Block Watch

[Mattv]

Hello,

I have a question about the block watch system and how far the residents are able to take things.

Here's the story :


My girlfriend is a care aide at an old folks home here in Abbotsford and I pick her up from behind the building from time to time, Today she was waiting for me come and a stream of about 4 to 5 residents from the apartments came out one by one to question what it is she's doing, She explained she had just got off work and is waiting for her ride - Most of these residents said oh ok were just on block watch sorry about that and carry on. However this one lady asked what she was doing, she again explained she had just got off work and works right here at the lodge, The lady then called her a liar and said shes here for a drug deal. This is where I question how far they can go.


My girlfriend still wearing her full scrubs attire said no, im here waiting for my ride to come at that point the lady asked for ID so she shows the lady her Drivers license, Care Aide badge - The lady says how do I even know this is you? and insists she's here for a drug deal and say's " I'm going to write down the license plate number of the vehicle that comes to pick you up and report it to the police " my Girlfriend says O.K. thats fine, only to have the lady continue to insist she is waiting for a drug dealer, Again my girlfriend says no im not only to receive this response as the lady walks away : " Yeah ok skank keep waiting for your fix "


My girlfriend looks nothing like a druggy. Sure enough at this point the lady had 2 others standing with her and writing down my plate numbers to report to the police as I showed up.


My girlfriend told me story as we were driving away but didn't get to the part where the lady called her name's- Now correct me if im wrong but isn't SHE harrassing my girlfriend? and is this legal? My girlfriend is very honest she doesn't have anything to hide and supports what they are doing so to help she shows her ID which is absolutely not required.


I respect what they are doing and I just laughed and said its fine until she got to telling me about the rude lady and it wasn't so OKAY anymore.


Is this something my girlfriend can report?


Also with my license plate being reported as a "possible drug dealer" I now get to enjoy the possiblity of being pulled over at random because of this - correct? Thats fine if it happens I just find it to be wrong how far she went.


Any advice?

[Supafly]

change your plates...and what you describe is somewhat verbal harrassment and destruction of personal something....?

if i was her, i'd be the one calling the non-emergency line.

[stutterr]

Well you would have been better off to call a non-emergency line ASAP. If someone, especially an older, possibly senile person is accusing you, respond with a solution. To go ahead and drive off is only further incriminating yourself.

She is accusing you of a crime, and more or less causing a disturbance. I would call into the abby police department and talk to someone about this. If you GF works there, this may cause potential problems. To not deal with this may cost her a job, and her reputation.

Maybe try picking her up at the front, it will look less suspicious and be safer for her and you. The back of a building, at night is no place to pickup anyone. Maybe the building has trouble with drug traffic, better to put yourself and your girl out of harms way. Grab her where its in clear plain view, so she is not under any suspicion.

[Soundy]

stutterr has some good points there - I wouldn't worry so much about me, if I were you, but those sorts of accusations COULD affect your GF's work.

One of the first things she should do is report the incident to her manager/supervisor at the care center, so they hear it from her - imagine if the Block Watch lady goes to the manager there, or even just writes a letter (e-thuggin' FTL)... she won't just say, "This suspicious girl was hanging out in back of your place", you just KNOW she's gonna start with, "I saw this girl waiting for a drug deal, and she said her name was (name) and showed me some fake-looking ID from your center...". First thing the suits hear there is, one of their employees may have been involved in a drug deal... shoot first and ask questions later. It's better that your GF get the first shot in: relate the incident exactly as it happened and warn them that they may be hearing from these particular Block Watch people.

In other words, the GF needs to go into CYA mode here.

And yeah, her offering to call the cops herself at the time is a good idea too. Not in a threatening, I'm-reporting-you-for-harassment way, but in an I'm-calling-your-bluff way. "You want to report me to the cops? Okay... I'll do the dialing. Let's sort this out right now."

I ran into one of those once - working on my car in the back alley behind my grandmother's place, when I looked up to see some Asian woman standing there holding her three-or-four year old kid... she started going on about me trying to entice the kid, wanting to kidnap him, blah blah blah (yeah, right, I'd had my head under the car for the last half hour solid). I tried to tell her, no way, I'm just here working on my car... she started threatening to call the cops. So I said, fine, you wait here, I'll get a phone, and we'll call them. That's when she started backing away, telling me just to leave her kid alone... I told her again, you wanna talk to the cops, I'll go call them for you right now... she just left and I never saw or heard from her again.

[skidmark]

People in Block Watch have no more or no fewer powers to do anything than you do. They are simply an organization for self protection that act as a set of eyes and ears for the police to record and report suspicious activity.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by skidmark

People in Block Watch have no more or no fewer powers to do anything than you do. They are simply an organization for self protection that act as a set of eyes and ears for the police to record and report suspicious activity.

Unfortunately, they DO have the ABILITY to make things sticky for the GF with her job, especially if she's in a position of trust over other people, as she would be in a retirement home.

[wnderinguy]

Originally Posted by skidmark

People in Block Watch have no more or no fewer powers to do anything than you do. They are simply an organization for self protection that act as a set of eyes and ears for the police to record and report suspicious activity.

Don't they also have certain limitations,or meet certain requirements?I would think making accusations and asking for ID would/should have them deemed unsuitable for the Block watch program.

[jeffh]

^ i think Skidmarks point is, she didnt have to show anyone her ID and could have just told the old lady to go F*** her hat.

but at this point id say Soundy has the best advice, pre-emptive strike for sure, that way when the old bag comes by to stir shit, the girls manager will jsut tell her to gtfo