Skeery Skeery Overboard?

yesterday, friends and i were preparing to go on a wild foods hunt- i have been looking up the uses of wild and edible herbals- when ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE.

(imagine hearing the music of the ice cream truck and kids at the park while watching officers running around your neighborhood with guns- an eerie juxtaposition)

now, until this morning, i had no idea why there were policemen racking shotguns with handguns in hand, running round on foot telling everyone to get inside their houses...

josh, next door, was outside washing out paintbrushes at this time, when a woman and a young girl with a baby asked to cut through his yard... he saw the police running with guns out and began to run in the house when the officer called him to come to him and then told him to get in the house... soon, josh saw the woman being led away in handcuffs...

the neighbor across the street came out on her porch, saw an officer in the front yard, asked what was going on, and then the officer removed a shotgun from his car and racked it- she ran back in and then five minutes later took off in her car like she was on fire...

a kid and his father were collecting recyclables in the alley when i yelled to them to be careful because at least eight police officers were running with guns in hand- which is a dangerous scenario. he said he knew, they had already yelled at him, but thanks...

needless to say, everyone panicked, but mostly about all the armed men running with firearms in hand, and nobody understood what was happening... this was not being broadcast anywhere, information was unavailable...

then today- i see the news sentinel... it would appear that a man stabbed another man on ault street- during a domestic- and then was silly enough to call 911. the stabbing victim died.

and while i believe that the best intentions are meant by the kpd, i also think that they are subject to the panic and pack mentality that all human beings are subject to... and while i believe that a panicked man with a knife is dangerous, i believe that six or eight panicked men running with loaded shotguns and handguns is more dangerous...

also- if a single officer would have/could have stopped to speak with one of us- then josh would have known that the woman in his yard was somehow involved, we would have understood who we should be watching for, we could have protected ourselves...

but as it stood, we all stood in awe of the danger of running guns, fear of yells to "get in the house" and felt more threatened than protected... and statistically, you are more likely to be murdered by someone you know than a stranger, (e.g. the murder on ault of folks that knew each other), and that citizens need to feel empowered in order to want to help authorities rather than bullied- it just appeared that be poorly handled...

and maybe it's the fact that this is just east knoxville? (i, for one, love love love this neighborhood and have never been in danger) or maybe the officers were fearful of the knife? maybe they had seen a bystander threatened? i don't know. i just know that things could have been handled more smoothly and without scaring the bejeebus out of the neighborhood... and our kids.

it reminds me of the patriot act- a police state to protect us. but, i would rather feel free than protected. what happened at your house?