Tuesday, September 5, 2006

You really hate the police.

Wow, BCrime readers don't have much nice to say about the Baltimore Police. Only 17 of 113 respondents reported never having a negative experience. Reckless driving, rudeness, slow response times, refusing to take a report, arrests without cause .... I guess we already knew the BPD had a major PR problem, but that's pretty bad. Assuming the BPD cares what citizens think, how could it repair its image? Is it even possible?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Even if you didn't mean it, your poll is constructed in a way that nothing other than the BPD being a rotten police force would be the prevailing opinion of the respondents. You ask a yes or no question -- Have you ever had a bad experience with the BPD? -- and then provide one choice for "no" and EIGHT choices for "yes." How could you think the outcome would be something other than the one you got?

Anonymous said...

As in, "No, no bad experience, they just broke my kneecaps." ??

The cardinality of Yes responses may be leading, but is not determinative.

If someone had no negative reaction, they would still answer no. If 99% had no negative reaction, they'd still answer "No."

The more serious bias would be that the subpopulation of residents which reads this blog is likely selected from those who feel have had problems with crime.

Those who live in doorman buildings in prime neighborhoods and work at secured government facilities probably have no contact with cops, so that their 'favorable' response is underrepresented since they don't read here.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Obviously it's not scientific, the respondents are self-selected. But assuming people are telling the truth, why does it matter how many 'yes' options there are? If it was 'yes' or 'no' that's still an 85 percent 'yes,' yes?

And I am surprised. I've never had anything but good experiences, personally.

Anonymous said...

Yes, yes?

Lots of no-no's in the po-po.

Anonymous said...

I don't know, I mean is "Seen police car driven recklessly" really a negative experience? I guess so if you got cut off by a cop for no good reason, but what if he was flying by with lights on and siren blazing? Or what if you're walking down the street and you see a cop cut someone else off or run a red light or stop sign or something? Is that really impacting you negatively? Would you not call the cops if you needed them because you saw one drive like a tool one time? And that was the majority of the "yes" answers.

Maybe I'm just obtuse and not getting the simplicity, but "yes" and "no" doesn't really give people anything to think about. One "no" and eight "yes, and here's how..."s sure do. Seems on the determinative side to me.

Also, if it's an unscientific poll (which pretty much every poll ever polled is), why would the BPD even think to worry about a PR problem they're having? The results of this one don't mean anything.

Again, obtuse over here. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

sc, you're not being obtuse at all.
You are making a lot of sense. The poll is skewed towards police-haters.

Anonymous said...

OK, now I'm just a bit offended. I am not a police-hater. Quite the opposite, I have been calling for the hiring of many good cops. And the firing of many bad ones. Including the Commissioner.

The fact is that an environment in which most residents in a patrol area do not trust cops is one in which the job is gonna be far more resource-intensive. More like being a CO than being a neighborhood cop. Hence, you need four times as many officers to get the job done. When you don't hire them, you do not get the job done. Hence, the firing of the Commissioner.

As for the PR problem, frankly this administration doesn't give a damn how lousy it looks. Or is. Hopefully the voters will. If you want an ineffectual statewide goon squad, vote O'Malley.

Anonymous said...

Your are right when you say this administration doesn't care how it looks. That's because they never come out of their offices to have contact with the people. What do they care if some officer they don't know and don't care about is hated by the population making his or her job harder because of their BS policies?

The administration looks like THEY don't even like police so what do they care if the police have negative PR?

Hoodlum said...

Look BCPD has failed for two decades now. Seriously go across the street from police HQ, to the police memorial and you'll see drug dealers, belligrent homeless, and crack vials everywhere. Hell, people stole parts of the memorial, which is across the street, in the line of sight, of BCPD HQ and Central Station.

But then again, what do you expect from a police force that hires people with just GEDs?

Anonymous said...

I was talking about the poll.

The poll is skewed in favor of people who have an axe to grind with police (police-haters).

I realize its not scientific. But, I can't help but notice that there are no items like ...

"has an officer helped you out when you were in trouble"

"do you appreciate that BPD officers have been killed on duty?"

The list can go on and on, but I guess its easier to complain than to praise.

I appreciate the work the police does. I understand the point that there should be more of them, but given the circumstances, they are doing a great job.

Unknown said...

I have had good experoences, but unfortunately, I can count more negative than positive, like the lazy bum of a cop who rides up my block every night and asks me what I am doing anytime I'm on my steps, but disregards the guys on the corner 2 blocks away who are there everyday and committing crime everyday.

Ot os dependent i think on location, cops in lower to middle class neighborhoods like mine seem to be just going through the motions, while my family that lives in Roland Park can get a 5 minute response for a broken car window while i called for an assault at my job and it took almost 20.

Mind you both Remington and Roland Park are in the Northern.

Sucks to live in Remington i guess

Maurice Bradbury said...

I wonder, Liz, how much has to do with what cops feel like dealing with (wouldn't you rather take the broken window so the other guy has to deal with the assault?).

A lot of response time has also got to do with the Northern being huge and there being, like, one car on patrol at a given time. If something else happens to be going on when you need help, you're screwed. Also factor in the dispatchers and how well they give a location and description.

Anonymous said...

A fair number of the cops also take the view that if you cared about a decent response time, you wouldn't be living in Remington, Waverly, Harwood, etc. and therefore, since you are living there you're sorta ok with the crime, while it's very much foreign to the nice people of Roland Park/Tuscany/Guilford.

Hence, they get better response because they're not hoodlums, like you and I apparently are for living here. And there's nothing quite like being yourself arrested (yet uncharged, hence released) after having called them for service.

Get In On It.

Unknown said...

I see your point Not a Man, but from personal experience, I do see plenty of police in the area... there is always a dozen or so at Wyman Park Restaurant where one of my good friends work taking hour long lunch breaks in uniform, or there is the one who sleeps away half his shift on 26th near the corner where my brother was killed during the midday, or whatever shift covers between the hours of 5-8pm.

While there may be a shortage of readily available officers, the available ones seem to be out to lunch at time, mentally and literally.

Anonymous said...

Where do people go to buy drugs ???

• 2711 Jefferson Street STASH HOUSE
• 2713 Jefferson Street STASH HOUSE
• 2715 Jefferson Street STASH HOUSE
• 2719 Jefferson Street STASH HOUSE
• 2710 Orleans Street STASH HOUSE
• 2709 Orleans Street STASH HOUSE
• 2704 Orleans Street STASH HOUSE
• 411 N.Belnord STASH HOUSE
• 419 N.Belnord STASH HOUSE
• 420 N.Belnord STASH HOUSE
• 509 N.Kenwood STASH HOUSE
• FROM 9AM - 7PM

Jefferson Street Bloods

Unknown said...

That anonymous comment has me wondering.. is this someone spamming to sell their own stash or someone doing what is considered the ultimate crime in Balktimore... Snitching?

Or Maybe it is someone who frequents these houses personally?

Either way i don't think I want or need to know