Today was a really nice day. It was clear and sunny. Aside from the cold weather I might have considered sneaking off to the beach.
I get an angry call from a woman asking how to file a complaint on an officer. I hate these calls because I feel I'm being set up. I imagine they are recording the call and doing some news story about cooperative (or not) police agencies are to people who want to complain. So I start asking for details and this woman cannot make sense. She claims she is being harassed and stalked by persons unknown. She puts her husband on the phone who says they are being harassed by a bunch of their neighbors one of them an officer. However they don't know who the officer is or what agency he works for. So I tell him how he can file a complaint when he has the name and agency of the officer in question. I try to get more details. He insists the band of neighbors against him are KKK. I kind of point out the obvious that they don't like their neighbors so they are looking to file complaints. He didn't like that. He said they are both "black pastors" (his words not mine) and they hate nobody. I'm sorry I don't believe that for a moment. Some of the most intolerant, racist people I've had to deal with have been pastors. In my opinion a bunch of con artists!
As I'm heading down the road I see an officer with a car on traffic in a parking lot. I stop to see if I can help him out and he has two guys in the car. I cover the passenger side and hear the officer ask where they are coming from and ask to search the car. He gets told no. I don't know many hoods who give permission anymore. Come to find out the driver has a suspended license so he gets arrested. He thinks he's being arrested for refusing consent to search. He couldn't grasp the fact that his license is suspended. I look up and notice the passenger is unexpectedly out of the car. He wants to leave so he gets put in the backseat as well. The officer has it from there so I leave and turn right into a major accident. A car load of teens made a turn and got hit hard. They all went to the hospital.
As I leave that scene they broadcast a stolen officer's personal vehicle with his police jacket and his duty weapon. That's got to suck. I try not to leave my gun in the car but sometimes you really don't have a choice. About ten minutes later it is cancelled after it was learned it was just towed. So the officer was careless and parked it where he shouldn't.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
I've been lapse the past few days so I'll try to go over the highlights:
A man calls and claims he found a shoe box with 8 newborn puppies that were left on his front porch in the cold, rainy weather. When the officer arrived two had already died and the other 6 were on their way out. The man who called said he wasn't "an animal person." I'm willing to bet he has a dog that just gave birth and he put them on his own porch and called. After all, why would someone leave them on his porch? I understand his attitude was aloof about the whole thing. Too bad I can't prove it or I'd be looking to charge him with animal cruelty. The officer took it upon himself to warm the surviving puppies and the animal rescue came out and got them which is good.
We receive a call to a church about a possibly homeless and mentally ill female. The first call said the pastor was talking to her. I thought that was enough. I thought churches were supposed to be a beacon of help and pastors should be experienced at dealing with all kinds of people. They called an ambulance and disregarded us. Cool, problem solved. About twenty minutes later the ambulance calls back saying they need help with the woman. I get there first and find a woman standing next to the paramedic shaking. Well it is cold! Getting her name is like pulling teeth. She is giving some African first name but no last name and no address. She mumbled that her boyfriend beat her up and threw her out of their house a long time ago. The pastor says she came into the church and grabbed him to make him listen to her. Then she went to the restroom where she undressed and washed herself. He decided handling her was above his head. We wound up taking her to the psych hospital where they recognized her as a patient. Why am I not surprised?
I drove past two people in the middle of the road standing outside their vehicles looking at their cars. That means only one thing, the car behind hit the one in front. I pull in behind them and make sure everyone is okay. A young man tapped the woman in front of him. I get both of their licenses and tell them to move to the cars into a nearby parking lot. I do this in case if one of them flees I know who they are and filing charges will be no problem. It's never happened to me but it has happened to others. I find that there is hardly any damage and neither party wanted a report so it's all good. The young man is apologetic. He said his two year old daughter was in the backseat whining so he turned to looked at her, turned around and saw the light turn green, but didn't see the woman in front of him moving so instinct took over and he hit his gas and her. Oops! Poor guy trying to calm his kid down and look what happens. Hell of a nice guy I'm glad it worked out for him.
