I'll admit it: I have a love affair with YourHub's Police Beat.
A couple of favorites from my Police Beat Hall of Fame:
"A thirsty man who may have self-esteem issues was reported to police for harassing residents. The suspect rang the doorbell, brandishing some sort of identification card. He then repeatedly said, 'Tell me how obnoxious I am.' He continued talking, inquiring as to whether it as his hair or the way he dressed that made him obnoxious."
"A Wheat Ridge police officer witnessed a man leaving a trail or urine as he walked through a grocery store parking lot... In defense of his mobile urination he said he had to 'go real bad' but did not want to enter the grocery store. He was issued a summons for public urination."
Most of the time, the Police Beat reports are more humorous than threatening. But I was not laughing when I was forwarded a warning from the Jefferson County Sheriff Department that a "sexually violent child predator" was moving near Van Bibber Open Space Park. The Sheriff's office held a public meeting to provide education on this unmonitored offender.
This was a sobering reminder of precautions we should all take for our families. As safe as we may feel in this beautiful area with so many great people, it only takes one onion bagel to spoil the rest.
That's my version of the "bad apple" idiom.
And no, I don't have anything against onions except that they have no business being in bagels.
I am very fortunate to live in a neighborhood where we look out for each other and safety is a priority. The only incident we have had was when our TomTom navigational device went missing from my car. Guess where it turned up several months later:a) Right where I left it in the middle console, hidden underneath the Cheese Nips.
b) In a drawer in the house that I have been meaning to clean out for a year.
c) Stashed away in the ceiling of a nearby seedy hotel.
d) None of the above.
And the answer is "c." An electrician working at the American Motel found our GPS hidden in the ceiling of one of the rooms, along witha compendium of stolen electronics. We were fortunate that the man was able to return it to us because we had programmed our home address into it.
Consider that my personal submission to the Police Beat Hall of Fame.