are behaving in this manner — is still useful to the police, and could ultimately help to avert a more serious incident later on.
Note that the non-emergency phone number to use to contact the police is 301-279-8000 — everyone should put this number in their cell phone, and do not hesitate to use it when you see something suspicious or experience something disturbing. Even if it is something as simple as a drunk passed out in a doorway, someone selling flowers from the sidewalk or the median (even collecting donations from the median is illegal in Gaithersburg despite being legal in the County), or people getting rough with each other in a way that just doesn’t seem right — give the police a call and let them decide if it is important (although in the case of people being rough with each other, it might be better to call 911; use your judgement). And when you do think to call, try to pay close attention to the people you’re calling about so that you can give them the best description possible; the better the description, the more the police can do. In a case like that reported above, just think how awful you would feel if you learned that someone matching the description of the person you were bothered by turned out to have robbed or beaten someone else just ten minutes later. Don’t think that you are bothering the police — you are helping them to do their job.
This non-emergency phone number, so that you understand, is directed to the same pool of operators as is 911; it just comes up in their system as a different priority. It could take longer for them to answer, and you may have to wait a bit longer for police response if such response is required. The police can’t be everywhere all the time, and thus the more people they have paying attention, the more effective they can be with the resources they have.
Just one last note: If you call this number, you will be asked if you want to be seen by the officer. I believe they will categorize your response as one of “yes”, “no”, and “reluctant”. Anything but an unequivocal “yes” will fall into one of the other categories, and will likely knock back the priority of the call. Note that if you don’t want to be seen but it is truly a serious situation, you shouldn’t be calling the non-emergency number, you should be calling 911. If you are just providing information for their later use, it probably doesn’t matter. But if you really care, and you are able to do so, answer “yes” to that question. This will give the officer an opportunity to ask you for more information, and you may be able to find out what was really going on and how the police dealt with it.
And, just for completeness, I will note that if you need to contact the Gaithersburg Police Department for any reason other than to report an emergency or other incident, the phone number to use is 301-258-6400.
