Ride Along

Boredom

2006-11-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

Today was total boredom. Three hours spent at district court sitting there watching and waiting. Why do I have to be the one to arrest the tweaker who's not going to plead?? Everyone else who was there on a tweaker got to leave early. Not me. She wants to take it to trial. I had to wait two hours and forty five minutes so I could give five minutes of testimony. The girl's backpack had meth, syringes, a spoon with residue, and other assorted paraphernalia. She said the bag was hers..... She's guilty, why can't she just say so in court??

When I finally cleared court I arrived back in my area where NOTHING was happening. I took two calls all night. Both were agency assists, and no big deal. I thought I'd get something out of my heroin house. Nope, no activity. I decided to try the local potheads' place. No luck. Parked down the street from my meth head with warrants house. She wouldn't come outside to play. I couldn't find anything.

Ok, enough of that frustration. On a brighter note I've gone a week and a half and not had to take a traffic accident!! You can't beat that!

Death

2006-11-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

Death visited us this week. There were thirty minutes left on my shift. My area partner and I were at the sub-station. She was doing paperwork, and I was trying to figure out what freaking case I was being subpoenaed on (turns out they put the wrong case number on the subpoena... but that's another story).

The shift had been relatively quiet so far and the grave cars were on, so we would be on our way home soon. Then from the radio "beep beep beep". A three beeper, and my area partner and I were being dispatched on an ambulance back. A 69 year old male in full arrest.

We ran code to the scene where this man's wife if 40 years was hysterical. Her husband was naked on the floor with five or six paramedics pumping stuff into his veins while this black robotic vest pumped his chest causing his arms and legs to flop around slightly. Apparently he had just finished taking a shower and then there was a thud. He had a massive heart attack. It was pretty obvious he wasn't going to make it.

Thank goodness for my partner. She was able to help calm this man's wife just a bit. The poor woman kept blaming herself because she was unable to move her husband to open his airway like the 911 dispatcher was asking her to do. I hope she still doesn't think it's her fault. There was nothing anyone could have done.

I've been on two death scenes in my short career. The first was a suicide where a 39 year old female shot herself in the head while her family was downstairs in the same house. The second was this heart attack. Both times there was a palpable energy in the area. Nothing negative, but I could feel or sense something unseen. I guess I could feel the transition from this life to the next.

Advice for Civilians

2006-10-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

This post results from two incidents I encountered this past week. First, if you happen to be the responsible person for a business or other building that has an alarm drop do not show up and immediately drive right up to the front door, illuminate me and my backup with your headlights making us targets, then hop out of your car and walk around also making yourself a target. Notice the cop cars parked in the shadows away from the building. That's done for a reason. We're trying not to get killed.

Second, when I am on a traffic stop with three dirtballs don't approach me to ask a question. I need to have my attention focused on the three dirtballs. I may not yet know what I have and you definitely don't know what I have. I'll be happy to answer your question just as soon as I've cleared the stop. Please be patient. Thank you for your cooperation.

Bungling Burglars

2006-10-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

The call came out as a reckless driver. The complainant was following a white pickup truck which was weaving in and out of traffic. The passenger was flashing "obscene gestures" at other motorists. The complainant was on the phone with dispatch and continued following the truck until it turned into a neighborhood.

One of the day shift deputies arrived in the area before I did and found the truck parked in front of a house. I arrived about thirty seconds later as he was on the radio saying we had a possible burglary in progress. It seems he found footprints in a flower bed which led to a broken window. I posted myself on the northeast corner while he postes himself on the southwest corner and we waited for backup. A construction worker who was in the area gave us a description of the two dirtbags involved and said he had seen them go to the front door, but hadn't seen them since.

A few minutes later two more units arrived and we entered the house with guns drawn to clear it. In the living room a plasma TV had been removed from the entertainment center and was sitting on the floor. There were footprints on the stairs leading from the basement to the entertainment center and out the back door.

