We sit around a lot. We wait for unfortunate events to take place. We videotape them and they air on the news. That is a simple explanation and it’s not always like that, but that covers ninety percent of the work I do. When a car crashes and someone dies, it is my job to go there. When a fire starts in the middle of the night, I show up. When a gangbanger takes a bullet in the hood, I try to get there fast enough to videotape him going into the ambulance or being covered with a sheet.
We have these intense moments of adrenalin pumping action followed by long hours of waiting. So naturally, we make friends with other night shift workers, camera ops from other stations, tow truck drivers, cops and ambulance attendants. Conversation often turns to social issues and even after twenty years in the business, I still find myself asking why some people choose to live the way thy do. What makes a man choose to carry a gun? What kind of person can pull the trigger? What comes first, poverty or crime? Will we always have people who choose not to take part in what we call a normal way of life? Will we always have those who just take what they need and don’t care how they get it or who gets hurt in the process?
Some of the most crime-ridden areas of the city are government housing projects. Each project has its own hustlers, dealers and gangbangers. Look no further than Youtube.com to get a look at life in the projects. You will find postings from all the troubles areas, Jane and Finch, Driftwood, Scarlettwood, Shoreham, The Grassways etc. etc.
This is what I found when I search Youtube.com. This is no joke. This is life in the hood.
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