History of policing in Huntsville (crime, neighborhood, movies)

[harry chickpea]

I just finished reading Harold Hutchinson's book "The Streets of the Rocket City" (available downtown at Harrison Bros. Hardware) and highly recommend it both as a history of some of the major crime events that have occurred in the city, but as a no-holds barred telling of what policework was (and to a large extent, still is) during the 1980s through early 2000s.

A warning is in order that some of the descriptions of events and scenes are gory in detail, but that gore is needed to properly convey the impact of what police deal with on a regular basis. It is far far different than what is portrayed on TV, in movies, or in the media. The closest I can think of as a portrayal based in accuracy is an old Brit mini-series called "Life on Mars" There was a U.S. remake of it which is not the same.

Hutch is not a professional writer, but a retired policeman telling his experiences. Expect some unevenness and writing errors that would get culled out by most editors, along with the heart of the book. Even though the book is episodic in nature it does have an overall story arc and reads well. A second warning though - have a good map of the city available as you are reading. Because cops have to know every street, there is a natural assumption that everyone else does as well.

If you own a firearm, if you work in a place that is a target for robbers, this book needs to be part of your training of how crime happens and how it is dealt with. It also provides insight into what might be going on in a cop's head if you are stopped or witness crime.

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

I used to lift weights with some Huntsville officers. Their stories were nuts, especially for a city that is reasonably tame compared to a major city. There are just some weird characters walking around the HSV metro.

[Nlambert]

True story.

Back in 2020 someone broke into my truck in my driveway (in the country) and stole a firearm that I forgot to remove the night before (First time EVER that I forgot, and first time anyone has ever prowled this neighborhood). Lesson learned.

I got a call from HPD a few weeks ago that they recovered it and asked me to come pick it up. I too work out with some of the local HPD members and ran into one while I was there. He and about 3 other officers were bringing a young man (about 13-14) out the side door in cuffs at 8am. I won't tell the story here, but it was nuts.

I don't envy the crap they put up with at all.