Member-only story
A Police Officer Has Never Once Made Me Feel Any Safer
I wish it weren’t true.
A homeless man was eating some fried chicken on my front steps one morning. He looked up and said hello.
I said hi.
I started walking toward my car. It wasn’t that unusual. I lived downtown. Someone was always stopping to sit on the steps to my apartment for a snack, or just to cool off for a minute.
The unusual part happened when a neighbor across the street barged out of his house to make me feel safe. “Don’t worry,” he said, waving. “I’ve already called the police.” Like dark magic, two cruisers rolled up. The officers started moving toward the homeless man.
That’s when I started to feel scared — for him.
It didn’t matter what I said. The officers ignored me completely at first, until one of them finally leveled a threatening gaze at me. “Do you have some place to be?” he said, followed by, “Do you live here?” Being a coward at heart, I sank into my car and started the engine.
That was a long time ago.
If I’d known then what I know now, maybe I would’ve stayed to film them. Maybe I would’ve shown them my ID and demanded they leave, since nobody at my address had actually requested their presence.
