Kimberly has been located at a hospital in Queens! We spoke to her on the phone and got confirmation that she is there and safe. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us find her. https://twitter.com/kait2lyn/status/1381635335566753792

Now that we know for sure where she is and have been in contact with the hospital, I want to talk about how police involvement in this crisis was an active impediment.

Kim was manic and had gone off with a stranger late Saturday afternoon. Her phone was on for the rest of the day but she didn’t answer till 1:30am Saturday night/Sunday morning, when she said she was going to Queens with a man named Drew.

On Sunday morning, Kim’s phone had been going straight to voicemail for several hours, and under consult from the NYPD, my girlfriend’s mom was encouraged to file a missing person report with Baltimore PD, since that’s where both Kim and her mom live.

The detective with the Baltimore PD got in contact with Detective Bridget Penner of the 79th precinct (where Kim disappeared). That detective was supposed to follow up on any leads received and communicate them to Kim’s mom and the Baltimore PD.

We had no word from or about Kimberly all day Sunday and most of the day yesterday. We flooded social media and various Facebook groups hoping someone would see her. The flyer we used, generated by Baltimore PD, specifically directed leads to the 79th precinct.

Late yesterday afternoon, we got a message that somebody had seen Kim, called the 79th precinct to report that info, was told to call Baltimore PD, who then told them to call the 79th precinct.

I about lost my mind. Detective Penner and the 79th precinct were aware that Kim was missing, but instead of following up on a lead immediately, they told us nothing and put the burden on the person with the tip to call a police department out of state

After hearing this yesterday, my girlfriend’s mom wrote an email to Det. Penner asking why this happened. We got a response from her this morning, directing us back to the Baltimore detective

We were told we had to file in Baltimore, even though she’d gone missing in Brooklyn, and then Detective Penner and the 79th precinct at every turn said “sorry we can’t help it’s Baltimore’s case”

I called Detective Penner this morning, before we found out Kim was at the hospital, to ask why they wouldn’t follow up on leads immediately after they’re received and she said “sorry that’s policy.”

I asked her if she knew how insane that sounds. That if Kim is spotted nobody from her department will go looking for her until they get a specific request filed through the Baltimore police department. I asked if she understood how much time that wastes, and she didn’t care.

She repeated that policy again, and basically said it wasn’t her job to follow up on these leads, and that she was doing it as a favor to the Baltimore detective.

I asked her to agree with me that this is actively unhelpful, and she said that because she’s a sworn member of the NYPD, she isn’t allowed to comment on policy.

People who question police abolition always counter with situations like this. Well we had a loved one in a mental health crisis go missing and we were met at every turn with a blatant unwillingness to do the one part of their job that is supposed to be good.

Defund the police so we can abolish the police, and use those resources to build something better.