Hey everyone. Thankfully yesterday was a calm day that doesn't come along very often. I actually slept in to get ready for today's crazy day so this won't be as long as other entries. But I wanted to share an interesting encounter I had.
We've had a string of vehicle thefts in an area that has the other major mall that my zone handles and I was placed on a traffic detail at the end of my shift to help increase some presence in the area. I had a terrible headache at this point in the night and still had to catch up on a report from a vehicle break in. I decided I'd stop a car which had a brake light out and then try and take it easy for the rest of the night.
I start the stop and the vehicle didn't exactly stop right away. I saw a disabled veteran tag on the vehicle and decided right there and then I probably was not going to write a ticket. As I got to the car, I quickly realized why exactly the driver may not have stopped right away. The female driver quickly made it known she was deaf. She was trying to communicate with me via sign language and I was doing my best to try and mouth out and use my own basic hand gestures to get me through the stop. Eventually she pulled out a notebook and we essentially wrote out the dialogue to the traffic stop.
Now I'm a bilingual police officer and many other officers will joke that we speak Ebonics or street slang as a second language as well (it's often funny to see officers in field training come out to the streets and have NO clue what some people are saying and the more experienced officers can talk to them without a hitch) but I personally have never had a run in with American Sign Language.
I wrote down on the notepad to the lady that I was not going to give her a ticket and to be safe and continued along my way with a different outlook on that type of encounter. You truly do not have any idea of what you will run into on any given traffic stop.
Well, I have to start getting ready for this crazy day of New Years Eve. There will be plenty of gunshots and bullets flying around. Just last year, I had some rounds fired off in my direction. I hope all of you do your best to stay safe and please if you're going out tonight. Do not drink and drive.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
I've Got Your Back
Hey everyone, hope Christmas was kind to you all. Yesterday was a nice day to get back into the swing of things after having four days off. It was pretty calm for the most part. It's been rough the last few days due to ambush style attacks on police officers in the states of California, North Carolina, and Florida.
At roll call, our sergeant again stressed all the things we can do to stay safe in our vehicles and deal with threats accordingly should they arise. It's times like these that when I'm not actively doing anything, I try hopping on a call or traffic stop with a co-worker just to ensure their safety through numbers. An old instructor from my academy days had a favorite phrase that I still here perfectly in his voice: "We're not playing with these people."
So when I hear late at night, a coworker pull out on a traffic stop and tell the dispatcher that there's three people in a car (and I know the area where he is does not have well lit streets and is out of the way) I head straight to him to back him up. Out here on the streets we have to have everyone's back. You have no idea when that support just may be needed.
My partner was pretty much out of commission for most of the day. I was busy handling a larceny call when a person stabbed call popped up on her beat. Since I was not on the scene for that, I'll just share vague details-but essentially she had a 12 year old girl stab a 14 year old. There was intent behind the stabbing and the juvenile was arrested. To you all that may be surprising. To us where I work-sadly that happens. I once had a 7 and a 9 year old attack a lady verbally and physically with profane language just because she "wasn't allowed" to bring her daughter to the playground. It's moments like those that make you wonder where our future generations and society are headed. It really makes you think.
On a side note, roughly as we were dealing with that, we had an officer involved shooting in a neighboring jurisdiction. Thankfully the officer was ok, but he ended up shooting an armed man and a large dog that attempted to to get in his way for a domestic incident where a lady was stabbed (nobody knew she was stabbed at the time). Every call can be dangerous nowadays. For that reason, I'll always back up my fellow man.
We'll see what today has in store leading up to tomorrow's crazy day, New Year's Eve (or as I like to call it-Shots Fired Day). Stay safe everyone.
At roll call, our sergeant again stressed all the things we can do to stay safe in our vehicles and deal with threats accordingly should they arise. It's times like these that when I'm not actively doing anything, I try hopping on a call or traffic stop with a co-worker just to ensure their safety through numbers. An old instructor from my academy days had a favorite phrase that I still here perfectly in his voice: "We're not playing with these people."
So when I hear late at night, a coworker pull out on a traffic stop and tell the dispatcher that there's three people in a car (and I know the area where he is does not have well lit streets and is out of the way) I head straight to him to back him up. Out here on the streets we have to have everyone's back. You have no idea when that support just may be needed.
My partner was pretty much out of commission for most of the day. I was busy handling a larceny call when a person stabbed call popped up on her beat. Since I was not on the scene for that, I'll just share vague details-but essentially she had a 12 year old girl stab a 14 year old. There was intent behind the stabbing and the juvenile was arrested. To you all that may be surprising. To us where I work-sadly that happens. I once had a 7 and a 9 year old attack a lady verbally and physically with profane language just because she "wasn't allowed" to bring her daughter to the playground. It's moments like those that make you wonder where our future generations and society are headed. It really makes you think.
On a side note, roughly as we were dealing with that, we had an officer involved shooting in a neighboring jurisdiction. Thankfully the officer was ok, but he ended up shooting an armed man and a large dog that attempted to to get in his way for a domestic incident where a lady was stabbed (nobody knew she was stabbed at the time). Every call can be dangerous nowadays. For that reason, I'll always back up my fellow man.
