View from the cop: Crime & punishment
View from the Cop is moving to a new site on Wordpress. Blogger Steve Rose of the Sandy Springs Police Department gives his take on crime, offers safety tips and give his weekly picks from the police blotter. Follow Steve Rose to the new blog site.
AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2008 > January > 22
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Snowed under by reporting of a non-event
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Once again we came close, but managed to survive the dreaded annual snow and ice non-event. Mass-media coverage of the snow was excellent. From what I can tell, the reporters extensively covered this almost-event with such depth that I learned several new things including what is known in the business as “The Involuntary Endless Reporting Cycle” or IERC, Pronounced “IRK” or the British version “IRKE” or the French “LE-IRK-MOU” which also translates to “I surrender, may I borrow your deodorant?”
It was a time for all meteorologists to rise, roll their sleeves up, take off that coat, undo the tie, and show us just how and when that snowflake will hit earth. Five helicopters (and one cable public access blimp) circled the sky, covering the falling flakes. On the ground, the ground reporters, the grunts of the local news force, took to the streets. Along with their camera-persons, armed with macro lenses and Chapstick, they covering the sand pits of the D.O.T. (“We are ready to go. We’ve been up all night moving the sand around. See that pile of sand? An hour ago it was all the way over there.”)
Some of you say it is overkill. Hah! I metaphorically laugh in your faces!!
Seriously, here’s the way it is: At some point, some ten minutes or so after the first broadcast, they’ve pretty much covered it all. We know a lot going into the broadcast. We know that if everyone hits the roads, traffic will be more screwed up than normal due to the exodus to the grocery stores. We also know that most humans will die within 48 hours without bread and milk. We know that once there is the slightest hint of snow and / or the “I” word, the schools will close. Perhaps the 12-month employees will be required to show up, as if they’re expendable, something that recently prompted an increase of requests to be an 11-month employee.
This year, the almost-event has been divided into three phases. Starting with last week’s prediction of doom, it is followed by Saturday night’s second coming of doom and now the 40-percent chance of doom for tonight and tomorrow. This is known as “The Perfect Doom” of reporting. The truth is, as much as they want to, the reporters cannot stop reporting on the non-event.
It’s like a giant game of Chicken. They can’t deviate from the story if there’s the slightest chance the other reporters might find something beyond what has already been reported so the depth of the reporting can be, and sometimes has to be endless. It’s not their fault! They don’t make the news, they just sail it our way, like a giant Frisbee or maybe a cow chip! Whatever.
Head for home or hang out at the local trendy coffee place, sipping something like a Latte Grande Mocha Excelso Supremo, brewed in an Espresso Restretto style, made with a single coffee bean from the deep jungle region of Gambia—on a Tuesday. Kick back people. Film at eleven. Be there!
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Crime & punishment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
These are some, but not all, incidents reported to the Sandy Springs Police over the past week.
Burglary
Someone forced the victim’s door open in the 600 block of Spring Creek Lane and took a laptop computer and a lockbox containing personal documents. (Lockboxes aren’t any good if the perps can pick them up and walk away with them.)
Someone forced entry into a café located in an office building in the 6500 block of New Northside Drive. The door was forced and over $2000 in cash was taken as well as cigarettes, candy, and soft drinks. (Make that night drop.)
Someone shattered a glass door with a rock and entered into a salon in the 5900 block of Roswell Road. A total of five bucks in change was missing. (That sounds a lot better than $2000 missing. Make those deposits!)
Someone forced entry into a restaurant in the 5800 block of Roswell Road after closing time and ransacked it. They took chickens from the freezer and threw them out into the parking lot and did a considerable amount of damage to the large television on the wall, the cash register, bottled beer, and a number of other items. Nothing was taken. It looks like the intent was either revenge or intimidation.
Thefts
(When an incident report starts like this one, you know it has a bad ending) A woman allowed her ex-boyfriend to take a shower in her apartment bathroom. The ex asked the victim about a diamond ring he saw in her jewelry box. He asked if he could borrow it. She said no. Later, she noticed that it was gone. She asked him if he had it. He said he sold it for $900. Okay, when the ex asks about anything, the car, the jewelry, your i-Pod, pets, anything, that’s a big CLUE to hide them well.
