Police Ticket Activist, Send Profane Email Over Noise Complaint
Submitted by Allen Gwinn on Sun, 05/21/2006 - 01:03.
Tension between bar owners and neighborhood residents are nothing new on Lower Greenville. So it should come as no surprise that when Suede Bar and Grill opened what they claimed to be the "biggest rooftop bar patio in Texas" complete with live music, someone was bound to call the police.
When the bar turned up the music, Avi Adelman, of BarkingDogs.Org fame, complained.
But instead of the peace and quiet he hoped to find, Adelman ended up getting a ticket himself.
A little over an hour later, Adelman received a profanity-laced email. The sender was traced back to a computer at the Dallas Police Department's Central Operations Division.
The series of events began about 8:00 Saturday evening when Adelman arrived home to the sound of a bar's rooftop sound system. Records show he called 9-1-1 at 8:10 P.M.
Shortly after the call, the noise subsided. About 30 minutes later, Dallas Police Officer Michael Welch, a 4 year veteran of the department, arrived at Adelman's house. Officer Welch asked Adelman for his driver's license and drove away--something Adelman found odd.
"I thought he was on his way to ask the bar to turn down the sound," said Adelman.
A few minutes later, however, Officer Welch returned with a ticket already filled out for "abuse of a 9-1-1 system." Police officers frequently instruct neighbors to call 9-1-1 to report everything from disturbances to parking violations.
"Now I know why [Officer Welch] asked me for my driver's license," noted Adelman.
But did Officer Welch ever make it to Suede Bar and Grill about the noise? The answer is unclear.
St. Joe, Texas Police Chief Ervin and Lieutenant C. Gage work as off-duty security staffers for Suede Bar and Grill. When the pair was asked if Dallas Police officers had been by to speak with owners about loud music, both said "no."
"No one [from the police department] has been here tonight," said Chief Ervin, "but maybe they went to the back door."
At 10:37, Adelman received an email sent through a form on his BarkingDogs.Org website which read:
"HEARD YOU GOT A CITATION FOR ABUSING 911. YOU DERSERVE(sic) THE TICKET YOU SELF SERVING PIECE OF <expletive>...HAVE A NICE DAY. CALL BRETT SHIPP."
Internet registrar records show the message originated from a City of Dallas server. Adelman's logs show that the only messages he's received from the address in question were from computers at the Dallas Police Department's Central Operations Division.
The reference to WFAA television reporter Brett Shipp may indicate the email (and the ticket) was in response to Adelman's cooperation on a Channel 8 investigatiive report into the police department's use of pepper balls against unruly bar patrons.
Dallas Police supervisors, however, took the matter seriously. When Dallas Police Sergeant Richard Rivas was informed of the email he expressed concerned.
"The department doesn't condone that [conduct]," said Sergeant Rivas.
According to Adelman, several supervisors had become involved in the matter before the evening's end. This may ultimately solve the mystery of who sent Adelman the profanity-laden email.
But there may be a bigger question that needs to be answered.
With live rooftop music scheduled by at least two Lower Greenville bars, and the warm nights ahead to draw bar patrons to loftier perches, the ingredients may be there for more clashes.
The big question, however, is: will residents opt to shut up and bear the noise, instead of risking the wrath of a police officer?
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[DEVELOPING]
DPD new officer training
Now that the officer that sent the email to Avi has been purged from the ranks, I guess the DPD's new officer training program should be expanded to explain the finer points of whois/nslookup.
Adelman is making a spectacle of himself
Why does this guy feel like he needs to call a "press conference" to discuss whatever decision the Chief makes. And why is he selling those stupid t-shirts. How exactly does either of the aforementioned items help the community in any way. OK, you reported it, the Chief is handling it... done... next.
Let the Chief do his job and get out of the way.
Proper Use of 911
The police have stated at neighborhood meeting that 9-1-1 is to be used for noise complaints, parking, gunfire, public urination, drug deals, ect. Most of those calls are never answered, but they are logged and compiled to provide a picture for the police dept.
Instead of 9-1-1, Call (214) 744-4444
A couple of readers have pointed out that parking violations are obvious non-emergencies. There are probably numerous other things that fall into this category as well (such as reporting minor accidents) where most of us are accustomed to calling 9-1-1.
Dialing (214) 744-4444 gets you through to the same Dallas Police dispatcher, while not going through the city's 911 system.
However, the issue here isn't about Avi dialing 911, it involves a personal vendetta.
There is no place for a personal vendetta when you're a peace officer sworn to uphold the law. I don't care how unpopular you believe someone is, this conduct is highly inappropriate for a police officer.
It insults all your good and decent colleagues who go above-and-beyond doing their job every day.
It also unfairly reflects poorly on DPD command staff and puts Chief Kunkle in an embarassing position.
It's insulting to me as a taxpayer. The responsible party (parties) need to be found and dealt with.
So-called "Non-Emergency Number"
I was told by some police officers to use the phone number you stated is a "Non-Emergency Line" and I got a ticket for calling. Upon my research with talking with the Communications Staffperson, responsible for "keeper of the records" for 911 communications, he told me this is not correct. He says calls to (214) 744-4444 ARE PROCESSED like a 911 call. He says 311 and 911 calls come into the communications the same way (hence why the operators handle both). The calls are electronically recorded but are erased (actually rerecored over) in a short period of time, and hence actual electronic evidence of the calls is lost.
And some officers are aware that this so-called Non-emergency number is really calling them as a 911, so a person can still be giving a ticket if the police officer wants to. The city ordinance about calling 911 can lead to many people being ticketed by a vindictive cop. I think the ordinance needs to be addressed and polices and procedures put in place so officers cannot unfairly target callers with invalid tickets (whereby many people would have to hire a lawyer and defend themselves).
