We were sitting at Mercedes Grill the other day when an LAPD cruiser came down Ocean Front Walk’s alley driving the wrong way down a one way street with the lights on top blazing away. We were pretty excited that we were sitting next to some breaking news that we could post up here so we watched attentively in “reporter mode” while sipping on our mohitos.
Blow by blow:
1. LAPD cruiser comes down one way alley with lights on and parks next to the Terrace Grill.
2. Cops get out of car slow, with “make my day” swagger – we are expecting a shootout, since the LAPD officers have chosen not to drive down the street like everyone else in life: the correct direction. They MUST BE sneaking up on the perps, yo!
3. Cops saunter into Hinano. We are thinking … ooo they came around the side the wrong way because they didn’t want the evildoers at Hinano to see them coming to get them … even tho that would be 1/2 baked as they could have just parked a few doors down on Washington sneaking up on the perps and also abiding by the laws of the road.
4. About 30 minutes later the cops come out of Hinano with potato chip bags in hand … the ones that come with a Hinano burger. No perps in tow, just full bellies of Hinano beef.
5. We say “Oh no they didn’t!” and have a lengthy conversation how it doesn’t seem appropriate cops should so flagrantly disregard all of the vehicle laws that it is their job to enforce. It just doesn’t look good to act like laws don’t matter if you are a cop that wants a burger.
What do you think?
ever notice that sometimes in venice the cops have an “us vs. them” attitude? sometimes everything is cool, othertimes they just give everyone hell?
Yeah, that’s a good observation. Very true. It’s like that with a lot of law enforcement officers.
I once saw a Harbor Patrol boat SPEED up to another boat to remind them about the “no wake” rule in the marina. Meanwhile – they created an even bigger wake in the process. ?!
But I do have respect for the LAPD after witnessing that guy crash into all those cars on Washington and Strongs:
http://venicenetdata.wpengine.com/2008/05/07/dont-tase-me-bro/
Maybe they can do something about the gangsters that have taken to roaring down Speedway the wrong way on weekends.
they must have been REALLY hungry. don’t get me wrong. i love me a hinano burger just like the rest of venice, but come on!!!…speeding down the alley (the wrong way) with your siren lights going? have some respect and patience for the streets that you are supposed to be protecting. i say a letter needs to be written to LAPD, or better yet, YO! VENICE! should email them this article. whadd’ya say?
If I was a cop I’d much rather put the pedal to the metal for a Hinano’s cheeseburger, pickled peppers, and chips than to diffuse some homeless altercation on the Boardwalk!
Ariel … I don’t know that my goal in life is to write letters to the LAPD telling them what they already know. If an LAPD officer really thought it was a big deal to drive the wrong way down streets to get a burger … they probably would not do it. If they thought they would get reprimanded like anyone else at any other job .. they wouldn’t do it. If they thought they would get fired … they wouldn’t do it.
Pretty much, if they are doing this kind of stuff they don’t think it matters in the slightest at any level …
bret, i agree 150%. some people just don’t get it and never will. however, on the same note, it doesn’t take much effort to email an article to a supervisor. if it meant that much to you to write about it, then it is clearly significant to you. otherwise, you are just writing about it for entertainment value. if that’s the case, then i misunderstood the tone of the article, the point of the website, and the intent of living in a neighborhood. my apologies.
Ariel, it is never that entertaining watching people that are supposed to enforce laws break them for no reason. We have blogged when the LAPD does great things around here
http://venicenetdata.wpengine.com/2008/05/07/dont-tase-me-bro/
and now have blogged when the do some pretty callous things. We do have a strong readership, and we have always let our reporting remain what it is. Maybe you are right and we should ask the LAPD what this is all about.