Thursday, July 08, 2010

Va-Va-Va-Vigilante

I really, really don't want to be the block's "Mrs. Kravitz."

No, no, no. Not Lenny Kravitz's wife. I'd take that role any day. What I really loathe is the idea that I'm going to be the nosy busybody who calls the police every time I see something the slight bit strange.

That said, I'm a week and a half in the new digs, and I've already called the cops more than during my five year residence in Oakley.

Granted, we're not really comparing apples to apples. For all its renaissance revival, Over-the-Rhine is not out of the woods. The emerging community still has more than its fair share of violent crime and illegal activity.

And I suppose that's my impetus for calling officials when things are amiss.

In my previous line of work, I reported many stories of gun crime, drug deals, physical assaults. Those are definitely offenses that warrant calling the police. Other people might be hesitant to report a strange vehicle stashed behind a bunch of trees in a hidden corner of a parking lot, or a street party-gone-wild on a school night.

Not me.

I know what those hidden vehicles and spontaneous debauchery can lead to.

Tolerating disturbances and minor suspicions have a way of allowing things to escalate.

Communities have been quite successful in fighting crime by launching neighborhood watch programs or "Citizens On Patrol" groups. Neighbors in Price Hill regularly reclaim their street corners by hanging out in their lawn chairs, gathering to show they don't tolerate the drug and prostitution crime that has previously erupted on their streets.

For me, that might be going a little too far.

At least on my own.

But for now, I'm comfortable to watch out my window, gaze at the gorgeous church spires and stunning architecture in my neighborhood.

And I'm gonna ring District 1 any time I see someone trying to tarnish my block.

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Kate's Random Musings by Kate the Great is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

1 comment:

The Better Half said...

Excellent, Kate.

Excellent eye.

Excellent job.

Excellent post.

We're happy to have you here.