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Observations of An Ex-Cop in La La Land |
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Beware of PARK CREEPS!  "Today our parks are loaded with these creeps more then ever before." |
They lie in wait, so don't
let your kids be bait!
By ANDY MURCIA
of TheColumnists.com
When I was a young boy in the 1940’s, growing up in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, NY was pretty neat. On a hot summer’s day going to the Canarsie Park was the cats meow. There were water sprinklers to cool us off as we splashed around in our jockeys. (Who owned a bathing suit back then?)
My father was a cop with seven kids to feed, so going to the park was about all he could afford for us “not so wealthy” kids. Our 93rd Street wasn’t paved, unless you call cinders and pot holes pavement. So we piled into Pop’s old sedan and off we went to Canarsie Park by the shore.
I can’t tell you how much I loved that park. I think I knew every inch of it, including which swings went the highest, which rock to sit on when you fished, and where the nearest bathroom was. In those good old days they even had attendants in the bathrooms. After you read this column, I think you will want to have attendants back in our park bathrooms. As long as they’re fingerprinted, that is.
In case you haven’t noticed, today's public parks, beaches and their rest room facilities have become hangouts for pedophiles and sexual perverts of just about every variety. This is not to mention your run of the mill rapists and strong-armed robbers, who have a long history of operating in parks. Parks are also meeting places for indelicate homosexuals, who often do their thing in public wash rooms and wooded areas. Today our parks are loaded with these creeps more then ever before.
How parents can take their kids to a park and let them out of their eyesight is beyond me. There’s so much danger just lurking around our parks today. From aggressive pedophiles, peeping toms, jacking toms, consenting adults, etc. etc.
Today sex acts are taking place in the parks and bathrooms on a regular basis. I walked in on one such encounter just last week. I opened the door to a bathroom and observed two males going at it. The guy on his knees never stopped doing his thing to the guy standing, until I yelled, “Hey, get the hell outta here!”
I immediately went into my nasty police verbal persona and chased the two of them out. They left fast. I say let the bums get a room, isn’t that why they invented motels? I’m glad my 12-year-old son didn't walk in on that scene.
I’m not a boy anymore.
I’m 63 years of age. Along with this “golden age”
comes a gift that most of us old cats get: The enlarged prostate.
This problem calls for me to visit way more bathrooms then I
ever thought existed. At times I feel like I’ve turned into
“the outhouse detective!” I now must always know the
location of the nearest bathroom. I can tell you which ones have
the best soap (if any), the softest paper products, and which
one smells the least lousy. But my message in this column is
much more serious then these things. It’s about the safety
of our kids, wives, and families.
Here’s the real danger: Some years ago, I was out walking
in the park not far from our home with my wife, Ann Jillian,
and our son, Andy Joe, who was then eight. It was twilight time
but not dark just yet. Son Andrew was walking up ahead of us
by about a block or so, (something about his parents walking
too slowly). As Ann and I chatted, we kept our eyes on our sonny
boy.
At one point, near a bathroom located in the most secluded part of the park, we observed a guy walk up to our son. My cop’s instinct told me that he was trouble. I was way overweight back then, but I started to run towards my son as fast as I could. Ann, who was in much better condition, ran much faster and would get to the boy first. The suspect spotted us coming though because we were yelling our son’s name, and so he quickly disappeared into the park.
We got to Andy Joe, thankful it was in time, and we asked him what the guy had said to him. He related that the man had tried to engage him in conversation by asking him where the basketball courts were. My son knew the guy had just walked past the courts, and he knew about “stranger–danger” etc. There wasn’t enough evidence to have the bum arrested, even if he was still on the scene, but trust me–I’d bet the farm he was a pedophile. My trusted instinct tells me that he had intentions of snatching our son into the secluded bathroom that was all too near.
Cops quickly learn to trust the instincts that start in the head but are felt in your gut. Even retired cops find they can’t shut these feelings off. Ask any cop you know and they’ll corroborate this fact. I thank God that Ann and I were with our son and had him in view at all times. I KNOW a horrible crime had been prevented that day. How I wish I could have caught up with him. We reported the incident to the park and police authorities.
On a somewhat lighter note, let me tell you what happened the other day as I rode my bike in the park. I observed a creepy looking guy with a beard and wild hair sitting in his car with the passenger side door open. As I rode by I noticed he had his penis exposed and was holding what looked like a big black bible in one hand. His eyes were glued on the ladies using the walking path and he was masturbating. The ladies were not even aware of the sexual impact they had made on this hard up geek. Harmless wand waver? Maybe, maybe not? Who knows, one day he might want more action and just might follow one of the ladies and rape her.
As I walk or ride my bike daily, I always pay special attention to playgrounds where real young kids run loose. This is where I spotted a pedophile creep. He was between two cars, eyeballing the kids at play. He was rubbing the “tent” pole he had erected in his pants and was getting his rocks off big time. So much so that he never spotted me walking up to him.
These truly sick pedophiles are the most dangerous of all. They can be extremely aggressive. They are truly predators who hunt down our children with an addiction that even they can’t control. They strike when we least expect it. There is no real cure for these sick bastards. This is why we must help them control themselves.
The best way is to get them off the streets, out of our parks, into prison or better yet, into their caskets. These insane people would kill our kids like today’s terrorists cut the throats of innocent people in Iraq. So, I reported this guy to a passing park ranger, who took him in.
I spoke with the ranger some days afterward and he told me the guy had a rap sheet for sexual assault on a minor. This predator, no doubt, will walk away on this disorderly conduct charge, but be assured he will do what he does again and again. He will do it until the day he is dead. Sadly, one day he will kill some unsuspecting kid who like me as a boy, just wanted to have fun in the best place a poor kid could go to–a park.
Please, if any of you see suspicious conduct of any kind, report it to the authorities forthwith. These cell phones we all have today can truly be used as an instrument for good on such occasions. We have to catch these very dangerous creeps before they strike again.
And lastly, to leave you with at least a grin, please keep our parks clean and waste no time using the bathrooms there becauses this aging ex-cop may have an even greater meed to use the bathrom than you do!
©2004 by Andy Murcia. The caricature of Andy Murcia is ©2003 by Jim Hummel. The photo of the pier is ©2004 by Andy Murcia. The illlustration is from IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA.
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