Baltimore, December 9, 2000:
We get a call for disorderly on Somethingleaf Court. Turns into an armed person. Housing won’t take it. Man is there as promised. We get there and I frisk him. [Officer C] has his gun out. No gun. The guy said he gave this woman $20 for “you know, whatever”. He said he has “relations” to the woman. Vaughn warns him he could be locked up for solicitation. Advises the guy to walk away before he gets arrested. He leaves.
There is a call later that he came back, but housing does handle that call. “But officer,” I joke, “last time you just told me to tell the truth!” Of course I’m somewhat serious. If he lied to us he would have been told to tell the truth. But telling the truth about a crime? You can get locked up. Of course, as a cop will tell you, if he hadn’t been doing anything illegal… Still, this is why people think the police won’t do shit. Of course, even if he had been robbed of $20 unarmed, we would just tell him to go to the court commissioner.
I pull up next to [J.W.] at 4AM at 500 Caroline, next thing you know it’s 7AM! Looks like that “sleepy monster” got me, too.
B+E at 2210 Jefferson at 0722 hrs. I got 3.3 hours overtime, so that’s all right (that’s 7.5 for the week–didn’t get any at all last paycheck). Got in through the 2nd floor window. A nice couple, good home. Being on overtime and liking the couple, I decide to do a very thorough investigation.
I search the vacants nearby for property and don’t find any. One quote from [Mrs. Victim]: “The local yo-boys…” and about a neighbor “they’re part of the problem.” [Mr. Victim] says he saw one of his hoodlum neighbors standing outside when he left. I go to that home during my neighborhood canvass. He opens the door and I stand on the threshold, not really on the stoop by not in the home either. I mention that one of their neighbors had some property stolen and if they heard anything.
Not the guy who opened the door, but another comes up and says, “you got no right to be up in my house!” Strange cause I wasn’t in his house. (or: Like hell I don’t!). Now having articulable suspicion they were involved, and worried that any property could be moved from the home if I were to leave. I go in and give a quick visual inspection of their ground floor. Nothing in there. The guy is pretty pissed and I’m thinking of arresting him for assault (getting in my face), but I decide I don’t want that much overtime. [Nor am I 100% certain about the legality of my entry into the house] He says he wants to complain. I give him my card and tell him to go ahead. I write the above in my report. He didn’t complain. [Given your card was always a disarming way to get people not to complain.]
[Two other officers] were there late, too. Made a 7AM lockup on 800 N. Madeira. About 12 vials [of crack]. [One of them] was pissed off that he had to stick around for his lockup. “Goddamn felony CDS lock-up.”
I backed up [V.] on Patterson Park. Some vacant we didn’t go into because of a big dog. [B.] mentioned that [L.] used to screw some 19-year-old in that house. [L.] later confirmed it by saying, “What a big mouth! Why’d he have to say anything. Yeah, I used to date a girl who lived there. A nice girl too.”