Danger in the neighborhood
Well, you've all heard about the dangers of living in
Big City, USA; the perils of walking the streets alone at night; the
carjackings and the drive-by shootings. By and large, most of what
you've heard is a big exaggeration.
Except in LA.
Since I have been living here in Los Angeles, I have witnessed countless
dramatic car chases (on TV as well as out my window); I have seen
almost nightly news reports of shootings at local grocery stores;
and I have heard house and car alarms go off more frequently than
I care to remember.
But what gets me the most are the overhead searches by helicopter.
I don't know why they are so prevalent, but I have my theories. The
most obvious being that all the rolling hills and woody canyons make
searching on the ground for fugitives rather difficult. But more than
that, I think it's because this is the city of television and film.
Drama is the key word here, and where none exists, it shall be created!
So almost every night, sometime after the sky turns sufficiently black
to best highlight the drama, the helicopters begin to circle, like
seagulls above the shore. They circle frequently, using their spotlights
to shine down upon the canyon or freeway below . Apparently, they
are helping law enforcement search for thieves and other criminals,
or to shine a light upon a car chase in the dark.
If I stand on my veranda and look straight out over the canyon that
cushions my house from the rest of the world, I can see the 101 freeway
a mile or so away. Sometimes, I'll be watching TV at night, flipping
the channels, and I will catch a live broadcast of a dramatic car
crash "in progress". Los Angelenos are fascinated by their own crime.
And they never miss an opportunity to broadcast graphic pictures of
a crime in progress, or the crime scene immediately afterwards. Car
chases and shopping mall shootings seem to be the favorites.
When I saw my first car chase on TV, and realized it was happening
right near my house, I ran out to the veranda all excited to witness
the chase without the filter of the television screen. It was almost
like I was in the live audience at the filming of a TV show, getting
to see the show from an up close and personal position. That's what
it felt like - a TV show. Much more than it did a crime in progress.
But of course, the TV cameras had a much better shot of the chase,
thanks to their zoom lenses and hovering helicopters. I only got to
see a little speck of light travelling very fast down the freeway,
being chased at an appropriate distance by another flashing and multi-colored
speck of light. It was still fun, though, to be in the studio audience!
Luckily, all of the shopping mall shootings and drive by shootings
I have heard about on the nightly news have happened in neighborhoods
other than mine. A shooting is one crime I certainly do NOT wish to
witness in person. I prefer the warm safety of my living room, curled
up on the couch, with the remote in hand. I mean, I can actually turn
it off at any time, which is more than I can say for the poor people
who chose to grocery shop at such a fateful moment.
Last night, around 11:30pm, I was just wrapping up some work on my
computer, when I heard the loudest sound overhead. It sounded like
a plane was about to crash onto my roof, or a helicopter was going
to use me as a landing pad.
I looked out the window and sure enough there was a chopper circling
my neighborhood, with its spotlight shining down illuminating the
street. In fact, the spotlight was shining down just a few hundred
feet from my house! Illuminating MY street. Searching for a criminal
in MY neighborhood!
I was suddenly very frightened, so I ran to the front door, made sure
it was locked and deadbolted, put on my security alarm, and shut off
all the lights in the house. I'm not sure why I shut the lights, but
I think it was so no criminal could see into my house, and choose
me for his prey.
Then, I grabbed my cordless phone and pushed "redial". A few rings
later and I had Andrew on the phone, a new friend and fellow musician
who is also a native Los Angeleno. He doesn't live particularly close
to me, so I don't know why, but for some reason I felt a little safer
talking to him while I watched the helicopter circle and shine, circle
and shine.
Andrew calmed me down. But I still wanted to know who they were looking
for, what the person had done. I did hear a car alarm go off, although
it was silenced rather quickly. Andrew said that car thefts are by
far the most prevalent crime in this area, and I was immediately happy
my little Nissan was tucked away safely in my garage.
The search went on for about a half an hour, and then suddenly moved
south and out of visual range. Soon I could barely hear the chopper
in the distance and, still talking to Andrew, I slowly began to relax.
Just another day in LA.
In Los Angeles,
Cara Jones
|
