Crime in Cemeteries
A bit of advice: don't visit cemeteries near closing time or whenever there are not a lot of people present. And lock up your valuables in your car (but keep your cell phone and pepper spray handy). Cemeteries seem like such peaceful, sacred places that crime is the last thing you might think about while visiting, but there are robberies and other crimes going on in cemeteries that we are not being told about, which I found out in my research following a personal incident. If you think about it, it makes sense: cemeteries are often isolated places cut off visually from the street and surrounding areas, with lots of nooks and crannies, and when nearly empty, they are a perfect place for a crime. The best time to go is when there are lots of other people there; for example, on Easter Sunday right after services.
My mother and I suffered a frightening incident at Gate of Heaven cemetery in Wheaton, Maryland, a while back. We called 911 to report that two men were menacing us on foot and would not let us get back into our car, and that we were "terrified." We had been alone at first with these men but, fortunately, several other people came to visit the cemetery and stayed with us until the incident was over. One of them got the gatekeeper and he got our car. The men finally gave up and left. It took the Wheaton district police at least 15 minutes to arrive after our emergency 911 call.
The men exited the cemetery gates in their white box truck just as a policeman was arriving. The policeman used no siren or flashing lights and didn't seem to be in much of a hurry. I waved him over to my car and explained that I was the person who had called. He said he had noticed the truck on its way out. I suggested that he might want to have the cemetery patrolled more often, especially in the half-hour or so before closing time, and he nodded his agreement. The police later told my mother that they are not responsible for patrolling the cemetery because it is private property. When I spoke with a policeman about the incident the following week, he told me the dispatcher had put my call on "non-priority" and that's why it took them so long to arrive. He was unable to explain why my call was put on non-priority status.
If two women are being menaced by two men in a cemetery who won't let them return to their car, and they call 911 to report that they are terrified, how is that a non-priority? Why did it take the Wheaton police at least 15 minutes to respond? Why did the officer mosey into the cemetery in an unhurried manner and tell us that he had been sitting around on a coffee break nearby while we were undergoing our little piece of hell? I still don't understand the lack of a proper police response. If it weren't for the fortuitous arrival of others, God only knows what would have happened to us -- robbery or worse. The police would have shown up just in time to file a report on the crime.
I've had to make a few other 911 calls in my life, some of which were answered promptly (such as the time a life-threatening fight spilled over into my front yard, and the police showed up within a few minutes). I know they have a tough job and mistakes can be made, but I still ask myself why the Wheaton police did not take our frantic call from the cemetery seriously. Is it because we were women and, therefore, probably just imagining things -- as a Washington Post newspaperman suggested when I contacted him about the incident and the issue of area cemetery security? Is it because we had reported two men in a white box truck, which fit the erroneous description of the snipers that had been in the area the previous year? I can imagine the police must have gotten a lot of "white box truck" calls during that period that led nowhere, but I would hope they wouldn't make assumptions that could endanger people, like the assumption the 911 dispatcher made in Detroit recently that a 5-year-old who called about his collapsed mother was a prankster. Following the instructions he had been given by adults about emergencies, the poor child called twice but it took them over an hour to respond, and that woman died. Or the assumptions made by various emergency personnel about the supposed drunkenness of the fellow in DC who was beaten by a robber and lost consciousness. He died too, after being ignored for over an hour on a gurney. How many more pleas for help are ignored that we don't hear about?
Our outcome could have been much worse too. We are especially grateful to the people who happened to show up in the middle of our ordeal and who stayed with us until the incident was over. Our rescue was due to the kindness of strangers -- and the grace of God. The good news is that the two men finally did not get whatever it was they wanted, but they robbed us of something I'm sure they cared nothing about: our peace of mind when visiting our departed loved ones. Never again will I go and sit alone for a half-hour on my father's grave just to meditate on his life.
We hope that efforts will be made to increase security at cemeteries, especially near closing time, and that 911 dispatchers will be trained not to make potentially fatal assumptions. Mistakes are made, and people die. If you call 911, you might get lucky and someone might show up in time. Or they might not.
My mother and I suffered a frightening incident at Gate of Heaven cemetery in Wheaton, Maryland, a while back. We called 911 to report that two men were menacing us on foot and would not let us get back into our car, and that we were "terrified." We had been alone at first with these men but, fortunately, several other people came to visit the cemetery and stayed with us until the incident was over. One of them got the gatekeeper and he got our car. The men finally gave up and left. It took the Wheaton district police at least 15 minutes to arrive after our emergency 911 call.
The men exited the cemetery gates in their white box truck just as a policeman was arriving. The policeman used no siren or flashing lights and didn't seem to be in much of a hurry. I waved him over to my car and explained that I was the person who had called. He said he had noticed the truck on its way out. I suggested that he might want to have the cemetery patrolled more often, especially in the half-hour or so before closing time, and he nodded his agreement. The police later told my mother that they are not responsible for patrolling the cemetery because it is private property. When I spoke with a policeman about the incident the following week, he told me the dispatcher had put my call on "non-priority" and that's why it took them so long to arrive. He was unable to explain why my call was put on non-priority status.
If two women are being menaced by two men in a cemetery who won't let them return to their car, and they call 911 to report that they are terrified, how is that a non-priority? Why did it take the Wheaton police at least 15 minutes to respond? Why did the officer mosey into the cemetery in an unhurried manner and tell us that he had been sitting around on a coffee break nearby while we were undergoing our little piece of hell? I still don't understand the lack of a proper police response. If it weren't for the fortuitous arrival of others, God only knows what would have happened to us -- robbery or worse. The police would have shown up just in time to file a report on the crime.
I've had to make a few other 911 calls in my life, some of which were answered promptly (such as the time a life-threatening fight spilled over into my front yard, and the police showed up within a few minutes). I know they have a tough job and mistakes can be made, but I still ask myself why the Wheaton police did not take our frantic call from the cemetery seriously. Is it because we were women and, therefore, probably just imagining things -- as a Washington Post newspaperman suggested when I contacted him about the incident and the issue of area cemetery security? Is it because we had reported two men in a white box truck, which fit the erroneous description of the snipers that had been in the area the previous year? I can imagine the police must have gotten a lot of "white box truck" calls during that period that led nowhere, but I would hope they wouldn't make assumptions that could endanger people, like the assumption the 911 dispatcher made in Detroit recently that a 5-year-old who called about his collapsed mother was a prankster. Following the instructions he had been given by adults about emergencies, the poor child called twice but it took them over an hour to respond, and that woman died. Or the assumptions made by various emergency personnel about the supposed drunkenness of the fellow in DC who was beaten by a robber and lost consciousness. He died too, after being ignored for over an hour on a gurney. How many more pleas for help are ignored that we don't hear about?
Our outcome could have been much worse too. We are especially grateful to the people who happened to show up in the middle of our ordeal and who stayed with us until the incident was over. Our rescue was due to the kindness of strangers -- and the grace of God. The good news is that the two men finally did not get whatever it was they wanted, but they robbed us of something I'm sure they cared nothing about: our peace of mind when visiting our departed loved ones. Never again will I go and sit alone for a half-hour on my father's grave just to meditate on his life.
We hope that efforts will be made to increase security at cemeteries, especially near closing time, and that 911 dispatchers will be trained not to make potentially fatal assumptions. Mistakes are made, and people die. If you call 911, you might get lucky and someone might show up in time. Or they might not.
posted by Christine M. Hanson | 2:18 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, you're getting prolific! Nice to be able to say what you think about response of public officials where people can read it, isn't it?
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