Life on the Streets

I was in the city last week with a group of my daughter's friends.  We were taking a load of stuff that they had collected to one of those houses for children where people stay when they live out of town, and they need a place close to the hospital to stay.

As we were getting off of the highway, we turned onto a side street and got to watch a little more action than we had wanted to see.

*WHAM!*

Just across the street from us, we got to watch the police take down a suspect and handcuff him.  And then, we got to see another guy down the street handcuffed. 

Each of the perps was sitting on the ground, about a block apart, handcuffed while four policemen stood over each one.  Two more policemen were going through the bushes behind them with their nightsticks, looking at the ground for something.

As we were heading in with our boxes of stuff, two of the officers came over and helped us open doors and carry stuff into the building.  They were very polite, and thanked the girls for bringing things in and apologized for the scene across the street.

What a welcome to the city!

But you know, the last time I went into the city with a group of kids, (in April),  we were walking along a city street and got to watch a guy get handcuffed by the cops.  Unfortunately, they had him spread eagle over the back of my Honda.  We stood and watched while they read him his rights, searched him, and handcuffed him.

Finally, one of the cops turns to me and says "Why don't you guys move along here?"

"We're trying to,"  I replied, "But you guys and this dude seem to be all over my car, and are kind of in the way of my moving anywhere."

The policemen quickly apologized, and asked us politely if we minded waiting a few more minutes while they hauled the guy off.  They also asked me to make certain that there was no damage to my car. 

Again, a great "Howdy-Do" from the city!

I love the city.  I really do.  I love the cultural opportunities, and I love most of the people who live and work there.

Most of all, I enjoy the juxtaposition of images every time I end up dealing with the police department.

There, right in front of me, something is going down.  There are lots of officers, always a little bit of swearing from the person getting arrested.  It is downright nitty gritty.

But then, in the midst of it all, you see these wonderful officers who are dealing with a very ugly situation and yet they take the time to be polite, friendly, and helpful. 

Since I've had a run in of some kind with the police involving someone being arrested the last three times I've been in the city, I'm wondering if I should call the police department ahead of time and say "I'm heading into such and such a street today at 9 am.  Something should be going down there at just about that time.  You might want to make sure you have a couple of extra officers on duty there, just in case."