October 3, 1998I got to watch the drug house for about 40 minutes. It wasnt as active, at least not this shift, as I had been told. I did see some activity, four cars that came and went at about 2 am. I plan to keep watching it.
Other calls were disturbance involving loud music between two neighbors, a couple business alarms that turned out to be false alarms, and assisting two drunk passed out knuckleheads. The car they were in wasnt running so I couldnt charge DWI. Mabe another day.
I did a consent search on a car in one of our local projects but didnt find anything. The driver picked up another person on a known drug corner. Why would you pick up anyone at 3am in the projects that you dont know. People amaze me! My guess is that the drugs were eaten or crumbled into the carpet. Oh well...Sometimes shifts just go that way. Mabe business will be better tonight, til then....l8r. :)
October 4, 1998
First, I want to thank you all that have visited my site here and especially for sending email. The feedback I get via email important to me and will continue to read all email that is sent to me. So far the response has been positive.
One visitor stated best what those that sent me email also are suggesting, "So, Lawman, are you ready to spill the emotional aspects of being a cop? There's more to it than traffic stops and crazy domestics. What's it REALLY
like to be a cop? It's not a job that you leave at the station...it's not what you DO, it's what you ARE. 24 hours a day you carry a gun, right? Or else your legally liable for something that happens when you're in the vicinity
and can't help? Tell them! These are the interesting, fascinating things that the TV shows don't portray. Let them know if NYPD Blues misses its mark or not!" I dont watch NYPD Blues, and I dont carry my gun off duty, but I get the idea and appreciate the email. I will do my best, starting today.The biggest thing in this job for me has been the stress. I had always heard (before getting into Law Enforcement) that this job causes a great deal of stress, but when I first started out I felt more stress from the management (the brass) than I did from the streets. I felt micromanaged, and that every move I made was being monitored by Internal Affairs. Over the years the cause of the stress has changed. I got used to Internal Affairs (yep, been there a time or two). Since being in Law Enforcement I have been spit on, hit, made several trips to the hospital for on the job injuries, gave CPR several times, been at several homicide scenes, helplessly watched as people died in front of me, and attended funerals of Law Enfocement Officers killed in the line of duty (I worked with those officers and will talk more about them in future entries. This page is dedicated to their memory). Then the death of my grandparents and all of the overtime hours I worked have taken its toll on me. The visitor I mentioned above summarized it best again, "You can't avoid change when you see the things you see as a police officer," and the collection of events over the years has changed me somewhat.
Tonight was slow, dont know why. The highlight was a traffic stop under circumstances that irritates the heck out of me. I stopped the car for almost hitting a curb and another traffic infraction. The driver was intoxicated and had his two children with him, ages 3 and 4. I have children of my own and cant understand someone like that. I wouldnt dream of letting my children even see me drunk let alone driving them around while being drunk. He was arrested of course and blew a .14, almost twice the so called legal limit in this state. The magistrate then lets a friend of the driver sign him out of jail. He was back home long before I finished the paperwork. That gets irritating, he should be in jail under bond. He will actually have to do some time in jail if he shows up for court, and in my opinion is a flight risk. One visitor to this site suggested statistics, one on this occasion comes to mind.; 1/4th of EVERY dollar spent for auto insurance goes to damages caused by drunk drivers.
Gettin tired now, more tonight. Thanks again to all who visit and email me!
October 5, 1998
I had the rookie for part of the shift last night. I spent most of the night training him on radar. Sometimes it gets aggrivating when you have a rookie to train, especially when they are fresh out of rookie school. He is a good person but has a lot to learn. For example, he gave a speeding ticket to a person and didn't give the driver his copy of the citation. Without the driver getting his copy of the ticket, process hasnt been served and therefore he is not technically charged with speeding.
As soon as I dropped the rookie off to his assigned training coach I went out to play. It took me about 10 minutes before I found my next customer. I stopped the driver for an infraction in one of our drug areas here. He didnt live there and at 3:30 a.m. he had no business being there. I asked him if he had any drugs or guns in the car. He put the car in gear and drove off nearly hitting me in the process. Another officer saw him up the street a bit and tried to stop him. The driver jumped and ran but was apprehended during the foot pursuit. I took him to jail and spoke with him. Sometimes in this job you have to make deals. In this case I found no drugs but kinda thought that cocaine would play in this story somewhere. I told the driver that I would not charge him with any kind of Felony Evasion in a Motor Vehicle, but he had to tell me why he ran. The driver told me that he had cocaine in his hand while I spoke with him after the initial stop. Fearing that he may go to jail if I found the drugs he ate the cocaine he had in his hand. He cried as he was put in jail. I couldn't mustar any sympothy for him. Someday mabe he will grow up.
Tired, bed, pillow, ZZZZZZZZ.....Til tonight!