Two more units were en-route and found two males matching the description given walking through a park northbound away from the scene. They took them down at gunpoint and returned them to the scene. Miranda was read and confessions were obtained. Apparently the son of the homeowner owed these two nitwits drug money. They decided to take anything they could get their hands on as payment. They didn't seem to care that their target no longer lived in the home. They told us we rolled up just as they were removing the TV so they bolted out the back door before we set up containment.

I got to take one of these nitwits to jail which gave me a chance to break out the new "Going to Jail" playlist on my iPOD for his listening pleasure. First on the list was "We are all on Drugs" by Weezer, next was "Guilty" by Gravity Kills, then "Rape Me" by Nirvana, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi, and so on until "The Point of No Return" which is reserved for when we pass through the large sally port doors at the jail.... Golly that was fun! (there would be links to each of these band's web sites if I could figure out how to add them without Blogger showing each as a bullet point.... I'm no tech geek so there's no links at this time.)

It never ceases to amaze me how people who don't want to deal with the cops manage to bring attention to themselves. These two fools were no exception. I always thought if I were on the other side of the law I'd try to keep a low profile. I guess some folks haven't figured that out yet.

Fishing

2006-10-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

Today was the second day of my three day weekend (I love working four tens). I spent it fishing with my dad. We didn't catch anything, in fact it was a terrible day of fishing, but you can't beat sitting on a quiet lake enjoying the sceneary and the company.

You again?

2006-10-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

Well I've only been out on my own for about two and half months now, but I'm already running into the same people over and over again. This week I ran into the same bonehead for the third time.

The first time I found him he was trespassing with some friends in an open field, which is owned by one of the city council members. They were "just hanging out enjoying the nice day"... i.e. probably smoking pot. I had no way to prove the marijuana use so I kicked everyone off the property and warned them they would be cited for criminal trespass if they returned. I decided to return to the same spot several hours later. There was a car parked behind a tree and three males hanging out around it. Sure enough the same bonehead I had kicked out earlier was among them. "You again?" I asked. "What did I tell you last time?"

"I thought...."

"No, you weren't thinking, and can you explain why I smell marijuana?"

I cut this bonehead a break once already so he got cited for criminal trespass while his buddy, who said the weed and pipe were his, got cited for the marijuana possession. Buddy number two got off with a warning not to come back without permission from the property owner.

That was a few weeks ago. This week I ran into bonehead again. This time it was a call from a local fast food restaurant. Apparently a male was inside disrupting business and "harassing" the cashier.

I arrived and started talking to the manager. She said bonehead had come into the restaurant, started pushing buttons on one of the cash registers, opened the cash register drawer and then closed it when he saw her. She said she told him he needed to pay for what he rang up because her register would be short otherwise. He argued with her, and she told him to pay and leave or she would call the cops. He refused, but exited the building before I got there.

The manager said she thought he was still in the parking lot. She had a description of a blue pickup truck and a license plate number. I didn't see the truck anywhere in the parking lot. I was assuring her that I would look for the truck throughout the rest of my shift and was getting ready to leave the scene when I see a blue truck in the parking lot of an adjacent building. The driver sees me and makes a bee line for the nearest exit, and darts into a neighborhood. I catch up, note the license plate number matches the one I was given, and stop the truck. And guess who's driving?? That's right! It's bonehead.

"How many more times do I have to deal with you?"

"I dunno...mumble mumble. It's no big deal. She can just void it out on the register. By the way, the trespassing got dismissed" He said with a snide little grin

"Sir do you realized your truck hasn't been registered since January 2005?" I ask as I'm grinning from ear to ear, because the truck will soon be on the back of a recker and bonehead will be huffing it home in the rain.

"It's not my truck."

"Well then you're going to owe someone a huge chunk of change for the impound fee."

Not only was the truck not registered it had a plate from a different state on the front, and bonehead had moved and not updated his address with the DMV. He received keeper citations for it all, plus one for disorderly conduct, and the truck was towed. Man, that truck looked good on the back of the recker!

Ibuprofen

2006-09-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

After four hours of defensive tactics training today I'm gonna need it.

Dreams.... nearly nightmares

2006-09-25T00:02:00.000-07:00

No one told me about the dreams. They come and go, but they are getting more and more bizarre.

