“James,

“Yeah, it's been crazy around here. Just so we are clear, anything I tell you needs to be in confidence. I don't mind if you mention it on the site but just use a pseudo name and keep it vague regarding titles and location.

“We had our first cop get shot in roughly a dozen years this spring. He was serving a felony arrest warrant and the innocent unarmed black man did not appreciate that so he shot him [details redacted to obscure location]. The cop’s partner then gunned the fellow down. The cop did survive.

“Overall crime is normal since Baltimore lit up. However before that we had a huge rise in young gang related shootings. The locals/cops are saying they were all isolated incidents but from what I see on the streets and from talking to people several large and small gangs are pressing each other for space. Here, in Urban Blight U.S.A. I am located in a huge traffic zone for guns, stolen goods, and heroin from New York and the surrounding counties but it is a relatively small city. Most of the illegal guns come from up North and then head west along with the drugs.

“Cops are antsy. I called them in to clear a house for me and they went in guns up; standard house clearing formation. Not the usual lackadaisical meandering checks I usually get before I’m forced to go in with nothing but a knife and a taser (our anti gun mayor won’t let anyone but cops carry weapons on duty despite my military background and my CC permit)

“Three years into this job I've been generally respected by the minorities. But lately I have been getting more suspicious looks and have been challenged by minorities more often. My guess is once the weather gets really hot the bodies will start dropping again. Either way I am keeping my head on a swivel.”