I live where I grew up - in a beautiful city that has fewer than 90 police offers to care for it. For the most part, crime is low and I feel pretty safe walking around at night or sleeping with the doors open (which is good since my slumlord, I mean land lord won't soon fix the lock - but I have been asking for 5 years, so maybe soon?!?!?......).

I grew up thinking that in a crisis, you asked your local patrolman for help. If you needed something - the cops manning the street lights during racetrack season could give you guidance. Police men and women made me feel safe, secure, and protected... unless they were driving because when was the last time YOU saw a police car use a turn blinker?

Then, I went to work on the row - Skid Row Los Angeles that is.  Skid row where if you needed the police to come within half an hour you dialed 911 and siad "I'm white and I'm scared". If you needed them to come within 15 minutes you had to say "I'm white, scared, and calling from inside my Mercedes". This isn't a joke - I was really told this in my job orientation.


You hear alot of press about the LAPD, and most of ti is bad. In my experience, this bad pres has been sanitised for public consumption. Whatever you hear - imagine the worst possible associated behavior and that is closer to the truth.In my experience, if I had an emergency I PRAYED thay the Fire Dept. showed up first. Fire fighters at least saw the people who lived in the area, LAPD just saw the trash that slept on the streets.



Once day I was dropping a client off at a 12 step meeting in a homeless drop in center and I ignored the policeman strutting at the front door. I worked there, he didn't and if I socialized with the police I would lose the trust and credibility of my clients who are routinely haraased by them. When I left the building and got into my car - the police car followed me. If tou have ever seen me drive, you know I Grandma drive - I don't run Yellows, I fully stop before I turn right, I strain my neck looking 'right, left, right again' and I will wait forever for walkers to clear the street before I go through a crosswalk. the lights went on anyway - and I pulled over, rolled down my window and waited while the officer came to my window. Placeing one hand on the foof he leaned into my window and asked why I ignored him in the building. I asked him why he pulle me over and he demanded that I answer his question of he would take me in for questioning. I pointed to my lit cellphone and said he moight want to do that since I had dialed the crisis hotline at my work while waiting for him and our conversation was being recorded. His face turned red and he said I was free to go.

Where I live, I honor the police department - but when in LA - try to stay away from them. I have called skid rowdrug dealers and asked them for help when my car was broken down and it wasn't until the next day that someone asked why I didn't call the police as their station was 2 blocks away. The answer - if you have guns, knives and beat up on people as a hobby- I might trust you because you know who you are - if you have guns and pepperspray and beat up on people because it is your job - I probably saw you on TV in the May Day Melee.