Some weeks are good and some just plain aren't. Both for you and for the streets.
Tuesday saw a slow period come about which meant I was hunting running traffic. I was at my favorite spot to run tags when after quite awhile of not getting anything, I saw a small sedan with a blown headlight. I decided to follow after it and stopped it. Inside of the car were three kids and a mom. I asked the mom for her license and I quickly found out it had been suspended for the last three months. I had the mom step out of the car where I walked her back to mine. I absolutely HATE putting parents in handcuffs in front of their kids if I can help it. I soon verified the license was in fact suspended for a violation of my state's Super Speeder law. Mom was going to take a ride.
The car turned out to be a rental car from a buy here/pay here place which meant I couldn't release it to anyone and it was going to be impounded. I was now taking a car away from a hard working mom and her three kids. We ended up calling the grandparents to come pick up the kids from the side of the road. Not every arrest is a good arrest but every arrest you choose to make is an arrest you need to stand by. If I wrote this lady a ticket there's no telling if she would continue to drive an possibly get in an accident where she might hurt or kill someone when she never needed to be on the road in the first place.
Now Wednesday I saw something happen that every police officer that every has worked in the modern era has experienced. The supervisor request. You cannot go a career in today's time without someone demanding to see a supervisor. In my particular case I had a private property accident in the parking lot of a grocery store. I cannot determine fault in a private property accident, I can't issue tickets, and a report is essentially a he said/she said deal. I arrived on scene and one lady was upset because apparently the other lady had moved some debris to make the accident look less in her fault. Based on both stories they were both at fault (both backed out of a parking space at the same time and hit each other). I told the lady that the moved glass really didn't matter. They just needed to exchange information and file the appropriate claim with their insurance companies. Both parties agreed but the lady was still upset over the little piece of glass and demanded my supervisor. My lieutenant ended up coming out and explained the same thing that I did. He asked her what would make her happy. Her response- a report stating the lady moved the glass. That was exactly what she got. A 3 sentence report stating the glass was moved before I got there.... Sometimes you just have to play the game as well.
Thursday saw me on a homicide. I've had my beat for roughly two years. During my time I have never had anyone shot on my beat. This ended Thursday. For sake of the investigation, I won't say too many details but this poor man who shot and killed over a fight started by second graders. The father ended up rushing his own son to the hospital after he was shot in the head. Medically, he really had no chance. Seeing the homicide investigators come to the scene and do their work really made me focus on how I'd love to do that job one day. Homicide is the ultimate crime. My proudest arrest out of 343 total is the guy I caught with a homicide warrant. By the time the scene was cleared, the detectives already had a solid idea of what had happened. It was good to see that I helped play a role and I got a "good job" from the lead detective.
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