Thankfully, The White Plains PD is not the MTA PD

I can't even begin to tell you how much better I feel now that I'm dealing with the White Plains Police Department (WPPD).

In my first (and thankfully only) run in with the MTA PD, I was met by 4 uniformed officers at Grand Central Station. These officers refused to listen to my side of the story and basically treated me quite badly. Although I had done nothing wrong, at the end of that encounter, I felt like a criminal. Even worse, I was now scared of this woman and the power that she had. If the police weren't going to listen to me then I was lost.

At the advice of a friend, last May, I sent a letter to the chief of the MTA PD asking for help. That letter remains unanswered.

During my most recent situation with the WPPD, the officer (I wish I knew his name) and I talked for about 20 minutes. He listened to my frustration and while I wasn't happy about having been met at the train station, I came away feeling that he had heard my side of the story and that his report would be fair.

On a Monday morning I mailed a letter to the chief of the WPPD. On Wednesday evening, I got a call from Lt. Kevin Christopher. I wasn't home but he left his office and cell phone numbers. I got to speak to him on Thursday and once again, I felt that someone had listened to me and was going to try to help.

At this point, it seems that everyone wants the same thing. The woman does not want to be anywhere near me, I don't want to be anywhere near her, and the PD would just as soon have the whole thing over and done with.

This case is far from the most important that the WPPD have to deal with. They didn't make me feel that way, however. They treated me like a human being. I understand that this woman's complaint is something they must investigate. They have to be sure that I'm not a criminal. At no point, however, did they treat me like one before investigating the matter.

If this all reads like a love letter to the WPPD, I can't help that. The MTA PD left me feeling scared and abused. The WPPD treated me fairly and that matters a lot.

I'm betting on the White Plains Police Dept.

I have done several things since last Wednesday which I'm hoping will help.

First, on Thursday, I called Detective Martin. Once I reminded him of who I was, I told him that I felt that this woman was using the Police to harass me. I gave him the incident number and asked him if there was anything that he could do.

He was honest, which I appreciate. He told me that he would look into it but that he may not be able to prevent officers from meeting me in person to follow up future complaints. He explained that the person taking the complaint might not know that there was a history. Without knowing that, they would do what the officer I spoke to on Wednesday did, which is meet me in person. He also told me that the White Plains Detectives were involved in a big case and that he would be able to look into it until this week.

This morning I am sending a letter to the Chief of the White Plains Police Department, James Bradley. Although my letter to the MTA Police Chief went unanswered, I am more optomistic about the White Plains Police. I feel that I have been treated very fairly by them unlike the MTA Police who seemed to have decided that I was guilty before they even talked to me.

I have a friend who has a family member on the White Plains Police Department. I have asked him if I could talk to him, not as a Police Officer, but rather as someone who might be able to offer advice about how to proceed.

Finally, I talked to another friend who is a lawyer. He did some research and offered some helpful advice. I'm not sure if I'm at the stage yet where it is time to retain an attorney but I'm certainly close. We will see what comes from the measures I'm taking.

It's not over yet

It has been quite a while since my last post. It had been so long that I actually thought that my last post was my last post. But...

Tonight, when I got in my car, an policeman from the White Plains PD came up to talk to me. He said that I had parked next to this woman and that she was afraid of me.

He said that she still insisted that I was following her. I told him that there was nobody parked on either side of me when I parked my car and that I hadn't seen her today. He agreed that she also said that she hadn't seen me but that the place where I parked my car was a threat. He said that she wanted to get an order of protection.

I explained to him that I had never done anything to this woman and that the only one of us who had ever been abusive was her. He told me to avoid contact with her. I told him that that was what I had been doing and yet I was still getting met by the Police.

So now I'm back to not knowing what to do. I really thought that this was over and I'm very unhappy that it isn't. This woman is using the police to harass me and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it.

An Interesting Coincidence

I was telling the story to some good friends over the weekend. When I got to the part about Det. Martin, one of them said "You mean Keith?".

It turns out that I have friends who are friends with someone named Martin on the White Plains Police force. Martin is not an uncommon name and the White Plains PD is large enough that there certainly could be more than one but it is also possible that the detective who contacted me is friends with a friend of mine.

Meanwhile, as I have said before, I have no intention of altering my schedule in order to avoid her. I will not make contact or even acknowledge that she exists but I am going to take the trains I want to take.

Now I Have Heard From The White Plains Police

When I came home yesterday, Elizabeth told me that I had a call from Det. Martin of the White Plains Police Department. I had a feeling that it was regarding the woman that this blog is about.

I called back Det. Martin and I must say that the conversation was much more pleasent then the one I had with the MTA Police. I asked Det. Martin if he wanted to hear my side of the story and he said that he did.

After telling my side of the story, he said that the woman was complaining that I have been following or stalking her. He also added that our accounts were similar except that she did not mention the episode in the elevator which was really how this whole thing got started.

Det. Martin did not tell me to alter my habits. He simply suggested that I avoid her. I agreed that this was a wise course of action since from my point of view, this woman is clearly unbalanced.

Det. Martin asked me about which trains I usually take and I gave him my schedule. I explained that this woman and I are often on the same trains and that we tend to park in the same area of the garage.

He explained that he couldn't stop her from complaining in the future and that all complaints had to be followed up. He also said that he would be calling her to ask about the episode in the elevator. I don't expect her to tell the truth about this but I'm glad she is going to be asked.

On the whole, I feel that my interaction with the White Plains PD regarding this issue has been very good. I feel that Det. Martin treated me with respect and had not rushed to judgement but rather was willing listen and investigate. It is about 180 degrees different from the way I was treated by the MTA PD.

So it appears that this thing isn't over yet. I am going to stick to the course of action I've already decided on. I am not going to interact with her. I will ride where I want to ride on the train and take the trains I want to take. As far as I know, simply being on the same train as someone (or even in the same car) does not constitute stalking or any other criminal behavior.

I'm Feeling Very Uneasy

This morning she was on the platform again. As soon as I saw her I turned and went in the other direction and hoped that she didn't see me. I tried to put enough distance between us but I still spent most of the train ride wondering if the police were going to be there to greet me again.

I had material that I needed to read for a conference that I'm attending this week and I found that I couldn't concentrate on it because I kept wondering if she had seen me and if I was going to have another problem.

I also realized that it was humiliating to be met by the police yesterday. I found that I was feeling uneasy when I saw them in the station. This is not the way I want to feel about the police.

Finally, I am still angry that I'm the one that has to change his routine. The only person that was ever abusive in our encounters was her. I have only uttered a few words to her and they were always polite. Now I find myself having to worry about running into her. This just isn't fair but there doesn't seem to be a good course of action other than to do my best to avoid her.

Avoiding Her Can Be Difficult

She was on my train on the way home tonight. As soon as I saw her, I got up and moved to another car. I was a bit on edge since I didn't know if she saw me and if I might have another encounter with police this evening.

It is going to be difficult to avoid her completely. I don't know if she takes the same trains everyday. It isn't like I see her all the time but today I saw her both coming and going.

I resent having to be on edge about this. I have been advised to do my best to avoid her and I fully plan to but since she has a similar work schedule to mine and since she travels to and from the same train station, it might be difficult.

I don't like living under the fear that if I happen to not notice her somewhere, that the police might be waiting to escort me off of the train. What can I say? This isn't right!