Now I know people are getting pretty hot under the collar now that spring has made a full turn ’round the bend - because good weather is almost synonymous with increased violent crime. I can also acknowledge that my community (for its size) appears to have a high violent crime rate. Whether they want to call it domestic affairs, gang wars or drug related crime activity is irrelevant to me. All I need to know is that people are getting hurt and having their lives taken for reasons which never seem good enough to put us at ease ( people do tell themselves its a result of natural selection – the ‘bad people’ are killing each another). Well ‘right-on’ to you too. I prefer not to swim in naive waters, but I digress.
My point is , I understand and encourage the increased ’security’ in Malton. We have a police station at the local ‘mall’ (I can’t call it that without those quotes…I just CAN’T) and neighbourhood police patrols that seem to begin and end on MY street. I almost feel like i’ve bought into a gated high security neighbourhood at a steal. So thanks!
What I don’t appreciate however, is you tailing me all the way home at 7 in the morning – or following me to drop my daughter off at school. Thats right folks. Miss Officer, who everyone seems to recognize but to whom noone is familiar, followed me down my street and tailed me 2 streets over before pulling me over a stop sign away from my daughter’s school. At 8:30 in the morning. REALLY? See I was driving my mom’s car, which she was gracious enough to loan me after my car had been involved in an accident. Coincedentally, in order to allow me access to the vehicle, my mother who is injured from a separate car accident had to retrieve her car from the body shop so that I could drive it. Although the car had been there for months – technicians thought it was funny to leave my mother’s front licence plate on the dash.
Where it had fallen off – so although the officer saw that I had plates on the back of the car, she still pulled me over. By this time, I had picked up the plate and placed in on the dashboard. She got out of her car, and I left my window up and looked straight ahead while she inspected the ‘98 Camry before tapping on my window. “I stopped you because your licence plate was missing from the front of the vehicle’. I explained my dilemma while my daughter sat in the back quietly. After my story – she asked for my documents. Thats right. THEN she called for back up.
At this point I was tempted to tell my daughter to walk to school – but hey – why make a bad thing worse? So I reached over into my purse – grabbed my ‘Cognition’ textbook and started reading. About ten minutes later she returned and caught me eye-over-spectacle fully entranced into my book. She looked utterly confused. I let her stand there a while before looking over with a look of annoyance, “Yes?’ I asked.
Miss Officer handed me my documents and mumbled something about putting the plates on as soon as possible. She and her equally daft colleague conversated some more, about what I would only assume involved a plan to avoid doing any more work whatsoever. Maybe she should patrol the area around her office – the mall – where people have used weapons in broad daylight as of recently – but hey what do I know ? ;p
Cheers,
Denise
