Since the quiet installation of cameras in the elevator has put a crimp in some of my best semi-private digging and scratching, I began wondering how many other cameras have been placed around the building?
I'm not complaining mind you, I'm Just...Curious.
I hear what you're saying, but with two murders within our vacinity and a stabbing in the last week, I would like to have either the police or management to let us know what the heck is going on out there. I'm okay with the cameras given all of this stuff. I just wish we knew more.
ReplyDeleteHow is management going to let you know what's going on? It's not their job...people tend to forget that we live in an URBAN CITY CORE...it's not Reston Town Center out there folks, it's a little gritty, it's a little raw...it's real.
ReplyDeleteEACH PERSON needs to be responsible for their safety. Be alert and aware of your surroundings. Walk with someone else, don't wear headphones if you're concerned with your surroundings and be aware.
There's a sense of irony here as well, folks are up in arms about the guest policy, but this poster seems to want more assurances of our safety.
You can follow the Washington Post crime report or other crime reports (I think some are listed on the right side of this blog). I think those murders/stabbings were drug related. The muggings on New Jersey are what we need to be aware of. I don't think our building is a direct target, we do become targets when we walk to a poorly lit area surrounding our building.
ReplyDeleteVoice of Reason,
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I think you are confusing the issue by suggesting that the guest ID policy is some sort of "assurance of safety." I dare say that almost all murders and robberies in this neighborhood are carried out by people that don't have friends in this building. So, assuming the concierge is not too busy checking guests' IDs, the murderers/robbers should not be able to get in the building since no one will be escorting them.
Do you not get that the Guest ID policy is NOT helping to protect you from crime in the neighborhood?
Ah, I think the opinion of most is that the guest policy is not helping anything, VOR.
ReplyDeleteAnons (both of you):
ReplyDeleteNo, I get it perfectly. I agree that most of the crime in the neighborhood (which most often occurs on the other side of South Capitol for those of you geographically challenged) has no effect on the building whatsoever. My point was the bigger picture.
I didn’t say the policy was protecting me, I said that it was interesting that someone thinks that management should be informing them of safety issues in the neighborhood. People don’t want to sign in a guest, yet they want more personal safety assurances.
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that most of you have never lived in a building like this before.
My cousin lives in a very similar building near the Verizon Center. Their security is tighter than ours. And then some. I’m over there at least two or three times per month, I’m on a first-name basis with most of the front desk staff, yet I have to physically sign in every time I visit him and he has to come down and get me.
Besides, what’s the hassle in taking 5 minutes to show an ID and sign in? I actually am upset when my guests make it all the way up to my apartment without having to sign in…it shows that there are flaws in the system. And yes, I think it’s an assurance of safety. It brings a sense of accountability to residents…ie: if my guest gets wasted and tears up the roof or punches a hole in the elevator lobby, I’m responsible for that behavior. I still don’t know how this ‘embarrasses’ people.
Someone in a previous comment mentioned tailgating into the garage, while I’ve seen this (and also done this myself) there are security cameras all over the garage, and with the towing policy in place and a lack of ‘open’ parking spots coupled with the fact that you need a key to get into the garage elevator lobby…if you don’t have a spot and a key, you’re not going to get very far. Besides, the cameras will catch your tag number.
Did anyone else also stop to think that maybe the security policy is a JPI corporate issue and not something that Melanie came up with on a whim? Did you ever think it might be an insurance issue?
I’d like to think that if I were a parent and my daughter lived in the building, I’d be glad that there were some safe-guards in place at least trying to ensure her safety. If I was engaged or married, I’d feel the same about my wife or fiancee.
And if the security policy is your biggest complaint, I’d be more concerned with the recently filled cracks in the garage floor.
Voice of Reason,
ReplyDeleteA few points regarding your last post:
1) You ask, “what’s the hassle in taking 5 minutes to show an ID and sign in?” I think you’ve answered your own question.
2) You write, “I think it’s an assurance of safety. It brings a sense of accountability to residents.” If you are saying that the ID Policy is desirable because it serves as a “warning” to residents and guests each time they enter the building, then I’ll just say that any policy that operates by way of intimidation is not a reasonable policy.
3) You write, “if my guest gets wasted and tears up the roof or punches a hole in the elevator lobby, I’m responsible for that behavior.” I would like to remind you that we are all made responsible for our guests’ behavior by our leases, not by the fact that we have signed them in.
4) You write, “I still don’t know how this ‘embarrasses’ people.” I think it’s fine that you are not embarrassed by this policy, but almost every guest I have brought over has commented on the strangeness of this policy. It clearly makes my guests feel uncomfortable and/or question the safety/environment of the building in which I live. I find this embarrassing, and unnecessarily so.
5) You note that people have mentioned the problem of entry through the garage but argue that this is not a problem because “there are security cameras all over the garage.” I would like to point out that there are also security cameras all over the lobby, elevators, etc. If the security cameras are sufficient for screening visitors in the garage, why are they not sufficient for screening visitors in the lobby?
6) You write, “Did anyone else also stop to think that maybe the security policy is a JPI corporate issue and not something that Melanie came up with on a whim? Did you ever think it might be an insurance issue?” Melanie is JPI’s representative in this building, so you can’t separate the two. Besides which, neither of these points change the fact that I am not bound to this policy by the terms of my lease.