Citizen Very Concerned about Police actions here
Here Is The Ordinance
Here's the ordinance:
Now I'm no lawyer, but it looks to me as if you don't dial "9-1-1" then this ordinance would not apply. So if you have a record that you dialed "214-744-4444" (like a cell phone record) it seems like you'd be in the clear when it came time for court.
Look, the issue here really isn't whether a disturbance call is a legitimate "9-1-1" call. That can be determined by historical precedent (e.g. "how many calls were placed to 911 for a disturbance, versus how many citations were written for '911 abuse'").
I'm much more interested in the reason why the citation was written and in this section of the Texas Penal Code:
911 is overwhelmed
There are two issues. Just a week or two ago, a story in The Dallas Morning News reported that the city's 911 system was overwhelmed. If residents are using it to report parking violations, I can understand why.
A noise complaint does not constitute an emergency. Distractions like this reduce the ability of the police to respond to real emergencies that may threaten the lives of other residents.
The harrassing email is cause for investigation and disciplinary action. Even a ticket for 911 abuse is over reaction, but, in my mind, this was a case of misuse of the 911 system. Dallas.org would be serving the public well by pointing it out instead of brushing it aside in pursuit of its preferred storyline.
Ed Cognoski ( http://edsops.blogspot.com )
So, How Do You Complain About Noise?
OK, let's suppose I grant you that anything other than something requiring "immediate action to protect life or property" shouldn't be called in to 911.
How, exactly, do you report loud music at 11:00PM at night?
It's a violation of the law and it requires a police officer to enforce it. Certainly you're not suggesting that there are some laws that just don't need to be enforced?
3-1-1
3-1-1 and you might have someone answer...
In reality most everyone uses 9-1-1. And maybe you get an officer in 3, 4, 5 hours?
> ▪ OR ▪
Maybe you'd be lucky enough to have someone 'respond' to your call for police with
this awesome assignment for their shift:
□ When forced to work the station I would receive direct orders (from Sergeants
the Lt. and our Deputy Chief) to sit at a desk and review calls
pending dispatch... I was told it was an official duty assignment...
□ Look at all the low priority calls' comments
□ And if appropriate¹ call the reporting person back to see if I could help them
over the phone
Quality Service huh?
I pissed off more people than I helped.
Who wants an officer, sitting in the station, calling you to do an offense
report or Misc. Incident Report, when you're expecting one to show up?
I wouldn't.
I could't even get past the introduction before the majority would just
become infuriated.
God forbid I try and do something else productive in the office when the call load
was not heavy and the Deputy Chief walk in/by; he would mention it to me and
back to the desk I'd go just to make more citizens mad.
Oh, come on... Get real!
I live a block away from the location where this issue began. Yes, I have called 9-1-1 before for a noise complaint (neighbors, not a club). Did I follow guidelines? NO, I did not! I violated the city's 9-1-1 ordinance (SEC. 31-29. DIALING 9-1-1 WHEN NO EMERGENCY EXISTS). Was I aware that non-emergency calls are to be made using 4-1-1? Yes, I am aware of this! The City of Dallas 4-1-1 system has been a failed system for a number of years. I do acknowledge that there has been improvements in the last couple of years. But it is still a failed system that has force citizens like me to break the law in order to obtain service. There is no point in trying to justify using 9-1-1 for non-emergency calls. This is clear! But if you want service, you run the risk of being subjected to the letter of the law. Your choice! The Dallas police that performed action against Mr. Adelman made the same choice, you break the law and dishonor the uniform, you run the risk! It was a good thing that they were fired! But in the same breath, Mr. Adelman is no saint and violates the law as well. I have more good things to say about DPD than I do Mr. Adelman. Personally I would like to see him charged for his extortionary tactics. He make it hard for law abiding activist (which I believe Mr. Gwinn is). One bad apple affects all fields, Police, Activist, doctors, etc.
Well, OK, But Enforce *The* Law
Pretty much everyone has an opinion about 9-1-1 and Avi. You make the claim that Avi "is no saint and violates the law as well."
Fine.
Bust him for violating the law. Don't drum up a bogus ticket just to "slap him around a bit." If you're going to get anyone for violating the law, ticket them when they really do violate the law!
As far as the "extortionary tactics," your wish has already been granted. He was no-billed by the Grand Jury because, again, he didn't break the law.
You can have an opinion about Avi. It can even be a low opinion. But he's entitled to the same protection to which you and I are entitled.
Noise an Emergency?
Previously my cogent, informed and logical comments were censored when I responded to your email. I won't chance repeating them again.
But I understood that Avi's ticket was dismissed as a result of a police department "memo". You stated it was "no billed" by a grand jury.....funny, abuse of 911 is a class C misdemeanor and goes to traffic type court, not through the district court (where the grand jury is).
Anyway, clearly the city ordinance for "abuse of 911" states the element of whether an emergency exists. From the stated facts in the case, calling because there was loud music in my opinion does not constitute an emergency.
However, I support complaining about noise, but do it through 411. I have before on noise and the police came fairly promptly and the neighbors outrageous party noise was turned way down. In general I have found the 411 system to work very well, although the operators are not always as informed as they should be, but the supervisors usually are.
ConcernedCitizen
Well... uh...
You'll note that the "no-bill" was when the Grand Jury declined to indict Avi for extortion.
411 usually gets me directory assistance. But I'll try it again just to be sure.
Thanks for your comments.