We'll see what today has in store leading up to tomorrow's crazy day, New Year's Eve (or as I like to call it-Shots Fired Day). Stay safe everyone.
Friday, December 26, 2014
Christmas Eve On the Streets
Holidays on the streets as police officer tend to be very much the same as regular days just with a little "buzz" in the area. On my particular beat with a shopping mall, this buzz made itself known in the form of high volume last minute Christmas shopping. When I say the traffic was bad, the traffic was horrible. Yet for some people stuck in traffic, their eyes begin to wander and that led to an eventful 911 call for me.
A person called 911 stating there was a male lying on the ground not moving and they had no clue if he was breathing or even alive. Just getting to the call was a mess with traffic with my blue lights paving the way for the red and white lights of the ambulance behind me. We arrive on the side of a parking lot where sure enough there was man in a fetal position not moving. I walk up to the man with my gloves on and try to get him to respond. The man wakes up and I recognize him as a man I arrested just back in October for breaking into a business and destroying an AC unit in order to sleep inside of it. I spoke to the man and asked him if he was hurt or injured and he said no to both, stating he had just got out of the hospital this morning. This man is generally always under the influence and homeless and this just gets more surprising when I tell you this fact about him. This man is well known for having won the lottery many years ago. He took all the money that many of us hope to win one day and completely blew every last dollar of it. On a holiday like Christmas, it makes you really value the things that you do have and not what you hope to one day have.
As the day grew longer and the hours started to creep into early Christmas morning itself, I was put on a traffic detail in an area where we had a pizza delivery man get robbed and his car taken (yes this occurred on Christmas Eve as well). My mindset was I was not going to write a ticket being the Christmas mood but that I would stop a few cars and see how things went. I noticed a car with a passenger side break light that was out and initiated a traffic stop. I noticed there were four people inside and asked for another officer. I went up to the car and asked for ID from the people inside just letting them know why I had stopped the vehicle and came back to my car to run everybody. The rear driver side passenger ended up having two felony warrants for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and cruelty to children in the second degree after causing substantial harm to a child. I placed the man in handcuffs and verified the warrant. As always, when someone was under arrest, I began to search the man (I always use gloves-that goes without question: you do NOT want to get poked by a needle, cut with a knife, or wind up touching something you do NOT want to touch). Halfway through the search of the person he asks me if he can bring his HIV medicine from inside the car with him to jail. You always have to watch out for your safety from all sorts of threats out there on the street, including the biological ones. The man begins to ask me how long it may take for him to see a judge. Being that tomorrow was Christmas, the day after Christmas was a holiday, and then the weekend approached-he wouldn't see a judge until Monday (spending four days in jail before knowing his fate).
Time away from family at the holidays makes you appreciate what you have. This particular arrest was my 200th arrest on the street. Both my 100th and 200th arrest were for felony arrests.
Immediately following my ten hour shift, I began the seven hour drive home to spend the holidays with my family (albeit only for a few days until I return to work on Monday) and enjoy the precious time with them. I hope you have a similar well enjoyed time with you families at this time of the year as well and I'll write again on Monday leading up to the craziest night of the year- New Year's Eve.
A person called 911 stating there was a male lying on the ground not moving and they had no clue if he was breathing or even alive. Just getting to the call was a mess with traffic with my blue lights paving the way for the red and white lights of the ambulance behind me. We arrive on the side of a parking lot where sure enough there was man in a fetal position not moving. I walk up to the man with my gloves on and try to get him to respond. The man wakes up and I recognize him as a man I arrested just back in October for breaking into a business and destroying an AC unit in order to sleep inside of it. I spoke to the man and asked him if he was hurt or injured and he said no to both, stating he had just got out of the hospital this morning. This man is generally always under the influence and homeless and this just gets more surprising when I tell you this fact about him. This man is well known for having won the lottery many years ago. He took all the money that many of us hope to win one day and completely blew every last dollar of it. On a holiday like Christmas, it makes you really value the things that you do have and not what you hope to one day have.
As the day grew longer and the hours started to creep into early Christmas morning itself, I was put on a traffic detail in an area where we had a pizza delivery man get robbed and his car taken (yes this occurred on Christmas Eve as well). My mindset was I was not going to write a ticket being the Christmas mood but that I would stop a few cars and see how things went. I noticed a car with a passenger side break light that was out and initiated a traffic stop. I noticed there were four people inside and asked for another officer. I went up to the car and asked for ID from the people inside just letting them know why I had stopped the vehicle and came back to my car to run everybody. The rear driver side passenger ended up having two felony warrants for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and cruelty to children in the second degree after causing substantial harm to a child. I placed the man in handcuffs and verified the warrant. As always, when someone was under arrest, I began to search the man (I always use gloves-that goes without question: you do NOT want to get poked by a needle, cut with a knife, or wind up touching something you do NOT want to touch). Halfway through the search of the person he asks me if he can bring his HIV medicine from inside the car with him to jail. You always have to watch out for your safety from all sorts of threats out there on the street, including the biological ones. The man begins to ask me how long it may take for him to see a judge. Being that tomorrow was Christmas, the day after Christmas was a holiday, and then the weekend approached-he wouldn't see a judge until Monday (spending four days in jail before knowing his fate).
