Better Ideas

[ashnistrike]

As I get older, I've learned to appreciate people who actively work on their shit--as opposed to ignoring potential problems and pretending everything is just fine.

The extremely diverse DC suburb where I live is planning a series of community discussions about whether we have any cop-civilian tension, and what to do about it if so.  I haven't noticed any, but I'm female and pretty white-looking--I plan to sit in the back of the room and listen.

Apparently our police department did receive a humvee through that horrible military-surplus-for-police program.  The city council had just said no to a bunch of things that cost money, and felt like "free equipment" was an easy thing to say yes to.  We use the humvee for snow removal, so we don't just want to get rid of it.

One of the proposals on the table, therefore, is to repaint the humvee as an art car in order to reduce the potential for testosterone poisoning.  This, explained the neighbor who's planning to host one of the discussions, would "better reflect community values."

Which is true.  I do love this town.  It's far from perfect, but it's actively working on its shit.

Comments

[redbird]

That might be an argument for some cheerful and non-military-looking undercoat color or pattern: say, bright green on part and lavender on the rest. So when the plowing beats up the finish, they'd still have something looking less fierce or military.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Given the frequency (or lack thereof) with which we actually need to do any significant plowing, "sandblast and repaint every few years" seems pretty doable. And will make the arts district folks happy, too.