6 ms·

I lived in Howard County for a year. With the combination of county income tax and affluent property taxes, every service was exceptionally well funded. Havin

I lived in Howard County for a year. With the combination of county income tax and affluent property taxes, every service was exceptionally well funded. Having lived in Mountain View & Sunnyvale, CA as well for a decade my experience was Howard County itself had quicker and better services than those cities. It doesn't surprise me at all that their police department is competent and helpful.

1024core 2y ago
You will find similar pockets of responsive police in areas like Piedmont (in Oakland), Atherton, Hillsborough, etc.
- talldatethrow 2y ago
  Kensington Police (near Berkeley) knew me, my car, and my two motorcycles just on a semi friendly basis. I didn't live there. I was just dating a girl who lived there her whole life. Small town life exists even in major metro areas if you're wealthy.
- codezero 2y ago
  The Atherton police reports are hilarious. I can't find the site readily, but I remember reading some of them when I worked in Mountain View. Things like calling the police because landscapers are mowing the lawn loudly, or because there's someone dressed as Santa Claus walking down a sidewalk. edit: found it, the Santa line made it easy to search for lol: https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/08/27/the-best-of-atherton-police-blotter/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/08/27/the-best-of-atherton-... Some highlights A resident reported a large light in the sky. It was the moon. A man was reported to be lying on the ground, possibly writing.
hangonhn 2y ago
My buddy got his bike stolen in Mountain View. Not only did the police find his bike they also arrested the thief. Another buddy was woken up one night by a drunken stranger pounding on his door. He called the MVPD and within 5 minutes 3 squad cars showed up. I used to live in Dallas. One night an entire floor of cars parked in my apartment garage was broken into. I called the police and reported it. Then I asked when they're coming and if I should stick around to wait for them. They told me they're not coming. The next night, the thieves returned and broke into all the cars on the next garage level. Funding really matters. Mountain View is one of the handful of cities in the country with a triple-A municipal bond rating.
- AceJohnny2 2y ago
  > Mountain View is one of the handful of cities in the country with a triple-A municipal bond rating. Having Google headquartered there probably helped their finances.
  - Tempest1981 2y ago
    Mountain View implemented a business tax of $150 per employee per year in 2020, bringing in $3.3 million per year from Google. It's a struggle for cities to pass/raise business taxes... the businesses threaten to leave, and the cities back down.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  [dead]
  - nevir 2y ago
    As a Seattle resident: wat? No we didn't.
    - coryrc 2y ago
      We're down hundreds of officers though. And we don't and haven't had a mayor interested in bringing up a new system to replace the completely corrupt one we have. (The latter part reinforcing your argument that we didn't try "depolicing" so much as, uh, "unpolicing"?)
    - WalterBright 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - nevir 2y ago
        Yeah, our police force has definitely been struggling - but funding isn't the problem.
      - mikeyouse 2y ago
segmondy 2y ago
Exactly this. Since there's less crime in affluent areas, the police actually have time to investigate what get's ignored in other areas. By also solving these crimes, it tells the criminals to avoid those areas, it's kind of a feedback loop.
- deadbabe 2y ago
  Is there a map of police response times somewhere? Sounds like this would make a good proxy for a map of affluent areas and would be useful for getting directions and stuff that avoid bad areas when you’re in unfamiliar places.
  - juliushuijnk 2y ago
    Useful for criminals too. Come to think of it, a serious large sized criminal org would probably have such a map internally. And since there are more orgs like that, there is probably such a map-as-a-service somewhere for those in the know.
  - ForOldHack 2y ago
    Just think of it: I say a car getting a parking ticket, while thieves were removing its catalytic converter. The dystopian future of having to pay cash for police services is closer than you consider, or even think. The "Community liaison" who showed up simply said "That is not their job."
    - Gibbon1 2y ago
      I over use the word but the idea that property crimes are merely a matter for the insurance company is the most neoliberal thing ever. You can imagine an alternative system where if someone steals your cat the government has to pay for that.
- kbos87 2y ago
  I'll offer a counterpoint - I live in a nice building in a bit of a rougher part of a major city. I've learned that the police do show up thankfully, but it takes a very long time unless there's literally a life on the line. (Which, I know, is better than some other major cities.) The couple of times I've interacted with them, it's been painfully obvious to me that they feel like they need to put on a performance for me, even if it's clear that it's an unsolvable crime. (In both cases, it was a property crime worth reporting, but also one with literally no evidence to follow up on.) I honestly wonder if some of the less well resourced people in my neighborhood even get a similar time of day from the police - my impression is that they probably don't.
jonathankoren 2y ago
I'm sure your anecdotal experience is true for you, but funding is not linked to clearance rates. Counter to copaganda, police are worse at solving cases compared to 30 years ago, even as crime rates have fallen dramatically and funding has increased. If you think preventing and solving crimes, then American police are objectively bad at their jobs. If you think of police as revenue generators, then they're good at it. Because the police spend all their time on things like traffic citations. Even the police unions occasionally say the quite part out loud, like when the NYPD union famously said that they would not arrest anyone "unless absolutely necessary". Unsurprisingly to people that have looked into policing, crime doesn't increase during police work slowdowns.
- hluska 2y ago
  Are you saying that police should arrest people when it’s not necessary? How do you figure that?
  - DFHippie 2y ago
    It's the cops who said that. I assume that's why the phrase is in quotes. Apparently they themselves believed they performed some arrests that weren't "absolutely necessary". They said this as a threat to influence negotiations. You should take this question up with them.
    - Spooky23 2y ago
      NYPD is an MBA style police agency. The management wants to hit their KPIs. If the bosses want jaywalking tickets, they swarm like bees. Arresting someone for robbery fucks up the metric for the local commander. It’s like any big dumb company. The officers are like salesmen, and they are trained to do whatever bullshit the boss wants.
    - hluska 2y ago
      Why be combative? I was curious about a statement and wanted to learn. But seriously, why he combative? People used to be able to ask questions without being told to take it up with the NYPD. The entire world wants to fight and frankly, it’s embarrassing.
bhawks 2y ago
Howard county has roughly half the population of San Mateo county and roughly half the budget. Attributing the difference solely to government funding seems challenging.
ForOldHack 2y ago
You want to go there? Without facts? https://policescorecard.org/md/police-department/howard-county https://policescorecard.org/md/police-department/howard-coun...
- trolan 2y ago
  Sunnyvale and Mountainview both score lower

