What percentage of your interactions with police, over your lifetime, have been negative?

[milestogo]

24. I know what you mean.

This example is not nearly as bad, but it does illustrate that cops like to push people around.

One night I'm lying in bed listening to someone's dog bark for hours and hours. I live in an apartment building. I had a rough idea where it was coming from but I really didn't know. I called the police, expecting they would take a walk around the building to figure it out - since there was nonstop barking.

When they got there an hour later, they went straight to the door of my neighbor across the hall. He's been reported in the past for a barking dog, but on this night the dog was fast asleep in his bed.

Since the police woke him up, and he was not at fault, the interaction was pretty rough. The police would not listen to him at all. I was frankly afraid to open my door, although I heard the whole thing. Lots of shouting, a little scary. The police finally left saying that if they got any more calls he would be ticketed.

I went back to bed, and listened to this dog barking until dawn, when the owner came home.

I apologized to the neighbor across the hall. The dog barked for 5 more nights, all night, and other people heard it too. Finally I narrowed it down to 2 apartments and told the building manager. She said she did not know of any dogs in either of those apartments, but she would talk to both.

So the culprit was an unauthorized pet with severe separation anxiety who barked when his owner left for work at 9:45 pm and did not stop till he came home in the morning.

The police were totally useless. So I'll think twice before I call them again for something like that.