Time away from family at the holidays makes you appreciate what you have. This particular arrest was my 200th arrest on the street. Both my 100th and 200th arrest were for felony arrests.
Immediately following my ten hour shift, I began the seven hour drive home to spend the holidays with my family (albeit only for a few days until I return to work on Monday) and enjoy the precious time with them. I hope you have a similar well enjoyed time with you families at this time of the year as well and I'll write again on Monday leading up to the craziest night of the year- New Year's Eve.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
I'm Telling the Truth
Today, like much of the rest of the country, the weather was extremely rough. It was raining when I woke up for work and it never stopped raining. At my department we contract out towing services to a company and we ran the company so ragged today that it ended up with of their trucks getting stuck on a major thoroughfare and blocking traffic and another truck with a flat tire that put it out of commission. The truck that got stuck on the major thoroughfare required a police officer to help direct traffic until it could become "unstuck" and yours truly was called upon to get the traffic flow moving.
Now directing traffic is not fun. In the police world they often say "If you want to see people with no common sense, just direct traffic". People lose their minds and never seem to follow directions. Add that with rain and heavy flooding (which we established previously that people cannot drive in the rain) and you can see how that went.
Yet the interesting story of the day comes from my overtime detail once again. I was assigned to do traffic near a problem apartment complex (one which regularly sees shots fired about three times a day). I observed a vehicle with out of state tags driving with a tag light that was out. I pull the car over and as I'm calling out the tag to my dispatcher, the driver door swings open and the driver attempts to get out of the car. Everyone reading please pay attention to this little tidbit: DON'T EVER GET OUT OF A CAR ON A TRAFFIC STOP UNLESS AN OFFICER TELLS YOU TO DO SO.
In today's world, it is not normal or reasonable for someone to get out of a car on a traffic stop. Automatically we begin to think the worst and it does not help things. I immediately got out of my car first and ordered him back in the car and to see his hands. A wise officer once told me that if someone prepares to get out of a car on a traffic stop you need to have your feet hit the blacktop before theirs. Those couple seconds can give you the advantage in a potential life or death situation.
Coming to the car I noticed a black male driver and a white female passenger. As I stated before, the area I work is officially and backed by statistics a near 100% black area. I can go days at work and the only white people I will see will be officers. I immediately notice through my visual scan of the car that her pants are unbuttoned and she seems flustered. I ask the driver for ID and he hands me his license. I ask the female for hers and she states that she doesn't have it. I have her write down her name and date of birth on a notepad and head back to my car to run both of them.
Immediately I find the male has two active warrants for probation violations and head back to the car to cuff him and place him in the backseat of my car. I'm looking at the female's information and realize her license information tells me she got a new license in another state. Something just doesn't feel right so I head to the car to talk to her. I ask the female what state her new ID is in and she tells me a state nowhere close to where we are. I run the information she gave me in the new state and NOTHING comes back with that information.
In the law enforcement community we have plenty of amazing tools to make our job easier. One handy tool is a mobile electronic fingerprint machine which allows me to fingerprint someone and it automatically tell me who they are. I fingerprint the female and find out she was lying to me. I place her in handcuffs and she starts crying and pleading with me not to arrest her. She had no warrants and had committed no crime besides providing me false information. I asked her why she lied to me and she told me she was worried I would judge her if I found out her criminal history (which I can't see when I run her and I even told her that).
Both the male and the female are now sitting in the backseat of my car. I open the door and tell them I'll be searching the car since they're both under arrest and if there's ANYTHING I need to know about before I search the car. Of course the answer is no.
I start searching the vehicle and find a crack pipe in the pouch behind the passenger seat, a just used needle with drug residue in the female's purse, along with multiple baggies with what appears to be cocaine residue all over them in the female's purse as well.
I open the door and show the crack pipe and ask if there's anything else in the car. The female tells me no and she's telling the truth. I then walk to the car and come back with the needle and ask if there's anything else. The female tells me she's a diabetic and that's her insulin needle and she forgot the case for the needle at home and she's telling the truth. I then take her purse and show her the baggies with the drug residue. The female immediately states she did not know how the bags got in her purse and the needle was not her crack needle and had no idea how it got there. In a matter of a few seconds her entire story had changed. When you start off my first ever time meeting you with a lie it becomes very hard for me to believe you when the lies continue to compound. (I should state at this point that it was very cold outside and raining but the female began to sweat like crazy and complain she was hot. She was clearly starting to feel effects from the recently used crack).
It's at this point when I should say this traffic stop happened around 2am here on Christmas Eve. The male stated he has full custody of his kids and the female told me she had an infant child. It just really leaves you wondering when you imagine how these kids are growing up with their respective parent's living this lifestyle.
I did have a long conversation with each of the two of them about making life choices, seeking help if needed, and how I as a police officer never judge anyone. Nobody is perfect. I'm not perfect. Just because I wear a badge and a uniform does not make me better than anyone else. Most people aren't bad people, they're just people who make bad choices. Life is full of choices and the consequences that result from all of them. I can't say if either of them took my conversations with them to heart but maybe one day SOMEONE I arrest will be impacted and make an effort to change their ways. Those two arrests were my 198th and 199th. Maybe #200 will be the one to make a difference in their lives.