1024core 2y ago

You will find similar pockets of responsive police in areas like Piedmont (in Oakland), Atherton, Hillsborough, etc.

talldatethrow 2y ago
Kensington Police (near Berkeley) knew me, my car, and my two motorcycles just on a semi friendly basis. I didn't live there. I was just dating a girl who lived there her whole life. Small town life exists even in major metro areas if you're wealthy.
codezero 2y ago
The Atherton police reports are hilarious. I can't find the site readily, but I remember reading some of them when I worked in Mountain View. Things like calling the police because landscapers are mowing the lawn loudly, or because there's someone dressed as Santa Claus walking down a sidewalk. edit: found it, the Santa line made it easy to search for lol: https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/08/27/the-best-of-atherton-police-blotter/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/08/27/the-best-of-atherton-... Some highlights A resident reported a large light in the sky. It was the moon. A man was reported to be lying on the ground, possibly writing.

hangonhn 2y ago

My buddy got his bike stolen in Mountain View. Not only did the police find his bike they also arrested the thief. Another buddy was woken up one night by a drunken stranger pounding on his door. He called the MVPD and within 5 minutes 3 squad cars showed up. I used to live in Dallas. One night an entire floor of cars parked in my apartment garage was broken into. I called the police and reported it. Then I asked when they're coming and if I should stick around to wait for them. They told me they're not coming. The next night, the thieves returned and broke into all the cars on the next garage level. Funding really matters. Mountain View is one of the handful of cities in the country with a triple-A municipal bond rating.

