Hey everyone, I'm still adjusting to this 8 hour schedule. I've been getting out roughly the same time as when I was on ten hour shifts due to late calls....So I figured I'd save everything for a week long entry today. I got a chance to train my second rookie officer this week as his regular Field Training Officer just had his first baby (many congrats to him through fatherhood). This rookie has a good head on his shoulders and he's definitely a fast learner. I think I only really had two negative things he did the entire week which I pointed out to him.
We two officer help calls this week on Monday. We treat officer helps calls very similarly to officer down situations. They have the highest urgency possible. One officer was in another zone of the city responding to a dispute in an apartment complex parking lot when all off a sudden a large crowd of people started getting upset with the way the call was being handled and started to encircle the officer near his car. With everything going on lately in the news you can only imagine how easily the situation could have went differently. Thankfully numerous units responded to him in a timely manner and anything which was about to have happened was prevented.
The second officer help call deals with a stupid criminal. An officer put up a help call in a different zone after someone tried to kick in the door to his home. He was quickly met by both officers which lived at the residence and swiftly taken into custody. Can't make up the dumb things some people do....
On Tuesday, I was driving around on me beat and noticed looked at the busiest intersection ahead of me. The car in the turn lane was just sitting there with a green turn arrow and when the arrow turned off the light turned red. The vehicle then CLEARLY ran the red light. I turned on my blue lights and caught up to the driver. He stated he knew exactly what I was pulling him over for. I asked him why he ran the red light and he told me "We'll I wasn't sure that I ran it or not because to be honest, I wasn't even looking at the light. I just figured that's what it was." After asking him why he wasn't looking at the light he told me he was too busy looking at the crosswalk because of someone he thought was going to cross and then just kept going right through the intersection. When you're driving you have to be paying attention to everything out there. That easily could have been a head on collision and he definitely got a ticket.
Wednesday saw my trainee and I respond to a stalled vehicle on major interstate. Traffic was completely shut down due to an accident that the state patrol was handling. It was a great learning lesson for the rookie in how people really freak out with blue lights and have NO idea how to act at time. My note to you all: When you see blue lights or any emergency lights, PLEASE move to the right and allow us to get through. It seems fire and ambulances never have trouble getting through but we always do. I just don't get it. We were coming down a ramp to get onto the highway and nobody wanted to move. I had to get on the loudspeaker and tell a driver "Driver, please move to the right so that I can get through." All while my lights and siren were completely activated. If the road hazard had been an accident with injuries every second of me not being on scene could make a difference in the outcome for the injured person.
Yesterday we responded to another road hazard on the highway. A large truck transporting scrap metal failed to secure its load and it spread all over the highway. We were pretty much there for visibility as the Department of Transportation was on the highway picking up scrap metal. While we were out there, I pointed out one of my biggest pet peeves to the rookie. People failing to move over when they see emergency lights and people with traffic vests (which is against the law in my state and in most states). We initiated a traffic stop on a black car that had NO cars in the left lane and still did not move over or significantly reduce speed. It was the rookie's first traffic stop on the highway and he did a good job. Ultimately I left whether the driver would get a ticket or not up to him and he decided against it. For me that's usually one ticket that I never give a warning for. As police officers, we are more likely to be killed by vehicle related matters and unfortunately, a lot , by drivers failing to move over on the highway. The first line of duty death for 2015 was an police sergeant struck and killed on the highway working an accident.
Well I leave you all, as I begin my two day weekend (still not used to it). Tonight is the annual Mayor's Cup between the Police Department (three year in a row champs) and the Fire Department/Paramedics. Two of my academy classmates will be boxing tonight and it should be a good show.
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