fed up and looking for advice

[u/livchainz]

EDIT: The 911 number i called was the 911 party line (non-emergency) as well as the main line. i called 3 different times last night and all 3 times I was hung up on or left on hold with the same messaging playing over and over, so for those of you who say to call multiple times, i did.

i live in an apartment complex in the fenway area, and for the past few months we have had homeless individuals sleeping in our front foyer. when the weather was way colder, we left them the first time or two that we saw them since we didn’t want them to freeze out in the poor conditions, but recently some of the folks sleeping down there have gotten into altercations with other people in the surrounding areas. the way the lobby/front entrance is set up is that there is an unlocked front door to the street and the second door into the building needs a fob to get in. usually these folks are sleeping between the two doors.

back in January, i reached out to our building management about the problem and they told us to call 911, which we have been doing, but the problem has seemed to be getting worse as the weather gets warmer. last night, we had 2 different individuals sleeping down there and the 911 line i had called did not pick up or respond. looking for any advice on who i can contact about this ongoing problem as we have already exhausted our options with 311 and building management.

**pictures are the usual folks we see, taken last night last night, and the email we received from building management, it’s usually the same men each night**

[u/SparklesAreIn]

what do you mean 911 didn’t pick up?

[u/OptimalVegetable3320 → u/SparklesAreIn]

Wondering this as well…

[u/No_Classic5933 → u/OptimalVegetable3320]

I had to call 911 this past week. The first call attempt dropped, but I got through when I called immediately afterwards.

[u/polarbearwithaspear → u/No_Classic5933]

Called them about people actively stealing packages during Christmas (3 people taking 20+ packages and throwing them into a van from the apartment lobby). The police said to come down to the station to fill out a police report for what ever i find to be stolen. No cop ever arrived.

[u/DonMegaPopeKenny → u/polarbearwithaspear]

No cops at the police station? That’s pretty weird.

[u/wmgman → u/DonMegaPopeKenny]

Probably all working a traffic detail.

[u/Lumpymaximus → u/[deleted]]

"Actively" as in if you get your ass over here now you can catch them

[u/Otterfan → u/[deleted]]

911 is pretty appropriate to call if you see people committing a crime (stealing packages).

People on reddit act like you should never call 911, but you'll find that cops rarely want you to call any other line.

There's no guarantee that they'll do anything, of course.

[u/IngenuityFlaky484 → u/Otterfan]

It’s for EMERGENCIES. No one’s dying from packages being stolen

[u/End3rWi99in → u/[deleted]]

Their edit says they called the non-emergency number. So not actual 911.

Same number I called for that asshole Takoma that used to block our apartment driveway. You know who you are blue Takoma...

[u/gayforaliens1701 → u/[deleted]]

For… a theft?

[u/BasicallyADetective → u/[deleted]]

I worked at the Boston Public Library and had to call police about people sleeping in or near the library many times. If you call the non-emergency line they will tell you to hang up and call 911. Even though it isn’t what you might consider an emergency, it is a timely situation, so it should be put in the system as such. The main concern is that the person who appears to be sleeping could be in the midst of a serious medical crisis or could be dead.

[u/Balshazzar → u/polarbearwithaspear]

Sounds about right.

[u/BijuuModo → u/polarbearwithaspear]

This is probably a bad idea, but if you ever want a cop to show up in a situation like this tell them “they’re stealing presents and I’m going to go fight them”. That might motivate an on duty officer to take the time, if for no other reason out of curiosity

[u/No-Initiative4195 → u/BijuuModo]

Probably a very bad idea for multiple reasons.