by Jeannette E. Gerrard
Anyone who has experienced violence or robbery will be able to identify with me. Those who have not experienced this kind of ordeal need to be alert and be safe everywhere. For this reason, I'd like to tell you about a recent experience I had and what I unfortunately had to learn the hard way about what people should know and do if they find themselves in a dangerous situation.
Early on the morning of Wednesday, December 1, I left my home in Washington, D.C., and started on the trip I take every day to my job. I took the route I always take: I walked three blocks to the Van Ness Metro Station, caught the Red Line, and rode to Union Station, where I exited the train and rode the escalator to get to the exit fare gate. When I put my card into the machine, it popped back out but the gate didn't open, so I knew there wasn't enough money left on the card and I would need to "add fare." That was not an unusual occurrence, so I went to the machine and added fare and got change. After exiting the fare gate, I went up the escalator to the Massachusetts Avenue exit of Union Station. One part of the exit has been blocked off for several months because of ongoing construction. So I proceeded to another less familiar area and continued on my way. A woman was sitting there, near the escalators in this part of the station where there are a number of shops and stores. She told me that she needed help to get back to her home in Georgia. She said that the police had talked with her, and that they had told her about an agency where she might be able to secure a voucher to pay for part of the bus fare. She even said that the police had told her she could not ask people directly for money because panhandling is not permitted at Union Station.
I told her she was right about that, and that I would not give her money in hand but that I would try to help her by going with her to the agency. We walked a relatively short distance in the direction of my office, but she said the agency was not open yet. We went back toward the station and I bought her some food from a street vendor because she said she was hungry and three months pregnant.
When we got back to the station, I offered to keep her food for her while she went to the rest room; but she said that I didn't need to, and so I promised to wait for her to return. Well, she did not return right away, and did not return, and did not return. Then, a second woman showed up outside the shops where I was waiting. She said she was a plain clothes police officer. She asked me if I needed help. At that point, I asked her about the woman who needed help getting home. I assumed she was a real police officer. After all, she had identified herself as a police officer, and she had a badge -- it was made of plastic and quite large. She showed it to me more than once.
In reply to my question about the first woman, the one who needed help getting back to Georgia, the one who was three months pregnant, for whom I had purchased breakfast from the vendor, she told me the woman was OK and that she knew her.
Then, she began to tell me how dangerous it was for me to be walking outside in that particular area. She said that people were watching me. She told me that she had a blind sister and so she felt a special need to be looking out for my safety. She asked where I was going. I explained that I was on my way to work and told her where my job is. She said that a number of people had been arrested the day before and that several people had even been attacked. It was not safe for me to carry my purse outside, she told me. I should take whatever money I had and put it in my pockets in case my bag was stolen.
I couldn't do that, but beginning to feel uneasy, I did grab my Braille 'n Speak out of my bag (I explained to the "police officer" that it was a computer) and I put it in another bag I was carrying. Then this kind "police officer" offered to get a police car to take me to work. She said she would carry my bag for me. I gave it to her, and then we left the station and started across the street. While we walked together, with my purse over her shoulder and me walking alongside, sighted-guide style, she called someone and told him she was arranging for the police car. When we reached the other side of the street, she told me that the next siren I would hear would signal the arrival of the expected police car. Then she walked away and I began listening for the siren which would signal the car's arrival. But no car came.
When something like this happens, it takes a few moments before you realize what has just happened to you. When that realization came to me, I felt sick inside. The only name I knew was Jesus, so I began to ask Him for help, quietly at first, then louder and louder. A park policeman came by, but he did not have much to say when I explained the situation. Finally, a woman who recognized me from the Department of Human Services, where I work, came and helped me back to the station. Metro police (who provide security in Washington's subway system) questioned me for awhile and then called over a representative from Amtrak's police. When they determined that the incident had occurred within Amtrak's jurisdiction, I was taken to the Amtrak police service area and questioned further. While there, I phoned my pastor and then a co-worker, who came down to get me and take me to work. The Amtrak police officer showed me what a real badge looks like: it's a small, metal badge on a neck cord.
Don't ever believe a person is a police officer if you are shown a plastic badge. It is false!
Witnesses have said that this woman was accompanied by a man. I was never aware of this. I wonder, Would I have been attacked if I had not given her my bag?
It's common for someone in my situation to begin to blame herself for the crime. I started thinking that it was my fault and that I had allowed the criminal to take advantage of me. Why hadn't I been more alert? Why had I been so gullible?
All the real police officers and others who came to my assistance assured me that it was not my fault and that what the criminals had done was wrong. In fact, one of the policemen who helped me that morning is a pastor.
Unfortunately, none of the items stolen have been returned; but many of them were replaced by the kind contributions of friends and other people I didn't even really know before this incident, and by my homeowners' insurance. The Amtrak police were very angry that someone would take advantage of a blind person. Although there has been no news on whether these people have been caught, vendors in the area and others believe they have seen a man and woman again who fit the description. Of course, they have reported this to the Amtrak police.
As for me, and how this incident has impacted the way I travel through my days, the next time someone asks me for help, I will just keep on walking. I had always thought of myself as careful, but now I know that unfortunate things can happen to anyone at any time. My advice to all of you is: Use your "gut feeling" or intuition or whatever you want to call it! If you ever find yourself in a situation like this one, if you're exiting from a transit station and you just don't feel safe, go back inside, and report the suspicious person or situation. I believe that the first woman I encountered early that morning might also have been involved in this scam. Keep alert to your surroundings and keep walking at a good pace. Folks, blindness is not necessarily an issue here! Crime can happen to anyone. You don't have to walk the streets in fear, but stay alert and don't let anyone with a large plastic "badge" convince you that he or she is a police officer, plain clothes or otherwise! And, if you are attacked in any way, use your voice and shout! Keep shouting until you get attention, even if you have to shout "fire."
I am hopeful that somebody will benefit from reading my story and that many would-be criminals will be stopped in their tracks because people trap them in some way.