Now directing traffic is not fun. In the police world they often say "If you want to see people with no common sense, just direct traffic". People lose their minds and never seem to follow directions. Add that with rain and heavy flooding (which we established previously that people cannot drive in the rain) and you can see how that went.
Yet the interesting story of the day comes from my overtime detail once again. I was assigned to do traffic near a problem apartment complex (one which regularly sees shots fired about three times a day). I observed a vehicle with out of state tags driving with a tag light that was out. I pull the car over and as I'm calling out the tag to my dispatcher, the driver door swings open and the driver attempts to get out of the car. Everyone reading please pay attention to this little tidbit: DON'T EVER GET OUT OF A CAR ON A TRAFFIC STOP UNLESS AN OFFICER TELLS YOU TO DO SO.
In today's world, it is not normal or reasonable for someone to get out of a car on a traffic stop. Automatically we begin to think the worst and it does not help things. I immediately got out of my car first and ordered him back in the car and to see his hands. A wise officer once told me that if someone prepares to get out of a car on a traffic stop you need to have your feet hit the blacktop before theirs. Those couple seconds can give you the advantage in a potential life or death situation.
Coming to the car I noticed a black male driver and a white female passenger. As I stated before, the area I work is officially and backed by statistics a near 100% black area. I can go days at work and the only white people I will see will be officers. I immediately notice through my visual scan of the car that her pants are unbuttoned and she seems flustered. I ask the driver for ID and he hands me his license. I ask the female for hers and she states that she doesn't have it. I have her write down her name and date of birth on a notepad and head back to my car to run both of them.
Immediately I find the male has two active warrants for probation violations and head back to the car to cuff him and place him in the backseat of my car. I'm looking at the female's information and realize her license information tells me she got a new license in another state. Something just doesn't feel right so I head to the car to talk to her. I ask the female what state her new ID is in and she tells me a state nowhere close to where we are. I run the information she gave me in the new state and NOTHING comes back with that information.
In the law enforcement community we have plenty of amazing tools to make our job easier. One handy tool is a mobile electronic fingerprint machine which allows me to fingerprint someone and it automatically tell me who they are. I fingerprint the female and find out she was lying to me. I place her in handcuffs and she starts crying and pleading with me not to arrest her. She had no warrants and had committed no crime besides providing me false information. I asked her why she lied to me and she told me she was worried I would judge her if I found out her criminal history (which I can't see when I run her and I even told her that).
Both the male and the female are now sitting in the backseat of my car. I open the door and tell them I'll be searching the car since they're both under arrest and if there's ANYTHING I need to know about before I search the car. Of course the answer is no.
I start searching the vehicle and find a crack pipe in the pouch behind the passenger seat, a just used needle with drug residue in the female's purse, along with multiple baggies with what appears to be cocaine residue all over them in the female's purse as well.
I open the door and show the crack pipe and ask if there's anything else in the car. The female tells me no and she's telling the truth. I then walk to the car and come back with the needle and ask if there's anything else. The female tells me she's a diabetic and that's her insulin needle and she forgot the case for the needle at home and she's telling the truth. I then take her purse and show her the baggies with the drug residue. The female immediately states she did not know how the bags got in her purse and the needle was not her crack needle and had no idea how it got there. In a matter of a few seconds her entire story had changed. When you start off my first ever time meeting you with a lie it becomes very hard for me to believe you when the lies continue to compound. (I should state at this point that it was very cold outside and raining but the female began to sweat like crazy and complain she was hot. She was clearly starting to feel effects from the recently used crack).
It's at this point when I should say this traffic stop happened around 2am here on Christmas Eve. The male stated he has full custody of his kids and the female told me she had an infant child. It just really leaves you wondering when you imagine how these kids are growing up with their respective parent's living this lifestyle.
I did have a long conversation with each of the two of them about making life choices, seeking help if needed, and how I as a police officer never judge anyone. Nobody is perfect. I'm not perfect. Just because I wear a badge and a uniform does not make me better than anyone else. Most people aren't bad people, they're just people who make bad choices. Life is full of choices and the consequences that result from all of them. I can't say if either of them took my conversations with them to heart but maybe one day SOMEONE I arrest will be impacted and make an effort to change their ways. Those two arrests were my 198th and 199th. Maybe #200 will be the one to make a difference in their lives.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Sex, Drugs, and No Rock and Roll
Today was a long first day back from the weekend. I've worked 15 hours today along with the majority of my watch due to mandatory holiday overtime in the almost (1 degree shy of) freezing weather. but without further ado, let me walk you through my day.
It rained. One thing my field training officer taught me was that a good cop was never 3 things: never tired, never hungry, and never wet. Well, mix mandatory overtime and nonstop freezing rain and I was already off to a bad start to that mantra.
I'm sure no matter where you live I think you'll agree that when it starts raining-everybody forgets how to drive. My particular beat has a large shopping mall within its boundaries and being that it's the holiday season that means there's already a high traffic flow. It was only a matter of time before an accident came up. Two vehicle accident-no injuries (thankfully).
