THE DIARY
NOTE; ALL ENTRIES IN GREEN INDICATE AN ENTRY INTO THE DIARY ON DAYS THAT LAWMAN DID NOT WORK.
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THE DIARY
December 1, 1998
Tonight I had a little time to play and worked a drug area in the projects. I like to combine traffic with drug enforcement most of the time. By that I mean I stop cars leaving drug areas and focus on consent searches. During these searches I look for drugs. I didn't have to look to hard to find what I was looking for this time.
I saw a 94 chevy pulling off from a drug corner when I first entered the projects. I stopped the car for a traffic infraction and gave the driver a warning ticket. I then asked the driver if I could search his car. This is the part that never ceases to amaze me. Knowing that he had cocaine and a gun in the car, he lets me search. I am appreciative of the fact that people let me search places like cars when they know they have illegal contraband. Common sense tells me that if one has illegal contraband and an officer asks to search, unless you really like jail say no! If the driver had refused to let me search I wouldn't have found the loaded 380 cal. pistol and the 5 rocks of cocaine, and he wouldn't be sitting in the gray bar hotel. Funny how life is sometimes and the decisions people make.
I also find it hard to comprehend how some people live. Many people in the area that I work in stay up all night, and sleep all day. Some of the places are infested with roaches. Turn on the lights in these apartments at night and you can see wall to wall roaches scatter for cover. I also see people with little or no furniture with a apartment load of kids. Worst of all the environment in which these kids grow up in teaches them that guns, drugs, and the like are normal and ok. Mainly I see that kind of living in the project areas. Keep in mind that most of the people in these areas are good people, and that I mainly deal with the people that are not.
I can't imagine what it would be like to live in one of these areas where the sound of gunshots is normal. I wonder sometimes if the poorest of the people are in that situation because they don't believe in themselves, and don't know that a better life for them is possible, or is it that they are truly happy living in bad conditions.
I am off for the next four days but will be making entries during that time (at least a couple entries). Stay tuned and email me. I like hearing from my readers....
December 4, 1998
Things have been kind of hectic around the homefront. My wife and I are getting the house ready to sell in order to move into a bigger house. We like the house here but it is kind of small. Anyway, we both look forward to moving into something with more room.
I arrested a shoplifter tonight at a local supermarket at a off duty job. I thought I would use this entry to explain those officers you see here and there at various places who seem to be doing very little. One of the good things about this job is that you have the opportunity to work for various places for time and a half range pay. The police department doesn't pay the officers for off duty work, it is the various companies that do. Each company has thier own expectatioins of the officer. This particular job expects the officers to do nothing but be visible around the cash registers. Even with a marked car out front and me in uniform, this guy still decided to steal some tools off of the display shelf. Not very bright. Then again, criminal usually aren't.
I am back to work on Sunday. It's evening shift then, and never slow. Stay tuned!
December 5, 1998
ASK A COP SECTION
READER WROTE:
Well, let me begin. I am a Chemistry major @ a local university here
in Louisiana. A few months back, I decided that I wanted to become a
police officer. Hopefully, I'll have my degree to fall back on
(forensic
chemistry). My family is not at all pleased with my decision, but I
never wanted something so bad in my life. Next week,
I begin my hiring process. If all goes well there, I'll be entering
the academy at the end of January. I'll only be taking one semester
out of school (a well deserved vacation) and taking 2 classes on the
side.I still have problems helping my parents deal with my decision. I
realize that this is a very dangerous job, but I'm not going to let
that stop me.I know that this isn't an advice column, but I was hoping that you
could help me. What do I tell my parents?
-Thanks!
LAWMANS REPLY:
I probably am not going to be much help in that area. My parents were happy to see me get into law enforcement, but my parents are a little different. If they did have a problem with me getting into law enforcement because of the risk factor, I would tell them the chances of me being killed in the line of duty is very unlikely. The fact is that most officers go through thier entire career without getting into gun battles or shot. I think many people have the idea that every night a police officer goes to work he faces bullets coming at him or her. Ideas like that come from television shows are not reality. You do stand a good chance of getting hurt at some point during your career in this job, but very little chance that injuries are incapacitating injuries. I have been hurt on the job and carried by ambulance to the hospital before, but none of these injuries were life threatening. In addition I am one who likes to be agressive, or in other words always looking for trouble and am drawn to it. I work in project areas where it can get dangerous if, for instance, you alone try to arrest a drug dealer with 30 other drug dealers standing around the one you are after.
