When you need to call the cops.

In Sweden, my country of birth, we call the police if something happens. Just like that - The Police. Here, in the US, I have learned that you have to know exactly which police to call. Do you have a problem on the metro? Call the Metro Transit Police. Do you see a suspicious bag around the Pentagon? ("If you see something - say something.") Call the Pentagon Police. Are you being assaulted when spending your Sunday at the museum? Call the Museum Police.

If you face a problem on campus - call the Campus Police.

And you know what, the Campus Police does have work to do! The other week, they sent out an e-mail with a warning of a potentially dangerous student who last year had been violating a teacher. His picture was attached and everything. I didn't really know how to react to that.

The police thing is simply so non-Swedish and something that takes a little time getting used to. The mentality regarding security is so different from my own frame of reference, but the more time I spend here, the more I try to understand how people think and why.

I have not quite figured out the police thing yet, but at least I know that I have to know which police to call in order to get the help I am looking for.

Have you been robbed in New York? Call the NYPD!