Remember earlier in the year when I won my second LAPD Ride-Along at my kid's school fundraising auction? Of course you do. You're just that involved in my life. Thank goodness one of us is.Anyway, tomorrow's the night.
At 7p.m., I'll be cruising the streets of South Central L.A. courtesy of the 77th Precinct, running plates, hoping for a high-speed chase and getting yet another taste of what these dedicated men and women face every day. I've already written about my experiences last time, and I'm sure I'll have more to tell the next time I post. Hopefully they'll give me a vest so there is a next time.
As you already know, having grown up on the mean streets of West L.A. (north of Wilshire), I already have some experience with dangerous criminal activity. I remember this one night there were these junior high school kids getting a little loud at the imported Italian gelato store. I'll save that story for another time.
Now that I have a sense of what it's like from last time, I'm in the be-careful-what-I-wish-for mode. The things I saw and participated in last time were fun (an odd use of the word, but I mean for a civilian) and exciting, but none of them gave me nightmares to take home. The kind of crime scenes that forever etch themselves in your memory and are out there night after night.
I think it's fair to say I'm hoping for the same this time out.
Meanwhile, if you happen to be in South Central tomorrow night and see a police car with the lights going on and off and different sirens being blasted, don't worry.
It'll just be me keeping the streets safe.
