CastIron

The OP described a "situation on the ground" that she felt was potentially threatening. She relayed as much to the police. Clearly in her experience the situation differed enough from others that she chose to err on the side of caution by recognizing that potential. Might the fellow be waitng for his car pool mate? Yeah, and it's very likely the case. I'd bet money it. Might he also nude from the waist down masturbating while watching passersby? It happens. And usually it's a precurser behavior to ****. If the OP were your family member what you rather happen? Bad guy scared off or good guy loses 90 seconds out of his life?

CastIron

Yeah I get it. You've had some bad experiences, so now YOU are predjudiced against, apparently, two groups of people. How ironic.

Am I down with that? Not in either case. Not by a long shot.

Cyclist0383

Good guy/bad guy? If the OP were my family member I would tell them to keep on cycling past and pay attention. We are safe, but we don't live in fear.

If the man in the truck is some sort of criminal don't you think that the OP has drawn attention to themselves?

Paul L.

If the officer harrassed the person I could see your point. If the officer merely shows a presence or asks a question, how is he acting out of the rights of any other american citizen? I mean, I could walk up to the guys car and ask him what he was doing. Granted a police officer has a little more leeway to act if the guy gives a suspicious answer (not to mention the officer has a lot more protection and backup if the guy does turn out to be a problem). It is only profiling if the Police officer goes beyond a simple assessment of the situation in my mind. I guess different people percieve profiling differently though. I have been profiled for driving an 80s model ford escort away from a holiday party at a ritzy hotel, were my rights violated when I was pulled over for a stupid thing (Officer thought my brakelight was out he said but it turns out it was just naturally dim)? It was annoying but I don't think my privacy was violated. I think the thing that makes me think this wasn't so off base is the guy was there multiple times. So a policeman checks up on the guy, so what? I am curious though, what would you consider suspicious behavior? Would he actually have to have a gun out or something before you would call the cops?

CastIron

Indeed, there's risk with either decision. Frankly it's a crapshoot. Clearly we disagree on what's the right choice in this one. Everyone plays the odds a bit differently. I've enjoyed our thoughtful debate.

OP: Please tell us the outcome.

chipcom 

I understand and agree with your point, but things are not that cut and dried. Sometimes you have to use your best judgement. For example, I see someone going in or coming out of your house and I know that you are not home. If I came and mentioned it to you later and it turns out that you had been burglarized, you'd be a bit peeved at me for not investigating further by calling you or the cops, right? How about a kid in a grocery store, screaming that he/she has been kidnapped while the 'parent' mumbles something about kids and tantrums. Do you simply leave it alone and write it off to a kid throwing a tantrum, or do you notify the authorities to at least check it out? If the next day you see the kid's face on a milk carton and you did nothing, how are you going to feel.

Yeah, I know, my imagination and reality...blah, blah...I know your response already My point is simple, sometimes we DO have to stick our nose where it may not belong - it's part of people looking out for other people.

As far as the OP, we don't have his/her knowledge of the neighborhood, people and history of the area. Hard for us to second guess his/her judgement in this case. From my own experience, people sitting around in cars have 10 million legitimate reasons, and even so-called upstanding, law-abiding citizens have been known to act stupid or make lewd faces/remarks. Hopefully the cops were smart enough to check the guy out subtley and only took further actions if the subject's own actions made such action prudent. (lookie at all the big words I just used!)

chipcom 

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
- Pastor Martin Niemöller

Let's paraphrase now:

First they robbed my neighbor
and I did not get involved
because it wasn't me
Then they beat my neighbor's wife
and I did not get involved
because it wasn't my wife
Then they ***** my neighbor's daughter
and I did not get involved
because it wasn't my daughter
Then they came after me
and nobody cared
because it was only me.

GP

Yeah, it's hard to make a judgement unless you know where the op lives. In my neighborhood, there are single family dwellings, high density housing and commercial buildings. Street parking is tight and a guy in a car can be picking up a hooker, buying drugs or waiting to carpool. In the big housing tracts across town, a guy sitting in a car would attract a lot more attention.

Cyclist0383

What sort of analogy is that? The man in the truck has commited no crime. He was sitting in his vehicle.
Your analogy would be great if the OP saw a CRIME and didn't report it.

As it is it's the worst analogy I've heard in a long time.

I-Like-To-Bike

I have had no problem with police ever hassling me personally while bicycling in over 50 years of cycling; but I consider it a serious problem for more than me when paranoid busy bodies want to use the police to harass the various boogymen of their imagination.

I-Like-To-Bike

And if the innocent person misunderstood the intent of some guy unexpectantly knocking on his window and a situation escalating out of hand? All because Mr/MS Busybody was hoping to sic the police on an imagined molester? No thanks. I can do with out police without evidence of any crime or criminal intent asking people for their papers and having to prove their innocence. I prefer that Nervous Nelly-types call the police when there is something actually to report and save the paranoia for Internet discussion groups.