7) You write, “I’d like to think that if I were a parent and my daughter lived in the building, I’d be glad that there were some safe-guards in place at least trying to ensure her safety. If I was engaged or married, I’d feel the same about my wife or fiancee.” If you are implying that those of us with wives and fiancées in the building do not care about their safety because we do not agree with the ID policy, I don’t think you want to go there.
8) You write, “And if the security policy is your biggest complaint, I’d be more concerned with the recently filled cracks in the garage floor.” I’m not sure what this means.
Voice or Reason completely misses my point. Communicating with what's going on in the neighborhood isn't JPI's responsibilty, but letting us know that things like this are happening in our neighborhood would be a good thing for everyone concerned. And as to your holier than thou attitude of where I lived before this, my guess is that you were in diapers when I moved into this city when it was a heckuva lot less safe.
ReplyDeleteI find it adorable Voice of Reason thinks management or the concierge pays any attention at all to what happens in the garage.
ReplyDeleteI am constantly reporting cars that are parked in the middle of the thruway in the garage because they don't have passes or (obviously) an assigned spot. People let others in that don't belong there all of the time and I'm usually reporting them after the car has spent the whole night in our garage (and the person in our building).
For all I know, this person is a murderer, robber or rapist lying in wait in said garage for when I come home (alone) and park there. Great.
Safety of that kind is their job.
Voice of Reason,
ReplyDeleteyawn.
Oh boy! Fan mail!
ReplyDeleteWhere do I start, 9:41?
1) Absolutely I did. There’s no hassle in it.
2) How does it intimidate you? To me, intimidation is a man much larger than myself, probably trained in martial arts, threatening to turn me into sushi unless I give him my wallet and credit cards. This isn’t the case. Show ID, sign in, go about your business. No thugs hanging out by the entrance, just the Papa John’s guy dropping off a pie.
3) Absolutely, but there have been instances of valdalism and unbecoming behavior in the past that were attributed to ‘ghost’ guests that nobody knew who they belonged to.
4) Again, have you been to any other high rise buildings in the area? Signing in isn’t a new idea that our landlords came up with over drinks at Justin’s…it’s in just about every comparable building in the city.
5) I could cede you this point.
6) How are you not bound to the policy by the terms of your lease? And you also didn’t answer my question as to the fact that this policy might have something to do with the building’s insurance policy.
7) Please don’t puff out your chest and act like you’re some tough guy and that I’m being flip. I’d want my significant other to feel safe if I’m not home and when she comes and goes from the building. To you or others, you might not feel a sense of security through this policy, but I know that I would.
8) Did you not see the headaches caused by last week’s garage memo?
11:26: Read JDLand.com if you want crime reports, but please don’t expect a print out when you come down for your morning coffee.
GF: I haven’t seen cars clogging the garage since they started enforcing the parking regulations on a regular basis (the past 90 days at least). I’ve personally witnessed three cars towed from the garage and numerous others with those hideous orange stickers on the windshield. That might have thwarted some of the issues. And ‘constantly reporting’? Might that be a stretch? I know quite a few of my neighbors, and none have had parking issues for the past few months. I’ll admit that we’ve had issues with people parked in our spot that didn’t belong, but again, this hasn’t happened since they stepped up enforcement. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen building staff members proactively checking for parking passes in the garage on a couple of occasions, so kudos to them for trying. Finally, I’m also blushing because you find me adorable, I need to send this link to my mother, she’ll be proud.
Again, I'm more upset that there are people who use the VERY limited parking in front of the building as a dumping ground for their car and leaving it there for days and weeks. I'm more bothered that people seem to think that they can simply slap a padlock on a storage unit and claim it as theirs without paying rent for it. I'm bothered by people who don't take care of their pets and let their dogs use the hallway as a tree.
VOR you seem mighty defensive. But oddly, you seem so incredibly informed about the building and the policies. But save your ramblings for your mom, cuz no one here is buying your shenanigans. Your points are defensive and empty.
ReplyDeleteVOR,
ReplyDelete1) ...unless you consider "taking 5 minutes to show an ID and sign in" every time you bring a guest in the building a hassle, which I would guess most people do.
2) intimidate: to compel or deter by or as if by threats. i don't want my guests to feel as though they are being "put on notice" when they enter the building. my guests are responsible adults and i want them to be treated that way in my home.
3) this is my favorite argument that management makes because it is entirely illogical. if you cannot identify the "ghost guests" who vandalized the building or caused some other sort of trouble, then it doesn't matter whether or not they showed their ID when they came in. if management finds a wall punched through on saturday morning, are they going to track down and interview all the guests they logged on friday night? if you can't identify a person who committed an offense then checking IDs doesn't help. if you can identify that person by sight then you just have to check the cameras to see who they came in with--the ID check is completely superfluous.
4) "[the ID policy is] in just about every comparable building in the city"... what city are you living in?
5) thanks.
6) for starters, my lease specifically disqualifies community rules that are "discriminatory." the point you conceded above about guests coming in through the garage being exempt means that this policy is discriminatory (in that it exempts people with a parking pass with no reasonable basis to do so). for a more detailed explanation, see my post on this blog from the week before last.
6b) as for the insurance policy, that is between JPI and their insurance company. i don't have a contract with the insurance company, i have a contract with JCY.
7) i don't see how this is "puffing out my chest." your previous comment suggested that if i don't support the ID policy then i must not care about my wife's safety. that is ridiculous.
8) i did. it just so happens that the ID policy causes more headaches for me personally.
Valid points, Anonymous.
ReplyDelete