See Something? Say Something? Maybe.

The new year kicked off with the murder of a 16-year-old at 12:20 am in my environs. Additionally, a bullet came through the metal roof of a business in a neighboring community, and a child sleeping on a couch was injured by a bullet that penetrated the ceiling of his home — and then his head -- in a 3rd neighborhood, but only one person was arrested for discharging a firearm on New Year’s Eve in the entire Valley, and that was a man in a 4th community standing outside his home and firing his gun into the air.

Happy New Year?

Having been ducked behind the bed for most of the first 30 minutes of the new year while keeping my dogs both calm and inside, it is no surprise that someone was shot dead in the streets of my small city; what’s more surprising is that there aren’t more shootings/killings of/by the residents of this vast Valley. Of course, it’s racial profiling if I write that Mexicans discharge their weapons as a matter of course, but especially on New Year’s Eve, the 4th of July, and at birthday parties! I’m sure other ethnic groups possess and enjoy shooting their guns too, but I happen to live in a primarily Mexican community that sounds like an all-out armed conflict any time there is the slightest reason to “celebrate.” According to the local media, 20 homicides occurred in the Valley in 2010; in 2011, that total rose to 29, while the rest of California experienced an over-all decrease in homicides; 2012 began here with the first of a new year's worth of killings within the first half-hour, which does not bode well for the coming year.

I’ve called both 9-1-1 and the local police to report shots fired at the house behind me, but because I have not seen the shooter, nor can I definitively say which of the 2 houses behind me house the shooter, nor have I heard either screaming or the fast retreat of a vehicle, there is “nothing we can do for you, ma’am.” Best advice: call back if/when I hear the screaming, see a vehicle rapidly leave the area, or witness the shooter pull the trigger. My next-door neighbor is also anxious about the firing range mentality of our neighbors, but she has had prior contact with law enforcement, so she’s not going to call the po-leece no way for nothin’.

Actually, I don’t blame her for making that decision because I’ve arrived at the same conclusion. If I do hear the screaming, it’s probably too late to prevent whatever is happening -– and anyone left alive inside or out will make that call. If I do see the shooter, s/he probably also sees me, so I’m going to duck and cover until s/he’s done doing whatever it is s/he’s doing, rather than provide another human target. And if I hear a vehicle leaving, well fast retreat is the way the drivers in my neighborhood always drive, especially the crew at the corner who own “speed racers,” cars they’ve hopped up for street racing. And, if a vehicle is speeding away from the scene on the street behind me, there is no way I'll be able to provide either a description or a license plate, so ... ?

See something; say something? Maybe, but probably not.

In my world, living in a small community with an over-whelming population of parolees, I’d be tempted to do a house-to-house search of all parolees prior to the shooting celebration holidays. It is still illegal for parolees to have guns, isn’t it? I’m never sure what’s legal/illegal these days, but do know that my unopened bottle of Propel was confiscated as a potential terrorist weapon before I boarded a recent flight. It seems plausible that if a sealed bottle of water can be confiscated from a US citizen with no police record, then a gun and/or bullets could conceivably be confiscated from a known felon on parole. But, I’m just guessing; after all, the TSA confiscated weapons-grade explosives from the carry-on luggage of a man traveling with his family last week, but quickly explained to concerned travelers that there was no danger.

My bottle of Propel in my carry-on; a passenger with weapons-grade explosives in his carry-on? Residents routinely discharging weapons in neighborhoods? Guess that falls into the category of "whatever."