I run a juvenile party call. I hate these for so many reasons to list. I get there and find cars parked on both sides of the road and teenagers walking around the sidewalks lost. When they see me half of them quickly turn and head towards their cars. Gives me an idea on how to handle this. I get out and walk up to some more teens and suggest they go somewhere else. I quickly figure out which house the party is and learn the owners are out of town. So either they left their teenage kid or all these people broke in. I walk up the side of the house and peek through the fence and see the all too familiar image of teens and beer cans. I walk up the other side and into the back yard and teens go running into the house. Since nobody bothered to shut the door I took that as an open invitation and walked right in. I managed to find a few teens who didn't mind my company (i.e. didn't run away). Since they were being cool with me and all the dunderheads were running and I was by myself and didn't feel like chasing shadows. I had them clean up the mess and pour all the alcohol down the drain which they did. I found the kid who lived there. I made him my new friend (since I had his future in my hands at the moment). I convinced him to tell anyone else who called or showed up that his party was over and the mean ole police were looking for a reason to bust him (it wasn't true I was giving him a way out so he could save face). When it was done I left and that neighborhood was quiet the rest of the night and nobody got arrested.
A man calls and claims he found a shoe box with 8 newborn puppies that were left on his front porch in the cold, rainy weather. When the officer arrived two had already died and the other 6 were on their way out. The man who called said he wasn't "an animal person." I'm willing to bet he has a dog that just gave birth and he put them on his own porch and called. After all, why would someone leave them on his porch? I understand his attitude was aloof about the whole thing. Too bad I can't prove it or I'd be looking to charge him with animal cruelty. The officer took it upon himself to warm the surviving puppies and the animal rescue came out and got them which is good.
We receive a call to a church about a possibly homeless and mentally ill female. The first call said the pastor was talking to her. I thought that was enough. I thought churches were supposed to be a beacon of help and pastors should be experienced at dealing with all kinds of people. They called an ambulance and disregarded us. Cool, problem solved. About twenty minutes later the ambulance calls back saying they need help with the woman. I get there first and find a woman standing next to the paramedic shaking. Well it is cold! Getting her name is like pulling teeth. She is giving some African first name but no last name and no address. She mumbled that her boyfriend beat her up and threw her out of their house a long time ago. The pastor says she came into the church and grabbed him to make him listen to her. Then she went to the restroom where she undressed and washed herself. He decided handling her was above his head. We wound up taking her to the psych hospital where they recognized her as a patient. Why am I not surprised?
I drove past two people in the middle of the road standing outside their vehicles looking at their cars. That means only one thing, the car behind hit the one in front. I pull in behind them and make sure everyone is okay. A young man tapped the woman in front of him. I get both of their licenses and tell them to move to the cars into a nearby parking lot. I do this in case if one of them flees I know who they are and filing charges will be no problem. It's never happened to me but it has happened to others. I find that there is hardly any damage and neither party wanted a report so it's all good. The young man is apologetic. He said his two year old daughter was in the backseat whining so he turned to looked at her, turned around and saw the light turn green, but didn't see the woman in front of him moving so instinct took over and he hit his gas and her. Oops! Poor guy trying to calm his kid down and look what happens. Hell of a nice guy I'm glad it worked out for him.
I run a juvenile party call. I hate these for so many reasons to list. I get there and find cars parked on both sides of the road and teenagers walking around the sidewalks lost. When they see me half of them quickly turn and head towards their cars. Gives me an idea on how to handle this. I get out and walk up to some more teens and suggest they go somewhere else. I quickly figure out which house the party is and learn the owners are out of town. So either they left their teenage kid or all these people broke in. I walk up the side of the house and peek through the fence and see the all too familiar image of teens and beer cans. I walk up the other side and into the back yard and teens go running into the house. Since nobody bothered to shut the door I took that as an open invitation and walked right in. I managed to find a few teens who didn't mind my company (i.e. didn't run away). Since they were being cool with me and all the dunderheads were running and I was by myself and didn't feel like chasing shadows. I had them clean up the mess and pour all the alcohol down the drain which they did. I found the kid who lived there. I made him my new friend (since I had his future in my hands at the moment). I convinced him to tell anyone else who called or showed up that his party was over and the mean ole police were looking for a reason to bust him (it wasn't true I was giving him a way out so he could save face). When it was done I left and that neighborhood was quiet the rest of the night and nobody got arrested.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
We checked up on the drunk from yesterday. The DA's office dismissed the resisting arrest charge. Their reasoning was that he was too drunk and exhausted from assaulting his family he had no idea the officer was trying to arrest him. Never mind that the statute says if the officer is in uniform the actor is presumed to know it is an officer and she was giving lawful orders that he ignored. I hate to say it, but some ADAs need to be crime victims and maybe then they will understand their shortcomings in reason. My favorite is the ADA who refused to prosecute a wanted felon who used his 10 year old daughter as a human shield when detectives went to arrest him and then he fled leaving his daughter behind. Sometimes I feel the DA's office is selective which victims they will pursue justice for.