October 6, 1998
I got a couple Driving While Impaired suspects off the road and in jail last night. One refused the breath test and the other blew a .22. I love putting them in jail. I hope that doesn't sound to mean or spiteful, but in my mind I think it's great. My family uses the same roadways as drunk drivers, and the effects they have on others is more reason to put them in jail. What the general public doesnt see, because it's not "public information," is that these people often have more than one DWI in their driving histories. Hardly any, and I mean it is rare, learn from being arrested once for DWI. Proof is in their driving and criminal histories. Last night's DWI that refused was having a good 'ol time in jail while I was doing paperwork. I seized her car since she is currently revoked for a prior DWI. She didn't seem to care much.
Other officers on my squad are being summoned to Internal Affairs this morning. I have no idea why. Internal Affairs investigations are shrouded in secrecy, making the appearance of this mysterious entity that threatens job security. You can't talk about an active Internal Affairs investigation and can't refuse to answer any questions like you can as a citizen. Usually the complaints are not sustained, although if there is something the officers did wrong it would be sustained. I have been complained on for goofy stuff such as "he didn't need to use the handcuffs," and I have had ligitamate complaints such as putting a knife in my pocket from an arrestee and forgetting to return it after he was released to jailers.
Sometimes I think Internal Affairs goes a little to far. Imagine someone at your work watching over you to make sure you didn't forget to sign a document or forget to put a quarter in the office coffee fund. Here they used to go out and ask people after an officer left a call if the service they recieved was ok. Think of it, if you just got a ticket or were told you would be arrested if you stole something again, would you be inclined to speak good about the officer? Before you answer consider the people we deal with. Many don't like us simply because of the monkey outfit we wear (the uniform). Another example is that they used to run radar only on officers. I will put it this way, I would rather be tried by a court anyday for a mistake than be tried by Internal Affairs. If people think Internal Affairs plays in the favor of the officer, they're very wrong. I don't resent Internal Affairs, they are a necessary part of a bigger police department. As long as there are humans in police departments, there will be a few (VERY FEW) Mark Furhmans or bad eggs that slipped through the cracks. But at the same time they can go overboard to.
Please keep the email coming.... Until tonight.
October 7, 1998
Not much happened last night. This shift has been unusualy quiet. I am guessing, but prehaps it is because it has cooled down a little in this part of the country. People seem to act up the most when it gets hot and dry. I still put one in jail, but answered few calls.
I saw an older Chevrolet in one of the project area at about the same time the driver saw me. It was his reaction to my presence in the area and his appearance that captured my interest in him. In this job you develope a sixth sense. You just get that feelin that something isn't right. Part of that feelin comes from experience. This guy seemed to watch me as we passed (he was travelling north and I south). Another clue was the car. It had a dirty unkept appearance. How is that a clue? Glad you asked :) ..... The appearance of a person or his/her car is an indication of how they run the rest of their life. If they dont keep up their car, many times they dont keep up their license or insurance, or if they have hair that looks like they cut it themselves they may not care about much and be more prone to drunk driving. Sounds odd, but from experience I know it's just how things work. Anyway I stopped the driver for an infraction (seat belt violation). The driver gave me a license and represented himself as the name on the license, but the picture on the drivers license was plainly not him. After arresting him I found his ID with his real name and photo on it. Shortly thereafter I learned that he was state wanted for two Orders for Arrest (Habitual Assault On Female and Intimidating a Witness were the original charges, OFA's are issued if he fails his probation, he failed.). The fella likes to hit women. Another state warrant was also in the computer for Larceny. He will not be here for the next 15 months, but will be in prison. He was also revoked and had been charged with 124 crimes in the past prior to my encounter with him.
I am off until Monday and will be on evening shift then. I also have court Monday. I am looking forward to the next few days off. I really miss my wife and daughter. Rotating shifts has its disadvantages and sometimes I see my family in passing: my wife as she leaves for work and my daughter as she goes to school. Why would anyone want this job? Thats another story.....
Til Monday.
October 12, 1998
Monday was a long day. One of the drawbacks in Law Enforcement are assigned court dates that fall on a day when you are either on midnight or evening shift. I reported for court at 8:00 a.m. and got out of court at 3:00 p.m. Then I went hit the streets to finish evening shift with the rest of my squad. Evening shift doesn't end until midnight, unless you get a late call; I got a late call and didn't get home until 1:30 a.m. tuesday morning. The overtime is nice but did't get to see the family.
The late call was an accident caused by a drunk driver. Luckily it was a one car accident and the only one hurt was the drunk driver himself.
The most interesting call was a domestic violence call between a husband and wife that had been married for 32 years. The argument began because the wife wanted to get a cup of milk from the refridgerator. In the end, the wife beat the heck out of the drunk husband. He will need a few stitches but wouldn't let the ambulance personnel touch him. Acutally, he started the whole thing when he started hitting the wife (she wasn't injured), that's when she commenced to beating the crap out of the husband. My personal thoughts: Inside I was thinking justice was served for a change, usually the husband beats the crap out of the wife and we come to pick up the pieces. It was nice for a change to see the husband get his just deserts.