I arrive on scene in the parking lot of a fast food seafood restaurant and meet the two parties. Essentially what happened was the female driver changed lanes without checking to see if the lane was clear and sideswiped pretty good the other car driven by a male. Both parties actually agreed on the same story, which almost never happens without a good debate, and made my job easier. I had to cite the female for changing lanes improperly but both parties were very receptive and incredibly respectful toward each other and myself. In a world where that isn't seen very often, it's extremely refreshing.
The rest of my regular shift was very uneventful (always a good thing). However the real show began on my mandatory overtime...
We received two calls coming in regarding a domestic dispute between a live-in boyfriend and girlfriend with injuries on the scene.
We arrive on scene to find the female with a bloody nose and both parties seemingly under the influence of alcohol and a little more. We separated the two parties and tried to see what exactly happened. To give readers a heads up, this story is detailed without going too much into graphic detail, however in the police world there is no filter and nothing is held back.
The female stated she was drinking alcohol with her boyfriend which turned into smoking marijuana and snorting powder cocaine. They started to get in the mood which led to the female performing oral sex on the male. When the oral sex ended, the female was not happy with where it exactly ended up at and to quote her it made her "start to feel some type of way" and she grew upset at the male. The male stated she started to tear up the house (both of their property) and the male held her down to get her to stop. The female did not like being held down by the male and started to push the male off which led to an all out physical confrontation where the male punched the female and gave her the obvious bloody nose.
We started to place the male in handcuffs when the female became upset yelling "Are you guys really going to take him to jail?!" Another officer on the scene answered with an blatant of course while she states she didn't want him to go to jail (readers note: a very common response in this situation. Our particular state allows us to step in and press charges on behalf of the state in domestic violence situations to protect the victim and allow them time to escape their living situation if they so choose by the offender being held for a mandatory minimum 48 hours before obtaining a bond if available). The other officer on scene asked, "Why did you call 911 then? What did you want us to do for him punching you and giving you a bloody nose?" The female in a very hard to understand speech stated something to the effect of just wanting to get even with the male. Sadly in our particular area where we work, people really do resort to calling 911 to "get even" with people during petty verbal disputes.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day but they're calling for severe storms all day and upwards of two inches of rain. I'll be off to try and get some sleep before returning to work in about seven hours. Be safe everyone.
It rained. One thing my field training officer taught me was that a good cop was never 3 things: never tired, never hungry, and never wet. Well, mix mandatory overtime and nonstop freezing rain and I was already off to a bad start to that mantra.
I'm sure no matter where you live I think you'll agree that when it starts raining-everybody forgets how to drive. My particular beat has a large shopping mall within its boundaries and being that it's the holiday season that means there's already a high traffic flow. It was only a matter of time before an accident came up. Two vehicle accident-no injuries (thankfully).
I arrive on scene in the parking lot of a fast food seafood restaurant and meet the two parties. Essentially what happened was the female driver changed lanes without checking to see if the lane was clear and sideswiped pretty good the other car driven by a male. Both parties actually agreed on the same story, which almost never happens without a good debate, and made my job easier. I had to cite the female for changing lanes improperly but both parties were very receptive and incredibly respectful toward each other and myself. In a world where that isn't seen very often, it's extremely refreshing.
The rest of my regular shift was very uneventful (always a good thing). However the real show began on my mandatory overtime...
We received two calls coming in regarding a domestic dispute between a live-in boyfriend and girlfriend with injuries on the scene.
We arrive on scene to find the female with a bloody nose and both parties seemingly under the influence of alcohol and a little more. We separated the two parties and tried to see what exactly happened. To give readers a heads up, this story is detailed without going too much into graphic detail, however in the police world there is no filter and nothing is held back.
The female stated she was drinking alcohol with her boyfriend which turned into smoking marijuana and snorting powder cocaine. They started to get in the mood which led to the female performing oral sex on the male. When the oral sex ended, the female was not happy with where it exactly ended up at and to quote her it made her "start to feel some type of way" and she grew upset at the male. The male stated she started to tear up the house (both of their property) and the male held her down to get her to stop. The female did not like being held down by the male and started to push the male off which led to an all out physical confrontation where the male punched the female and gave her the obvious bloody nose.
We started to place the male in handcuffs when the female became upset yelling "Are you guys really going to take him to jail?!" Another officer on the scene answered with an blatant of course while she states she didn't want him to go to jail (readers note: a very common response in this situation. Our particular state allows us to step in and press charges on behalf of the state in domestic violence situations to protect the victim and allow them time to escape their living situation if they so choose by the offender being held for a mandatory minimum 48 hours before obtaining a bond if available). The other officer on scene asked, "Why did you call 911 then? What did you want us to do for him punching you and giving you a bloody nose?" The female in a very hard to understand speech stated something to the effect of just wanting to get even with the male. Sadly in our particular area where we work, people really do resort to calling 911 to "get even" with people during petty verbal disputes.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day but they're calling for severe storms all day and upwards of two inches of rain. I'll be off to try and get some sleep before returning to work in about seven hours. Be safe everyone.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Well yesterday was my Friday and now that it's done I can go ahead and say it. It was QUIET. I think police officers are a lot like baseball players in their certain superstitions. One being: you cannot say that word during the shift and if you do-all hell literally tends to break loose and everybody has you to blame for it. I did however have an encounter I would like to share with you all.