An officer was involved in an accident today. Fortunately nobody was hurt. A teenager, not paying attention came out of a parking lot and got hit.
An inept mother who is afraid of her daughter having sex sends us to check on her while she is at her boyfriend's house. The mother has no sense to ground her daughter and take her car from her because she doesn't want her daughter riding the bus to school! She was told to be a mother! She didn't like that!
An old fool attends his neighborhoods HOA meeting to complain about black people in the neighborhood. He was upset that the black officer who was called there was not offended by him in the least so he storms out of the meeting and sends an angry email saying he will refuse to attend any further meetings if that black officer still patrols that district. That is great! He will keep his racist ass at home and wallow in his own hatred!
I got "volunteered" to attend what I was told was a flood control management meeting. Come to find out that is not what it was. So I sent a text message to a friend asking her to entertain me. She replies asking if she looks like a dancing monkey. I send a text back saying I was thinking more of her putting on clown makeup. I'm waiting to see if that ends up on her blog!
An officer was involved in an accident today. Fortunately nobody was hurt. A teenager, not paying attention came out of a parking lot and got hit.
An inept mother who is afraid of her daughter having sex sends us to check on her while she is at her boyfriend's house. The mother has no sense to ground her daughter and take her car from her because she doesn't want her daughter riding the bus to school! She was told to be a mother! She didn't like that!
An old fool attends his neighborhoods HOA meeting to complain about black people in the neighborhood. He was upset that the black officer who was called there was not offended by him in the least so he storms out of the meeting and sends an angry email saying he will refuse to attend any further meetings if that black officer still patrols that district. That is great! He will keep his racist ass at home and wallow in his own hatred!
I got "volunteered" to attend what I was told was a flood control management meeting. Come to find out that is not what it was. So I sent a text message to a friend asking her to entertain me. She replies asking if she looks like a dancing monkey. I send a text back saying I was thinking more of her putting on clown makeup. I'm waiting to see if that ends up on her blog!
I read an interesting report. Family members sent officers to check on an elderly relative. They found the house all locked up, no sign of flies on any of the windows and no foul odors. These are the typical signs that there is a dead body in the house. However many family members and friends are outside adamant that the elderly relative has to be inside. So the officers make forced entry and find the man face down on a bathroom floor. He is dying, but still alive. So they quickly load him onto an ambulance and rush him to the hospital. Good call!
It was mostly a quiet night up until the end when a lady officer gets on the air shouting then suddenly falls silent. I'm about 15 miles away but I start heading that way. Units that are closer start hauling tail to get there. By the time I get there it is long over. I find out a drunk man decided he was going to take his baby and leave. Well his family tries to stop him so he assaults all of them and winds up hurting his own kid (not majorly though). We have to take him out of the car to search him properly. I feel it only fair to give him fair warning if he tries to nut up on us his night will be a lot worse. In his drunken state he takes offense to this and curses at us. We place him against the car to search him and he wants to turn and argue about how we're violating his rights and we don't have to be mean to him and that he's a human being. Now he's drunk so he's not going to listen to reason (or come to the realization that he's dead wrong) yet that didn't stop me from pointing out that he assaulted three women and a child so his feeble attempts to redeem his manhood are gone. That seemed to offend him even more. When we were done with the search I told him to get back in the car but he still wanted to argue. So I had to help him into the car. Later on when he got to the jail they discovered he gave a false name to hide six warrants he had for his arrest. What a damn loser!