ASK A COP REPLY
READER WROTE:
"Do you need to have physical evidence to report someone as a possible
drug dealer? I am 99% sure my neighbor is a drug dealer, but I can't
prove it. I live in what would be considered a "nice" neighborhood, so
I don't think the cops will ever be looking for drug activity there.
Can I go to the police and make an anonymous complaint? I am far too
scared to act as a witness, but I do have lots of evidence that I feel
the police should know about. The only problem is that I've never seen
the actual drugs, and I'm afraid the police can't start an investigation
without that proof. Can the police force me to give my name? Will they
take my complaint seriously? I have been agonizing over this, and I
really need some advice from someone who knows. I happened to stumble
upon your website and thought this would be the perfect opportunity.
Please tell me what I should do!"REPLY:
Usually I find that what citizens think is happening next door is reality. You can report them as drug dealers anonymously, however you may not get the response you desire. We get crime tips all the time about drug houses, the problem is we get so many of them there isn't time in between calls and all the crime tips to devote the time needed to address the problem. It may be different in your area depending on the size of your department. Our Vice-Narcotics Division mainly goes after the larger seizures. In most crack houses I have done search warrants on there are mabe 15 to 40 rocks. I would guess the drug house you are next to is no different. In order to do a search warrant there are many steps that street officers don't have time to get into. The hours of surveillance, informant buy, organinzing the search and entry team, before and after photographs, getting buy funds (which almost requires an act of congress), and all of the lovely paperwork. If the crime tip is assigned to a street officer such as myself, chances are the officer will drop by one day and ask the people in the drug house if he can search (consent search). Sometimes the people, belive it or not, are dumb enough to let me search knowing that they have drugs in the house. I never figured that one out but appreciate it :)
What I would do is make contact with a captain in your police department and tell him what you have seen. I say captain because, at least on my department, captain says jump, officers jump. The captain can sometimes see that the a problem gets the attention it deserves. If an officer in you opinion does the least bit of a good job, write the chief and tell him. Officers get letters of commendations on some departments from letters such as 'at a boy' letters that reflect on an officers evaluation at raise time. Follow the progress (via the captain) of the case and don't stop until something is done. I know you wanted anonymous and a simple anonymous telephone call to the Police Department can be done, but at least consider meeting a captain at the police department. I think you would get better results.
Also, be prepared for the long haul. Drug houses aren't closed down overnight. Expect that it could be months before they close. Typically we hit a drug house and it slows down for a few days, but then someone else comes in and picks up where the last dealer left off. Looking at it from the dealers point of view, the customer base has already been established by the last dealer. Crackheads are coming to the same location, all they need is someone to sell to them.
You can do some surveillance of your own. Nothing bold, just write a history (with specific times) of when cars come, how long they stay, and their tag numbers if you can get it without letting your neighbors see what you are doing (perhaps using binoculars from inside your home). If you can go to a captain armed with that information it may help.Last, don't be discouraged. Eventually you will win, but it won't happen overnight...
Thanks,
LawmanOctober 13, 1998
Today was busy, typical for evening shift. The first call I had was assault on a juvenile, kind of..... It began as 3 girls, around ages 12, got off the school bus and began fighting. Two of the girls were sisters and ganged up on another girl, the other girl wooped the two sisters tail ends. The two sisters went home and told their mama that a grown up beat them up, the grown up being the other girls stepfather. The mama came to beat up on the stepfather for alledgely hitting her daughters. In short it was a cluster... I kinda thought that the mother believed that her youngins could do no wrong, when I tried to tell her that she, well, lets just say was less than kind. Often in this job you deal with completely irrational people. No matter what you say they know "how things are."
I also worked an Armed Robbery, kind of... Hispanic fella says a girl came up from behind him as he was walking down the street and held a large knife to his face. The woman supposedly took his wallet and the ninety dollars in it as well. What he didn't count on is me finding the woman and, as Paul Harvey would say, get 'the rest of the story.' Turns out the woman agreed to have sex with the man for ten dollars so that she could buy some crack cocaine. Things were going fine in the bushes next to the road until the man only gave the woman nine dollars. The woman tried to leave but was stopped by the man. The woman picked up some glass on the ground and started cutting the man. To many people lie to us on the streets. You never can believe everything you hear. Part of the job is asking questions and verifying the answers. If I catch someone fibbing to me my aim is always to put them in jail.
Sorry so short tonight, armed robbery call was a late call. Couple hours late getting off. Tired.Please keep the email coming and tell your friends about this page. Nite....
October 14, 1998
Another busy shift. Evening shift takes a little out of you, it is usually the busiest. Most of the time you go from call to call with no rest in between. I will briefly tell you a couple of the calls, but most of this entry I wanted to dedicate to an officer I knew that was killed.
