With my work as a security officer and assignment to a post from Hell, there is now a local issue I need to bring to your attention.
”The Square” is a shopping center in Novato, Marin County, California, which has a parking lot occupied and run by apparent drug dealers, habitual loiterers, punks and reckless drivers. Every day while I’m on duty, I’m verbally assaulted with yells of, “fuck you, security faggot”, “suck my dick”, and other filthy remarks and threats from people I don’t know and never did anything to.
In the three weeks that I have been there, I have called the police about ten times, resulting in zero arrests and only one removal from private property (when a glue stick was thrown at me) that is clearly posted with, “no loitering” and, “two-hour parking”, signs.
On every shift that I’m on duty, habitual loiterers come and go up to six times, frequently jumping into cars with groups of 14-year olds, only to come back fifteen minutes later. Other times, the habitual loiterers will open their trunks or hoods, transfer small items, allow other people to search an engine compartment or allow people to walk up, reach in and take tiny things out of a passenger compartment which are quickly placed in a pocket.
I have had young men getting in my face, threatening to kick my ass, vehicles charging me quickly while I’m on foot like they’re going to run me over, and I’ve been yelled at to not take pictures nor record license plates. I had one young man quietly sneaking up behind me and another spitting at my feet.
I Repeatedly, I have told the police that there are loiterers there and apparent drug deals going on, threats and assaults, and the police have repeatedly told me, “you don’t have enough signs”, “they’re not breaking any laws”, “this is NOT private property”, “they can stay here as long as they want to”, “they probably are selling drugs, but there’s nothing we can do about it” and “we’ll come when you call us, even if it takes two hours”.
Due to the danger of foot patrols and getting attacked or run over, I recently changed tactics and started spending time in the security office window, using binoculars and taking careful notes. But on Friday, March 21, 2008, at 1955 hours, a man of about 18 years of age came up to my window and started yelling at me, calling me a, “stalker” and a “pervert”, and saying, “this time you went too far”, in using the binoculars. He yelled through the window that he was going to kick my ass, while his 16-year old friend made punching motions at me through the window. He told me to, “come outside and we’ll talk about it”.
I locked up the office and two minutes later I walked out to the older punk in the parking lot, and told him, “if you think I’m afraid of you, you’re dead wrong”. He immediately ran up to me , got in my face, an inch away, and started re-iterating the accusations that I’m a “stalker”, a “pervert”, and adding, “you probably get off watching us through the binoculars” and “I’m gonna kick your ass”. Meanwhile his friends yelled at me that I am a, “child molester” and, “you’re going to get fired for that”. The punk yelled in my face for about thirty seconds, then backed off and came at me again twice more, with his nose almost touching mine while he yelled at the top of his lungs. While this was going on, his friends yelled at me too, with even the teenage girls in the group of about eight loiterers looking at me with hate and disrespect. I don’t know any of these people and I never did anything to them.
After the punk withdrew for the third time, I pulled out my cellphone and while trying to find the number to the police, the punks still taunted me, one yelling, “what’s the matter, did you forget the number?”.
As I finally began talking to the police dispatcher, all the loiterers got in their cars and drive off. When the police arrived, I gave the officer an account of what had just happened and a description of the suspect. Of course nothing came of it and I’m sure nothing ever will.
The punks run the parking lot at the Square, and the police and the city of Novato are fine with that, so you should just STAY AWAY.
I have been told by one of the managers at the Square that a lawyer has drawn up a petition to be presented to and signed by the shop owners requesting that the police remove the loiterers, but that the petition will not be made available until the lawyer has returned from vacation….in one month.
Detailed info at https://home.pon.net/jeffandmaria/novato