34
POLICJA
Cors
Clockwise from above
"Excuse me sir, but I'm new
around here, can you give
me the directions to Wollen-
berg?" Photo by Bryce
Kanights. Up in Seattle,
Washington, Orphan Annie
walks the line and goes
downtown. Photo by Jody
Morris. While the flatfoots
are out walking the beat,
skaters like Mat O'Brien are
one step above the heat.
Photo by Bryce Kanights. All
over the world ond in any
language, skaters and cops
don't mix. Polish criminal
Thomasz Zasowski pouses
for a snapshot in front of a
bocon mobile. Matt Field risks
angry neighborhood watch
ers with a 180° heelflip
abave Hayes Valley. Photo
by Sean Dolinsky.
HAM ON RYE by Jim Houser
Officers of the law are paid to serve and protect the public interest. If
an activity is viclent or causes too much property damage, the police are
there to arrest any perpetrators.
Skateboarders are prone to run-ins with the police because skate-
boarders, as a rule, wear things out until they break. Be it a handrail,
deck or marble bench, our pastime is destructive by nature. Hence its
allure to so many angry little people worldwide. But rarely are the
objects which we damage or destroy our own. Generally it's private or
city-owned property which we tend to cover in dents and blacken with
wax. It tends to make places rather unsightly to those who do not share
our fondness for skating.
That's where the pigs come in. When it comes to community opinion,
the police are the community's loudspeakers. They are paid to enforce
the democratic opinions of right and wrong called laws.
Laws are a double-edged sword. Sure, it may be illegal to skate the
best spot in your area. That sucks. Nobody likes being restricted for
doing what they love. However, laws also make it illegal for people to
shoot at skaters from moving cars. Or beat them with bats. In fact,
thanks to laws, if someone happens to shoot at you or beat on you, the
exact same officer who told you to leave will help catch those who
wronged you. He has to, even if he doesn't like you. It's his job.
There are cops that are cool, and just as many who are uncool. There's
a jerk-off police officer for every loud-mouthed, shithead skateboarder
in the world. Nature adores harmony.
Everyone has their own police stories, but rarely do we give the cops
themselves much thought. Any cop who tells you to leave, or arrests you
after seeing you once too often, is just as likely to be a normal guy try-
ing to feed his kids, as he is to be a macho, wife-beating dictator. Which
one you run across, like most things in life, is purely luck of the draw.