10 September 2008

Humpday Happenings...
Someone once said that the MORE things change, the more they STAY THE SAME.
Even philosophers have been scratching their heads for a while over this, and I guess it all depends on the circumstances (and to paraphrase Lincoln) "...of the change, by the change, and for the change".
With that said, there were two stories locally that got my attention, and managed to put a smile on this 56 year old face. And where I live, there isn't that much to smile about (unless it's a new episode of Family Guy).
Imagine if you will, taking your child to school, and finding a strange plastic-wrapped bundle, about the size of a loaf of bread (and it's NOT a neighbor's banana cake) placed between your screen door and your front door. Then imagine opening it to find a huge wad of CASH within that bundle. What's a person to do?
You call Vice/Narcotics, of course.
And that's exactly what one woman did here in Fort Wayne.
When the tightly-wrapped bundle was slit open, a nasty smelling viscous dark fluid oozed from the package.
No doubt (as reported on the news) it was probably used engine oil, axle grease, or (my favorite), very old differential (rear axle) fluid.
Drug dealers like to use this tactic to screw up the nose of sniffer dogs. And, depending on the dog, it works fairly well. Funny thing, it looks about the same size as the bundle that one black male in the white 2000 Taurus (IN plate EC 2064) took from UNDER HIS HOOD last month on MY street. It could have been drugs instead of cash...who knows. The police have seen fit to allow him to remain on our streets. And he appears to be a damn good candidate in matters such as this.
But it's the bundle of MONEY that intrigues me. Better than $10,000 in that bundle, and I'd wager it's not from a long-lost relative recently passed who wished to remain anonymous.
Oh, no...it's from your friendly, neighborhood drug dealer. Now think about it.
The druggies LOVE to watch houses. They've got nothing BETTER to do between stints in the penal system (and the daily dealing). I've seen this to be true where I live, as has my good buddy, Phil Marx (MYHUDHOUSE.blogspot.com). They have ALL day and night to watch YOU, YOUR house, and YOUR habits.
Now, in any "good" drug-infested neighborhood, you typically have THREE types of related houses. you have the DEAL house (where all the transactional "exchanges" take place), the DOPE house (where all the drugs are stashed for cutting, weighing, and bagging), and finally, the MONEY house (usually the house where all the transactional funds are kept when the "big boss" comes calling from out of town).
A little further down the "corporate" ladder are the DROP houses. Usually some out of the way place, possibly abandoned, but sometimes not, where money is dropped for exchange of drugs, or vice versa. And it doesn't have to be IN the house proper. It can be within the front or back door, in a trashcan near the house, behind some shrubs, or even IN THE MAILBOX (and Phil knows EXACTLY what that's like), but tends to be done without the property owner's knowledge. At least, that's the idea.
It would seem with this woman's house, that "someone" dropping off this wad of money did one of TWO things:
1) Dropped the money at the WRONG house.
2) Dropped it at the RIGHT house...at the WRONG time.
Screwing up the address does make the case for ILLITERACY, but that's an educational issue that we won't tackle today. Getting the TIMING wrong is a possible conclusion. Maybe mom was leaving later and the drop off man misread something.
In any event, someone will have to "ante up" for the loss of that ten grand. Drug dealers HATE it when they lose money, especially when incompetency is to blame. Kind of like your boss at work.
And I fully expect to hear about someone ELSE getting shot, or shot at REAL soon.
Which brings me to the other story...
When it comes to getting shot, there's only ONE place to go in Ft. Wayne, and that's to the corner of McKinnie and S. Anthony at the BP station. Seems you can go there most any time (between 1AM and 5AM) and you won't have to wait long for "service". But there is a new "twist" to all these shootings.
A group of pastors (mostly black) want the city to do something about these shootings.
And what do people in Fort Wayne love to do whenever they don't like something?
They want to BOYCOTT. The BP station, that is.
They want more security. They want the shooting to end. Wonder why they haven't ALSO asked for a million dollars each...tax free, world peace, a cure for cancer, $1 a gallon gasoline, a trip to the islands, and some nice parting gifts while they're at it?
First off, the BP station is FRANCHISED, so BP's involvement is ancillary at best. And they already have security cams covering the pump area (SOP there).
I suppose we COULD ignore the rest of the sector, and station FOUR patrol cars (one at each corner) ad infinitum...just to "send a message" to these shooters. Great use of resources, people! It might even have an officer shot at...not a good idea.
Adding ANY more security might cause the shooting to abate for a time (until the patrol is lifted), but that would only serve to do ONE thing.
The problem would only MOVE ELSEWHERE.
It always does.
The quadrant captain told me as much. Whenever the FWPD does increase presence in ONE sector (out of the 3 problem sector in the S/E - Mary, Nora, Ocean), the other TWO sectors see an increase in criminal activity. So we're not dealing with crime, we're just shuffling it around....constantly...year after year.
And today's mobility of the criminal allows for this, especially with the cellular technology and scanners keeping perps in the know.
If these black pastors wanted to do something a bit more proactive, they might start by going DOOR TO DOOR in the neighboring areas of this BP station, and garner some citizen support. Much of the ethnic population around here doesn't trust the cops as far as they can toss a KFC restaurant...and the police know that.
The citizens bring up their kids to distrust and disrespect the police. And the police seem to respond my keeping certain parts of town at arm's length, which is understandable. Who wants to actively patrol an area where THEY are considered the "bad guys"?
Still, something needs to be done with all the shootings, in spite of the fact that if they keep shooting one another, life will eventually get better down here, because all these perps will be DEAD.
But a boycott? Yeah, the soon to be EX-leader of the local NAACP (Rev. Michael Latham) must be behind this. We all know how that WAL-MART gig went down a few years ago, right. Does the phrase "egg on the face" ring any bells, Rev?
Closing the place down might be BP's answer, with the owner of the franchise being given another shot at another location (away from this $hit). That is what I envision for the future, because I'm not seeing the police (who are woefully over stretched as it is regarding officer coverage per citizen) tossing a good chunk of their operating and overtime budget into ONE intersection...not when we have entire neighborhoods sliding downhill that could be reclaimed, regentrified, and (once again) provide needed tax monies for the city who THEN could entertain the notion of increased public safety funding.
But it sure isn't going to happen at this time.
Still, we could always deploy some National Guard troops in this area...just for "$hits N Grins" (get them use to urban combat in the process). And the best part about that....the troops get to GO HOME EVERY NIGHT to their families!
And by the looks of some neighborhoods...a little martial law would go a LONG way.
Sounds like a plan to me.

2 comments:

Phil Marx said...

I've sure found a lot of stuff stashed on my property over the years - bags of pot, crack pipes, clothes, music CD's, pop and alcohol bottles, lots of liter, sleeping crackheads, etc.

But I've never found a huge wad of cash. I'll be honest and say that if I did, I doubt if I'd call FWPD over it. Depending on which officer got his hands on it, I'd say there's a good chance it wpould end up back where it came from.

Of course, they'd have to report something to account for their activity, so I suppose they could just use the "Indy" method. - Confiscate $10,000, but only turn in $3000. Do you really think that lady counted the cash before calling the cops?

Bob G. said...

I don't think "she" counted if, if you get my drift.

And as to money that goes unreported...you better be the ONLY officer on scene first...
But if anyone else (a supervisor) shows up, either cut them in, fess up, or leave it all alone.

Lastly, I think since the woman found it, SHE should get to keep it after whatever time expires for the owner to come forward (and give it to her on the "QT"...no publicity about any of it).

At least give her a "finders fee"...LOL

B.G.