Totally Nuts

My life is totally nuts. This week is totally nuts.

I have to step you out of the story again...to talk about the IMPACT that the NYPD is having on my life.

UGH! UGH! UGH!

For those of you who are wondering, what the hell is she talking about...? I'm talking about Operation Impact, one of many NYPD programs which has affected my life in a rather adverse way. IMPACT was originally perceived as a way to use newly minted cops to flood high-crime areas. If I haven't mentioned this before, my husband is in a VERY high-crime area.

We jokingly refer to his precinct as SoB.
He's located in the South Bronx.
So many of you know "SoBe" as a nickname for the very beautiful hot spot: South Beach Miami.
Hence the play on words.

It's a hellhole. It is an absolutely horrible neighborhood, run by drugs and crime, littered with broken dreams and trapped people. My hubby's SoB precinct has the second-highest AIDS population in all of NYC. People who live or run in his precinct experience regular interaction with the cops. Most children grow up knowing what gunfire sounds like; so many lose a loved one over turf wars and things that are so incidental it's sad.

I'm sure you're getting the picture. Rookies are thrown into these areas by the dozens: fill every street corner, create a presence...they're told to write summonses, for everything from public intoxication to tinted windows.
Their mere presence is meant to make an impact; the NYPD's hope is that the sheer volume of police saturating the neighborhood will dissuade crime.

It works and it doesn't. Believe me, if you're hell-bent on committing a crime, you'll find a way. It doesn't work because a lot of the people in this neighborhood already have a distaste for the police. Seeing more of them just aggravates the already precarious balance between the public and the police.

But here's why it doesn't work for me:
Roc was supposed to have off this Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
He just got notified that they are having mandatory IMPACT OVERTIME on Saturday night.
There's no bargaining here; no options on the table. He'll be off Friday and Sunday, but not Saturday. And believe me, I am pissed. Because Saturday affects Sunday. Often times, he won't get home from Impact until 5 or 6 AM. Then he will want to catch some sleep on Sunday. I don't blame him; it's just the domino effect that's killing me.

That and the fact that I will now be enjoying a Fireworks Spectacular all on my own Saturday night. I have great neighbors that will be sad Roc can't be there, but will insist I go anyway. That's great, and I am grateful.

I'm just sick of Impact.