The NYPD is redeploying specially trained units to the city’s “roughest” neighborhoods reports the Post, describing them as a “special fleet of cop cars that routinely blankets Manhattan landmarks to scare off terrorists.” Ha, as if the terrorists are just hanging around the city, getting chased off like skateboarders all the time. |NYP|
Photo: jbparker
Bucks, thanks for providing an explanation of this phenomenon. I have seen this unit from time to time, tearing down the street, lights ablaze and sirens blaring, their assault on all of the senses bringing pedestrians to a halt.
I had wondered if, as you reblogged, their purpose was to "shake folks up." It reminds me of the repetitive, but brief, alarm one hears in some retail stores. It's annoying as heck, and when I asked a clerk about it one time, he said that it was a deterrent to shoplifters. (It basically deters me from wanting to be a customer.)
I am really getting worn out from the constant pummeling of the senses here. Yes, like many, I moved here for fame, fortune, and stimulation. The punishment for my hubris is that I ended up with a surfeit of only the last.
PS And, of course, after having pushed "Enter," I now want to also say that they appear to be shocking and awing the wrong people. Don't get me wrong–I really do appreciate the extra security provided to New York since 9/11. However, this particular approach reminds me of a Simpsons bit:
After a single bear wandering into town has drawn an over-reaction from the residents of Springfield, Homer stands outside his house and muses, “Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol is working like a charm!”
Lisa: “That’s specious reasoning, dad.”
Homer: "Thank you."
Lisa: “By your logic, I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.”
Homer: “Hmm; how does it work?”
Lisa: “It doesn’t work; it’s just a stupid rock!”
Homer: “Uh-huh.”
Lisa: “… but I don’t see any tigers around, do you?”
[Pause]
Homer: “Lisa, I want to buy your rock.”
I'm much more worried about getting attacked by residents of NYC's rough neighborhoods than by "terrorists".