Within the last few weeks, my neighbors were victims of an armed robbery while walking their dogs, one of my law prof colleagues was knocked to the ground and mugged in his neighborhood not too far away, and another, very nearby neighbor was the victim of an armed “home invasion” robbery. The local newspaper reports a veritable crime wave in Columbia, touching many residential areas. This is all very scary. So is the fact that so many people are discussing gun purchases in response. And so is the suggestion of the local “Neighborhood Watch Association” to call the police to alert them to “anyone that looks suspicious or any vehicle that looks out of place.” This neighborhood is just affluent enough that some people have lawn services and cleaning services, others are doing remodeling or construction, a lucky few have pools and pool services, and many of us have friends who choose, or choose ourselves, to drive modest automobiles that are not in mint condition. I’m worried about what nervous, overzealous people will deem “suspicious.”
Last year an explosion at a local rubber band factory jolted my neighborhood out of bed late at night. After checking my hot water heater in the garage, I walked outside, where my next door neighbor was standing in his driveway, just a few feet from me, in his underwear. When he heard my footsteps, he turned and pointed his pistol at me. Foggy with sleep, he continued to hold the barrel in my direction as we speculated about what had happened, and noticed tracer fire in the air, and heard the wail of sirens. When I finally asked him to put it away, telling him “Dude! I don’t think there is anything here that needs killing!” he passed the gun ineffectually against his hip a couple of times, until it dawned on him that his underwear didn’t have any pockets.
I’ve gotten at least a dozen e-mails from local friends and neighbors warning me against leaving my house at night. People tell me this in person as well. How I hope that all this crime is being caused by a few bad actors, and they are apprehended soon.
–Ann Bartow
