Agnes Rutabaga

 

Well - I went to City Hall to pay property taxes the other day and thought maybe I should go visit the Police Dept in person while I was there to mention that the drug activity on the corner here has started up again in the last week or so. In the small all-beige square lobby was a black corded telephone over which a crumpled piece of paper tacked to the wall instructed “To speak with someone, call 0”

 

So I called 0. After my brief explanation they transferred me to a someone else, who told me to wait in the lobby and somebody would come talk to me. After about 10 minutes, a tall, lean, middle aged guy with a crew cut and kind but non-nonsense expression emerged from the heavy metal beige door and told me to follow him. We went through a labyrinth of halllways and then down 3 flight of stairs, far below ground level, to reach a very small cubicle-type room with fluorescent light, a brown desk, brown vinyl chair, polished asbestos floor tiles. He told me to wait there. 

 

I had the distinct feeling of being watched while I waited there, so I just sat, undistracted, poker faced.  Finally the same guy - Detective Joseph Kohlrabi from Narcotics — came back with a small pad of paper and a ballpoint pen. He knew my Dad and this neighborhood and was familiar with the corner, the drugs, the arrests. I thanked him for all the times they’ve come by and for catching the druggies on the corner. He asked good questions, listened attentively and gave me his card. He told me to call or email anytime and to call dispatch asap if we see activity and try to get license plate info. He said they’d be sending more patrols by in both marked and unmarked cars.

 -Agnes Rutabaga 1/28/23