Wednesday, January 02, 2013

depressing post

Happy New Year!

There were a million people in Times Square on New Year's Eve and no one got injured, and police said there were "no major incidents to report".  An estimated 40,000 in Old Sac and two people got  killed, three injured.  Really, Sacramento? Depressing.

Here's some news from the BPNA about the robberies.  The Bee has not reported on it, at all as far as I've seen, so if it weren't for the Boulevard Park Neighborhood Association emails I would not know WTF was going on.

Hello Neighbors – Please pass this on to your neighbors and constituents -
I am back in town and wanted to touch base regarding the recent rash of robberies that Lt. Coopwood was keeping you abreast of.
Last weekend Officers stopped a vehicle in the area that matched the description listed in Lt. Coopwood’s email.  The occupants of the vehicle were in possession of a firearm and were booked into jail.  It is very likely that these suspects were responsible for, or involved in,  the armed robberies.  Since their arrest, the armed robberies have ceased (knock on wood).  We have not been able to link them to a specific robbery but the investigation continues.
This past weekend a man was jumped while walking in the early morning hours in the area of 20/K.  This crime was reported to us the following day.  There was no mention of a firearm and we do not believe that it was related to the previous armed robberies.
As always, please report any suspicious subjects you see in your neighborhood.  If you need to walk in the area in the very late evening hours (10:00 pm to 3:00 am) please be aware of your surroundings and walk with a partner when possible.
It is our utmost priority to ensure the safety of people walking in the area.  For the last two weeks, we have been deploying extra officers, utilizing a variety of tactics, and this will continue for as long as we can (we are constantly shuffling resources to manage different issues in the City as they arise).
Happy New Year.
Ken Bernard
Captain, Central Command

Wow, these guys are real morons.  Once they were hitting lots of people in the same car with the same clothes I realized we really dodged a bullet (literally) because if they are such fucking idiots that will make them more erratic and apt to do something illogical.  I just emailed this Captain with an offer to at least identify the gun and the hat, if nothing else.  The hat was pretty distinctive and I will be able to identify the gun, for sure.  Maybe his voice as well, the biggest long shot is his face.

Still have not walked anywhere after dark yet.

After a day or two of total depression and not wanting to leave the house I feel better, but I have lost my false feeling that I am safe from whatever.  That's OK, it was an illusion anyway.  I might have already mentioned this, but ladies and dudes, don't assume you are safe walking because you stay alert, because if someone wants to fuck with you they can easily wait around a corner or run towards you.  I always thought someone would start to trail me so that I could probably get away, but this is the dumb way for a criminal to do it, because you can, duh, get away.  Also, working in pairs makes a lot of sense, so that's even harder to dodge.

But the real point is that if someone really targets you there is not a lot you can do.   And they probably won't because the city is basically safe.

13 comments:

beckler said...

p.s. I tweeted a lot on my break from work. Hopefully funny. I started constantly fucking with my phone during my time off and got slightly addicted (although weirdly did not give a shit about facebook) and one of my new year's resolutions is to fucking stop that train. I forgot to leave my phone at home as I had planned.

My other resolution is to cook more from all my excellent cookbooks that I never use. I wing it all the time. I have not followed this resolution yet. Yesterday I winged an excellent soup and amazing salad from garden greens, including shiso, arugula, some weird, tiny-leafed horseradishy plant I grew, and some wonderfully sweet baby celery leaves.

Our garden is actually the best in the community garden this winter! Peope should really plant fall and winter greens in late September or so, as soon as you rip out your tomatoes. This weather has been perfect. We had all that alternating rain and sun this fall, and now it's cold but still sunny and rainy. They love it!

Any friends who would like a bag of greens let me know. We have way more than we can use.

In other food news, I had a guy come to my door and sell me a CSA and I love it so far! I signed up for the small box once a month, but I will probably go to at least twice.

Anonymous said...

You're right - a smart criminal is a rare thing. If you figure the odds, crime is just not worth it.

and your other observation is correct as well- if you're targeted there's not much you can do. that's the big fallacy with gun nuts- they think the guns make them safer, but the criminal ALWAYS has the drop on you because they can shoot while you're still getting your gun out. So you FEEL safer but you're not actually safer. The main thing that having a gun does is increases the odds that you'll shoot a family member (4 times more likely if I remember right) or commit suicide (20 times more likely if I recall).

-omf

beckler said...

the suicide thing is important but overlooked. most suicides are impulsive and most people do not try to commit suicide again if they don't succeed. and dudes are far more likely to use guns so they have a way higher suicide rate. as a person who made a cry for help suicide attempt (relax, I was 19 and listening to too much morrissey) and almost accidentally killed myself, I can say that if my mom hadn't had some really strong meds, I either wouldn't have done it or wouldn't have come so close to dying. and I doubt if I ever would have re-attempted, as I have never had a single suicidal thought since then.

Anonymous said...

Your Twitter posts are good don't quit. I'd quit Facebook but I need to do bacon stuff on there for now.

NM

Anonymous said...

The olde "bacon defense" still sounds hollow Nick. Seeya at Baconfest.

Jed

Anonymous said...

What CSA did you go with?

I would love a bag of greens.

If my brother didn't have a gun in the house, I think he would be alive today. It was just too easy to grab it.

Anyway, I am glad we are finally able to talk about guns as a country. I am pretty split on the issue because I do not like guns and I certainly wouldn't feel safer carrying one. I actually seriously resent that political position that we should all have one. But as a environmentalist, I am pretty pro-hunting because in order to keep a healthy population of deer for slaughter, you have to keep healthy habitats for a lot of other critters and plants and ecosystems. I feel like it's an ok compromise. And there is a lot of money to protect land for hunting in the West.

gbomb

beckler said...

In Australia, after a mass shooting in the 90s, they outlawed guns except for hunting and for landowners who need them to protect their property from destructive wildlife.

They haven't had a mass killing since.

Ol' Man Foster said...

That's why Red Dawn wasn't set in Australia.

-omf

beckler said...

And Crocodile Dundee had a knife

Anonymous said...

I was going to say Crocodile Dundee had a knife and really big balls! But then I realized I have never seen that movie.

Which is fine.

gbomb

Anonymous said...

If I'd had a gun when we got robbed, that dude would just have another gun now.

-miller

beckler said...

I should do a double feature of Romancing the Stone and Crocodile Dundee, childhood favorites. Although maybe more like tween faves?

Gbomb, if we are going to go to Colombia we have to watch Romancing the Stone together to see what it will be like. For instance, Danny Devito is sure to be there.

Anonymous said...

You guys have an orange tree? Or cabbages in your garden? We have a ton of really good oranges and a ton of Napa cabbage to trade for a bag of greens!

Charvey