guns and roses

Take me down to the paradise city Where the grass is green And the girls are pretty....

ok so after the tour of the police facilities, Corbett and I head out into the mean streets of Santa Barbara..the asphalt jungle..Paradise city....

and it's such a lovely day....a bit hot...we take the Range Master guy down to the city yard to get his vehicle checked out....this guy kinda scared me..he was cool and calm and had all the fire power over everyone else..and he knew it...if you do a tour, don't mess with the Range Master...the shot caller....the Big Kahuna...

then we park in the red zone for some temporary surveillance...the cops are always looking for things...the police cars are equipped with guns, roses, computers..everything....stuff is always coming into the computer and the officers are always checking..they pull over sometimes to read the info..so if you see a cop on the side of the road, he's not necessarily waiting for you to commit a crime, he's just doing his job! it's not always about you you know!! oh yeah..Happy New Year!!

but what was interesting is how people look at you when you're in a cop car...when we we're riding down State Street, I've never had so many eyes on me...glares, smiles, indifferent glances..but they all looked...and State was bustling on Friday..tourists everywhere, families, the kids by the hamburger joint...it was a very healthy place so I don't see why Randy and Dale are always complaining about it...or the News-Press...I swear these folks are just too silly for words!!

ok so before we cruised State Street a call came in about an incident at Cottage Hospital...a drunk guy was creating some trouble..so we went to check it out..another cop was on scene and had the guy in the back seat....

Corbett stopped and offered to transfer the drunk guy.....the other cop said "ok" and was freed up to take another call... yippee we got to take the drunk guy to County Jail...so I'm in the car watching this transpire..they're filling out forms, people gather to watch from a safe distance..they don't interfere like the yuppiemuppies did.. then the folks leave then gather again then leave again....

cops it seems always draw attention no matter what they do..there's an interesting psychology at work....even at stop signs, people freeze with fear until the cop tells them it's ok, go ahead... I won't kill you...

anyway back to the drunk guy....wasted is the word..really fucked up is even better...Corbett goes over and helps him out of the car into his cruiser...I can smell the booze! so as a ridealong passenger I got a drunk guy and a rifle behind my left ear in this cop car....wow...that's never happened before!!!

after about 30 minutes we leave for the county jail...we go thru some remote contolled gates and park outside the back entrance....the inmates' entrance....the Sally Port..the very same entrance that Michael Jackson walked through before Sneddon finally killed him....

I am only allowed to go into little waiting room... can't go into the main hall where the action is..and no pictures inside...but this place is creepy...thru the thick glass I see some holding cells with prisoners peering at me..Corbett walks our drunk fellow into the hall and the dude falls down, his pants are falling down, he can't even pull them up....his life is falling down..and the place wreaked of old drunks and disinfectant and desolation...it was pretty sad...

I watched as Corbett and the other officers tended to the drunk guy...cops are babysitters, peacekeepers, psychologists, stern disciplinarians to adults who for whatever reason can't take care of themselves..this drunk guy has been arrested many many times before and was listed as a stalker, a police safety threat and numerous other issues with him..what a waste of taxpayer money dealing with these guys!!

so we drop him off and say good-bye and head back into Santa Barbara..Corbett does a little stake out on a guy who has a complaint against him....we're about a block from lower State St...the guy allegedly was threatening to kill his old girlfriend and stalking her, so Corbett wanted to catch him at his place of work and arrest him...but the guy didn't show up...then another cop pulls over someone who ran a red light and we check it out...today Friday, the cops are short-handed so they gotta do everything....

it is obvious they need more cops because some are doubling as dispatchers..being crossed trained and thereby not out patrolling the streets..if this sounds like an ad for more police it is!!

I think pulling cops off the beat was councilman Dale Francisco's idea...cross training may work in other fields like selling tee shirts at Territory Ahead, but being a cop is a specialized career..it makes no sense to make a cop do dispatch work..let the trained dispatchers do that!! do we really need to pay cultish nativists in the city Creeks Dept $100000/year to monitor weeds?? it's crazy....

so we cruise down State St and got some waves from young kids..it was cool..cops have alot of power and maybe the News-Press and Team Wendy members are threatened by that, hence the smear jobs... I would like to see Steepleton do a ride-along and a story but I bet his mommy wouldn't let him....

so there's some misconceptions about the cops thanks to media clowns like the News-Press..that's obvious...initially, I found a well run city function in the Police Dept, and people who were professional and friendly...and eager to get to work...what more do you want from your government?? accountability? it's all there for anyone to see if you care to expend the effort...

so we ended the tour and I thanked Officer Corbett...the day was still rather hot but started to cool down..I jumped in my truck and headed back home.. a cool thick fog greeted me and it was a welcome sight..it was getting dark and the heavy mist cast a spooky glow among all the headlights and street lights....it was kinda Silver Bells because I could still see the moon and stars....and the pretty girls