I would also tell my parents (and have told them) that if I ever did get killed I died doing what I loved. I would do it all over again without regrets.
Beyond that, I am not sure how to ease your parents concerns. To some extent they are valid ones, but in many situations like that those concerns are based on how they percieve the Law Enforcement profession and not on how things really are. Remember, half of your work is paperwork. It's not all life threatening action as some percieve it to be.
Thanks for your email!
December 6, 1998
Tonight was interesting. We had two homicides, one of which I don't know much about. The other was a domestic related homicide. It is sad to see someone life wasted away needlessly like that, especially when there are children involved such as the case in this homicide. What a christmas these children will have, both the mama and daddy are gone, one in jail and the other in the morgue. How do the relatives explain that to the children.
Another call that bothered me was a 3 year old beaten up by his father for not going to her room. She had bruises on her abdomen area from where the daddy hit her with a belt.
Calls like that are hard to leave at work and keep out of the home.
One of my readers sends me suggestions for topics on this web page from time to time. The topics are ones that I will enjoy writing about. I won't dive into it tonight, but here is an excerpt from the email;
"Anyway...If you're looking for an email topic, give us a policeman's spin on
the holidays. I know you already wrote about having to work Christmas day
itself, and that you and your wife deal with that. But how about December in
general? Christmas spirit? Crime is on the upswing, and you're supposed to
stay jolly. Difficult? Disheartening? Or can you just leave it all at the
office?"Thanks, and stay tuned. I look forward to writing about the holiday season for officers tomorrow...
December 7, 1998
Tonight was kind of busy for my squad. I still go to school three nights a week (3 1/2 hours) and missed part of the shift. I have to take vacation time to go to school, but in the long run I think it will be worth it. Mainly I go to College in case something does happen, like being hurt or fired. It is easy to make a mistake in this job. The main difference between civilian jobs and law enforcement as far as mistakes go is that in law enforcement, if you make
a mistake, it can get you fired, hurt, or worse. For example, if an officer arrests someone on a criminal type paper that doesn't authorize taking custody of a person it could mean his job. The criminal papers look alike, but you have to read them carefully.Anyway, getting to the holiday season. Christmas time around here is special both to me and my family. Unfortunately rotating shifts get in the way about every year. In the past 11 years I may have had one Christmas off. We still put up the Christmas tree together as a family (wife, daughter, and me). My daughter and I also have a tradition every year in which I take her to pick out a Christmas tree. My father did that for me as a kid and I cherrished the times my brother, sister, and I got to go pick out a Christmas tree. Like any other family we put up the Christmas ornaments around the house and buy egg nog (love that stuff!). For the most part Christmas is a great time of the year.
From time to time there is stuff that is hard to leave at work, but I have made it a special point not to talk much about it at home. Some of what I see I don't want my family exposed to, so I keep it quietly in my head and use this forum to 'let it out' so to speak, and spare my family the details.
We seem to visit other family members more this time of the year. We are thankful for what we do have, although there have been times earlier in my career that buying things like gifts was tough due to the lack of funds. Now we can go get a new bike for my daughter and not put it on a credit card.
Crime does go up in December. Robberies really increase this time of the year. I assisted another officer with a robbery case this shift. We caught the fella who comitted the robbery. I asked him why, and he said, "crack," referring to crack cocaine. His facial expression and mannerisms left the impression that he was thinking, 'you silly cop, what else would it be but crack cocaine.' It was his second robbery he did today.
Getting tired, til tomorrow...
December 9, 1998
This shift was steady. The most interesting call was a traffic accident that I worked. A drunk driver rear ended another car at a stop light causing a chain reation. The second car hit the car in front of him. I find it frustrating sometimes when Driving While Impaired suspects act like they are the victims. This suspect was more interested in getting home and with the inconvenience of being arrested that he was with the people he hurt as a result of the accident. I find it even more frustrating when the judicial officials who conduct the bond hearing release Driving While Impaired suspects without requiring any bond to assure thier appearance in court. Long before I am done with the paperwork from the accident and DWI, the suspect was out the door and relaxing at home.