It started when I dreamt I arrived at work only to find I had forgotten my gun. Then I had a dream where I was in a foot pursuit with some gang bangers and they started shooting. I wasn't hit, and tried shooting back from three or four feet away, but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

Next I stopped a U-haul truck and as I made contact with the driver the truck started shrinking. Then there was the dream where on a "routine" traffic stop my driver was upside down suspended by his seatbelt. He and the passenger released their seatbelts and attempted to physically attack me. I tried pulling my taser, but can't get it out of the holster.

Finally last night my entire dream was radio traffic. I was talking to random people, family, friends, and the dog as if we were all on the radio. I even talked to the friendly 7-11 clerk as if she were a dispatcher.

Me: "Car 40".... wait for reply from friendly 7-11 clerk.... "I'll be 10-17 to the soda fountain"

Friendly 7-11 clerk: "Car 40 at 21:15. Will you be code 4?"

Me:"I should be code 4 thank you"

Friendly 7-11 clerk: "Copy"

Me: "Car 40 arrived. I'll be 10-6 working on a Super Big Gulp"

Friendly 7-11 clerk: "Car 40 at 21:16"

I never used to dream about work, but I also never got excited to go back to work while still on my weekends. I love this job I just hope the dreams start involving a little less shooting and maybe a little more of the friendly 7-11 clerk.

Potheads make my job easy

2006-09-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Brent left a comment on my last post saying "they make our job soooo easy". That statement is even more true when applied to potheads.

So far in my short time on the road I've made two small marijuana busts. Both were made incredibly easy by the actions of the bustees. The first came in the middle of July when I was still on FTO. My FTO and I were on a backroad on the outside of town. It was dark, and traffic was very light. I see a car approaching and it is missing a headlight. Well I'm bored since nothing is happening on the graveyard shift. I decided to stop the one-light car thinking I'll just give the driver a "fix-it" ticket.

I make a nice U-turn and get behind my target. I also notice it is missing a taillight and the license plate is improperly displayed. All valid reasons to stop the car. I let dispatch know I was going 10-60 and give my location, description of the vehicle, and the fact that it is occupied six times. My dispatcher freaks out a little bit and requests backup for me (I would have anyway, but never got a chance) I then switch on my overheads and spot light. As soon as I do this I see the three passengers in the back seat start moving around and bending over. "I need to get into this car" I think to myself, as my FTO asks if I saw that.

I approach the car and realize all occupants are juveniles. I get the driver's license and registration, and notice he is only sixteen years old. Better yet he has only had his license for three months, and in my state a new driver may not have passengers in the vehicle until he or she has had a driver's license for at least six months. This means everyone is coming out of the car and parents will be called.... at this point I notice something on the floorboard between the driver's feet. "Hmmm what can this be" I think as I shine my flashlight on the object. Sure enough it's a multicolored glass pipe. I now don't need to worry about the new driver I have my probable cause.

Out of the vehicle comes everyone. Two more deputies arrive, and with big grins on our faces we begin searching the car. I find a container with a "green leafy substance" in the ashtray and another pipe under the driver's seat. One of the other deputies finds another container with a "green leafy substance" under the passenger's seat.

None of the six people in the car seem to know where all this weed and the two pipes came from. No one would own up to bringing the pot. It must have been beamed aboard the car by Scotty from Star Trek because no one knows where it came from. Sooooo.... everyone was cited. Parents were called and juvenile court dates were set.

My second bust came two weeks ago. Early on my shift (I'm on afternoons now) I was dispatched on a suspicious persons call. The complainant has an open field behind her house and saw four people out there and heard screaming. I arrive and find four young adults sitting on lawn chairs under some trees. I can only think of one reason they'd be out there around 4:20pm, but I don't see any paraphernalia.

"What are we all doing out here?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing. Just enjoying the nice day."

