Thursday, February 28, 2008
My Tax Dollars at Work
I have to say I was both impressed and unimpressed today by the Dekalb county police. A couple of cars were broken into on the cul-de-sac. My neighbor came over to say that he'd seen the guy and pointed in the direction he went. I grabbed my 0.40 and a MagLite (man I wish I had my 6-cell back!). I started down the street when a neighbor said, "you looking for a guy?" Yeah! "He went that way." Now we're cocked with the pistol in the air traipsing through a neighbors back yard. I never saw the guy and finally the police showed up.
My neighbors and I kept looking and then the police helicopter showed up! I was totally impressed and it was freaking fast to show up too. They had the big light on and were narrowed-in on the spot where they thought the guy had gone. The police, my neighbors, and I kept up the hunt.
Then I thought, wait, there's a gully running through the neighbor's back yard that joins the other neighbor's back yard, and so on. If that guy got in there, he could be back behind my house! And all behind a fence where no one would see him. So I started back to my house, Alex already had the light in the back yard on, and I went through the one bad spot in the fence (man I need to fix that). I started looking and eventually the helicopter started shining the very spot I was looking.
There is a storage business that backs up to our house with a big clearing and an open freaking gate down into the gully. The helicopter is flying around and the light from it is shining everywhere I want to look. I went behind several neighbors' houses and never actually saw anything. The light from the helicopter was really helpful. Eventually, I decided to go back out front. As I went around my gate there were three or four cops in the neighbor's back yard with a dog. An officer looks at me and says, "were you back there?" Yeah "You live here?" Yeah "Oh." They thought I was the guy. The helicopter wasn't trying to help me look; it was trying to spotlight me for the cops!
For as long as I was back there and for there to be multiple officers with a dog, now I'm not so impressed. Well, only kinda, because the helicopter showing up so fast and staying so long was really freaking impressive.
It appears they didn't get the guy.
My neighbors and I kept looking and then the police helicopter showed up! I was totally impressed and it was freaking fast to show up too. They had the big light on and were narrowed-in on the spot where they thought the guy had gone. The police, my neighbors, and I kept up the hunt.
Then I thought, wait, there's a gully running through the neighbor's back yard that joins the other neighbor's back yard, and so on. If that guy got in there, he could be back behind my house! And all behind a fence where no one would see him. So I started back to my house, Alex already had the light in the back yard on, and I went through the one bad spot in the fence (man I need to fix that). I started looking and eventually the helicopter started shining the very spot I was looking.
There is a storage business that backs up to our house with a big clearing and an open freaking gate down into the gully. The helicopter is flying around and the light from it is shining everywhere I want to look. I went behind several neighbors' houses and never actually saw anything. The light from the helicopter was really helpful. Eventually, I decided to go back out front. As I went around my gate there were three or four cops in the neighbor's back yard with a dog. An officer looks at me and says, "were you back there?" Yeah "You live here?" Yeah "Oh." They thought I was the guy. The helicopter wasn't trying to help me look; it was trying to spotlight me for the cops!
For as long as I was back there and for there to be multiple officers with a dog, now I'm not so impressed. Well, only kinda, because the helicopter showing up so fast and staying so long was really freaking impressive.
It appears they didn't get the guy.
# posted by chilort @ 8:38 PM 
