On October 23, 2014, an Army veteran wrote to Devin Strecker of the Hollywood Property Owners Alliance, among others, the following words:

This morning on my way to work, I was standing waiting to cross the street when I look over and see the gentleman on the left in the picture attached, grasping his weapon as if to draw his fire arm all while chatting away with the gentleman on the right. As I continued to wait to cross the street, I noticed the gentleman on the left start to pull out actually draw his weapon about 4-5 inches out of his holster. All the while standing chatting with his partner. I am ex army infantry, when we even had our hand TOUCHING our holstered weapon, there better had been a life threatening reason to even touch our holstered weapon.

Please understand I am not trying to get this man fired or destroy his life but this man needs to understand, you don’t EVER unlock your holster and begin drawing your weapon unless there is a LIFE THREATENING situation!

Thank you for your time and I hope that you will do what is right and take the appropriate course of action.

And what does Steve Seyler, high cockalorum of Andrews International Security and Pooterish capo di tutti capi of the BID patrol, have to say about this egregious behavior on the part of his officer? Just that “the writer is a tad over emotional [sic] in my opinion.” Now, either Kerry Morrison or intellectual property attorney Jeffrey Charles Briggs, the lawyer on whose advice the quoted email was redacted, claims that there is an ongoing investigation of this matter. Maybe yes, maybe no, and we have our doubts, given that it was reported coming on two months ago.

In any case, this is not the first time BID patrol officers have frightened citizens by placing their hands on their weapons. One problem is that, even though to the people of Hollywood these BID patrollies feel exactly like police (albeit far, far more belligerent and confrontational), their putatively private status puts them beyond the reach of ordinary civilian review. There is effectively no way for actual human beings to complain about their actions to anyone that’s required to listen.

This fact, which Seyler and the Hollywood BIDs who pay him could change at any moment but choose not to, means that they ought to at least be sensitive to the concerns of their victims. At least pretend to be sensitive. Their history teaches us that they’ll ignore complaints completely and with impunity. That indifference is an injury to which the insult of dismissive, defensive, reactionary accusations should not be added. Got it, Steve? Now we’ll leave you to get back to polishing your vodka bottle collection and scribbling egregious poetry. Get along, now!

Image of BID Patrol officer is ©2014 by its author. It is used here with permission.