15 August 2008

Friday Follies...
Break out the Creedence Clearwater Revival, because there MUST be "A Bad Moon Rising".
At least it sure seems that way in MY part of "da hood".
Last evening we were "entertained" by the lilting restraints of several of the most popular rap "singers" (and I use that word VERY loosely) blasting from specific boomcars that thumped their way through our area.
Now you have to understand that this type of NOISE (for that's what it truly is) occurs every day of the year, and it's been ongoing for at least the past TEN years (the time we have lived in this house). It's a daily "affirmation" for these urban tribesmen (and some women as well) to climb into their POS of the month (complete with those bass kicker boxes and their 24 inch mega-rims), and take to our streets, with NO regard for safety, quiet, or anything else. All they want to do is flex their overabundance of testosterone.
And they do it with such verve...and abandon.
Damn shame we couldn't HARNESS such expenditures of energy...we wouldn't need OPEC, that's for sure. Be nice if they could channel that into something PRODUCTIVE, but alas, that's not in their genes (or nature).
And so we have to exist with this cacophony every day of every month of every year, and maybe, if we're lucky, we can snatch a night's sleep somewhere along the way (yes, even THEY have to sleep eventually after all the partying, drug-dealing, and shooting one another).
So there must be some truth to the saying that the FULL MOON makes people "weird". Well, "weird" is SOP around my neighborhood (just not in OUR house) when it comes to these ethnics that feel this need to "share" their music with those of us that don't wish to hear it...from several blocks away.
Now, I've belabored the issue of noise and the adverse effects it has on the human body here often, and you can look up the effects yourselves, as there IS a plethora of information available, so I won't get into that right now...maybe another day we'll revisit it in depth.
For now, let's just say that something is causing this recent rise in "activity".
And God only knows what that can be. Maybe a drug shipment just hit town. Maybe it has to do with the recent shootings. In many cases, an area will "calm down" after someone is shot. People get on the "down-low" for a spell, before things return to normal. Around here, it's just the opposite. When something goes down, there is a flurry of activity, with people coming and going to certain houses to apparently "find out" what's been happening.
And don't think they're not connected. Hell, every person I see walking down our street has a cellphone glued to their ear, if not texting someone. And they're doing it while driving as well, but you've probably seen that enough already.
I will say that it makes the police department's job a helluva lot more difficult, especially when one person has a scanner at their crib. All they need to do is send out a batch text or call to anyone that might be near where the police are, and they will scatter like so many cockroaches under a fridge when you turn the lights on.
Still, simply because it makes it harder for the police doesn't translate into NOT patrolling regularly. If anything, it SHOULD be the opposite. I mean if these people are going to be contacting each other via cells after monitoring a scanner, the LEAST the police can do is keep them BUSY. If they're occupied going elsewhere, they're not sitting on the street doing what they're not supposed to be doing, which could be selling drugs.
And IF that was the case, I wouldn't be seeing all these car stop drug deals going on along MY street, would I? I mean we're not AS BAD as Phil's neighborhood YET, as I don't have loiterers on my corner plying their "wares", and I don't intend to allow that to begin, but we DO enjoy an inordinate amount of curbside pullovers (to purchase). And they often occur so quickly that you better have a camera of binoculars around your neck. These people are pros.
It only takes less than a minute to "do the deal".
Tactics are varied.

Some will pull up nose to tail, one gets into the other car, deal is done, they both drive off. Other times the person gets in the other car, and then THAT car circles the block and lets the person back out at their car.
They might often pull side-to-side (effectively blocking the street) to make the trade.
Then there are the houses. Certain house have unusually high volumes of traffic at specified times of the month, and the funny thing is, although you let the FWPD know about this, the houses remain OPEN...for years...with no "intervention".
Wonder why that is? Maybe there's something to what Phil has said about "allowing" things like this to continue because there are larger issues at stake. I think drug dealing is sufficient an issue to warrant intervention.
Still, it's this time of the month when the moon is full, the drug dealers' pockets are full (of money), and the drug users are full (or "product").
As for the manner and diligence in which the city handles problems like this...well, let's just say they are "full" as well. And I think you can guess as to what I'm referring to.
(and they're gonna need a lot more TP to cure that problem)
***Finally, in other news, the police DID catch someone...
-The arsonist torching the houses along Hendricks St was busted. Daniel W (stands for white trash) Lopresti, 25, was arrested on TWO counts of arson, and he admitted to FOUR others (so why the hell not CHARGE him with the other four arsons, people?) in the West Central neighborhood. The asshole even burned his hair setting one fire (should have gone up with the house, the f$ckhead loser).
I mentioned to the wife that it must have been someone from the area, because these guys LOVE to watch their handiwork...it's part of their profile. And I also had a gut feeling he wasn't black nor trying to "cover" anything.
The sad part (aside from those people that lost these houses) is that his bail is ONLY $20,000. That means he only has to post $2,000!!! WTF is wrong with that picture? He torched SIX houses (that they know of), and he ONLY gets a $20K bail? Christ, talk about INJUSTICE!
Sign of the times, hmm?
-The Sheriff's department also caught one of the three perps in that home invasion on Burr Oak Drive late Wednesday night. Cody Nagel, (another loser) 18, was caught hours after the invasion at Ferguson and Bluffton Rds while trying to flee in a Chevy Astro van (nice getaway vehicle, asshole).
In both cases (think about this), the police responded AFTER the incident, and they luckily found their perps. But it does beg the question: "What was done to prevent things like this home invasion and those arsons from happening in the first place"? I'd wager not too damn much. And therein lies the inherent FAULT with Community-Oriented Policing.
And it's that same fault that has turned Phil's neighborhood into what IT is, as well as what is trying to turn MY neighborhood into something that, if left unchecked, WILL become just like Phil's neighborhood.
And between you, me, and the fencepost, I'd rather NOT let that happen.
My only problem is that the city would NEVER allow me to enact *MY* particular solutions to make living possible again for normal people down here.
And I have no idea as to why...
Must be that damn full moon.
In the meantime...DO have a SAFE weekend.

1 comment:

Gloria said...

Daniel W (stands for white trash) Lopresti

Shouldn't his name be Daniel W. T. Lopresti, if the "W" stands for "white trash"? It's a two-word phrase, you know.

From Gloria "Regretted she majored in English" Diaz

By the way, I'm back after deleting my blog. Alert the media!