LAPD, "To Protect and To Serve"

One more first time experience here in Los Angeles.... The place where I stay is downtown Los Angeles and this downtown has a nasty reputation. For three weeks, one guy has been going around with a gun and mugging people. As a result, I end up inside my home before it gets dark at around 7:30p.m.

First, heads up. LAPD stands for Los Angeles Police Department. Last night at around 12 at night, we heard people fighting outside. From the heated conversation, it seemed as if the mugger this time came across a real bad victim. I looked out of the window. There was a white guy who had his T Shirt torn and he was shouting at some other guy who came in a taxi.

Within five minutes, six patrol vans of LAPD were outside the house next door where the fight was happening. Now, don't expect that I'll tell you that the 12 policemen who came quickly took their positions, and started shouting for everyone to crouch low. This is no Die Hard or Phone Booth sequence. Life, as always, is much less dramatic than Hollywood movies. But it was a good fun to see nicely dressed American policemen( in complete contrast to our LATHI wielding sub inspectors and hawaldars back in India) and the pace with which they came and went.

I also found out what exactly happened. This white guy came in a taxi with his girl friend, had some confusion regarding the payments...and then found the taxi driver inside his house. He got scared, started shouting and to an outsider like me, it was like Mr. Mugger is,finally, next door.