Get the idiot who is the president of the Civic Club to call them. I am the idiot.
Our civic club received a call from an elderly couple who lives in the neighborhood to report that someone had broken into their vehicle overnight. I listened carefully to try to understand them as their English is not very good. I gathered that they wanted to report that their car was broken into last night. I told them to call the police, and they explained that all they got was a recording. I made sure they called the correct number as a person was supposed to answer, and they had.
So I called the non-emergency number (713) 884-3131. For some reason, even at 1 pm, the lines were busy, and it took me about six minutes to get a person who spoke English.
The person who answered wanted them to call when they got to a live person, and they would get an interpreter. I asked him, how are they to know that?
During the frustrating call, I told him if they did not want to send an officer, just tell me. I stated that the easiest thing to do if they have Vietnamese interpreters is to just call them, I gave them the phone number. I was told they couldn’t do that.
My gut feeling is they didn’t want to send anyone.
The Civic Club encourages residents to call the police, I did not realize that for those that are not Spanish or English speakers, another obstacle existed.
The crime can be reported online, but I guess some people want the presence of a police officer to feel safer. In this case, I don’t think they have an internet connection.
Read the blog comments on police and crime here.