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Feb. 11th, 2013 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickMore delightful updates. You know you want to read them!
Today, additional research at the courthouse regarding The Shed Problem firmed up the property line we share with the Neighbor. It is a straight line that starts at a point on the "east edge of Karns Avenue" and continues northward-ish in a straight line N13degrees 11minutesE blah-blah along the "aforesaid Borough boundary line" for some four hundred and thirty feet. Given that this is the case, the property line is actually where we have felt it was pretty much all along -- putting the shed firmly and definitely a cunt hair away from our property line, decidedly and entirely on the neighbor's property (which is in no way in the Borough at all and therefore falls outside the jurisdiction of the Borough police anyway -- for added LULZ). PennDOT's borough boundary maps appear to be completely and totally incorrect in a smoking-crack sort of way. (I will be checking with the West Providence and Everett Borough offices tomorrow to see if they have maps or boundaries set forth in writing, but this is just the suspenders part of a belt-and-suspenders effort wherein the pants are already being held up.)
The borough police who called me on the phone to tell me to clean up or repair the collapsed shed said that he had spoken to "the borough" (an entity, not an individual) and also to "the neighbor" (an entity, not an individual household) and all of them had assured him that the shed was my problem. This police was not entirely clear about the actual persons to whom he had spoken and he did not mention any names, hoo-RAH. :)
He probably spoke directly to the borough manager. The borough police office and the borough manager's office are situate (been reading deeds) in the same institutionally drab brick building, with about twenty feet between their respective office doors.
According to the borough's solicitor, the representative of the Neighbor who was consulted on the matter at hand was not particularly what you might call an Authorized Representative of the Neighbor. The representative who provided his inexpert opinion that the shed was the MY PROBLEM and on MY PROPERTY was the authoritative equivalent of a toddler living in the neighbor's household who said "No,that isn't my mommy's shed." and whose words should have carried approximately that much weight. However, said toddler had the benefit of being both (a) on the Borough Council and (b) employed by the Neighbor in a non-administrative capacity... so he was easy to consult. Either the police or the borough manager spoke with this unauthoritative toddler and took the toddler's word as The Gospel Truth on the matter.
Thus it came to pass that the borough police was deployed under the impression that "the borough manager" and "the neighbor" had already fully and clearly and authoritatively denied any involvement with the business of the shed and that therefore, it was me who was responsible for the collapsed shed.
The police's information was no good. The toddler was not authoritative and did not speak for the Neighbor. *sigh* I tried to explain to the police that it was not my shed and not on my property but the police was not interested in listening to me because I expect he believed the information that was used to set him upon me was correct. I expect it went something like this: "Officer Jones? Call this company that owns the Terrace. It's about that collapsed bus shed on the east end of town, been blown down for like two months and it looks like hell. The borough council was all pissy about it at their meeting on Friday. Get the owners on the horn and tell 'em to get the mess cleaned up. If they try to tell you it belongs to the Neighbor, that's a load of crap. We talked to the Neighbor and they say it's not theirs. Lean on 'em pretty hard, they're lazy fucks who don't take care of their property or we wouldn't have to be doing this in the first place."
And then we come to the issue of If you didn't think it was your shed and you didn't think it was on your property, then why the hell did you trespass and clean it up?
Because the police told me to. Because the police was threatening me with legal retribution if I didn't. Look. I don't have a daily life that involves the police very much. I've never been arrested or fingerprinted or charged with a crime more serious than ignoring a stop sign or exceeding the speed limit. I am not an expert in dealing with police. However, I know enough to know that when the police tell you to do something, they expect you to obey.
When the police say "Get out of the car" they are not opening a dialogue. The police do not want to hear compelling counter-arguments for why you should stay in your car or rationales against getting out of the car. They want you to get out of the car, politely and carefully, with deliberate movements that keep your hands visible at all times. If you do not do that when they tell you to do it, you're gonna have a bad time.
When they say "Turn the music down" the police are not having a discussion with you about the proper volume for Rammstein at 2:00 AM. You are not being invited to share a contrary opinion, no matter how well argued or constructed. When the police tell you to turn the music down, they want you to turn the effing music down, mumble something about how you hadn't realized how loud it was, and promise to be quieter from here on out. If you do not do what they tell you to do, it is not going to go well for you. Your only hope for not being beaten up and thrown into a squad car is to do what the hell you're told. Obey.
The police do not have discussions with civilians. They give orders. People who do not obey the police find out in short order that their idea of not-obeying-the-police is a bad one. (Unfortunately, sometimes even obeying isn't enough to save you, especially if you're brown.) When the police tell you to clean up the collapsed shed, they really don't want to hear about how it isn't your shed and it's not on your property and therefore it is not your business to be cleaning up or repairing the shed. This is because when the police talk to a civilian, it is NOT a dialogue. It is not a discussion. You are being told what to do and if you don't do what you are told, it will not go gently for you.
