HOT COP

The St. Louis motorcycle police lead every parade around this town. It must be a fun break from their usual work. Always on black Harley Davidsons with black helmets, black leather jackets and perfectly polished black boots. 

One of my very few photographic claims to fame is that I was once asked to use a photo of a line of SLPD motorcycle cops for the catalog of a show at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. The show was about the art of modern fashion and they wanted to use my picture in a section about motorcycle jackets. https://tinyurl.com/2p8b6pf7 Of course, they said they couldn't pay anything but offered me a couple of tickets and a copy of the catalog if I happened to show up during the run. I did. The contact person who said she would be there wasn't. I had to show the email exchange to a manager to get my meager compensation, but I got my five minutes of fame.             

DA COPS

It's not a parade without the police. No crowd control issues here, unlike the St. Patrick's Day parade, where alcohol flows like the Mississippi (well, metaphorically).  

The top picture has similarities to one that generated an eye blink's worth of photography fame a couple of years ago. The Museum of Modern Art in NY used one of my images of STL motorcycle cops in the catalog for a show about fashion. They didn't pay me a dime but at least they gave me a free copy of the book and a ticket when I showed up and demanded my tribute. Click here. 
        

Cops

Security in Kiener Plaza. It looks like a sweep but nothing was going on. 

When did police start wearing the word across their backs? It's not like you can't tell but I've seen it in several countries. In the U.S. it gets broken down further, particularly with federal agencies: people with INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms - mostly the latter), or FBI (self-evident) displayed across their shirts. It can make you a little paranoid.        

High Five

Running a bit low on material - just too much time at work, none left to go out and shoot. So, a motorcycle cop at some parade working the crowd. The policeman, as they say, is your friend. 

Maybe a little break would be in order until a road trip we have planned later this week. Kansas City on Thursday. Wheat, sunshine and rolling prairie beyond.  

Need A Job?

Being a police officer could never have been an easy job. However, it must be exceptionally tough in contemporary America. For better or worse, we need them. Some people put "Support Your Local Police" stickers on their cars. Some people hate them. But then I've represented a number of corrections officers, the current euphemism for prison guards. That's even worse. The stories I've heard...

There have been recruiting posters for the Dallas Police Department in the men's rooms at our baseball stadium. (They may or may not be in the women's rooms. I wouldn't know.) That's desperate. I've heard Dallas pays its cops poorly.         

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Broadcasting Due To . . . HOLY BLEEP!!!

I got an email yesterday from the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA! MOMA!) asking if they could use this image in a photography exhibition this fall and winter called Is Fashion Modern? Podunk me, in the temple. I think they like the black leather motorcycle jackets. Yet I may swoon.

This was taken at St. Louis' 2008 St. Patrick's Day parade and I sure hope I can find the original. My archive system is pretty sloppy and I'm not sure it's still on a drive somewhere. OMG I hope it is. If I can dig it up we may all have to get together for a party later in the year in my home hood.

UPDATE: I'm still searching through old external hard drives and have not yet found the hi res version of this photo. However, I found the original raw file, which I can re-edit. Looks like a go.         

Okay, We Get It

Repetition does hammer the point home. Good idea to stay out of the way. 

Dog Patrol

You wouldn't think all those fierce canines would require a motorcycle police escort. I think these officers and their bikes were there just for show. They lead the way in any significant parade in town. And they help get loiterers out of the street.        

Law And Order

There are plenty of rowdy people at the St. Patrick's Day parade. The SLPD makes sure it doesn't get out of hand.

Pointless observation: we had quiche for dinner last night because, in American date notation, it was 3 14 16.                                     

Do We REALLY Need Another Sunset Photo?

Yes, of course we do. Thank you, birdies.

Below:

Da Cops. Fuerza Publica literally translates as public force. Of course, the nuances vary from language to language, but still, it's a little scary. The design is way better in Costa Rica but, still, it reminds me of this cop billboard in Tibet. No misunderstanding the meaning of that one.

Bottom, Costa Rican tech. Who leaves those coax connections out in the weather? Who still uses coax?

Bye, Kids!

The end of the St. Patrick's Day Parade pictures for now. I got hundreds more. Might have to trot some of them out if I'm desperate for material.

Tomorrow is the eighth anniversary of this project.                             

The Safest Bar In St. Louis

Where to go when you need to drown your sorrows with complete security. In the US, a precinct is a local division of the police department. I don't know if this old building was once a police station but it could have been. Maybe cops hang out there when off duty. Can't say - I've never been in it. The logo resembles a St. Louis police department badge.

Jim Edmonds, the principal owner of the place, was a star center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. He wore the number 15. Edmonds was so full of energy and enthusiasm that he was sometimes called Jimmy Baseball.                      

                    

Police Escort

St. Louis police motorcycles are simple and stark, if those words apply to Harley Davidson hogs. The black paint jobs and black leather outfits are intimidating, probably on purpose. Hot cops.

