Since the news media is so focused on the issue of police interaction with the public, I thought I would share some personal stories.
In early July of 1987, I was on a solo recon trip to ridgewalk on the east face of Cerro de la Silla, east-southeast of Monterrey. I had no information to go on, and spoke almost no Spanish. I caught a city bus out of Monterrey, and ended up at the end of the line in some "ejido" village, which I can only take a wild guess at now and say was "Santa Ana de Arriba." ( southwest of Carricitos ). In those days, there was nothing out there. In hindsight it was a foolish idea, but the plan was simple, check out the area and catch the last bus back to town. Well, I was on the last bus and I learned that the hard way. It was dark by the time we got to the village and the driver and 2 farmers got off and looked at me like I was crazy. I soon figured out I was in deep doo-doo. So I started to hike down the road back towards Monterrey, under the star-lit desert sky. I guess I made it a few miles. Then the cops showed up. They pointed to the back of the Paddy-wagon. And it seemed obvious I was going for a ride. Fortunately, I was alone in the back. It was a dark rectangular box, with room for 6 prisoners, but I could see thru a slot we were rapidly heading back to Monterrey. I did not feel threatened by them, and I was so naive that I had no idea what would happen once I got in jail. We got into town on the east side, probably the Guadalupe area, and they opened the sliding slot and said something. All I could think of to say was "tres hamburguesas" hoping they would let me buy them dinner. They said no, and we sat there for a few minutes. Then they opened the door and gestured for me to get out. Then they shook their heads and said something like "loco gringo," and drove off leaving me there.
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