I have never felt unsafe in Turlock, although I was not born here, I was raised here and have always thought it was one of the safest places to live. But that idea came to a stop on Sept. 22.
My brother and I were driving down Main Street when we saw that a man was beating a woman and there was a child, which we assumed to be their child, watching. We decided to call the cops because it was the obvious thing to do, but we couldn’t leave just yet because we were scared that the child would somehow get involved in the violence. So, after waiting some time, the woman drove off and we saw that the man was getting into another car so we decided to leave. Next thing we know, we are being followed by this man. He followed us a good 5-10 minutes. It was the most frightening thing I have ever experienced. We didn’t know if this man had a gun or a knife or what his intentions were, so we called the cops again to tell them that we were being followed. The woman that answered asked if we wanted an officer to call us and of course we said “yes.” Luckily, by this time the man had drove off a different way. I am sad to say that I did not receive a phone call from that officer until today, and I received a call only because I kept insisting and calling the police department. I called at least five times. The officer told me that no one had told her that we were being followed and it turns out that the man in the car was never found. If he were to see our car he would recognize it in a heartbeat. Now my question is — is this what we get for doing the right thing? I did not receive any advice except for “if you think someone is following you call 911.” Uh, NO, that obviously didn’t work the first time. What else can we possibly do when the people who are there to protect us do not do their jobs? How is it possible that when a woman is getting beat out on the street there is not a single cop in sight? But when the weekend comes around there are plenty of cops set up at DUI check points? Not only is the police response time slow, but no one from the police department was of any help. If that man in the car following us had gotten out of his car, the situation would have escalated. Nothing has been done about this. My reason for writing this is to let people know and encourage them to not stay quiet. I’m sure we’re not the first or last people to be in a situation like this. As a citizen, I am going to do everything in my power to reveal the flaws in the Turlock Police Department.
My brother and I were driving down Main Street when we saw that a man was beating a woman and there was a child, which we assumed to be their child, watching. We decided to call the cops because it was the obvious thing to do, but we couldn’t leave just yet because we were scared that the child would somehow get involved in the violence. So, after waiting some time, the woman drove off and we saw that the man was getting into another car so we decided to leave. Next thing we know, we are being followed by this man. He followed us a good 5-10 minutes. It was the most frightening thing I have ever experienced. We didn’t know if this man had a gun or a knife or what his intentions were, so we called the cops again to tell them that we were being followed. The woman that answered asked if we wanted an officer to call us and of course we said “yes.” Luckily, by this time the man had drove off a different way. I am sad to say that I did not receive a phone call from that officer until today, and I received a call only because I kept insisting and calling the police department. I called at least five times. The officer told me that no one had told her that we were being followed and it turns out that the man in the car was never found. If he were to see our car he would recognize it in a heartbeat. Now my question is — is this what we get for doing the right thing? I did not receive any advice except for “if you think someone is following you call 911.” Uh, NO, that obviously didn’t work the first time. What else can we possibly do when the people who are there to protect us do not do their jobs? How is it possible that when a woman is getting beat out on the street there is not a single cop in sight? But when the weekend comes around there are plenty of cops set up at DUI check points? Not only is the police response time slow, but no one from the police department was of any help. If that man in the car following us had gotten out of his car, the situation would have escalated. Nothing has been done about this. My reason for writing this is to let people know and encourage them to not stay quiet. I’m sure we’re not the first or last people to be in a situation like this. As a citizen, I am going to do everything in my power to reveal the flaws in the Turlock Police Department.
— Alondra Carrillo