I'd love to have these guys flanking my car on a day I'm late for work.
                     

Law And Order

Mardi Gras is not about order. It represents complete surrender to the Second Law of Thermodynamics and, in fact, tends to lubricate the slide.

Someone has to try to maintain order and protect society from tipsy revelers. The St. Louis Police Department is ever vigilant. Do these guys know how to smile? It may be just their game face.

Linguistic note: in this country it seems like you need two words in a city's name to make a cool, tough acronym for the police department. Everyone can identify the NYPD or LAPD. Nobody outside of Cook County would recognize CPD as the Chicago Police Department. Cops in The Lou hang out with the big time.                      

Hot Cops

I often have what psych types call loose associations, something making a person think of something else that is not obviously related. It can be a sign of mental illness or creativity; you pick. As I started to edit this picture the first thing I thought of was the Village People's old disco hit Hot Cop. I bet you'll never meet a cop as funky as these.

Anyway, yes, we have a lot of parades in St. Louis and it seems like every blessed one of them has motorcycle policemen. There are two St. Louis city officers and a Missouri Highway Patrolman in this shot. Photos like these always get a lot of views when I post them on Flickr.  There may be lurkers on Flickr who think these guys really are hot.

It's almost bizarre but we have English Premier League soccer in town tonight. Chelsea and Manchester City are playing an exhibition match at the baseball stadium (where a soccer pitch does not fit well). I tried to get tickets but they were sold out within 10 minutes of when they went on sale on the web.       

Legal Issues

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Someone had to maintain law and order among the morning drinkers at last weekend's parade. The St. Louis Police Department was up to the job. What do you think the two above were discussing? Maybe crowd control techniques, maybe the latest Harley-Davidson model?

My congressman, Russ Carnahan, below, has a different legal issue. Seats in our House of Representatives are reapportioned every ten years after the census. Missouri lost one seat in Congress due to population shifts. Carnahan is a Democrat. Our state legislature, controlled by the Republicans, drew a map that eliminated Carnahan's seat and favored Republican incumbents. The courts threw out that map. The legislature appears to be unwilling or incapable of revising it so judges may end up doing the job. It's still up in the air.

I like Carnahan. (Well, I'm a Democrat.) I once got to spend some time with him in his office in Washington when I was doing some lobbying for the Arthritis Foundation and I was impressed. For the moment, though, he doesn't know if he has a seat to run for.

Thursday Arch Series

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Another one from the veterans welcome home parade. I tried putting a little fill flash on the people in the foreground shadows. However, I forgot that the word on the back of the officer's jacket is reflectorized. You really can't tell in daylight. So watch out. No lawlessness or disorder allowed on Market Street. Flag waving is okay.

Cops In The Lou

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He looks serious and powerful. Hope he's not after me. Black fiberglass, stainless steel, black leather - the quintessential Harley look.

I will be away on business until Friday. And this is real business: no fooling around, no photography, unless you have some special interest in the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport taken with a point and shoot. With luck I'll be posted ahead but there will be limited ability to visit my friends' blogs. Apologies in advance.

Busted

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Pedestrians and cyclists accessed Interstate 64 for the stroll and ride at the reopening ceremonies via the entrance and exit ramps. They had to walk by one of these, making a not-too-subtle point. For those of you outside the US, your local terminology may vary but here the initials mean driving while intoxicated. And they don't mean on the joy of life.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series.

Mayor Slay and Chief Isom

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Local dignitaries attended the municipal Christmas tree lighting on Friday night. Above and to the left is Mayor Francis Slay, now finishing his second four-year term. He is a lawyer (isn't everyone in America?) and a graduate of my alma mater, St. Louis University (motto: We're almost as good as Washington U.). Downtown enjoyed a renaissance during his administration (I've been working there for 34 years and, believe me, it needed the defribrilator paddles). Unfortunately, that has stopped dead in the current real estate bust. Some of his policies have been controversial but no polititian escapes that in this town's racially polarized politics.

On the right is newly-appointed Chief of Police Daniel Isom. His predicessor was given the bum's rush when it got around that his daughter was driving hot cars towed and impounded by the cops. We have great hopes for Chief Isom. He is young and full of ideas. He has a Ph. D. in criminology and criminal justice, a masters in public administration and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Can your police chief say that?

I'm happy with the way these portraits turned out, considering that it was night and I was shooting hand-held with flash. Got a bit of a boost, though, from the TV lights.

WHAT'S TONIGHT'S SPECIAL EVENT: the annual big board of directors meeting and dinner of the Eastern Missouri Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. I am a member of the board, which is appropriate for two reasons: I represent people who are disabled with arthritis and I have rheumatoid arthritis myself (well-controlled with these new whiz-bang "biologic" therapies). I get to hang out with rheumatologists and have my funds raised.

TOMORROW: oh, I don't know. How about a cheap but dramatic HDR shot of sunset over railroad tracks?