Saw a man exposing himself--call police?

[Anonymous]

I was walking through Dupont at 17th and P at 4:15 pm and saw a man pleasuring himself in front of the doorway of a building. Fortunately, I was not with DC. I was too shocked to do anything. I thought about calling the non-emergency number, but realized that I didn't program it into my cell phone (which I am going to do ASAP after this incident). I didn't think that it was an "emergency" 911 call. Should I have called the police?

[Anonymous]

uh, yes.

[Anonymous]

yes

[Anonymous]

Oh, what do you think they will do?

[Anonymous]

Arrest him. Those types of crimes are just the beginning.

[Anonymous]

311. I'd imagine they would tell him to stop.

[Anonymous]

Yes, call police. He would probably get cited for indecent exposure. It would be a good thing for his...um..."history" to be on record.

[Anonymous]

Nope. I used to live on that corner and called the cops a couple of times for things like that (one of which was in my yard) and no one ever came by.

[Anonymous]

I used to live at 19th and s. If it's the same guy who used to masturbate on peoples' door steps, you may be waiting a long, long time.

[Anonymous]

Kids can see him?

[Anonymous]

I saw a man expose himself when I was a kid. My mom called the cops and they were able to find and arrest him. Turns out this guy and his father were working together but on different parts of town. The son exposed himself to girls while the dad exposed himself to women.

[Anonymous]

You should call to create a record of the incident, but know that the police won't ever show up. Creating a report, even if the police never respond, improves the accuracy of our police stats. And the improved picture isn't pretty. If we all ignore criminal behavior because we're not the victim, or because the cops won't show, that gives the cops a free pass on controlling crime, and improves their stats, which should, by rights, be dismal.

[Anonymous]

These people are dangerous - I mean, clearly this is not normal, healthy behavior - absolutely call the police next time. I would have called 911 even if they are slow to come.

[Anonymous]

Yes. This happened years ago to me in Virginia. Some colleagues and I were out for a walk at lunch when we witnessed a man exposing himself. We called the police, and apparently someone else did too, and they caught him. He went to trial for a first offense. He was a very accomplished person professionally. The thing is, it was highly unlikely it was his first time doing it, just the first time he got caught. The worst part - he had young children. It was sick. Hopefully he's cleaned up his act...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should call to create a record of the incident, but know that the police won't ever show up. Creating a report, even if the police never respond, improves the accuracy of our police stats. And the improved picture isn't pretty. If we all ignore criminal behavior because we're not the victim, or because the cops won't show, that gives the cops a free pass on controlling crime, and improves their stats, which should, by rights, be dismal.

Agreed.