Valentine's Week In the Hood

Hey everyone, hope you had a good Valentine's Day. I had the day off since it fell on a Saturday but nonetheless, I felt I'd share my week with you.


Monday went smooth but I felt bad for a particular couple visiting from a neighboring state. They hopped into the shopping mall on my beat initially just to use the restroom but ended up staying an hour and shopping. When they returned to the parking lot, their vehicle was gone. The vehicle was fully paid off for too. I took the report and then they had no place to go. I ended up joking around and talking with them for awhile and gave them to a ride to the nearby international airport which falls within the city limits. They knew they could more than likely get a rental car for the drive back to their state (they were all set to leave back the following day but decided they had had enough and one day wouldn't make a whole bunch of a difference for them.


The next day, I went with my good friend to a call on his beat. There was a whole family staying in an apartment at a complex where they had been issued trespass warnings a week ago for a shooting that had taken place. We had three units and were ready to make some arrests since we made it VERY clear they could not come back. We get to the apartment but the only one there was the mom and the son (who had never had a trespass the first time). The mom got arrested and I went to run the son's information on our database. It turns out he was the suspect in two robberies so I contacted the detective handling the case. It turns out the case had been closed because the victim (who was deaf/mute) refused to cooperate with their investigation following the initial report. I gave him a trespass warning and he was on his way. It's a shame when we can't do our jobs because people aren't willing to meet us halfway.


Wednesday, I was sitting in a parking lot on a cold slow night when a teenage girl (15 years old) approaches my window asking for a ride to her grandmother's house in a neighboring city. I told her I couldn't, all puzzlingly, and she took off. Her mother was following in close pursuit and told me she was running away. I chased the girl down and had a long talk with her with my partner. We spoke to the girl for about thirty minutes, the mom, and the both of them together. We spoke to her about what was troubling her (mom was working two jobs to support her and her sister and supposedly wasn't paying attention to her enough with her schoolwork according to her) and they made up and we sent them on their way. We were out there for about half an hour like I said. That encounter won't ever show up anywhere on a stat sheet where they track our production but showing that girl and family that we cared makes the world of difference over any arrest I can make. That's why I became a cop.


Thursday had a chance encounter. I pulled over a vehicle because the tag that was on it didn't belong to the car. I walk up the car and immediately recognize the driver from an accident on the highway that I worked when I myself was in field training about three years ago. His son ended up getting arrested and taken to the hospital. I asked him before I even told him what I stopped him for:


"Sir by any chance, do you have a son?"
"yeah I do officer."
"Were you and him involved in an accident about three years ago on the highway interchange?"
"yeah that's right actually!"
"Haha, I'm the officer that worked that accident way back when I was new. How have you and your son been?"
"Wow you remembered me just by looking at me? That's incredible. You'll make a hell of a detective someday. We've been good!"


That was a pretty neat encounter. The tag situation was taken care of and I sent the man on his way. You never know who you'll run into at a later time. Even though I arrested his son, I treated both him and his son with respect. It can easily all come back around. You never know where your paths may cross with the ones you meet on a daily basis.