Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I was just upstairs lasering the cat, and I realized something "seemed wrong" behind me. So I looked out the window and saw, at the traffic light, a jumble of vehicles. They were arranged as one would ordinarily only see them after an accident, but there had been no sound of impact and I saw no damage. Then I noticed that two young men in white T-shirts seemed to be at the mercy of the handful of young men in dark blue T-shirts ... and one of the blue shirts said "POLICE" in white letters and the rest said "Auto Theft Task Force" in yellow letters on the backs. (only one of the cops looked significantly older than the thieves.)

Only then did I notice that the blue and grey SUVs and the green pickup truck surrounding the expensive-looking white sedan had huge block numbers on the roofs -- to make it easier to coordinate pinch maneuvers from helicopter, I presume.

I had no idea the Baltimore Police were doing something so effective regarding auto theft. (Come to think of it, I only guessed that they're Baltimore cops because I'm in Baltimore ... do the State Police operate within the city at all?) Note that this is the same city that couldn't find my mother's car in its own impound lot for several days after I reported it stolen a couple of years ago -- the weather did more damage to it (windows down, rainstorms) than the thieves did. While I watched, the two guys in white were handcuffed and led to one of the police vehicles, and one of the officers moved an SUV so that traffic backed up on Lombard St. could get past. I found myself pondering how awful it must feel to be bundled off in handcuffs like that (so very different from more entertaining bedroom uses of such devices), glad that I don't indulge in auto theft as either profession or hobby, hopeful at the sight of the local police being so effective, and just a wee bit bitter over how little help the police have been to me when things have been stolen from me.