Having that out of the way I do have a number of things that have been on my mind. I'll randomly go through the day and think "oh I'd like to write some things about that" and just forget to later. The last one I remember thinking on is about cops, or police officers, or even "constables on patrol" if you prefer.
I would like to begin by saying I do not dislike cops as a whole. I know society needs them and that without them there would be chaos. That being said I do believe there are things that need some attention. The case I would like to present first happened about a week ago. I live in the "third ward" (I think...at least that's what my roommates tell me), which is, as a whole, known to be a dangerous part of town (again, information from my roommates). Last week an elderly lady lost control over her Ford Explorer and wound up in our yard in our bushes. I was in the kitchen downstairs, happily baking a frozen pizza. As I was waiting, I heard this noise that sounded like a computer had fallen down the stairs, but I think I knew it was something bigger. I think what my mind did was try to think of the biggest thing that could have possibly fallen and made that noise. So it just thought that it was a computer that my friend must have dropped down the stairs, when very matter of factly, we don't even own a computer like that.
All that to say this elderly lady was in our front yard, and all I could hear were her tires fruitlessly trying to back out of the ditch they had lodged themselves in. I assumed this was a drunk person who had lost control of their car and ended up in our bushes. It was late at night and me and my roommate couldn't see inside of the car. So we didn't know it was an elderly lady, otherwise we would have assisted her promptly. Not knowing who was in the car or what the circumstances were, we called 911 for help. We told them the situation, and told them we thought that this person was trying to get away. We thought this bit of information would encourage the dispatcher to get someone out straight away. Twenty minutes later we were still waiting. Gabe, my roommate, then used the non emergency police number to check on the status of our call. The lady on the phone told him no one had even been dispatched yet. Keep in mind that the lady is still in her car, she could have been seriously injured (but wasn't, so don't worry) or could have gotten away.
Twenty more minutes pass and this lady has now gotten the aid of someone on the street. Gabe and I at this point are now worried that she is really going to get away. We called the police station yet again, and spoke to the Sergeant. He assured us someone would be there in 15 minutes. We didn't hold our breath, and it was a good thing we didn't or else we would have turned a rather purple-bluish hue. And by now, the lady (which at this point we have figured out it was a female, but still couldn't see anything out of the windows) has gotten a tow truck to come out and help her get her car out of the bushes. So to put it together for anyone who didn't make that connection...the woman stuck in our bushes at 11 p.m. at night was able to get a tow truck to our house faster than we were able to get police to our house using 911.
We again called and spoke to the sergeant and he assured us someone would be there within minutes, and this time he was right. They showed up, and the first thing I thought when these officers came up was that these were some big boys. And I don't mean healthy big. You may be thinking to yourself that this is a little judgmental and wrong, but I tend to believe that any police officer should be able to protect me at a moment's notice. And in my opinion, I do not think these two officers would ever be up to that task. Not because they wouldn't have the bravery or the heart to do so, I believe they earnestly would desire to...but they don't have that desire enough to sacrifice in their personal lives some. Whether that be eating less gratifying meals or spending time working off the gratifying meals they enjoy from time to time to time. And I honestly don't mean to berate or demean these men, they were actually a great help in getting the woman out of the bushes and getting us her information. But it brought up a very important topic for me. I think officers should be physically able to perform the duties and services that they are entrusted with. These men and women are entrusted with our very lives at times, and this should not be taken lightly.
I am not familiar with the standards or protocols that the police force has, but that night was very much unacceptable in my opinion. The response time was unacceptable and were the situation anything but an old woman that just lost control over her vehicle, I would not have felt safe. These officers should have time allocated to exercise and keep their bodies in shape, the same way the police station is responsible for upkeeping any other piece of equipment it owns that is used to keep civilians safe. They wouldn't send a car that could only go 50 mph out onto the streets to "protect and serve" and neither should they send a person incapable of upholding the law.
But other than that it's been a good couple of months. Work is going along but hopefully I get a better job soon with career fair coming up on this coming friday the 24th of september, so please be in prayer for me.
Thank you, I enjoyed this...
