There was a time when downtown Victoria had more police activity than it does now, or so it seemed. Oh, the police are still a common presence, often at View Towers, and their headquarters are still just outside of downtown. But for a time they seemed to be especially active at night. Once I saw a police car doing a patrol in one of those police cars that has a loudspeaker on the roof. The police saw someone (not me) jaywalking. The police officer(s) didn’t stop the car to let anyone out, but neither did they ignore the guy. Instead an officer announced, “Attention Citizen Pedestrian!” through the speaker and admonished the guy to cross at the proper spot.
My feelings were twofold: one, that it did make Victoria feel like a bit of a police state; somehow the fact that the cop(s) stayed in the car and used the loudspeaker instead only heightened the effect. Second, I just loved the name “Citizen Pedestrian”. Images of a Judge Dredd-like future started popping through my head. I keep meaning to start writing fiction about a character by that name; I still need to flesh it out in my head first. But again, wow, what a great name. Citizen Pedestrian, I love it.
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