I received a criminal trespass call on my beat for a black male begging for change outside of a Chinese restaurant and refusing to leave on my beat. When I rolled up to the call, I saw a familiar sight. I have a man who who been virtually banned from every sort of business on my beat (albeit it apparently not this restaurant yet). When I was fresh out of the academy in field training I actually arrested this man and then when I went solo I had arrested him again. This particular man is in his mid 20's, homeless, and more than likely has an undiagnosed mental disorder. According to him, his father basically disowned him and he now leaves in no particular area just finding where he can on my beat. In normal weather (and not winter time) he generally wears blue Crocs as his shoe of choice and people always use that description of him in 911 calls. So I'll refer to him as Croc Guy here on out. Croc Guy almost always has marijuana on him and a concealed knife. When he does get arrested he generally always resists arrests (no matter how much you use verbal judo to calm him down) and then once you get him in custody he fakes seizures in an attempt to delay his transport to jail.
On this particular day, I approached Croc Guy and asked him what he was doing at the restaurant. Croc Guy told me he was just looking for some spare change as some customers had promised him some. Quickly, numerous customers and employees told me he had been scaring them when he was refused money. I told Croc Guy that on behalf of the employees of the business I was issuing him a criminal trespass warning (adding the restaurant to the list of places he was not welcome at) and then escorted him outside to talk to him.
I asked him if he had cleared up everything court related since the last time I had arrested him and he told me he had. I asked Croc Guy about his father and if he had tried reaching out to him as the holidays were approaching but he stated the father really wanted nothing to do with him. I ran his information (which I knew very well by now) just to make sure he had no outstanding warrants and asked him if he had found a warm place to stay around the area and he stated he was getting by. Croc Guy actually wasn't wearing his signature Crocs and I joked around with him about him finding warmer shoes for the winter. After things were good with the warrant check I just told him he would have to find another place to hang out an keep it moving.
I easily could have arrested Croc Guy for aggressive panhandling and search incident to arrest probably would have revealed marijuana on his person (for the record I did not smell any while talking to him) but as officers we have a very strong power called the power of discretion. Nobody can tell us who to arrest or who to cite. As officers we have that very strong power of discretion there. For a non-violent crime I use my best judgement and try to work with people when the situation allows such as this. Being a police officer is not about locking everybody up and taking them to jail. Sometimes you just have to talk to people and make them realize they're human too even when homeless and unwanted by a lot of people in the area. Just because we wear a uniform and a badge-we're human too and nothing different from the citizens we serve.
On that parting note, I'll be on my much deserved weekend but look for a post coming after I return to work on Monday. Be safe this weekend everyone.
I received a criminal trespass call on my beat for a black male begging for change outside of a Chinese restaurant and refusing to leave on my beat. When I rolled up to the call, I saw a familiar sight. I have a man who who been virtually banned from every sort of business on my beat (albeit it apparently not this restaurant yet). When I was fresh out of the academy in field training I actually arrested this man and then when I went solo I had arrested him again. This particular man is in his mid 20's, homeless, and more than likely has an undiagnosed mental disorder. According to him, his father basically disowned him and he now leaves in no particular area just finding where he can on my beat. In normal weather (and not winter time) he generally wears blue Crocs as his shoe of choice and people always use that description of him in 911 calls. So I'll refer to him as Croc Guy here on out. Croc Guy almost always has marijuana on him and a concealed knife. When he does get arrested he generally always resists arrests (no matter how much you use verbal judo to calm him down) and then once you get him in custody he fakes seizures in an attempt to delay his transport to jail.
On this particular day, I approached Croc Guy and asked him what he was doing at the restaurant. Croc Guy told me he was just looking for some spare change as some customers had promised him some. Quickly, numerous customers and employees told me he had been scaring them when he was refused money. I told Croc Guy that on behalf of the employees of the business I was issuing him a criminal trespass warning (adding the restaurant to the list of places he was not welcome at) and then escorted him outside to talk to him.
I asked him if he had cleared up everything court related since the last time I had arrested him and he told me he had. I asked Croc Guy about his father and if he had tried reaching out to him as the holidays were approaching but he stated the father really wanted nothing to do with him. I ran his information (which I knew very well by now) just to make sure he had no outstanding warrants and asked him if he had found a warm place to stay around the area and he stated he was getting by. Croc Guy actually wasn't wearing his signature Crocs and I joked around with him about him finding warmer shoes for the winter. After things were good with the warrant check I just told him he would have to find another place to hang out an keep it moving.
I easily could have arrested Croc Guy for aggressive panhandling and search incident to arrest probably would have revealed marijuana on his person (for the record I did not smell any while talking to him) but as officers we have a very strong power called the power of discretion. Nobody can tell us who to arrest or who to cite. As officers we have that very strong power of discretion there. For a non-violent crime I use my best judgement and try to work with people when the situation allows such as this. Being a police officer is not about locking everybody up and taking them to jail. Sometimes you just have to talk to people and make them realize they're human too even when homeless and unwanted by a lot of people in the area. Just because we wear a uniform and a badge-we're human too and nothing different from the citizens we serve.
