Police and Thieves

Nothin' to See Here, Keep on Movin' by Vincent Valdez

My whole adult life I’ve never had much admiration for cops. Before I was an adult, I never gave much thought to the police. It was when I turned 18 that I started to notice how much, and how often they violate the civil rights of the citizenry they are sworn to protect. (Including the my own civil rights one November night, when I was just 18. –an event that taught me to distrust, and always be skeptical when having to deal with these constables of the public.)

At one time, I just plain hated cops. Now I’ve grown to tolerate them. (I’ll even admit to still loving my long-time friends that have chosen to become police.) I respect police and their duty, dedication, and certainly do appreciate their willingness to take a bullet for the rest of us. Increasingly, find myself getting wishy-washy teary-eyed when some are killed in the line of duty. Such as the case earlier this year with SWAT officer Randal Simmons when he was killed rescuing a family in Winnetka. Or enraged toward the murderers that assassinated local Sheriff deputy Juan Escalante Saturday morning in outside his home in Cypress Park.

I want to think I can work with my local law enforcement to obtain our mutual goals of reducing crime, pursuing justice, and making Highland Park a peaceful place to live. That being said, why does the LAPD make it so hard for me to like them?

Too many times I have been pained to ask for their help, and many times it turns into an unpleasant and regrettable experience. With one exception, when I was lucky enough to get a quick response, and excellent follow-through with helpful, and courteous officers. But other times they have been just rude, mocking, and unhelpful. And this is not just with my local Northeast Los Angeles Division. I understand their jobs can be extremely stressful, especially in a city where the police department has been notoriously understaffed. Yet, I hate often being disrespected for being what I have sometimes perceived as an annoying do-gooder, or a potential criminal.

What inspired me to write this was Saturday’s afternoon’s incident when I took a break from my ‘Staycation,‘ and looked outside at 4 o’clock, to see there were police cars, and fire trucks up and down the street. Gee that is odd, that’s something that I don’t see everyday. I wondered what was going on. Bad idea.

So I noticed they had various suspects in the back of a couple of different patrol cars, the paramedics were treating someone, and whatever was happening looked like it had been resolved. So not wanting to bother the police that were interviewing a suspect outside my house, I walked across the street, and half way down the block to ask some police that were just standing around what was going on. An officer turned around, looked me up and down, and then said, “Go stand on the other side of the street.”

I replied, “I live here, I just was wondering what was happening on my street.”

“Go stand on the other side of the street.”

Knowing how ugly things can get, I decided this wasn’t worth pursuing, and left.

Now the street, or sidewalk weren’t cordoned off, or anything. There weren’t officers posted as sentry’s, just cops interviewing suspects in their cars, and other officers standing around talking, like the ones I approached down the street. (I later found out it was a brawl between some men and women that turned on the police when they came to break it up.)

So why so harsh? Perhaps the murder of a peace officer just 2 miles away was a factor. Perhaps he was at the 11th hour of his 12 hour day. Perhaps this is the same old LAPD, that I have had to co-exist with.

That being said, don’t forget tonight is National Night Out! A night where communities, and their police get together and take a stand against crime with vigils, block parties, peace marches, bike rides, pot lucks, BBQs, street fairs, award presentations, open houses, picnics, rallies, and ice cream socials. From the looks of it, our local Northeast division, has the weakest of the night’s events: Something called “Farewell to Crime and Drugs” at the Walgreen’s on Sunset, a movie at the Glassell Park Rec Center, and an unnamed event at the old Eagle Rock City Hall on Colorado. I wonder if the Glassell Park movie will feature a crime fighting classic, or a perhaps a crime thriller that was filmed in our neighborhood. With all these options, I think this year, I may be staying in.