It was mostly a quiet night up until the end when a lady officer gets on the air shouting then suddenly falls silent. I'm about 15 miles away but I start heading that way. Units that are closer start hauling tail to get there. By the time I get there it is long over. I find out a drunk man decided he was going to take his baby and leave. Well his family tries to stop him so he assaults all of them and winds up hurting his own kid (not majorly though). We have to take him out of the car to search him properly. I feel it only fair to give him fair warning if he tries to nut up on us his night will be a lot worse. In his drunken state he takes offense to this and curses at us. We place him against the car to search him and he wants to turn and argue about how we're violating his rights and we don't have to be mean to him and that he's a human being. Now he's drunk so he's not going to listen to reason (or come to the realization that he's dead wrong) yet that didn't stop me from pointing out that he assaulted three women and a child so his feeble attempts to redeem his manhood are gone. That seemed to offend him even more. When we were done with the search I told him to get back in the car but he still wanted to argue. So I had to help him into the car. Later on when he got to the jail they discovered he gave a false name to hide six warrants he had for his arrest. What a damn loser!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
For some reason I decided to create a Facebook profile so I did. If you want to add me as a friend be my guest.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
It was really, really cold! Well it was more the wind than the cold. The wind pierced my jacket first and then my skin! So naturally I tried to stay inside either a building or my car most of the day. I did read a brief that was disturbing. The other day we were called to a dead baby. The poor thing was only a few months old. I read that the mother was in federal prison where she gave birth to the child and the father is a police officer at another agency. The baby was with grandparents and as far as I know the police officer/father never showed up on the scene! Makes you wonder what kind of people these are.
Had a nice dinner then walked out into the stinging wind. Damn, I about ran to the car and hopped in! This was going to be one of those evenings where I wasn't getting out of the car unless I had to. We got called to assist on a warrant service. The guy wasn't home but left a utility worker alone in the house who said he was at dinner. I don't know too many people who leave utility workers in their homes while they go out. I suspect the worker was a friend who called him and warned him not to come home. Before we left the warrant officer told me a funny story. He had been looking for a guy on a child support non-payment warrant and at one point caught up to him but the guy ran from him and got away. About a year later the officer was dining with his wife and guess who his waiter was! Yep, the same fugitive he'd been hunting and that night the hunt ended.
As I leave that location I'm making my way back to the station. It's almost the end of the shift and I'm looking forward to sleeping in. As I'm going down the street I see a truck dart into a lane almost striking another vehicle. I follow the truck for a minute to see how he's driving and he can't keep the vehicle straight. Granted it is very windy outside however I'm keeping my car steady and I'm using one hand on the wheel. I pull him over and walk up to him and he's fumbling for paperwork. His movements are slow and clumsy then when he speaks his speech is slurred. I can't smell any alcohol because of the wind but I suspect it. I get him out of the truck to do the sobriety tests. I always hated doing these in the bitter cold because any amateur law school reject can claim the weather was to blame for the poor performance. I arrest him and bring him to the intox station where he blows over twice the legal limit! Once I got him out of the wind then I could smell the brewery on his breath!
Had a nice dinner then walked out into the stinging wind. Damn, I about ran to the car and hopped in! This was going to be one of those evenings where I wasn't getting out of the car unless I had to. We got called to assist on a warrant service. The guy wasn't home but left a utility worker alone in the house who said he was at dinner. I don't know too many people who leave utility workers in their homes while they go out. I suspect the worker was a friend who called him and warned him not to come home. Before we left the warrant officer told me a funny story. He had been looking for a guy on a child support non-payment warrant and at one point caught up to him but the guy ran from him and got away. About a year later the officer was dining with his wife and guess who his waiter was! Yep, the same fugitive he'd been hunting and that night the hunt ended.
As I leave that location I'm making my way back to the station. It's almost the end of the shift and I'm looking forward to sleeping in. As I'm going down the street I see a truck dart into a lane almost striking another vehicle. I follow the truck for a minute to see how he's driving and he can't keep the vehicle straight. Granted it is very windy outside however I'm keeping my car steady and I'm using one hand on the wheel. I pull him over and walk up to him and he's fumbling for paperwork. His movements are slow and clumsy then when he speaks his speech is slurred. I can't smell any alcohol because of the wind but I suspect it. I get him out of the truck to do the sobriety tests. I always hated doing these in the bitter cold because any amateur law school reject can claim the weather was to blame for the poor performance. I arrest him and bring him to the intox station where he blows over twice the legal limit! Once I got him out of the wind then I could smell the brewery on his breath!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Another annoying day! An angry woman called because she got stopped and had every excuse under the sun. She was mad because she didn't get her way. I didn't make her any happier when I pointed out the subtle changes to her story and implied she was exaggerating. She hung up on me!
At the end of the shift people want to call and tattle on each other. I didn't have the patience to deal with it then. I'll get to it tomorrow. The question is did the burglary occur after the alarm or did his personal situation affect his performance.
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