The most interesting call I went on was a stolen vehicle one of our officers saw on the roadway. The stolen vehicle ran our officer off of the road. I happened to be in the area and saw it turn down a short street and out of sight. I found the car behind an abandoned house but the driver had fled on foot. I didnt know which way the driver had ran and it looked like the driver had gotten away with it. In the drivers haste to get away he forgot to take a notebook with his name on it. I now know who the driver was and plan to go pay him a visit next shift. Turns out he is a high school student with a prior record of stealing cars. What an idiot!
Anyway, this job has its dangers of course, one is the possibility of being killed. One such incident happened a few years ago. What made it so tough for me was that I knew and worked with this officer. He was shot and killed one day while responding to help another officer. It was a large caliber rifle and was a senseless killing. For this web site I will call him 'John.'
John was an officer that would give you the shirt of his back if you needed it. He was always there to help, be it citzen or fellow officer, and would talk to anyone. I pass by the cemetary where he is buried on the way to various places and think of him every time. I look over and think, he was taken from us at far too young an age and was truly one of the 'good people.' John had a family and lived not to far from where I do. He loved horses and the country living, where you can get away from the environment where you work.
Attending officer funerals is no fun. I have been to too many of them and dont want to wear that damn black band again. I keep the black band I wore in his funeral in my uniform pocket as a reminder and memory to the officers I knew that were killed in the line of duty, and hope someday this world will be a little safer.
"It is not how these officers died
that made them heroes,
it is how they lived."October 15, 1998
Had to do a little wrestling tonight with a fella that did't want to go along with the program. Wasn't anything to dramatic, there were three of us and only one of him so the odds were definately in our favor. The fella was drunk and irrational. All he had to do was leave and he wouldn't be in jail tonight. Some people just don't want to listen. I know this may sound a little sick, but I needed a little fight. On the streets you may go day after day without having to fight, but in the back of your mind you expect to. When it happens and you HAVE to fight, it's a release of energy. Don't get me wrong, I always do everything within my power to keep from having to fight someone, but not everyone can be talked out of it. And I also treat them with respect after it's all over, but none the less a good foot pursuit or fight gets rid of the expectations of having to fight and releases energy. I don't know that all officers feel that way but I know I am not the only one.
Another call I went on was, at least to me, kind of strange. An elderly couple got into an argument. Not to exciting but usually it is the younger crowd, and almost always someone is drunk. They have been married 16 years and were fighting like cats and dogs over insurance money from a car wreck the woman had. I suggested counseling but I doubt if they will go.
The MDT's (Mobile Data Terminals) were up and down all shift. We are dispatched through the gizmo's. The MDT's can give us all kinds of information, including a person's local record, drivers license status, vehicle registration information, past call details, cross streets, NCIC/DCI information, a persons information such as social security number, date of birth, address, and a host of other stuff. Without the MDT I go nuts. Some officers don't like them to much but I think they are great. For example, if I stop someone who isn't carrying ID I ask them what their social security number is. If the social security number matches what the MDT gives me I feel comfortable they are who they say they are. Most people don't know another's social security number. During vehicle stops I usually get at least one every other shift that lies about their name.
I have enjoyed writing this page so far. It has kept me from dumping all the stesses of the job on my wife. She has enough to worry about with her job. She's a computer programmer and makes more money by far than I. In fact I nick-named her moneybags. She spoils the heck out of me. Unfortunately with evening shift I only get to see her asleep.
The email has slowed down. I would like some input from visitors (you). Let me know if I am leaving out anything you want to know. Thanks.
October 16, 1998
Tonight a local reporter rode with me during the shift as part of our ride a long program. I must say I was hesitant to say much, out of fear that what I say would end up in our local media for all to see, including the brass. Sometimes the less said the better but he put my fears at rest. I enjoy having ride a longs whereas some officers don't. I arrested a DWI suspect (blew a .09, which is over the limit) while he was with me. He interpreted for me (the suspect was hispanic, and the reporter spoke fluent Spanish) which may get him subpoened to court. He stayed with me until a shooting call came out in another sector. Of course he had to go.
Many departments also have the ride a long program. Citizens can ride with officers on the streets and see first hand what goes on. They all probably work the same way, you sign a form basically saying that if you get hurt, the Police Department can't be held civilly liable. I would encourage anyone who is curious to sign up, if you like adventure you are sure to love the experience. Some departments with the ride a long program limit the amount of time you can ride per shift and most, if not all, limit the number of times per year you can ride. To see the most sign up for evening shift hours, especially between the hours of 6 p.m. and midnight. Things are the busiest then USUALLY (sometimes slow shifts happen even during these times). Also you may want to ask to ride with a officer who does a lot of what you want to see. For example, if you want to see a lot of traffic stops and DWI, most on my department would point you to me. If you want an officer who does few traffic stops and answers gobbles of calls, another officer would sure to be reccomended. When you go in to sign up is when you need to ask. I am not sure how it works on other departments, but on ours there is a waiting period. One week here. And last, dress nice. No stonewash blue jeans kinda thing. Try it!
I got into a foot pursuit, can't catch em all. Unfortunately, this one got away. He was wanted for trying to pass a stolen check.
