You don't want cops as neighbors.

"We'll be so safe, with a police station literally across the street." That's what we thought, but here's a helpful hint from experience. Even if you're a straight-arrow who never breaks the law and wouldn't dream of stepping into the street after the "Don't Walk" sign starts flashing, you should think twice before becoming neighbors to the police department.

We were two guys and two girls sharing the place, but the women (both in their twenties) both moved out soon. They said there was always a 50/50 chance they'd hear either clumsy flirting or crude comments, always from cops, right in front of our house. That had to be really annoying.

Our house was never broken into while we lived there, so there's that, but I still felt strange and unsafe walking down the street when there was a cop walking by or driving by, or getting out of or into a car. Which was almost always. I never worried much about having weed in my pocket, until living on Police Street.

Another frustration was that cops ignore parking regulations. The closer you are to a police station, the more often you'll see police officers' cars (both squad cars and their own cars) doubleparked, blocking driveways, on the sidewalk, etc. The know their pals won't write them a ticket, their cars won't be towed, so they can and do get away with it.

It gets worse when they have staff or management meetings. The precinct had meetings, we assumed, every Tuesday and Thursdays afternoon, because that's when doubleparking became tripleparking, with traffic going both ways squeezing through one lane remaining. You'd never know why and never know in advance, but several times every year the whole street was barricaded.

Sirens that sound so quaint in the distance are much more annoying when they're going off every half hour, right in front of your door. And that was in "normal" times, years ago. I wonder what it's like now, with the protests and everything, having a police station on your block.

 

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