Town Topic 19th and Baltimore Kansas City Missouri Saturday 16 December 2006, originally uploaded by studestevo.

I went here first thing knowing that I wouldn't get a chance to have lunch later. I had the truckstop and a large coke. Truuuukkkk stoooppppp!!! MMmmmmmm.

First, a rant.

I meant to say this yesterday, but I ran out of time.

While listening to the scanner I installed in my work car, I heard a dramatic chase involving the police and a burglary suspect. This guy obviously was not a rocket scientist or brain surgeon. Now get this. The guy is caught breaking into cars. He tries to escape the police by driving at high speed through busy streets in his OWN car. They know who he is, and have cops waiting for him at his house. This guy was running from the cops at high speed on city streets for a misdemeanor burglary charge -- you know, he was probably stealing ipods or cd's out of parked cars. So, in an effort to keep himself from getting caught, he speeds through the city going anywhere between 50 and 90 miles per hour. The police have decided to stop pursueing this rocket scientist due to the danger to the general public. However, they didn't HAVE to chase him. They knew where he was going and they were there waiting. They also had him under the eyes of the helecopter. If the guy farted the helecopter observer was calling it out on the radio! This dumb dumb (the suspect) didn't care or think about that. He wanted to get away no matter who he had to kill to do it. That's what made this chase a nail biter. I heard as the helecopter observer called out that he nearly nailed a city bus. This guy crossed over major streets such as Prospect and Paseo from side streets without stopping at high speed. What a complet MORAN!!!! In the end, he ran straight home, and naturally, when he realized the cops were waiting there, he bailed out, and guess what, he ran around on foot and still tried to make it to his house. So next time this idiot tries to outrun the police, he SHOULD just drive directly to his home -- THE JAIL!!!!

Rant number 2

This happened today.

I got some compelling video today of the police negotiating with, then taking down a guy who was threatening to kill himself. It happened at a busy gas station in a strip mall. A bunch of Johnson county suburbanites gathered around to watch the spectacle. The police did their thing to the applaus of the "audience." I had to choke down tears. The guy was clearly distraught. He was not a criminal. He was not a thug. He was just a guy who felt so low in life that he wanted to end it. The drama that unfolded was not something to cheer about or celebrate. I guess I could see more clearly what was unfolding magnified in my camera lens. The suburbanite voyeurs should be ashamed of themselves. But it gets worse. After the police grabbed the guy, these two high school girls walked up to me, and said, were ready to make our statement now. I asked who they were -- they were just some of the gawkers. They even asked if I could shoot some video of them walking around. One of them even asked me what they had to do to get on tv. I thought later about this, and decided my response should be, go be nice people, do something nice every day, work towards greatness and don't worry about being on the news. If you do good things every day, maybe you will find recognition for it. I get so sick of people hanging around unpleasant crime scenes thinking only of how they can somehow be made into a star for being so narcissistic, that even human suffering and death do not matter to them, except as a vehicle for their desire to attract attention onto themselves. It is really low class to be seen at a crime scene. If I were a parent, I would instruct my kids that If I saw them hanging around a place where police tape is up, they would get the worst punishment they've ever seen in their lives. In this case, a man's life was coming to an end, and all it was to two little girls was a chance to be on tv. How jaded and unsympathetic do you have to be to not notice the melancolny of such events because your own towering ego blinds you to it.

Today was a bad day in Kansas City. A whole family was slaughtered by their father. Bob had to leave early for that, so I did vo patrol today. I first had Town Topic on Baltimore. That is such a pleasant place in the morning. Especially on a Saturday morning. I shot the christmas at 17th and Summit. It is nice how much happiness a little thought can bring to some lonely people. Then I went to the Salvation Army wharehouse where volunteers were boxing up food for the needy. Then I went to Prarie Village where a piano player was playing christmas music for shoppers. I then went to the Jay McShan funeral. I could only get one shot of the jazz band playing before I was called off and dragged into the horror of the murder scene on KC's southeast side. I went to YJ's after work. I was thinking I was running a console over to boB in Topeka tonight, but I wasn't able to contact boB or the guy who was selling the console. I headed home to a relaxing evening with Suyen, who was up all last night and today working on cases.

TMI

Stevo