If you ever have the misfortune to be visiting Bakersfield, you'd best be minding your P's and Q 's because the cops here are a little trigger happy. Every morning when you turn on the local news they've shot someone overnight. It's so common they might as well just make it a regular segment, like weather and sports.
It almost always happens in East Bakersfield, which locals will tell you is the "bad" part of town. They clearly don't get out much, because to us newcomers the whole town seems pretty bad.
It's gotten to the point that I rarely take note of it anymore, it all just blends in with all the other babble...
"Highs today will be in the upper 60's, BPD shot and killed a man overnight, and low's will be in the 40's, so take a jacket because it's going to be a little chilly out there."
But then one morning the daily shooting report left me completely gobsmacked.
BREAKING NEWS
"Within the last hour, Bakersfield Police attempted to stop a man for questioning in East Bakersfield. When he wouldn't comply with their requests, officers shot him. He's currently awaiting transfer to KMC (Kern Medical Center) while officers wait for the arrival of a Spanish speaking officer."
So... let me see if I understand this.
Police attempted to stop and question a suspect, who didn't speak English.
They ordered him to do something, in English.
The suspect, who didn't speak English, didn't understand what they were saying and didn't do as they had requested.
So they shot him.
And NOW, as he's lying on the sidewalk bleeding to death, they're going to hold off getting him medical aid while they wait for the arrival of Spanish speaking officer who can explain to him exactly what just happened.
Sounds about right.
An hour later they did an update, and they were STILL awaiting the arrival of someone who spoke Spanish!
Listen, Bakersfield aint that big. I could be halfway to LA in an hour. Something tells me they weren't really trying.
Call it a hunch.
All things considered, it could have been worse. When I first hear the report I thought the reporter said "KFC" and I immediately got a mental image of the poor guy's gurney being wheeled through drive-up to pick up a bucket of Extra Crispy. And that didn't seem odd to me.
Go ahead an laugh.
It could happen here.