Today, additional research at the courthouse regarding The Shed Problem firmed up the property line we share with the Neighbor. It is a straight line that starts at a point on the "east edge of Karns Avenue" and continues northward-ish in a straight line N13degrees 11minutesE blah-blah along the "aforesaid Borough boundary line" for some four hundred and thirty feet. Given that this is the case, the property line is actually where we have felt it was pretty much all along -- putting the shed firmly and definitely a cunt hair away from our property line, decidedly and entirely on the neighbor's property (which is in no way in the Borough at all and therefore falls outside the jurisdiction of the Borough police anyway -- for added LULZ). PennDOT's borough boundary maps appear to be completely and totally incorrect in a smoking-crack sort of way. (I will be checking with the West Providence and Everett Borough offices tomorrow to see if they have maps or boundaries set forth in writing, but this is just the suspenders part of a belt-and-suspenders effort wherein the pants are already being held up.)
The borough police who called me on the phone to tell me to clean up or repair the collapsed shed said that he had spoken to "the borough" (an entity, not an individual) and also to "the neighbor" (an entity, not an individual household) and all of them had assured him that the shed was my problem. This police was not entirely clear about the actual persons to whom he had spoken and he did not mention any names, hoo-RAH. :)
He probably spoke directly to the borough manager. The borough police office and the borough manager's office are situate (been reading deeds) in the same institutionally drab brick building, with about twenty feet between their respective office doors.
According to the borough's solicitor, the representative of the Neighbor who was consulted on the matter at hand was not particularly what you might call an Authorized Representative of the Neighbor. The representative who provided his inexpert opinion that the shed was the MY PROBLEM and on MY PROPERTY was the authoritative equivalent of a toddler living in the neighbor's household who said "No,that isn't my mommy's shed." and whose words should have carried approximately that much weight. However, said toddler had the benefit of being both (a) on the Borough Council and (b) employed by the Neighbor in a non-administrative capacity... so he was easy to consult. Either the police or the borough manager spoke with this unauthoritative toddler and took the toddler's word as The Gospel Truth on the matter.
Thus it came to pass that the borough police was deployed under the impression that "the borough manager" and "the neighbor" had already fully and clearly and authoritatively denied any involvement with the business of the shed and that therefore, it was me who was responsible for the collapsed shed.
The police's information was no good. The toddler was not authoritative and did not speak for the Neighbor. *sigh* I tried to explain to the police that it was not my shed and not on my property but the police was not interested in listening to me because I expect he believed the information that was used to set him upon me was correct. I expect it went something like this: "Officer Jones? Call this company that owns the Terrace. It's about that collapsed bus shed on the east end of town, been blown down for like two months and it looks like hell. The borough council was all pissy about it at their meeting on Friday. Get the owners on the horn and tell 'em to get the mess cleaned up. If they try to tell you it belongs to the Neighbor, that's a load of crap. We talked to the Neighbor and they say it's not theirs. Lean on 'em pretty hard, they're lazy fucks who don't take care of their property or we wouldn't have to be doing this in the first place."
And then we come to the issue of If you didn't think it was your shed and you didn't think it was on your property, then why the hell did you trespass and clean it up?
Because the police told me to. Because the police was threatening me with legal retribution if I didn't. Look. I don't have a daily life that involves the police very much. I've never been arrested or fingerprinted or charged with a crime more serious than ignoring a stop sign or exceeding the speed limit. I am not an expert in dealing with police. However, I know enough to know that when the police tell you to do something, they expect you to obey.
When the police say "Get out of the car" they are not opening a dialogue. The police do not want to hear compelling counter-arguments for why you should stay in your car or rationales against getting out of the car. They want you to get out of the car, politely and carefully, with deliberate movements that keep your hands visible at all times. If you do not do that when they tell you to do it, you're gonna have a bad time.
When they say "Turn the music down" the police are not having a discussion with you about the proper volume for Rammstein at 2:00 AM. You are not being invited to share a contrary opinion, no matter how well argued or constructed. When the police tell you to turn the music down, they want you to turn the effing music down, mumble something about how you hadn't realized how loud it was, and promise to be quieter from here on out. If you do not do what they tell you to do, it is not going to go well for you. Your only hope for not being beaten up and thrown into a squad car is to do what the hell you're told. Obey.
The police do not have discussions with civilians. They give orders. People who do not obey the police find out in short order that their idea of not-obeying-the-police is a bad one. (Unfortunately, sometimes even obeying isn't enough to save you, especially if you're brown.) When the police tell you to clean up the collapsed shed, they really don't want to hear about how it isn't your shed and it's not on your property and therefore it is not your business to be cleaning up or repairing the shed. This is because when the police talk to a civilian, it is NOT a dialogue. It is not a discussion. You are being told what to do and if you don't do what you are told, it will not go gently for you.
