When I first called in, I was first patched through to the Arlington police department which asked me where the men were on the bridge. When I said that they were in the middle, I was told it was not within their jurisdiction. The dispatcher was very responsive and did stay with me as he transferred the call to the D.C. dispatcher.
The D.C. dispatcher was absolutely professional and prompt. However, only a block away there were two D.C. police cars in front of the State Department. I told the dispatcher that if she wanted me to do so I would pull over and inform the officer. She agreed that was a good idea. However, after I told him that there was a guy hanging under the Memorial Bridge, the officer said that he was in the midst of a traffic report. I went back to the dispatcher and told her that she would have to send another cruiser. In his defense, I was just reporting a suspicious sighting and he seemed to be following protocol in completing the report.
Nevertheless, it seemed a bit curious in this day and age that a routine traffic report would take priority over a suspicious individual hanging under one of the major bridges and national symbols in Washington. I want to stress that the police officer in the cruiser was very polite and said that he would call in the report as well, but it would seem a good policy to make such calls a priority in the future. By the time I reached the law school nearby, I saw a helicopter pass overhead so the police may have dispatched both a cruiser and helicopter.
If it was some form of protest or stunt, I will feel a bit guilty, but this is a poor choice for such expression. We are all a bit edgy about such sightings on our memorials and it would be a very dangerous choice for such a protest or stunt. All of us who live in this city understand that we are at ground zero for terrorist attacks and there is often great overreactions on suspicions. However, the sight of someone dangling under a bridge would warrant some priority measures. Once again, some of us may be overly sensitive.
Hopefully it was completely innocent but I thought the response of the officer to be strange in Washington with so many concerns over security. The officer was literally just seconds away from a report of suspicious activity on not just a memorial but a critical bridge. Yet, he felt that protocol dictated that he remain in the cruiser and complete his paperwork. Even if this proves entirely harmless activity, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department needs to look at its protocol and priorities in such cases, in my view.
