We’ve heard of this happening before, but like most others, we don’t think about it until it happens to us. Well, maybe not to us, but close enough to get us a little upset.

Last night DCist took some time to sit on the porch and enjoy the autumn air, only to witness an individual walking down the block, trying to open each car door he passed. Not an odd occurrence, necessarily, but DCist decided to be a good citizen and call 911… only to get no answer. After a few more tries to 911 (and seeing the individual actually get into a car, open its trunk, and manage to steal some property), DCist tried the local police station, where we were greeted by an answering machine asking us to call 911 for an emergency, or 311 for a non-emergency. Calling 311 was a bit more productive, as we were able to report the crime. Unfortunately, the only response was a call to DCist’s cell phone an hour after the initial contact.

Sure, the crime in question was minor in comparison with other incidents that have been plaguing the city, but this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of 911 calls going unanswered in D.C. Considering the image that D.C. is trying to portray to the nation, it would be nice to have reliable 911 service. If you have your own D.C. police horror stories, DCist would love to hear them.