View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2008 > January > 10
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Keep walk in the park from turning deadly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Isn’t it sad, that in this day and time, when we’ve solved so many problems in so many different areas, we find ourselves still subjected to the animalistic behavior of goons who prey on people, in this case Meredith Emerson?
Gary Michael Hilton, charged with allegedly kidnapping and killing, appears to be an example of everything that we need to protect ourselves from; a reminder that you can never really afford to let your guard down.
This girl left to walk her dog in Vogel State Park, a place that I’ve been to a dozen times. It’s a nice place with a lake and paddle boats and cabins and a lot of acreage to enjoy just being out and about. Its relatively isolated surroundings provide the necessary cover to commit the crime.
It could just as easily been a parking lot or the interior of a home or backyard or just about anywhere that provides some privacy. How are you supposed to know when and where something like this can happen? There’s no way to predict it.
Beyond the psychology of the criminal mind and the reasons that may be offered to explain why Hilton did what law enforcement officials say he did once his trial begins, here is what I think: Meredith Emerson’s killer is defective. Somewhere in the murderer’s mind, he rationalized that his actions will feed the demons, or the voices, or whatever it was that led him to cause this girl’s death. It wasn’t enough to take her life. He had to subject her to the suffering, of God knows what, for perhaps three days before he killed her and then decapitated her. It’s almost like he needed to inflict a final cruel insult to her.
To read about this in the paper, or online, or watch the news video showing, you see it at a distance. The thing that always amazed me about walking into a crime scene and viewing the victim of a violent homicide, is that there is no where to hide from it. You can’t switch the channel. It’s total exposure to the graphic end to someone’s life. The first thing you try to figure out is why would someone do this to another person? Who knows? There are a million reasons humans deviate from normal, decent behavior, but one thing is sure. They are defects not intended to be among us. They should be in jail—or beyond. On television however, you remain at a distance and it never really sinks in—at least as it should, that this could happen to any of us.
Long past yours and my lifetime, these goons will still be out there. They will blend right into the community and by looking at them; you wouldn’t know what’s going on in their twisted little minds.
Women are especially vulnerable because they’re women. As such, if this case doesn’t do anything else, I hope that it will open the eyes of all of us but specifically women who may think that this happens to other people and not them. Just take a few minutes and think ahead when you plan an event. First of all, get over the anger of realizing that crime is unfair. We all want to live in a place where everything is lovely and everyone loves one another. Let me know if you find this place. I’m so there if you do!
This stuff can happen to you, male or female. Probably the worst feeling in the world is realizing that you are about to be victimized and you are totally unprepared. You don’t know when something is going to happen but maybe you need to think about “what if,” and “worst-case scenarios.”.
For example, if you jog, run, walk, or whatever, at night, you’re at risk more so than if you do this during daylight hours. That’s not to say something can’t happen in the daytime but your chances are better that it won’t. Running with a large dog may make one feel safe but don’t count on it.
Running or walking: Don’t go alone. I can’t tell you how much better your chances are of deterring a crime simply by having another person with you. Think, at least for a minute or so, of what you are doing and what could happen. If you’re on a walking trail, seclusion is not your friend. If you’re going to walk trails, especially alone, you’re crazy not to have a can of pepper spray in your hand, as you walk and you really, really, need to take a friend with you. Bike trails are no different and we know that based on the murder of Jennifer Ewing in July, 2006. Long stretches of secluded areas present opportunities for someone who is capable of a crime and maybe now looking for a place to commit it. You just don’t know. What you can do however is look at things a little differently.
When you go out. When you’re at home alone, or in the car at night, or jogging, or wherever you are, what is the worst thing that could happen. What if someone approaches you and asks for directions or just walks in one direction and then turns towards your direction or something else that brings someone into your personal space? What do you do? The first thing you should do is totally disregard any worry about “awkwardness” in social situations. What is your personal space? Is it twelve feet? Twenty feet? What do you do when someone gets in it? I’m not suggesting that you taser the pizza guy when you answer the door but even thinking in that direction is a good move. “What if” is worthy of some thought before you do whatever it is you’re going to do on that day or evening.
Some folks send me mail from those who say “I’m not going to live my life in fear. You’re trying to make me afraid to even go out!” Not so—but, I would bet that if you decided to walk down a street late at night, knowing that it could be dangerous but then saying to yourself “I’m not going to live my life in fear,” and then, while walking down the street, you get mugged, well, I’ll bet that at least once, you would say to yourself: “Man, I wish I would have thought that one through a bit.”
Don’t live in fear but do realize that bad things happen to good people. One of the contributing factors, always present at a crime, is opportunity.
All I’m saying is work on reducing that opportunity by just thinking ahead.
Be safe, buy pepper spray, and remember to point it in the right direction!
