Do you know where to get a taser? Apparently, there is such a thing as a “police supply store” that you can visit. (What else do they sell to the average citizen?) Alternatively, try the internet.
In the meantime, you can keep wasp-i-cide spray handy next to your bed, to disable a foe close at hand.
These are a couple of tips I didn’t know seven days ago, before the last incident of serial rape in our neighborhood, and before our schools went on lock-down during the intense (unsuccessful) man-hunt that lasted all day. I never thought I’d write these words, but I’m nostalgic for the days when most of the neighborhood buzz was about sightings of guys going door to door with clipboards. I wonder how business is going for them lately? Probably not well, since anyone knocking on doors these days is more likely to elicit a 9-1-1 call than to find a gullible homeowner.
Here is my background: I was a young woman driving around Los Angeles back when the “Hillside Strangler” terrorized those streets. Later, I lived in fear until the serial killer Richard Rodriquez was caught, and after that, my boss expected me to show up at my job downtown during the L.A. riots associated with Rodney King. I’m no stranger to high alert.
These are not meant to be words of comfort, because if there is one thing apparent to the casual observer of serial crimes, it’s the strange compulsion of the perp to strike again despite a tightened web of security. I can’t get inside his head, because if I were in his place, I’d be on the other side of Oklahoma right now. But also, if I were he, I wouldn’t be wanted by the police in the first place.
If there is anything good about these not-normal days, it is the heightened awareness of home security, and the neighborhood participation in safety meetings and self-defense classes.
The most surprising thing I have learned from the neighborhood e-mail buzz is how many strangers seem to be knocking on people’s doors late at night. It seems really creepy. But on second thought, I prefer the criminals who knock before they break in, over the ones who don’t.
