Baltimore investigations

Thanks for posting this.

I've been in a situation where I was concerned that people might think I was police and not appreciate my presence.

Eddy, how much are you affected by Baltimore's problems, this past week and long term?

Not the first time I have seen something like this. The Sheriffs Dept likes to set up Survey Crew signs when they set up their portable scales to weigh trucks.

I have heard that in the past, the DEA would masquerade in the Northern forest of California looking for pot farms. That wasn't too cool. For a while, surveyors in that area were afraid of getting shot at.

i live in the city, so it does worry me. my brother is city police, my bride is a city housing/rehab agent. she travels alone with a laminated id badge hanging from her neck, several home visits a week. she sees the truly sad conditions people 'live' in

i used to survey baltimore quite often. i was able to walk up and ask open air drug operations to move across the street temporarily so i could finish my stakeout without 'man on line'. they happily did, and also told the younger troublemakers to stay away from our gear. herd to believe, but true on many occasions. just as long as the police haven't wrecked the concept for you prior.

the rioters wrecked truly odd things: there was a homeless encampment on the west side that got stomped out and torn apart. those homeless went to east side right away, saying something to the nature of 'those west-siders are animals, can't even leave the homeless be'

for me, i work in a much lower crime area. if i should meet an early demise, it would be by an errant driver not paying attention, etc.

there was more than one pharmacy burned and looted. for some reason, the media is again tailoring their stories to what they want you to know. there is a dollar general just three blocks from my home; they got their glass boarded up (faster than a hurricane forecast) in anticipation of looting.

in my observation, the politics are to blame much more than the shield. it's just much easier to hate and blame the shield than to look into political history, or development and the decline of America's cities and the conditions that it's residents live in. one example; the nearest REAL grocery store from West North Avenue and Pennsy is over a mile away. one would pass maybe a dozen mini marts and liquor stores on the way.

I do love my town, but we have been circling the drain for decades.

yes, i have tripped over grow operations, mostly in edges of R/W and parks/forests. no one borrows my machete or flagging. do the job and get out.

i don't need the dogs or the bullets. had that a couple times and would rather do without.

since the police sometimes impersonate our trade, it really takes one of our biggest 'outs' away

>
> A half block away, crime lab technician Tom Wisner and detectives Michael Boyd and Timothy Hamilton rolled the laser imaging device along a wheeled yellow tripod. They wore T-shirts and cargo pants to keep a low profile and avoid long conversations or, worse, a confrontation in a neighborhood where residents' anger was still raw from violent protests the previous night.
>
>
> They had nearly 70 scans to do, each taking a circular image as far as 850 feet away, and a tight time frame to complete them.

If they wanted a good job, done quickly, and not look like cops...they should have hired a surveyor.