B.S. Enjoying a nice green leafy substance is more like it. No one has written permission from the property owner to be there so I herd them all out of the field, and back to their car where I begin running names. Well one of them has a warrant. Not big enough for the jail to accept with the booking restrictions, but he doesn't know that. I tell him of his warrant and ask if he has anything on him I should know about. He says no, and I can't find anything. I ask to search the car. "Sure go ahead". Nothing in the car.... Damnit! I know these guys are smoking dope. Knowing potheads I know they'll be back. I make a big deal about telling Mr. Warrant that I'm cutting him a break by not taking him to jail, and that if I see any of them back out here I'm citing them all for trespassing. I cut them loose.

Several hours later, after dark, I return to the same field, and find a car parked back off the road. Three males are loitering near it. I tell dispatch I'll be out with three 10-47 males, and go to make contact. Well guess who one of them happens to be.... That's right, Mr. Warrant. I look at him and say "you again. Didn't I tell you not to come back?"

"Well I thought...."

"No, you weren't thinking."

And that is when I caught a wiff of burnt marijuana. I ask the other two nitwits what they are all doing out in a field at night. I get the standard response of "we were just hanging out".

"So if I look in your car I'm not going to find anything illegal?"

"No, go ahead and take a look," says one nitwit as he goes and opens the driver's side door for me. These guys didn't even make it a challenge. The weed was sitting in a plastic bag between the door and the driver's seat. I didn't even have to look for it. I pulled it out and let them know they were going to cut the crap and start telling the truth. Nitwit number one says it's his and produces another bag of pot from the ashtray, and a pipe from one of his pockets. He then opens the trunk where there is half a twelve pack of Corona, and shows me his pain pills. He has a prescription for the pills and it over 21 so he can have the beer. No appears to have been drinking so it's a citation for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, a criminal trespassing charge for Mr. Warrant, and I get to book evidence!

Rehab worked for me!

2006-09-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to back another deputy on a drug activity call. It seems some young folks were sitting in a car on a street in a nice middle class neighborhood smoking something out of aluminum foil.

We arrive on scene and find the car moved into a driveway and a female behind the wheel. Her friends had ducked into the house. We get the friends and homeowner outside. Mr. Homeowner, who's pupils are dilated, eyes are glassy, face is twitching, and who has an inability to stand still, tells us there is no way anyone was doing drugs. Being inquisitive we ask why that is. He states, in a manner that suggests he's very proud of himself "because we are all going to a rehab reunion. We all went to rehab together and there is a reunion at the rehab center".

Mr. Homeowner's buddy who is sluggish and flying higher than a kite confirms the story. I inquire about the physical symptoms Mr. Homeowner is displaying, and the lying begins. "When I found out the cops were her I got scared and nervous. That's why my eyes look like they do". Next it was "I'm having withdrawals. Withdrawals make your pupils do the same thing as when you're high"..... and a bunch of other B.S.

Finally we let this guy know that he has nice little warrant for assault, and hook him up. The tears start flowing. "What will my neighbors think? I go to church with these people. My family will find out.... waaaaa".

"Well sir, your neighbors are the reason we are here. Apparently they already know what is going on and don't want it to continue. Perhaps you should have thought of that before now".

After having a nice little chat he finally decides to fess up and tells us they were smoking heroin and popping pills. Apparently these knuckleheads were really going to a rehab reunion and decided to celebrate by what esle? Getting high of course, and instead of the rehab center they got to celebrate in jail!

Tased

2006-09-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well this blog hadn't exactly gone as planned. The academy was just a tad more time consuming than I had originally anticipated, so as you can see there hasn't been a post since before I actually started the academy. That's rather embarrassing for me. Anyway, I am reviving this blog, and plan to start posting on a regular basis.

I'm going to revive this blog with a little story from the academy (For those who don't know I graduated the academy back in May. I finished my FTO training at the end of July, and am finally out on my own!). My class consisted of a total of 24 cadets only one of which was female. At some point in April or May, it was all a blur, we went to the firearms range for two weeks of intensive training. This training included Taser certification. Well as part of the Taser class we had the "option" of being tased. The plan, for most of us, going into this torture session was to have the prongs taped to us and only take a half second jolt. Unfortunately each class has a couple muscle bound meatheads with too much testosterone coursing through their veins. My class was no different.