AceJohnny2 2y ago
> Mountain View is one of the handful of cities in the country with a triple-A municipal bond rating. Having Google headquartered there probably helped their finances.
- Tempest1981 2y ago
  Mountain View implemented a business tax of $150 per employee per year in 2020, bringing in $3.3 million per year from Google. It's a struggle for cities to pass/raise business taxes... the businesses threaten to leave, and the cities back down.
WalterBright 2y ago
[dead]
- nevir 2y ago
  As a Seattle resident: wat? No we didn't.
  - coryrc 2y ago
    We're down hundreds of officers though. And we don't and haven't had a mayor interested in bringing up a new system to replace the completely corrupt one we have. (The latter part reinforcing your argument that we didn't try "depolicing" so much as, uh, "unpolicing"?)
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - nevir 2y ago
      Yeah, our police force has definitely been struggling - but funding isn't the problem.
    - mikeyouse 2y ago

segmondy 2y ago

Exactly this. Since there's less crime in affluent areas, the police actually have time to investigate what get's ignored in other areas. By also solving these crimes, it tells the criminals to avoid those areas, it's kind of a feedback loop.

deadbabe 2y ago
Is there a map of police response times somewhere? Sounds like this would make a good proxy for a map of affluent areas and would be useful for getting directions and stuff that avoid bad areas when you’re in unfamiliar places.
- juliushuijnk 2y ago
  Useful for criminals too. Come to think of it, a serious large sized criminal org would probably have such a map internally. And since there are more orgs like that, there is probably such a map-as-a-service somewhere for those in the know.
- ForOldHack 2y ago
  Just think of it: I say a car getting a parking ticket, while thieves were removing its catalytic converter. The dystopian future of having to pay cash for police services is closer than you consider, or even think. The "Community liaison" who showed up simply said "That is not their job."
  - Gibbon1 2y ago
    I over use the word but the idea that property crimes are merely a matter for the insurance company is the most neoliberal thing ever. You can imagine an alternative system where if someone steals your cat the government has to pay for that.
kbos87 2y ago
I'll offer a counterpoint - I live in a nice building in a bit of a rougher part of a major city. I've learned that the police do show up thankfully, but it takes a very long time unless there's literally a life on the line. (Which, I know, is better than some other major cities.) The couple of times I've interacted with them, it's been painfully obvious to me that they feel like they need to put on a performance for me, even if it's clear that it's an unsolvable crime. (In both cases, it was a property crime worth reporting, but also one with literally no evidence to follow up on.) I honestly wonder if some of the less well resourced people in my neighborhood even get a similar time of day from the police - my impression is that they probably don't.

jonathankoren 2y ago

I'm sure your anecdotal experience is true for you, but funding is not linked to clearance rates. Counter to copaganda, police are worse at solving cases compared to 30 years ago, even as crime rates have fallen dramatically and funding has increased. If you think preventing and solving crimes, then American police are objectively bad at their jobs. If you think of police as revenue generators, then they're good at it. Because the police spend all their time on things like traffic citations. Even the police unions occasionally say the quite part out loud, like when the NYPD union famously said that they would not arrest anyone "unless absolutely necessary". Unsurprisingly to people that have looked into policing, crime doesn't increase during police work slowdowns.

hluska 2y ago
Are you saying that police should arrest people when it’s not necessary? How do you figure that?
- DFHippie 2y ago
  It's the cops who said that. I assume that's why the phrase is in quotes. Apparently they themselves believed they performed some arrests that weren't "absolutely necessary". They said this as a threat to influence negotiations. You should take this question up with them.
  - Spooky23 2y ago
    NYPD is an MBA style police agency. The management wants to hit their KPIs. If the bosses want jaywalking tickets, they swarm like bees. Arresting someone for robbery fucks up the metric for the local commander. It’s like any big dumb company. The officers are like salesmen, and they are trained to do whatever bullshit the boss wants.
  - hluska 2y ago
    Why be combative? I was curious about a statement and wanted to learn. But seriously, why he combative? People used to be able to ask questions without being told to take it up with the NYPD. The entire world wants to fight and frankly, it’s embarrassing.

bhawks 2y ago

Howard county has roughly half the population of San Mateo county and roughly half the budget. Attributing the difference solely to government funding seems challenging.

ForOldHack 2y ago

You want to go there? Without facts? https://policescorecard.org/md/police-department/howard-county https://policescorecard.org/md/police-department/howard-coun...

trolan 2y ago
Sunnyvale and Mountainview both score lower