On that parting note, I'll be on my much deserved weekend but look for a post coming after I return to work on Monday. Be safe this weekend everyone.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
So yesterday was an insanely long day that included a civilian ride along and two arrests (one of which happened to be at the end of the night that kept me over an hour late getting off work). I love having ride alongs as I love explaining my job and showing "my" part of the city around to somebody. I highly encourage any of you to contact your local police department and take a ride along. You just might have your opinion of what it is we do change after riding through a whole shift.
Two things from yesterday really stood out to me that I wanted to share. We have two "squads" where I work that handle the north and south areas of what my precinct is responsible for. The A and B squads, if you will. The A squad had all hands on deck dealing with a person shot and a missing juvenile (unrelated) and I got dispatched to a male beating a woman call about a good 10-15 minutes away (not counting blue lights and sirens). The remarks state a black male was beating a black female inside a black charger in the parking lot of a grocery store. I activated my emergency lights and siren and started the trek, however by the time we got there the car was nowhere in sight and the person who made the 911 call wished to remain anonymous. It could have been a fake call-it could have been legit. We as police officers live for helping people and being there for them in times of their greatest need. If this was a legitimate call, it really was a shame I couldn't be there to help. In this job, you quickly learn you cannot be there for everyone, but you sure as hell try and cannot be blamed for that.
On another note, it's that time of year where it starts getting cold outside as winter approaches. Many people tend to leave their cars running when they step out somewhere or to warm their cars up. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!! I handled a vehicle theft at an apartment complex. This guy who happens to work maintenance at the complex had a brand new 2014 vehicle and stepped out to hand a pair of keys to his manager and left his car running just FEET away from his vehicle. He heard a noise, turned around and a black male was seen getting into his vehicle. The man yelled at the guy "what are you doing? That's my car!" before the male reversed, hit another vehicle in the parking lot, and fled the complex at a high rate of speed. The poor maintenance worker had about $1,000 worth of personal tools in his vehicle, the keys to his other car at home, and most concerning, a set of masters keys. Lesson being PLEASE bring your keys with you if you leave your car unattended. All it takes is one second.Even most officers won't leave their patrol cars running if you go somewhere out of sight. TRUST me, we drill that with rookies. You have no idea how many times a rookie has left a car running on a call just to return to where the car was and......all of a sudden has to get on the radio because someone "stole" their patrol car!
Well I overslept due to the long night of paperwork following some traffic and warrant arrests but we'll see what today holds to share with you all later!
Two things from yesterday really stood out to me that I wanted to share. We have two "squads" where I work that handle the north and south areas of what my precinct is responsible for. The A and B squads, if you will. The A squad had all hands on deck dealing with a person shot and a missing juvenile (unrelated) and I got dispatched to a male beating a woman call about a good 10-15 minutes away (not counting blue lights and sirens). The remarks state a black male was beating a black female inside a black charger in the parking lot of a grocery store. I activated my emergency lights and siren and started the trek, however by the time we got there the car was nowhere in sight and the person who made the 911 call wished to remain anonymous. It could have been a fake call-it could have been legit. We as police officers live for helping people and being there for them in times of their greatest need. If this was a legitimate call, it really was a shame I couldn't be there to help. In this job, you quickly learn you cannot be there for everyone, but you sure as hell try and cannot be blamed for that.
On another note, it's that time of year where it starts getting cold outside as winter approaches. Many people tend to leave their cars running when they step out somewhere or to warm their cars up. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!! I handled a vehicle theft at an apartment complex. This guy who happens to work maintenance at the complex had a brand new 2014 vehicle and stepped out to hand a pair of keys to his manager and left his car running just FEET away from his vehicle. He heard a noise, turned around and a black male was seen getting into his vehicle. The man yelled at the guy "what are you doing? That's my car!" before the male reversed, hit another vehicle in the parking lot, and fled the complex at a high rate of speed. The poor maintenance worker had about $1,000 worth of personal tools in his vehicle, the keys to his other car at home, and most concerning, a set of masters keys. Lesson being PLEASE bring your keys with you if you leave your car unattended. All it takes is one second.Even most officers won't leave their patrol cars running if you go somewhere out of sight. TRUST me, we drill that with rookies. You have no idea how many times a rookie has left a car running on a call just to return to where the car was and......all of a sudden has to get on the radio because someone "stole" their patrol car!
Well I overslept due to the long night of paperwork following some traffic and warrant arrests but we'll see what today holds to share with you all later!
Monday, December 15, 2014
Well, home safe after a long day and the boots have come off. I woke up for work with a sore throat and pondering about not going into work. In a job like this however, not showing up could mean a fellow officer needing help has to wait just a little bit longer in a fight for the next closest officer to be there. Having been in a fight for my life myself before, I can attest that EVERY second counts. My judgement of not going to work falls in the answer to one simple question-Will I help or hurt in a fight if the moment happens? If I know I can help my brother or sister then I gear up and head in. If I know I would be a liability in a fight then it's taking care of my body until I can get back on the street as soon as possible.
