Detroit PD Sucks!

Ok now I'm one that actually likes the police. I really do, I find cops are for the most part professionals trying to do a necessary job. I normally don't have any problems with the police. But an incident yesterday really pissed me off.

As many of you know I work in what is considered a "no tell motel" and our "guests" typically aren't the cream of the genetic crop. We get all kinds of low life people at my place of work, some are there to cheat on their spouses, some are "working girls" some are drug addicts, and rarely we get a customer that is there to sleep, and go to some function in and around the city of Detroit, or is on business.

Yesterday one of our guests (a rather low life drug addict) decided that he did not have to pay to stay there. The day before he had refused to leave, and the other front desk agents (including the general manager) couldn't be bothered enough to remove him. So when I get there bright and early at 7 AM I was informed by the night auditor that this jerk is still there.

I was absolutely livid about the situation, I couldn't believe that this scum bag could intimidate our staff enough to cop a free night on us. So I decided to wait until this jerk woke up in the morning to get him out. I called at the appropriate time and told him he would have to vacate the premises. He refused saying that he had already paid for another night and he wasn't going anywhere. I called up the night auditor to confirm his story and of course he had NOT paid for another night, not only that but he hadn't paid for the previous night. I called him up again and said that he would have to leave. He again refused. I said that he would have to pay for the previous night and I was going to call the police, he told me to go "F" myself.

So I called the Detroit Police Department Non Emergency number. I figured that this didn't really count as a 911 emergency as it was just some jerk that refused to leave. They had told me that I needed to call 911 as it did qualify as an emergency as anything requiring a squad car counts as an emergency. So I hang up with them and call 911. I explain the situation and ask for a couple of officers to be dispatched to my hotel. The 911 operator told me that they were sending someone out to the hotel and then said good bye and hung up.

While waiting for the police to show up, the man came down the stairs in a rage and started to cuss me out. He called me all sorts of names (including the "N" word and "Cracker") He also threatened to "kick my ass" he was really agitated and pacing back and forth. I repeatedly told him that he would have to leave the property. At that point he told me he wanted a complete refund which made me laugh.

He hung around for a few minutes and joked about the fact that the cops had not shown up yet. He went back upstairs and collected his belongings and came back downstairs. Ranting and kicking things the entire time. I repeatedly told him that he would have to leave and that the police were on their way. He laughed and kicked the front door open and left with his stuff.

The police eventually came a couple hours after he left, I sarcastically thanked them for their quick response time and informed them that had the man had some sort of weapon that he might have hurt someone. They just shrugged and left.

Detroit is a dangerous city and it doesn't help matters at all if the police decide to not respond to a situation that can escalate further and become more dangerous. I am very disappointed in the Detroit police department's response time to a situation that could have been diffused quickly and without the property damage had they responded in a much more timely fashion.

The nearest Police station to the hotel is two blocks west of our location. It took the police three hours to respond to a 911 call from a police station two blocks away. They could have walked from the police station to the hotel in less than 20 minutes.

I understand that the police may be called to more pressing matters and more life threatening situations, however knowing the area as they should they should understand that the people that frequent these hotels can be dangerous and in fact could be armed. They should also understand that a simple situation can become a more dangerous or even deadly situation if they don't respond to a situation more quickly.

You should see the movie Gridlock'd. Where the guys resorted to other ways to get help since couldnt get it the so-called proper way. It's even about Detroit.

First I give you some props for working in that kind of enviorment and second I can understand the police side and your side as well, I live very close to a City called Camden, which usually makes the top five in worst american cities and I live 15 minutes from Philadelphia, Your 911 call was simply not a priority, it could have escalated to something worse and Im glad that it did not..Im going to assume that there are not enough cops to patrol the city, There are never enough cops...Will you job let you get certified in basic security procedures, Maybe classes in OCAT, Handcuffing, and expandable baton?..Its easy nough to detain until they do get there...Be safe out there

reply to post by cmd18B


I certainly understand the police's side of this issue as removing a guest isn't exactly a reason to drop everything and get out SWAT. But I am also of the impression that an ounce of prevention is greater than a pound of cure. And it's thankful that this idiot did not escalate matters to the point that weapons were drawn.

Actually as far as it goes the owner really doesn't want us to actually call the police but tell the guest that we have. Which is stupid because when we tell these idiots that we have called the cops they just end up trashing the place before they leave. The cops don't even take a statement or anything, they just ask for my name and age. WTF?