The Museum of Science and Industry is the pride of the 3rd District: it’s the only tourist attraction located within its boundaries. It’s also something of an anomaly: it is very much alive and vibrant, while everything else here seems to be dead or dying. Yet, crime is beginning to take its toll here as well: statistics show that more than 25 vehicles are stolen from the Museum parking lot each month. This is not only bad for tourism and the city as a whole, but also reflects poorly on the leadership of our beloved District Commander. He is accountable to the Superintendent, who in turn serves at the pleasure of the Mayor. Of course, the Commander would like to keep his cushy job, generous pay, and his company car. Therefore, he has – in his infinite wisdom – created a special detail to patrol the parking lot on foot. The only problem is, they don’t seem to have any effect whatsoever.
My original FTO was of the opinion that I did not seem to notice all those little rascals driving around in other people’s cars. I have been itching to prove her wrong, and when I’m assigned to the Museum Detail, I take on that new challenge with a vengeance
I soon realize that the way to keep them from taking cars out of the museum lot, is to catch them bringing in the cars they stole somewhere else previously. The notion that these junior auto-thieves arrive at the museum on foot, by bus, or get a ride from grandma, is ludicrous. No self-respecting auto-thief will ever take the bus to go anywhere, let alone a museum. Furthermore, we all know that teenage boys are far more likely to engage in criminal behavior as members of a group, than they would by themselves, so I am out there looking over each and every car coming into the parking lot, focusing on big cars with lots of little heads inside.
It doesn’t take long before I get confirmation that my hypothesis is correct. The first hot-car I recover has five juvenile occupants ranging in age from 13 to 15, and the car was stolen elsewhere in the 3rd District a few days earlier.
Over the next six months, not a single vehicle is stolen from the Museum lot, and we make a total of 65 auto-theft arrests. In addition, we recover 15 cars that had been stolen elsewhere.
Of course, I don’t do all this by myself. Once I start getting results, it motivates the other officers on the foot-detail to join the effort. By the spring of ’88, everyone is fully motivated and actively involved, even a few old-timers who’d chosen to join this detail as a safe, quiet place to coast through their last few years on the job.
A few of these junior auto-thieves do manage to slip into the lot unnoticed, but their hot ride is soon identified and put under surveillance by the team. A group of five boys, 12 to 14 years old, are trying to make their way back to their hot ride. It is fascinating to watch: they’ve obviously given these tactics some thought, and they’re undoubtedly based on actual experience, but in this case they are definitely flawed.
Four of them, position themselves to keep track of Bt. 331A, the lone marked squad car that routinely patrols the Museum lot. The whole time, we are watching them, sitting in our own personal cars, in full uniform. One of these kids is standing right next to my car, and I could have reached out and grabbed his arm. I’m sitting there holding my breath, figuring I’ll be spotted any second now, but he never sees me or any of the other officers. Apparently, he has programmed his mind to track that marked squad car, and nothing else.
When their lookouts give the all-clear signal, all five pile into the stolen ride and we spring our trap. They never saw it coming.
Although it’s been a lot of fun, this too is getting old after a while. In May of "88, I request to be put back on the Watch. After bouncing around for a while, I hook up with this Irish kid from the Back of the Yards. Kenny’s streetwise and familiar with the whole police culture, since his dad had been a copper. Throw in my writing skills and booksmarts, and we make a great team. Together, we develop our own style of proactive policing, and we’ll be partners for most of the next six years.
Barely a month into our partnership, we’re assigned a car of our own, Bt. 327, and the month after that we are assigned to the 3rd District Tactical Unit.
"Wow, we must be hot shit, right?"
* * * * * * * * *
This image shows the rear of the museum as it appears today, looking north from the Wooded Island. The parking lot in front of the Museum has since been moved underground, changing the landscape on that side quite drastically.
Back in 1993, I started working part-time for the University of Chicago Police Department. I couldn’t help but take a ride by the Museum now and then, and ended up with two hot-cars and a bunch of little car-thieves. Although complimented on the recoveries and arrests, I was also reminded that the Museum was, strictly speaking, "outside of my jurisdiction."
Posted by Andre’s Street Photography on 2013-11-01 22:42:20
Tagged: , MSI , museum of Science and Industry , Chicago Police , Chicago Police Department , 3rd District , auto theft , auto thieves , hot car , a steal , stolen car , parking lot , Hyde Park , Jackson Park , foot detail , foot patrol , Andre Van Vegten , Andre’s Street Photography , Chicago Cop , Chicago Cop: Tales from the Street , Amazon , Amazon.com , amazon.co.uk , Kindle , KDP , Kindle direct publishing , e-book , surveillance , arrests , juvenile offenders
.
CONCLUSION
Keywords are important. In order to make your book stand out from the crowd, you must learn how to strategically choose them and ethically harness their power.
There’s a difference between Amazon Keywords and SEO Keywords. I’ve shown you how to choose and use them both to increase your ebook sales.
The right keyword combinations can open up new markets for you.
Strategic keyword selection will drive more viewers to your book. You can use keywords to gain more viewers and ultimately, make more sales.
Find the right keywords one of two ways: either use my free methods, or pay once for Keyword Samurai and have all the dirty work done for you.
With Keyword Samurai, you will have instant access to loads of incredibly valuable information at your fingertips.
Cheers,
The post “Chicago Cop: Tales from the Street” – Chapter 7: “The Museum” appeared first on Publishing Review.
from WordPress http://publishingreview.com/chicago-cop-tales-from-the-street-chapter-7-the-museum/
CONCLUSION Keywords are important. In order to make your book stand out from the crowd, you must learn how to strategically choose them and ethically harness their power. There’s a difference between Amazon Keywords and SEO Keywords. I’ve shown you how to choose and use them both to increase your ebook sales. The right keyword combinations can open up new markets for you. Strategic keyword selection will drive more viewers to your book. You can use keywords to gain more viewers and ultimately, make more sales. Find the right keywords one of two ways: either use my free methods, or pay once for Keyword Samurai and have all the dirty work done for you. With Keyword Samurai, you will have instant access to loads of incredibly valuable information at your fingertips. http://kindlesamurai.net/ Cheers,
No comments:
Post a Comment