I am off until Tuesday. I am glad to be out of the patrol car for a few days. Until then....
October 18, 1998
I haven't worked today, my daughter (age 7) is sick and am up tonight with her. She has been throwing up and, like most little girls her age, throwing up scares her. I thought this would be a good time perhaps to give a little insight to my life outside of Law Enforcement (she is resting now).
My wife and I have been married for almost 11 years and have one daughter. Marriages that last are not typical for Law Enforcement people. Law Enforcement has a 75 percent divorce rate among couples, a statistic which I have seen at our department. I was married for a short time once before at a young age, before I got into Law Enforcement.
My wife and I have both worked hard to make our little corner of the World. During most of the years I have been in Law Enforcement I have signed up for overtime jobs, many months having only one or two days off. Many officers work overtime to supplement their income. When I first started I made around 18k per year, hardly enough even then. It has taken us 11 years to get to where we are today, not that we are rich but I no longer HAVE to work overtime to pay the bills. Most of the younger officers are working overtime to get to the same point.
Other than my family, my main interest outside Law Enforcement is computers. I am a senior in college presently and am studying computer programming (computer information systems). My hope is that the one programming position on our department will be given to me after the one who holds the job now retires. That is not any time soon though and irregaurdless I am not leaving law enforcement.
We live in a quiet neighborhood out in the country. After I finish school I hope to buy a little bigger house.
Thanks for listening to me. My daughter is sleeping good right now and I am about to do the same. I should be back to work on Tuesday but, then again, I may catch what my daughter has. Looks like the stomach flu to me, YUCK....til then.
October 20, 1998
Dayshift, my least favorite. I don't know what it is, but I have no problem staying up late for midnight shift, or dealing with evening shift, but dayshift kicks me in my rear end. There is something about getting up at 5 a.m. that just doesn't set well with me. It wouldn't be so bad if I were on a permanent dayshift. My body would be used to it then.
Typically on dayshift you get calls that are after-effects from the night before. Someone breaks into a place during the night for example and it isn't found until daylight. These involve larceny type calls and break-ins to home, businesses, or buildings of various types. Accident calls are more frequent during dayshift as well, which brings me to one of the calls I answered during this shift.
The accident call was a simple accident that developed into an argument between the two motorists involved in the accident. Each motorist said he or she had the green light for their direction of travel where the accident occurred. I wasn't there, so I marked the accident as 'unable to determine' the party at fault since I didn't have any independant witnesses. The lady driver was unusally quiet towards me, which I didn't think to much about at first. After I had my paperwork done and cited the male driver (a white male) for driving while license suspended the lady driver (a black female) said, "what if I were white and he were black, would this..." Thats as far as I let her get. I try to be fair as possible in this job, being careful to treat everyone the same, be it black or white or any color, and I was quick to let her know that. I am a white officer, and have been called names like 'Mark Furhman.' Most of the time I go through the shift without comments like that concerning race but these kind of comments really bother me. I DO treat everyone equal and perhaps am one of the more lenient officers on the street even though I am agressive as far as the number of vehicles that I stop (I can't stand to sit idly by waiting on the next call). I don't want to offend anyone, but I have a problem with understanding comments I have heard before such as "you just stopped me because I am black." I want to reply (but of course do not) "No, I stopped you because you screwed up." I don't think that someone should infer me to be a racist when they don't know me, they only see the uniform and label me as such. I would appreciate any comments from black visitors to this site that may help me understand how to deal better with such comments. In this case, the lady seemed to understand my position, but had an independant witness been available and said she ran the red light, I don't think she would have been so understanding.
I do hope I haven't made readers mad by this entry. Race is a touchy subject and not talked about, especially on the job. Perhaps talking about race with members of the other races is part of the answer, it worked somewhat in this call. Let me know your thinking by email below, I am really interested in this subject. I will be looking for answers, hope to find them in email (use the link below)....
By the way, my daughter is well again, and active as ever. Til tommorrow....
October 21,1998
I worked one call for several hours during this shift, a Discharging firearms into Occupied Vehicle. The victim was an elderly man was trying to deliver some cigarettes to a friend who couldn't drive to the store himself. When he walked up to the friends house he was approached by a young man who asked to get a ride to a "drink house." When the elderly man refused to give him a ride the young man pulled out a pistol and began firing at the vehicle the elderly man was in. I got the name of the suspect from another person who lives in the area but it was a common name, like John Smith. I eventually found a "John Smith" that lived in the area from our data base. The elderly man was able to identify him from a photographic line up. I got the warrant but couldn't find "John Smith." I will go looking for him again tommorrow.
On calls like this there are many time consuming things that have to be done; area canvasses, calling Crime Scene Techs to process the scene, interview witnesses and getting statements from them, getting the warrants, look for the suspect and interview him if you find him, locating and collecting evidence, etc.. Your shift is shot when you get a call like this as far as getting to do other activities during the shift because of the length of time it takes to work a case like this. Only one of the bullets hit the car. If the bullet had hit the victim and it turned into a murder, I would still be there.