This suspect was hispanic. Here, and I think in most other jurisdictions, hispanics buy fake social security cards and green cards allowing them to obtain a drivers license under fake names. We as police know it goes on however it is difficult for many reasons to do anything about. To get away with the crime, all the suspect does is change his name by buying fake ID and getting a new drivers license under a different name. When warrants are issued under the first name for failing to appear in court, the suspects in some cases have taken up a new identity.
Other calls this shift included a drug case and another accident (not involving alcohol).
Thanks for listening and stay tuned!
December 12, 1998
Got a little behind. I have finals starting Monday at school and so much going on around the home and work I had to put the page aside for a day. If I can make it through this week I will be happy :)
Anyway, On the 10th I had a couple of calls. A simple rear end collision accident and a disturbance. Nothing to exciting in the way of calls. It seems to go in spurts; sometimes getting into more than expected and other times just plain ol run of the mill calls.
There was something going on at work, a sad event. An officer who I have known for years got fired from our department. I learned some of the details and was shocked. I am hesitant to publish the details (but am going to anyway) because the 'why' he got fired is rumor. On our department, never believe the rumor mill. What really happened eventually comes out but takes awhile. There is generally some truth to what I hear in the ''rumor mill'' so I will write about it a little. From what I understand the officer wrote down on his timecard that he was working when he was actually was not working. That is more than enough to get fired. The officer got divorced a couple of years ago and pays substantial child support. I find it hard to believe he would falsefy his time card, but apparently that is what happened.
I would love to call him and ask, but that is kind of a no no in the department. Why? Well, the officer being fired is a result of an Internal Affairs Investigation. Talking about an Internal Affairs Investigation is an offense which can get you fired. You can't talk about the investigation, it is written in the Standard Operating Procedures.
I go back on dayshift Monday. I have been answering emails and appreciate all those who have sent email to me. Please keep coming back.
See you tomorrow!
December (yep, December :) 14, 1998
Thanks to all who emailed me about the goof up on the dates. I cut and pasted the dates and didn't notice the month was off. I am all here, no, really....
Been a frustrating couple of days. My Sergeant moved around some assignments. At my department, the city is divided into sectors, and within each sector are beats that are assigned to officers. The beats are covered by officers from each squad as we rotate shifts. I had a nice beat, one that didn't stay so busy that you didn't have time to go look for trouble from time to time. Now I have been assigned my old beat that is busy all the time. I was a little upset (after years on the job I deserve a little break!) when they gave my beat to a rookie fresh out of rookie school. I guess that is the way it goes sometimes. Not all things are fair, but like any other job, I don't have to like it.
One of our long time employees of the police department is retiring tomorrow. This one person has such an effect on the entire police department I wonder what the future will be like without the employee. She made the rules and standards in which we as officers on my department are required to follow. She liked making those standards, or must have liked it because new standards came down every day it seems. Someone would do a minor goof up and behold, a new standard to tell other officers not to do this or do that. Everytime changes came about in the law, another standard came down for officers to put in thier Standard Operating Procedure books or Training Manuels (these were necessary and appreciated). In ways I will miss the way she did things around the P.D. Many times she could be aggrivating though with new stuff to read and know every day I came to work. So many things came down from her office it was impossible to keep up.
Calls yesterday weren't very exciting. Accidents and disturbances (minor in nature). Since today I begin my new beat assignment, you may see more writing about calls on the page (since I will be handling more of a call load with a busy beat). Stay tuned, and thanks for listening!
December 15, 1998
It wasn't to bad of a day on my new beat. It was a slow day overall, but because of the new beat I was a little busier than I would have been on my old beat.
One of the calls that I thought was fascinating was a deceased person call. Another officer handled the call on my squad and I was busy on another call during that time. The other officers were talking about it when we came into the station at the end of our tour of duty. Apparently a few days ago a fella decided to jump and run during a traffic stop. At that time we didn't locate him, until today. The fella was found face up in the creek behind some houses deceased. I am speculating, but it appears that the fella may have overworked his heart when he ran from the officers and died. As of yesterday, the fella was unidentified and wasn't carrying any identification. An unfortunate incident, but I am still curious as to why he ran from officers and who he was.