Today was one of those days where the calls just never stopped. I ate before work (thankfully I woke up on time) and did not have food again until about 9pm. Sometimes it can get like that. I try and bring a snack with me in my car but sometimes that easily slips my mind amidst everything as soon as I pull in service waiting to see what the day holds for me. As I said before, I work in a large American city. Not only do we get the problems in the city but I work in the busiest part of the city during the busiest shift in a low income/ lower middle income area that is according to census date legitimately 99% minority. I'm a minority cop myself and get a chance to see just how both sides of the spectrum work. But enough of background and let's get back to my day.
I was sitting in a parking lot trying to get a report done for a gas drive off theft (yes, those actually still do happen nowadays) when I noticed a call on my beat (the area that I am in charge of on a daily basis to handle any calls that come up) of a indecent exposure call literally across the street of where I was. I read the remarks which stated "BM (black male) AT LOCATION JUST USED THE BATHROOM AT THE REAR OF THE LOCATION-STILL O/S (on scene)". Now every call is NEVER at it appears. Here I was thinking more than likely the male was urinating on the brick wall of the back of the business a-la Adam Sandler in Big Daddy. Boy was I wrong.
I pull up to the business which is a 24 hour laundromat and ask the clerk where the male was. She told me he was inside of the restroom which was at the back of the location inside the business. She gave me a smirk and told me I would know when I got close. I start walking to the back of the business and immediately see a LARGE puddle of urine and two HUGE droppings of human feces. I immediately put on my tactical gloves. I was NOT coming in contact with any crazy bodily fluids today.
I yell out to the man in the bathroom "Hey man, let me talk to you for a second!" The door opens and a pant less 20-something year old comes out in all his full glory. "Hey....do you have any toilet paper?" I try and hold in my laughter and reply "No man, I don't." just shaking my head.
"Radio, start me another unit...". Within minutes about four officers show up and the look on their faces just says it all. I ask the male if he had any medical problems and he said no. I asked him how old he was and he was clearly old enough to know right from wrong. I had him put his pants back on and the staff of the laundromat gave me a huge pile of towels and bleach. I had the man clean up all of the mess (he clearly had never mopped before in his life, never wringing out the mop and spreading the fluids everywhere). After a little instruction from a few officers, the man managed to clean up the mess. The male was placed under arrest for defecating and urinating in a business and taken to the city jail.
In my 15 months solo on the street, that was my 193rd arrest. Every arrest has it's story and no two are alike. One lesson learned is NOTHING appears as it is until you arrive on scene and just when you think you've seen it all---you get proven wrong.
Today was one of those days where the calls just never stopped. I ate before work (thankfully I woke up on time) and did not have food again until about 9pm. Sometimes it can get like that. I try and bring a snack with me in my car but sometimes that easily slips my mind amidst everything as soon as I pull in service waiting to see what the day holds for me. As I said before, I work in a large American city. Not only do we get the problems in the city but I work in the busiest part of the city during the busiest shift in a low income/ lower middle income area that is according to census date legitimately 99% minority. I'm a minority cop myself and get a chance to see just how both sides of the spectrum work. But enough of background and let's get back to my day.
I was sitting in a parking lot trying to get a report done for a gas drive off theft (yes, those actually still do happen nowadays) when I noticed a call on my beat (the area that I am in charge of on a daily basis to handle any calls that come up) of a indecent exposure call literally across the street of where I was. I read the remarks which stated "BM (black male) AT LOCATION JUST USED THE BATHROOM AT THE REAR OF THE LOCATION-STILL O/S (on scene)". Now every call is NEVER at it appears. Here I was thinking more than likely the male was urinating on the brick wall of the back of the business a-la Adam Sandler in Big Daddy. Boy was I wrong.
I pull up to the business which is a 24 hour laundromat and ask the clerk where the male was. She told me he was inside of the restroom which was at the back of the location inside the business. She gave me a smirk and told me I would know when I got close. I start walking to the back of the business and immediately see a LARGE puddle of urine and two HUGE droppings of human feces. I immediately put on my tactical gloves. I was NOT coming in contact with any crazy bodily fluids today.
I yell out to the man in the bathroom "Hey man, let me talk to you for a second!" The door opens and a pant less 20-something year old comes out in all his full glory. "Hey....do you have any toilet paper?" I try and hold in my laughter and reply "No man, I don't." just shaking my head.
"Radio, start me another unit...". Within minutes about four officers show up and the look on their faces just says it all. I ask the male if he had any medical problems and he said no. I asked him how old he was and he was clearly old enough to know right from wrong. I had him put his pants back on and the staff of the laundromat gave me a huge pile of towels and bleach. I had the man clean up all of the mess (he clearly had never mopped before in his life, never wringing out the mop and spreading the fluids everywhere). After a little instruction from a few officers, the man managed to clean up the mess. The male was placed under arrest for defecating and urinating in a business and taken to the city jail.
In my 15 months solo on the street, that was my 193rd arrest. Every arrest has it's story and no two are alike. One lesson learned is NOTHING appears as it is until you arrive on scene and just when you think you've seen it all---you get proven wrong.
What to Expect:
I'm a police officer for a large American city. I see things many people would never expect to see in their lives and do things not all people can do. This blog will take you on a "walk in my boots" to see what it is my brothers and sisters in blue have to deal with on a daily basis. I hope you enjoy the reading and that it opens your eyes to what those in American Law Enforcement deal with on a given day.
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