I don't mind working cases like this one. The ones I don't like are the ones like the armed robbery call described in October 13's entry. The ones where the victim isn't telling the truth, or at least not all of it. You end up spending more the same amount of time on a call like the armed robbery in October 13's entry (which wasn't really an armed robbery) as you would on a call that really happened like today's call. But, that's how the job goes sometimes and you deal with it.
It amazes me what kind of things upset people to the point of violence. This fella was ready to kill someone simply because another fella wouldn't give him a ride. Strange people now a days.
Until tommorrow...
October 22, 1998
About the only call of any interest today was a malicious injury to property. A mamosa tree was destroyed when several juveniles decided it shouldn't be part of the landscape on a family's property. No other reason, just mischief. The family lives near a school, and have been having problems with the kids from the school like throwing rocks at their house. Over time it seems that have gotten more violent and start at a younger age with criminal acts. I think there are many reasons for this, but primarily many kids today are left unsupervised by single parents and aren't given discipline the education between right or wrong. Sometimes I run into kids that won't even talk to me because they have been taught that police are the enemy. I wonder what the future holds for many of these kids.
I spent half the day in radar training. We are getting new radars soon and had to get training on the new model. The the air conditioning fans on the newer patrol vehicles were giving "ghost readings." This radar gets around that problem by mounting the antenna on the sun visor instead of the dashboard.
Training kind of put a damper on today, so not much to write. I should have more tommorrow. Keep the email coming! Thanks again to all my readers...
October 23, 1998
The most interesting incident today was a traffice stop I initiated in one of our project areas. I saw two vehicles suddenly depart each other from parked positions after my patrol vehicle came into view. The way they looked at me gave them away that something was up. They couldn't have been more obvious if they had "something wrong here" tattooed on their foreheads! Anyway, one of the drivers wasn't wearing a seat belt as required in our state here. I stopped that driver. To make a long story short I found cocaine and marijuana. They were a father and son team. Now the father and son are in jail. He has certainly taught his child wrong! The son is 18.
I also got the shooter from the case I worked described in October 21's entry. I interviewed the guy, of course he denied it. Said the old man was a powerful figure in the projects and was just out to get him into trouble. When I told him perhaps I could clear his name if he could turn the gun over to me for ballistics tests, he admitted there is a gun, but wouldn't give up where it was or why he didn't want me to get it for ballistics tests. I think he was worried that the tests would prove him guilty. Anyway, his family called to complain on me. What jerks! Even if they boy didn't shoot, why be mad at me for putting the boy in jail? It was the statement of the elderly man that landed him in jail, and that of his neighbors, and friends, and in part his own statement after arresting him. I put him in jail and enjoyed it. People who complain on me for goofy reasons makes me irritated sometimes. I don't like going to Internal Affairs, and don't appreciate the people who are responsible for the trip to IA (the people who file the complaint). I also learned that the shooter is a convicted felon, which means he will face one more charge today. Not as a retaliation, the same charge would be filed on anyone under these circumstances. But I must admit, I will enjoy giving him the new arrest warrant for Possession of a Firearm by Convicted Felon.
I don't mind those people who call who feel they have a legitimate complaint. It is just the ones who file goofy revenge complaints that irritate the heck out of me, almost to the point of wanting to file civil suits against those who make such goofy complaints. Imagine if someone went to your boss where you work periodically with one thing in mind, 'get you fired.' You would eventually want to fight back to stop the silly complaints. Thats how I feel now. One day, some dummy will file a dummy complaint on me and I will file one on him in the form of a civil suit. Not that I would expect to actually get any money, but goofy complaints are to common and it would be to stop the revenge complaints from coming in.
Dayshift is almost over. I work tommorrow and then am off for three days. Tonight I am working an off duty job until midnight, then back to work at 6:30 a.m. Trying to save money for a vacation in March. Daughter wants to go to Disney World, she may get her wish if all works well.
Til tommorrow....
October 24, 1998
Today was rough, not much sleep. I didn't get off from my overtime job last night until midnight, then I got to bed at 1 a.m. I had to get back up at 5 a.m. to make it to work on time. I made it though and won't mind the little extra money when it comes.
I come back on duty on Wednesday at 10 a.m. This shift is a tact shift where we get to go looking for trouble instead of answering calls all shift. I love this shift, if the brass leaves us alone and doesn't assign us silly stuff or busy work that accomplishes nothing or very little. I hope to just go out and have fun, stopping cars and mabe a little bush crawling (bush crawling is our slang and refers to hidden surveillance of drug locations).
Today I answered some pretty boring calls. That's the way it goes sometimes. One call was annoying telephone calls where someone had been calling a family's residence and then hanging up without saying anything.
Til Wednesday!
