Another Day on N Street N.W.

Late this afternoon, I spoke to residents on the unit block of N Street NW.

I spoke with one family for about 15 minutes about issues in the neighborhood. They said that kids on N Street are being harassed by Sursum Corda children. But when the police are called, the trouble children "escape" to the other side of New York Avenue (Ward 6 territory), and the police say they don't have jurisdiction. These foks are dissatisfied with police response time to incident reports (one incident occurred shortly before I arrived at the scene), approximately 30 minutes.

One of the individuals at this home witnessed the Hoffman police incident. New facts from this witness include: that the Hoffman child had been involved in a fight, had been handcuffed by police, and then tried to run. According to this witness, the police slammed the kid's face down onto the concrete after grabbing him.

I walked to the next house and found a gentleman sitting on the front steps, although he did not live there. Jeffrey, 51, lives at the North Capitol Street shelter. Something caused me to ask "Are you okay?" He was not.

He asked for my hand to help him up, and I did so. He grabbed it very tightly and trembled a bit. He couldn't walk, he explained. After further discussion, I decided to call 911. The paramedics arrived on the scene in a firetruck within only a few minutes minutes. (The photo here is of a paramedic removing Jefferey's jacket in order to take his blood pressure.)

An ambulance arrived shortly thereafter and took him away.