Read What The Jogger Called In

Obviously the Police say 'Hi' differently than citizens do.....

At this point, I would be interested in knowing how the jogger feels about how the police handled the incident.

@Bill Saunders

LMAO....

"He was just standing very very still. Like he was trying to be invisible. And I said to him, I was jogging with my dog, I said, "Hey, what's up?" And he just didn't say anything".

A Black man trying to be invisible when a man with a dog jogs by. NA and he didn't say anything when he was addressed by that authority figure (the white man with a dog.

I'm sorry everyone, you were right, it does seem like he was committing a crime.

Let the new comment war begin!

OK, that's what the jogger called in to 911, and provided his impression of the man and the incident. Note: The key is that the man did not speak and made no threaten movement towards the jogger.

However, this is what the police found and reported:

Sgt. Renee Forte, Westville's top cop, later related the rest of the story: "The officers checked to see if the man, who is 46 years old and lives in New Haven, had any outstanding warrants. He did not. They asked why he was standing under the bridge. "He claimed that he was cutting through the park and ducked back there because he wanted to urinate." Also, the police had been told by the 911 dispatcher that the call had concerned a man with a ski mask over his face; he had a knit cap, not a ski mask. Without any evidence that he had in fact urinated, the officers had no grounds for an arrest. They ordered the man to leave the area and stay out of the park. He complied".

"Forte said "it's very possible that the dispatcher" didn't ask for enough information from the jogger. "That's a problem we've been having."

The findings directly contradict the impressions of the jogger which was influenced by the friends, who were not questioned.



At this point there is no evidence that the man had any intentions at all. The fact that the man had a previous out of state record means nothing as it relates to the man's action in this incident.

I stand pat on my original opinion and statement.

FacChec on March 12, 2014 3:06pm

"Clearly, the jogger questioned his own initial thoughts, and was talked into action by others based on the description given to them by the jogger with no empirical evidence of their own.

My advice to the jogger, his friends and the NHI, stay out of the park underpass and ride your bike in cycle lanes instead".

Jogger: Well, he was standing up against, underneath, the side of the bridge, basically to try to make himself invisible. It's like, he pressed himself up against the wall. He wasn't just loitering, which would be fine. But he was like trying to look invisible, basically.


Jogger: It was either a ski mask or a hat pulled low and a turtleneck pulled up with ha hat pulled low. Because all you could see were his eyes.


Why would anyone run toward a person who they feel is making himself invisible and has a ski mask pull down on there face.This story smells Of B. S.

Awesome job Paul. Loved reading the transcript.

" But he was like trying to look invisible, basically."

That's why would call it in, too, black or white or purple.

Of course, some people see racism everywhere, even where it is none, and there's no convincing them otherwise. Usually it's because that backs up what they want or need to believe to support their view of the world, or because they themselves are racist.

Thanks for the picture. You could probably set up a mannequin under there in the same clothes, and people would call it in.

Seeing all of these photos of the dilapidated, graffiti-covered bridge makes me sad. It was not this trashy before last summer's crime wave drove so many people away from the park. Failing to address those problems has done long-term damage.

Why can't this story, like the turtlenecked man, just go totally invisible. It's existence is driving me totally bonkers. No more I say!

Invisible man? Read some Ralph Ellison, jogger.

It seems to me that after the police gave this sweatered gentleman the 'official once over', and not finding anything, that the proper response should have been:

"Thank you for your time, sir. Enjoy the beautiful day......"

That he was escorted out, and told not to return is the true over-reach here......

Theodora,

The jogger might not have the time to read all of Invisible Man.

But may I suggest that everybody at least read the First Chapter, Battle Royal.

I've decided I'm done reading this online news source. Your stories are getting more silly by the month.

NHI, this is ridiculous. I know you are a hyper-local news source but this story, from the beginning, wasn't really worthy of being reported. It was clearly put on your site to draw comments, of which I can pretty much guarantee you censored many of. And now there is a Part Deux! LOL

You are welcome to disable my account...

'Jogger' handled this VERY well, but I always preface my race descriptions with the disclaimer, "Look I didn't ask him about his cultural heritage or run DNA genealogy, but he looked like 'celebrity of your choice' ethnicity and 'description of clothing and location'." Because you never know when Paul is going to pull your phone call from police and risk making you look like a racist profiler.

My approach can go to far the other direction too. There were students at Yale who were refusing to describe the race suspicious characters to the police after a bomb scare a few years ago! So, all that said, 'Jogger' handled himself VERY well.

Since when has urinating in a public place become a good excuse for suspicious behavior? Though I've seen much worse than that in East Rock Park.

The jogger was correct, he was reporting suspicious activity. He should have stressed the fact that there have been several muggings at this location that the District Manager encouraged people to report any suspicious activity and that is primarily why he was calling.

As for Srgnt. Forte's comment about dispatch-the article does not include what was relayed from dispatch to the officers. Even though dispatch did a good job of getting a description. (but they forgot the shoes, thieves change their clothing but rarely their shoes !!) For all we know the call came through as a suspicious black male in Edgewood park.

As that is a problem area, sending someone who is obviously up to no good on there way was the right thing to do.

Great. As if New Haven didn't have problems enough, now we have ninjas. Nice work, Mayor Harp!

@WestvilleAdvocate

If you think this is a silly story I don't know what to tell you. This may be just one incident, but it's honestly a metaphor for problems all over the city. Namely the racial divide and crime(and whether or not this was a good or bad way to be proactive about it)

@WestvilleAdvocate

This is a story that happens everyday in New Haven and other similar cities, just go into any Black or Latino neighborhood and ask the first man of color you see, they can all recite a personal incident.

It is sort of misunderstanding that causes the incidents like Trayvon Martin, etc. It could have easily escalated if the Black guy had decided that he didn't like a stranger running up to him and demanding "What's up?". Or if he didn't like his civil rights being violated by 3 police officers kicking him out of the park.

So no, it is no a silly story, and yes, Paul and his crew should keep writing these sort of stories.