I drove through Alton Park when I first moved to Chattanooga from Cleveland in 2001. Just cruising around, getting a feel for the area. In a white, 4-door Chevy rental car. Very “cop-ish” looking, which was probably good. People waved, I waved back, and kept moving.
We had similar in Cleveland, and I was a meter reader for the electric company. An unwritten rule was if you had a meter reading route in the ‘hood, you ran your route and got out by noon, before the bad people got up.
They have their own cops in those areas. My grandparents lived on S. Willow Street when I was little. I came to Chattanooga from Florida to stay with them in the summer. When we first moved to TN from FL, we had to live with them. My grandmother educated me on the areas we didn’t go. I went to East Side Jr. High for the last part of the 8th grade. I was pretty much the only white kid there. I was so glad to leave Chattanooga and move to Cleveland when I started high school. We lived in the Old Fort/Buck’s Pocket area. Big difference between Polk Co. and Hamilton Co. back then. LOL