OP here, posting a update.
As I mentioned, I followed the advice of the non-emergency dispatch and filed a report. I described the events, and provided the license plate, and said I had video to share. After a week, I had gotten no response so I called to get the case number and assigned detective. I decided to wait another week. After two weeks, still nothing from police, so I emailed the assigned detective. He was polite enough, but it was pretty obvious to me that if I hadn’t contacted him I’d have never heard from them. He was quick to point out this was a traffic violation and not a criminal case. I responded, yes, I know. I then asked if having video of the incident would allow the police to issue a traffic citation. That was several weeks ago, and I’ve not heard from the detective since.
The silent treatment leads me to believe that they probably can issue a citation, but have just about zero interest in doing so. I understand or imagine the reasons why, but being ignored like this has increased my cynicism about the police when it comes to matters of pedestrian and cyclist safety. I’ve nothing against the detective, but I’d guess his superiors are focused on airbag thefts and loud mufflers.
In the end, I decided not to share the video, knowing there was at least a decent chance what it did or didn’t show would be used against me, to make it my fault, or my son’s. Sorry there’s no happy ending here.
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