Police Officers are curious by nature. 'Inquiring minds want to know' especially applies to police. Other officers familiar with the incident will eventually figure out who this person was who died, and probably why he ran as well. The curiousity we have solves many cases and is the driving force behind many of our investigations.
Tomorrow I plan on working a little traffic if I have the time. As mentioned before in other entries, traffic is my favorite past time. When I stop cars for minor infractions, I am looking for the bigger picture. I write very few citations for minor traffic offenses. I stop cars mainly with the idea that I may find something serious, such as drugs or DWI's.
Thanks to all my readers for listening! Until tomorrow....
December 16, 1998
Today was my assigned court date. Each month we have a court date that is assigned to us by court laison personnel. When we write a ticket or arrest someone charging them with a crime, we set the court date on the citation for our assigned court date. If you have ever recieved a ticket, asked the officer to change the court date, and he refused to do so, that is why. Having one court date a month keeps us from spending every day each month in court.
I had a couple trials, the rest plead guilty. Both trials were DWI cases in which the defendant had a lot to loose, their freedom. Both were found guilty and went to jail. Both also had prior DWI's and that was the reason they recieved active time.
Tomorrow, I am back on the streets and in the thick of things. I am still on dayshift and hopefully will have some time to work traffic. Stay tuned.....
December 17, 1998
A couple of my readers have asked (via email) for tips on how to get into law enforcement. I thought others may be interested so this entry will be dedicated to answering those questions. Thanks to the readers for their emails, it is appreciated.
I am not sure how it works in other states, but here smaller departments look for the state certification. It costs cities a great deal of money to send someone to rookie school for 4 to 6 months. Most of the cities require that a person already have the certification. Once you have the certification job offers start coming in. Without the certification chances are slim that a person would be hired without certification.
Of course to be elgible to enroll in a rookie school, a person cannot have any convictions of felonies or serious misdemeanors.
So, the biggest tip I could give a person to get into law enforcement is to put yourself through rookie school. Rookie school is a long haul but also fun.
Bigger departments are harder to get hired on to, but don't require the certification. In fact, even if you have the certification you have to go through the bigger departments own rookie school (or at least part of it). You can always apply to these bigger departments while going to rookie school increasing your chances of getting hired.
The only other tip I would suggest is to not limit yourself to applying with only one department. Be willing to apply to many departments to increase your chances of getting hired. Once hired by a department, you have a much better chance of getting hired on a bigger department or the department you want to get on with. I began my career on a smaller department and then, after a couple of years, got onto the bigger department.
Calls for this shift included a breaking, entering, and larceny into a store, and a malicious injury to property. Dayshift usually means working calls like that, cleaning up so to speak the evils of the previous shift; midnight shift. Stay tuned....
December 23, 1998
I am still here :) I took a few days off from writing in the diary. I have a lot of things going on during this month. We have been getting our house ready to sell, school, work, and part time job, all have been keeping me busy. On top of that the holidays have kept me busy with various holiday activities. Stick with me, things should slow down after the first of the year.
This shift is midnight shift, my favorite. Tonight I spent most of the shift on a domestic violence call. The wife had started smoking cigarettes again after having kicked the habit. The husband didn't like the idea of her smoking again and went way to far. He started slapping her, and then pulled a gun out and pointed it at her. At the same time while he had the gun pointed at her he told her, "I'll kill you if you call the police." She waited for hours until he left for work (he works midnight shift at a local factory) and then she called the police.
I got a couple of warrants on him and traveled to the neighboring county where he works to arrest him. He didn't give me any trouble and showed me where the gun was in his car. I took him to jail where he will sit until January 21, 1999.
Domestic violence calls, as you have probably heard, are the worst kind of calls. The parties involved are usually highly emotional and irrational. If I see any kind of injury on the victim in a domestic, be it male or female victim, I always make an arrest as allowed by our state law whether the victim wants to prosecute or not. Most of our homicides are drug related, but domestic violence homicides come in second. If I can prevent someone from getting killed or seriously hurt using the powers of arrest in these situations, then I think I have done my part and support that authority to arrest without the victims consent to prosecute.
Happy holidays everyone, and stay tuned....
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