I hope no one visits my blog expecting to find actual information about being a street cop, or being The Law. I'm just a person! (A person who likes Judge Dredd. What can I say, it is the perfect union of unintentionally comedic Sylvester Stallone movies, and rogue, loose-cannon cops - two of my favorite things.)
That being said, this week I DID thwart some crime! Well, minor incidents. Here's my own personal blotter.
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Incident at the library: I was on my laptop, and a girl was studying at the table next me. A random guy sat down with her and started making really obtuse smalltalk and jokes in a loud but creepy whisper, even after it became apparent that she did not speak English very well. She was visibly uncomfortable, and I became concerned when he told her he had followed her to the library from out in the neighborhood. He gave her his number and tried to get hers in return.
Just in case, I went to speak with the librarian to see if there was security on site, but there was no one at the desk. At that point, the guy got up and left. I went and asked the girl if she knew him, and she said no, and I told her he seemed creepy. She didn't know the word "creepy" so I typed it into her Korean/English translator, and she got the idea right away. It's not a crime to hit on someone, but I got bad vibes from this guy, and it's better to be safe than sorry.
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Incident at the park: Today I was at the park, and the only other people were around were a group of young children with no adult supervision. Two boys, maybe 8-year-olds, started digging through the trash, throwing glass bottles at the ground, then playing with the broken shards. I went over and told them to cut it out before someone gets hurt, and they responded by using some of the most foul and racially-charged language I have ever heard from the mouths of children. I moved on and ignored the ongoing cursing, until I noticed them trying to sneak up on me with handfuls of rocks, and making threats about getting an older relative of theirs to come and harm me.
Even though the kids were too young for anything more than a warning, I figured a call to the police was in order, because sometimes a talking-to from an authority figure can make a difference. As I was being pelted by rocks, I made the call and a cop car and two officers showed up shortly. It turns out that the SLIGHTLY older children there were supposed to be supervising, but clearly that was not happening. I hope the parents of these kids hear about this, but since they are apparently the type who allow their kids to be exposed to unbelievably vulgar language and who haven't taught them that it's not OK to throw rocks at adults, I won't hold my breath that a lesson will be learned from this.
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Citizen involvement! Do it. Care about your neighborhood and neighbors.
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