Again please ignore spelling and grammar.....this is not a reflection of how I write. I consider this more like keeping a journal and this is all juts free thought flowing....so again I'm sorry for all the typo's etc....I really just dont have the time to sit here and proofread everything...that being said................
I have to say this week felt pretty good. Again I wish I could remember everything that happened. Sometimes it all just runs together and I don't have time to post everynight. For that, I'm truely sorry. Family....the dept really does feel like a family. Thats all I've ever wanted at any job I've ever had. I felt that way up when I was dispatching as well. Its nice to feel that way again. I'm still the rook and the FNG but for the most part my dept has an awesome attitude. They completely treat me with respect. I gotta say that it just feels darn good.
It was my last week with this particular supervisor. I've been on his crew for about a month now. I told him at the end of shift that I really appreciated workin with him and that I had felt like I'd learned alot over the past few weeks. He told me thanks for all the hard work and enthusiasm. That made me feel very good. Its just a few simple words but those things really matter to me, more than money or vacation time or anything else. Just knowin that you are appreciated for the work that you do.
I've never really had a job where I look forward to coming to work. I think that is a major accomplishment. Sometimes I think to myself "dang I'd be happy making 10 bucks an hour to do this". Are there times when I'm 2 or 3 hours into working on the same darn thing etc etc and I think that this job isn't all that it's cracked up to? Sure....or when you get pissed on (like for reals pissed on?) absolutely. But for the most part, I love it. It was my friday today and the night crew came on, I was gettin ready to leave and they asked if I wanted to stay for dinner. That....along with the Sgt's words just a little bit before that just made me feel good...accepted. There is a really strong brotherhood shared as cops. Its hard to get in that circle of trust but when your there.....there is nothing like it. The bottom line is knowing that your brother in blue (or sister...no I'm not sexist ladies) has your back if your getting killed.
There is alot of freedom in this job. That's what I like the most about it. Being able to get in your car and get all the gadgets working like your computer, shotgun, lightbar, radio and then hitting the road. Sky is the limit.....you want to go try and find dirtbags at bad hotels? Have at it......how bout some traffic enforcement? Knock yourself out. Granted that falls hand in hand with the opposite side of the coin......when you want to do that stuff but get stuck with silly report calls all day.
Like today....I got dispatched out to a threats report. I get there and the lady talks my ear off. After about 20 minutes listening to her babble you want to scream at the top of your lungs LADY I DONT CARE WHAT HAPPENED 2 YEARS AGO, WHY DID YOU CALL THE POLICE TODAY? WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW?
You would have thought she was pitching me a new idea for a novel she was authoring. I got there and I asked what had happened and how could I help her. And we're off........she apparently was some sort of care taker/very good friend/possibly a girlfriend? ..of a very old man. He had gotten her a few credit cards in her name so she could take care of his affairs and pay bills...that sort of thing. Well he passed away........the guys actual family goes nuts. Wanting the credit cards back etc etc etc. You could imagine how long this story went on for explaining 14 years of drama and history etc etc etc.
Halfway through she starts to cry so bad that I can't hardly understand her......then her phone rings (this is about after 25 minutes of listening to her and trying to direct her to keep on task telling me what is going on..directed questioning etc)...so sure she called the police and they came all the way out there (me) and patiently listened with a smile on my face...sure.....sure....oh yeah sure GREAT TIME TO ANSWER THE PHONE LADY. She said "o this is my lawyer I have to take this". Sure why not......they start talking there...she starts getting more animated and excited and more crying happens and after about 5 minutes of me staring at her like what the F lady......and me conspicuously/obviously looking at my watch in front of her......I politely ask "mam do you think you could talk to me and give him a call back?" Well that made her happy and all of a sudden she tells the lawyer that "well the police are here and now they don't want to do anything about it". WHAT?! Hello!!! I'm right here totally trying to help you........so I finally had to use my big-boy voice cause I was really tired of Fu@k'n around with this lady.............I said let me talk to the lawyer. "Hi this is Officer so-n-so with the blankity blank police department do you think you could give her a call back later in the day so I can help this lady out? "why yes" he replied...."in fact I told her that she didn't need to talk to me right now while I was just on the phone". @#$%^&(*&^%$#@$%^&*&^%$#!!!!!!!!
**Click**
Ok mam...as you were saying? blah blah blah...."ok mam, what happened today to make you decide that you were threatened and needed to call the police" well so and so called....who is so and so I asked.......oh thats so and so's sister who was the former roomates uncles daughter's mother-in-laws- ex babysitters neighbor etc etc etc. Oh and who is so and so?? Oh He's the doctor of the so and so who did the whatever..............................blah blah blah and on it went.
You get the point and you can see how difficult it is...thats not even the half of it. It was so convoluted etc. People always think that cops are rude but I think if people understood that the above paragraph is what we have to deal with all the time when talking to people they would understand why we are very short and to the point and ask simple questions and have to lead people to the answers we need or information we need. And all the time that you are trying to listen to them ramble about things that have no relavence to the reason that they called, you are thinking in your head......"what kind of crime do I have? Is there a crime here? What are the elements needed for that crime to occur, what kind of intent did they have to show...what evidence do I have..? is this just a civil matter or a criminal matter, what am I gonna need for this report...what information.....what kind of report will I label this as etc etc.
Anyway....long story short (yeah wish I had that magic wand that could make the long story short out in the field). It boiled down to this.....she got a call from the daughter of the man that she caretaked for. She wanted the credit cards back (that had been issued to her) because he was deceased now and no longer needed to be taken care of. She then threatened the gal I was talking to by saying "I'm gonna mess up your car". Do we have a threat right there? Yes......out of that entire mess of talking to this gal that one sentence was what I needed and nothing else mattered......that is why she had called the cops...really wish she would have just said....."yeah I called you today because someone I know threatened to damage my car". But even then...nothing specific was mentioned.....not I'm gonna blow up your car...I'm going to slash your tires...I'm going to fill your car up with cheese whizz etc etc.....
Got the "suspects" name and found her in the computer and she lived nearby. Went over to the "suspects" house and talked to her. She was completely calm...completely sane...very easy to talk to.....I got no impression at all that she was being dishonest with me. She admitted to calling her but made no threats toward her at all. Denied making any threats at all to the lady or her car. Now....you get the feel for people after a while if they are lying or giving you half truths...I didn't get that at all from this "suspect". So now what do you do.......technically I had enough to arrest her on the spot....in this state Harrassment (which includes threats....there is no law concerning threats...its under harrassment instead) is a misdemeanor presence exception meaning that an Ofc doesnt have to witness that category of crime in order to make an arrest......basically as long as you have a victim who said they received a threat like that then you can arrest them without having witnesses etc.........I knew that this person had called my 'victim" cause I saw her number on her phone. In my gut though I felt that my "victim" had made it up after talking to the other person (the suspect). So what did I do? Got a statement from both of them and wrote it as an informational report. STUPID ISN'T IT?
Anyway folks....I just realized that this is probably boring many of you to pieces so I'm gonna cut it off there for the night.....more later.
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