Monday, May 9, 2011

Nothing In The News, Yet Again

My sleep was seriously disturbed Saturday night. I was woken at 3:00am on Sunday morning by a helicopter hovering over my house and shining a search light into my window. This went on for over an hour. There were police walking down the back lane and the K9 unit was called to search the area. Sirens were going for hours.
That being said, one would think there would be something in the media to explain what was going on, or at least a Police Release stating a major search was underway. But no. There was nothing.
The only thing that was reported as going on Saturday night in the North End was a shooting on Dufferin Avenue. That took place at 10:50pm. A man was shot in the head, taken to hospital, and thankfully upgraded to stable condition. The media reported that the Police are looking for a 20 or 21 year old "Aboriginal in Appearance" male, bald head and clean shaven, wearing black clothing. I am not aware of any other event taking place late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
Now, when I heard about the shooting on Dufferin, and the fact that the person was shot when answering his door, the first thing that came to my mind was October. You know what I mean, the three shootings that took place in late October. The two that died were men who answered the door to a shot gun.
But Saturday night, there was no mention of a shot gun, and there was no mention of a link to October, and no mention that there was any similarity to October. What I want to know is, was the search that took place in my back yard and surrounding area in relation to the shooting on Dufferin? Did the K9 unit track a scent that led the Police to my neck of the woods? Did the helicopter see someone run from the 400 block of Dufferin to my block? I would like to know that. I would like to know if the Police were out tracking this person, and I would like to know if that person is hiding on my block, or near me.
And if the Police were in my area on a completely different incident, I would like to know that too. I want to know what was so terribly important to bring out such a crowd in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Really. I want to know.
Not only do I want to know what all the Police resources were doing in my area, I want to know why the helicopter needs to use the search light so much. I mean, they have the ability to locate a person with heat seeking or night vision technology don't they? Wouldn't they be able to use that in their efforts to locate someone, instead of hovering over my house with their search light on over and over and over again?
All I really know is that I am now moving all of my bedroom furniture into a room on the main floor. I am moving out of my bedroom that I love so much, and going into a small room downstairs so I can sleep at night.
I get that the Police have a job to do. And I get that it is a hard job. Believe me, I do. I just want to know why I have to move. And I want to know what went on Sunday morning. I just want to know what is happening in my neighbourhood. Is that too much to ask?

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mothers Day In "South Central" North End

It's 3am and the helicopter has its search light in my back yard. The K9 unit is at the end of the street, and police are panning the back lane with search lights. Happy Mothers Day.
The helicopter has been by several times already, hovering low, with flickers of light coming from outside. I slowly came into consciousness with the realization that this was going on literally in my back yard. The helicopter was searching my yard, and the neighbouring yards, making a slow sweep of the area. The police were just a few doors down in the lane, checking each house, moving the flashlight beam up and down the walls of the houses and between. Youths on bicycles were seen moving about the neighbourhood. The odd person was seen on foot. Sirens were heard for a solid half hour as units congregated from every direction. And the helicopter is seen repeatedly coming back, flying low, with search light on, doing pass after pass, slowly scanning each yard. I can see my property lit up as it hovers over me each time it passes.
I am up now. Each pass of the helicopter intruding into my life has woken me that much further from a sound sleep. And I am awake now. I may as well write the blog. That way I can focus myself on a task and not be so upset with the intrusion into my life that this event has been.
Sleep was not easy to come by this evening. Not with the party / bonfire behind us, and the loud explosive bangs of fire crackers going off a few houses away. Those sounds caused me to physically jump in the air each time I heard them, as I was trying to fall asleep. They were close, and they were loud. But their exact location was unknown to me. Along with the sounds of the neighbourhood, the sirens seemed to be neverending. It was well past midnight, or even 1am by the time I got to sleep. My husband has not managed to get any sleep at all yet through the sounds of sirens, the helicopter, and noises of the neighbourhood. But now, we are wide awake; wide awake in South Central.
So, here we are watching the SPEED channel at 3:45am. It's the Monster Energy Supercross arena-cross in Las Vegas. They are racing 450 dirtbikes for the championship. And these guys are jumping triples now. Stewart cased it and went down, then Windom ran right over the bike that was down and hit Stewart. At least it's an exciting race.
Now, back to this event that has woken me up and kept my husband from sleep. It better make the news, or at least the Police Releases, for all the trouble it has caused us this morning. We experienced a major invasion of police resources for over an hour. And now that the forces have dissipated, we are left to try and salvage what we can of the night, because tomorrow will be here far sooner than we like. My Mothers Day will no longer go as planned, as we attempt to catch enough sleep to allow us to function through the day. Unfortunately these disruptions to our lives happen more often than I care to count. And now that we have the new helicopter, they are far more invasive to the innocents of the neighbourhood. I normally would not have woken up from the sirens and police walking through the lanes and the yards. I woke to the sound of the helicopter hovering over my house, and I woke to the flash of light coming in my window from its search light. And I woke from the helicopter coming over my house not once, or twice, but several times, until I was finally wide awake from the intrusion into my life.
Our new helicopter has changed the constant criminal activities of the summer from an annoyance in the North End to a war zone not unlike South Central LA. I only hope the invasion into my life in the wee hours of Mothers Day was worth it. Because it sure doesn't sit well with me right now.