Cyclaholic

You're comparing someone sitting in their vehichle at the same time each morning at an odd hour with no apparent motive with a cyclist actually cycling through a neighborhood on his/her way to somewhere (as I often do), your comparison is flawed. If the cyclist was sitting in the same spot at an odd hour every day somewhere where he didn't belong with no apparent motive then yes it would be fine by me to call the cops.

A similar situation happened where I used to live when I was in my late teens, some of the locals noticed the guy in the car that was not from the neighborhood but it was a different time then and nobody rang the cops. The end result was that he snatched my neighbor's 12 year old daughter and ***** her. Neither the daughter, her family, or the neighborhood was ever the same again. her name is Melissa, maybe we should ask her if the cops should be called sice she is one who really understands the consequences of that decision better than any of us. What do you think she would say?

teencraft

This argument is ridiculous, Whoever believes that calling the po's was 'justified' then they must not mind if the police were allowed to enter anyone's home unannounced without a search warrant because 'if they weren't doing anything wrong, then it shouldn't matter'...right? Or am I missing something? It's okay if you do it to someone else just as long as it's not done to you?

skinny

The actual quote:

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.
Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.
Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Jude.
Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr,
der protestieren konnte.

-- Der Weg ins Freie, Martin Niemöller (F.M. Hellbach, Stuttgart, 1946)

When the Nazis arrested the Communists,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a Communist.
When they locked up the Social Democrats,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a Social Democrat.
When they arrested the trade unionists,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a trade unionist.
When they arrested the Jews,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a Jew.
When they arrested me, there was no longer anyone who could protest.

-- translated by Bob Berkovitz (rbbrook@worldnet.att.net)

supcom

Sounds a lot like a guy waiting for his boss to show up at one of the businesses so he can start work. There are people who begin working early in the morning.

chipcom 

The analogy was directed at your fear to get involved.

skinny

Where did he say he was afraid to get involved?

Perhaps he was afraid to infringe on someones freedoms as an American citizen. There is a not so subtle difference between getting involved when a group of people are imprisoned, tortured, and killed and when an individual is sitting in a truck. Your analogy completely misses the mark.

Cyclaholic

Yes, you're missing something crucial. Your're missing the distinction between being in your own house and behaving suspiciously in public.... You see a couple of guys in hooded tops one has bolt cutters, they appear a little nervous and are looking around as they go over to your bike that you just chained to the rack. The one with the bolt cutters crouches down behind your bike but you can't see what he's doing. What do you do next?

teencraft

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

That is a COMPLETELY different situation...the difference between that and the original situation is so much that it is not even worth commenting on.

chipcom 

I quoted his remarks, which right away smacked of fear of getting involved or bringing attention to one's self, to me. Of course, judging by what our own government is allowed to get away with today in comparison to all of the fears of loosing rights and privacy people 'talk' about in here, it seems history is repeating itself and I am not surprised you don't see the analogy.

I-Like-To-Bike

No apparent motive to sit quietly in a vehicle? What the Heck? And who said a cyclist passing by has any more legitimate motives than the parked motorist. He might even be a terrorist thinking of commiting some dastardly deed. Some of the 911 terrorists were known to get about in the US using bicycles. Sounds like a reason to call the cops at the very sight of a bicyclist in Nervous Nellie's Neighborhood.

I presume Nervous Nelly should call the police to toss someone everytime he/she gets a twitch of do good fever. Who knows, hassle enough people without legitimate cause, and the do-gooders might catch somebody guilty of something. Maybe even that imaginary molester that the OP was dreaming about capturing.

Cyclist0383

No fear here. You should read my dialogue with Castiron again and put my words into context.

I just find it really obnoxious and un-American to call the police on someone you do not know sitting in his car in the parking lot of a business with nothing but your fear and suspicion of someone who is not like you as an impetus.

chipcom 

Perhaps I missed your context, but that is how your statement struck me. I find it just as obnoxious to judge someone for their actions when neither you nor I was there in their shoes. Yes, some people are paranoid...and it has gotten worse since 9/11 - remember the duct tape and plastic panic, how we allowed the invasion of another country that was not a threat to us, how we've allowed our government to move ever closer to a police state? To me someone calling the cops because they are paranoid of a stranger in their neighborhood is just a symptom of a much bigger problem.

Cyclaholic

Which one of us compared suspicious behaviour in public to cops raiding your house with no warrant?... yep, you've definitely missed something

teencraft

Well why don't you explain it better so that your 'rationale' makes sense to my feeble mind, because you're comparing Apples to oranges. A PROPER comparison might be..."what would you do if you had your bike locked up and you see someone with a lockcutter across the street sitting on a bench..."