October 25, 1998
ASK A COP REPLY
READER WROTE:
"I'm working my way into the law enforcement field and have asked
lots of questions on the acceptance proceadures of many departments
around the country. One question that I don't seem to get a straight
answer on is the Psych evaluations. No one will tell me exactly what
it consists of. :) I'm actually more cuirous than anything and am one
that always like to be prepared. So what all is involved in the psych
evaluation? A written test? A sit-down with a shrink? Do they do
stress tests during this period? Anyways enjoy your weekend"LAWMAN'S REPLY:
I can explain a little about what our departments Psychological exam was like when I took it. Keep in mind it has been awhile since I took the thing, even so it hasn't changed much from what I am hearing.It was almost funny to me. The exam was a written one and consisted of about 200 questions if I remember right. What was so funny about them was both the questions and the way they asked them. The questions were, for example, "Do you love your mother?" or "Do you love your father?" Fifty questions later into the exam they would ask the same two questions but rephrase them, "T/F I hate my mother." or "T/F I hate my father." The whole test was like that, common sense answers. If you say in it you think your neighbors are out to get you, don't count on passing the exam.
October 26, 1998
ASK A COP REPLY
READER WROTE:
"Enjoyed reading your dairy.
Now, I'm wondering what you looked like.
Any scanned photo of yourself in uniform?"LAWMANS REPLY:
Sorry, but in order to maintain anonymity I wouldn't give out any photo's of myself. The reason is that I feel I can be open in this forum without my department getting upset at me. Some of the things said here may not be appreciated by the department I work for. I want to be able to talk freely about ANYTHING Law Enforcement related and feel this is the only way I can do it.October 27,1998
Today I was thinking and wanted to make an entry about another officer who was killed. I want his memory to live on, and for people to know the sacrifice that he and the other officers who were killed in the line of duty made for our community. For this web site, I will call him Bob.
I pass by Bob's picture every day when I am at work. He and a host of other officers that were killed on our department are commemerated with pictures that hang in the halls of the police station. Bob was killed during a warrant service a few years ago, and left behind a wife and children.
Bob lived only a few houses up the road from where I live. His family still lives there. I didn't know Bob all that well even though he lived nearby. He was a quiet one, often keeping to himself. He had his own circle of friends and let few others outside the circle in. He wasn't rude or one who wouldn't help another if he needed it, he just seemed more business mannered than anything. It didn't matter to me or any other officers if he wasn't outgoing or not very sociable. He wore blue and was part of the Law Enforcement family and that was the source of many tears at his funeral, including mine. Just before he was killed I talked with him while at a copier machine at the station. I knew he liked fishing, and so do I. I suggested that we go fishing sometime, suprisingly to me he seemed to welcome the idea. Had some low life jerk not killed him perhaps we would have.
When you become part of the Law Enforcement family you instantly gain thousands of friends. We are a close knit family of sorts. Whether you are from California or New York, if you wear the uniform you are family. I like it that way, we depend on each other. One thing I noticed at all of the Police Officer funerals is that officers come from all over, both in state and out of state to pay tribute to the fallen officer.
Bye til tommorrow, and keep the email coming...
October 28, 1998
Today was a tact shift. Tact shifts are one of my favorites because you don't answer calls unless the primary units all get tied up on other calls. You have one function (unless the brass assigns you 'busy work'), go looking for trouble. Yesterday I had to back up some other officers on a couple calls when other officers got tied up on a homicide, but otherwise worked traffic all shift. I wrote a few tickets (18 tickets) for things like driving while license revoked.
At the beginning of the shift I took an undercover vehicle out with a radar. I didn't get very far, the undercover vehicle just got out of the shop after overheating. I went down the road in it and it started overheating again. I dropped it off to get fixed and went back to the patrol car. Some of our city mechanics are great, and some not so great. The mechanic who originally was suppose to have fixed the car said he couldn't get the bolts off of a hose to get at the thermostat, so he put the vehicle on the ready line as fixed. It wasn't fixed. I don't know mechanics but I thought that was kind of goofy. Oh well.
On a police department, or at least ours, 'numbers' are important. The more tickets you write the happier the sergeant is. The numbers (number of tickets and arrests) make the Sergeant look good to his supervisors. I like working traffic, but don't agree with all the emphasis on 'numbers.' I wish they would get away from the emphasis on numbers and let officers alone. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. For example, if an officer would rather do a lot of search warrants for drugs, let him do that. As it stands now if an officer works drugs all month he gets fewer arrests/tickets. More emphasis should be on the quality of the arrests rather than the numbers game. I suppose they (the brass) have their reasons.
I will be on this tact shift for the next three or four weeks. Looking forward to it. Tune in tommorrow, until then....
October 29, 1998
Well, I said yesterday that Tact Shift was fun, unless you got 'busy work.' I got busy work :( Our Sergeant is going on vacation starting tommorrow, and I got assigned to run the squad in his absence. That means busy work out the ying yang. This tour of duty was spent with the Sergeant telling me what he wanted done in his absence and his ideas on keeping other members of the squad productive. Oh joy....
That's the way it goes sometimes. With me playing acting Sergeant I will mainly be supervising other officers and doing the brass' wishes..
