Self Censorship

 

Snow and deputies today at the house across the street.

I briefly posted on Facebook about sheriff's deputies visiting the house across the street earlier today. I complained about not being to able move away from crime and associated police activity and live in a safe neighborhood. I decided to delete the post after a few minutes, even though I'm mentioning it here. But this is my blog, so I can write through the issues brought forth by the post and why I withdrew it, and explain them to myself and anyone else reading.

First: It seems like my post might have seemed judgmental. There may be people in my friends list that have been arrested before. It doesn't mean a person is a devil because they have been arrested. There are many reasons people get arrested, some worse than others, and generally most criminals deserve a second chance. Also, the deputies weren't necessarily there to arrest someone. They might have been simply serving papers. However, they certainly acted like they were prepared to be shot at. That is when I decided to herd myself and my cats back inside.

Second: I thought the post might have felt insulting to people who have lower income than me. I have had to live in a couple of "bad" neighborhoods in the past. It's one of the reasons I'm keenly aware of crime. Usually it isn't a choice to live in a high crime area. You live where you can afford to live. I think stereotypes about bad neighborhoods are not necessarily wrong in general, but might be wrong about a particular household.

Third: The owner of the particular house in question lives there but typically subleases spare bedrooms to others. So there is some question of who the deputies were looking for. Obviously it was likely to be only one of the people living there, not all of them. That said, this isn't the first time police have been at that house in force. The last time it was city police. That's what you get when you have renters in your neighborhood. No, not all renters are criminals, but criminals are unlikely to be able to buy, so wherever you have rentals in quantity, you have elevated crime rates.

Fourth: Although police activities are generally public knowledge, it kind of violates the privacy of anyone living in the house.

So yes, I am judgmental, but I don't necessarily think I need to broadcast that into my personal social network. A blog has more room for nuance and explanation, and social media is designed specifically to spread information like wildfire, and by information, I mean rumor.