Meat head number one steps up to volunteer to be tased first. Not only to be tased first, but to take the full five second ride. Not just to take the full five second ride, but to also be shot with the prongs.

"No big deal" I think. This was to be expected from Mr. Meathead. There are still 23 others who are going to take the "easy" way out.

Next up is Mr. Meathead's buddy Mr. Meathead number two. He steps up to show he's not going to let number one be the only one to take the prongs and the full five seconds. These two knuckleheads have had some type of competition only they can understand, going on all academy long. They then somehow talk a third cadet into the five second torture.

After cadet number three takes the prongs and the full five seconds a little peer pressure starts building. "No big deal. I'm not going to be suckered into this game" I say to myself. There's still 21 others who have said they were only taking a half second..... WRONG!! Another cadet falls to peer pressure, and then the worst thing ever happened. The only female in the class stepped up and took the five second torture. Well it went downhill from there. We couldn't let the only female show the rest of us up. The entire class ended up taking the barbs and the full five seconds of full body cramp caused by the Taser. Grown men screamed like little girls, and the laughter of those who had gone before filled the room. It was the torture before the torture.

Finally my turn came. It was the worst pain EVER. There were flashes of red light before my eyes... I kept wishing for a black tunnel with a white light at the end. No such luck. It was only five seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. My arms spasmed. They ended up looking like those little arms on a Tyrannosaurus Rex. I collapsed to the floor disheveled, tired, and eager to get out on the road and find some dirtbag worthy of breaking in the Taser I would soon be issued!

Anti-police Nut

2005-11-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Two times in as many weeks my lunch break has been tainted by the anti-police rantings of some crazy lady who has decided to make my favorite lunchtime hangout her favorite lunchtime hangout. I am a regular at this local establishment, am friends with the owner, and know most of the other regular customers. They all know I'll soon be starting the police academy and are almost as excited as I am, so it's a frequent topic of conversation. Anyway two weeks ago crazy bipolar lady shows up out of the blue, and after listening to our conversation for a few minutes pipes up and tells me, "you are too normal to work for the Sheriff's Department". I look at her somewhat bewildered, and say, "thanks, I think". She then goes on about how the local Sheriff's Department is supposedly full of crazies, and other mentally disturbed individuals. I look at her as if she's nuts, and go back to talking to my friends. I thought that would be the end of it, sure enough I was wrong. She showed up again last week, and proceeded to go off on the Sheriff's Department again. Something about Deputies accepting "sexual favors" in exchange for letting female motorists go without a citation, and "you don't want to work there. Why not Highway Patrol, they're paid more" (not true) blah blah blah.... Finally I look this moron in the eye and say, "I'm sorry you've had a bad experience with the Sheriff's Department. If you have a legitimate complaint with evidence to back up your case then please contact someone at the Sheriff's Department with it. I've not yet started working for them, and quite honestly I don't think you know what you're talking about. Now please let me enjoy my meal without bashing the organization I am going to work for". A look of disbelief from her, and then she says, in a huff facial expression changing to anger and disgust, "you'll fit right in with the rest of them there".

P.T.

2005-10-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm preparing for the physical training portion of the police academy, and today I feel like I've been pummeled by one of those ultimate fighter guys on TV. Yesterday I increased the intensity of my workout to better prepare for the seven mile runs I'll be facing in the academy, and I'm paying the price for it today. Seven miles. That's a long run. I really can't imagine any foot pursuit lasting seven miles.... right now I can't see myself running seven miles (chasing someone or not), but I'm working up to it!

I get hired

2005-10-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

For a little over a year now I've been attempting to gain employment as a police officer. I tested with several agencies, before finally finding success! Three weeks ago I was offered a position as Deputy Sheriff with a local law enforcement agency. I begin the police academy January 2, 2006 until that time I'll share thoughts, observations, and experiences related to preparing myself for training. Once I start the academy this will be your source to "ride along" with me as I train to become a Deputy Sheriff, and subsequently hit the streets.