Sorry so short today, spending all the time in the office has it's disadvantages. I also wanted to spend a little time replying to an 'ASK A COP' section on Police Brutality (see below). Don't forget to send email, it let's me know what kind of aspects of this job to focus on.
Thanks.....
ASK A COP REPLY
READER WROTE:
" I am writing a paper for my English class on police brutality, and I
need a police officer's view. How does the hype over police brutality
affect how you perform your duty? Does the constant threat of a law
suit hanging over your head ever make you back off at times when you really
shouldn't?"LAWMAN'S REPLY:
The "hype" I see and read bothers me but an officer can't let it affect job performance, and I am no exception. I often hear phrases such as "Rodney King" when I make an arrest involving the use of force. I think people sometimes misinterpret what they see. What people don't understand is we have set guidelines that we have to adhere to. Here we call it the Use of Force Continuum. The first level of force is our presence, and of course the highest level of force being Deadly Force. The higher the suspect takes the level of force he uses, the higher our force will be in the Continuum. When the public sees a suspect who is resisting arrest get peppersprayed it appears to the untrained eye that we are using to much force. Reality is that the pepperspray does nothing more than create pain and an involuntary closing of the eyes. We stand more of a chance hurting the suspect when we grapple or fight with them as opposed to spraying them. Therefore our policy directs us to utilize pepperspray instead of fight. I mention pepperspray because there have been deaths involved with pepperspray, but what the newspapers don't focus on is that the suspects had other circumstances that, in combination with pepperspray, lead to their death. Without pepperspray more people may would have died while fighting fighting us. We get bad publicity in the end. The fact remains though that brutality isn't what is happening with the use of pepperspray, but some people percieve it that way.Another example is the use of handcuffs. I have been asked by citizens questions such as "he isn't resisting and is calm, why the handcuffs?" Again, people don't understand that is how we are trained, handcuff all prisoners behind their backs. I guarantee, if prisoners who didn't appear to be violent weren't handcuffed as a rule, more officers would be dead. We don't know the prisoners, or exactly when they are going to snap. Again, brutality is NOT the reality, it is how some citizens percieve it.
To sum it up, it has limited effect on my job performance. I make sure I know where the line is and stay well within the line, rather than getting dangerously close to crossing the line. We get so much civil liability training from rookie school and in service training, officers here know exactly where the line is and not to get to close to it. I would say that the only effect the hype has is not getting to the edge. At the same time I never "back off when I really shouldn't." If I think a person needs to go to jail and I am certain I am justified in doing so, that person gets to stay in jail. I don't stop and think thoughts such as "if I arrest him he may resist, he then may get hurt, then I may get sued, so I better not arrest him." I find myself and other officers react based on our training.
That's not to say that police brutality doen't happen, it does, but it is extemely rare. An officer who does cross the line and engages in police brutality won't be in Law Enforcement very long. It doen't take long before IA catches up to the officer (or similar body on other smaller departments such as state agencies). We are drawn from society, and as a result police brutality does occur in rare instances. You usually end up reading about those incidents of police brutality in the newspapers, and yet little is said about an officer who risks his life to save someone from a burning building.
In closing, I think "police brutality" is far overstated. The hype has little effect on my decisions and job performance. I don't like to see the accusations and hype that surrounds the issue, but accept it as part of the job. I just make sure I always try to do what is right and in accordance with my training, and let God sort the rest out.
October 30, 1998
I made it through the evening without to much hassle. There is only one on my squad who I think is a little psychotic. I almost feel like you have to babysit the officer. He is one who always gets complaint, and I usually end up doing the packages (forms that notify IA of an incident). One thing I have noticed on our department is that we have our share of idiots. For example, when someone calls this officer he responds "officer XXXXX, what do you need?" He comes off rude, people get angry, and complaints come in. He was a marine before and I think some drill Sergeant in the military must have shaken a couple of his marbles a little too hard.
Anyway, enough complaining. Life on the streets is tough enough without putting down another officer. I do like the fella, but he just comes off in an irritating manner.
I don't get to do much as Acting Sergeant, the brass wants the supervisor to remain available in case a major incident comes up. I did my paperwork as quick as I could and hit the streets, basically falling in with other members of my squad to assist them in any way I could. One fascinating incident I thought involved a cab. I put two of our officers out in an undercover vehicle, they got into a couple things. The one involving the cab turned out to be a decent drug bust after a lookout was given for the stolen cab. The two officers in the undercover vehicle spotted the stolen cab, arrested the driver of it, took his dope, and put the drivers cab fare on foot. These two officers are young and aggressive. They have fun and get into a great deal.
Tired, til tomorrow, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
October 31,1998
Was a busy shift for the squad members. We pretty much backed up primary units until about 3 a.m. Todays entry is really really short, I wanna spend time with the family. Mama limitin my time on the internet today.
I come back on webnesday. Check back, I will make an entry between now and then.
Sorry so short today.