#100 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Sat Jun 15, 2002 2:06 pm

Subject: Stories from other Officers lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

In the last email I asked for some stories from other officers out there. The

response has been awesome. Below is a few stories to keep your mind going. If

you have a police story that you would like to submit. Send it to me with a

short description of who you are and what you do.

Russell

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>From Hulbert:

I am interested in submitting stories whenever possible. The only problem is

that I, being a Military Policeman on a restricted post, don't always end up

with many tales or humorous ones. But whenever I get one I would be more than

happy to share other people's , um, misfortunes (stupidity) with you. We do get

an occasional "What the heck?" but not much. I think it would be interesting

for civilian police officers to see what happens on our side though.

This is kinda an old story but here goes,

In the summer of 1999 I was deployed to Kosovo in support of the operations

there. We were sitting in our trucks at a gas station that we used as a drop

off point to pick up certain documents that required an escort. When the nearby

unit dropped them off we would carry them to the destination. One particular

day we had picked up documents and were getting back in the trucks when an

elderly Albanian approached us with something in his hands. He started saying

in Albanian very loudly "BOMBA, BOMBA, BOMBA". We had our weapons at the ready

before we figured out that it was a battery. Apparently "bomba" means battery

in Albanian.

Hulbert

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Robert

Personal synopsis:

My name is Deputy Robert Cox. I am 26 years old and have been a police

officer for just under a year. I work for a medium-to-large size police

agency in the urban area in the Northwest. My agency is very big on

training, for which I am very grateful.

I have completed my state certification, as well as my department's field

training program. During the latter, I worked with a partner for five weeks

on graveyard shift, five weeks on day shift, and five weeks on swing shift.

For my final two weeks of field training, I rode with a training officer who

wore civilian clothes and could not answer any questions for me.

I am presently assigned to my agency's second swing-shift, which is

2pm-10pm. We bid on shifts ever six months. I am assigned right now to a

fairly quiet district, so I frequently drift into other areas to handle or

cover other officers on 'hot' calls. A couple of things I hate about swing

shift: the traffic (!) and family fights (!!).

I have a hard time sitting still and will make traffic stops for minor

violations in order to have something to do. I like to be very productive

and have a goal for myself to make at least one arrest a day.

I love my job and consider myself very fortunate to be doing something that

I enjoy so much. I am an adrenaline junkie and love the feeling I get when

I'm driving code-three (lights and siren) on the way to a 'hot' call.

Robert

Wednesday, June 5, 2002 - 2pm to 10pm

Today we were very short-handed and I felt it. We had two deputies covering

an area where we normally have five or six. Each time I cleared a call, I

got sent another one. I could see a list of calls holding. Unfortunately,

people waited quite a while today for service on non-priority calls.

After briefing, I was checking my work email when a sergeant asked if I

could clear for a 911 hang-up. This huge apartment complex (608 units) gets

a lot of calls for service (domestics, fights, etc.) and I have been there

many times. I got to the apartment where the 911 call came from and knocked

and got no answer. I saw a neighbor leaving and he told me he had heard

fighting there earlier. Suddenly, this became an opportunity to possibly

kick the door in. I called for another deputy to respond and I made contact

with the manager's office for a key. With the key, the other deputy and I

knocked again, announced, "Sheriff's Office - Open the door!" and then went

in. We searched the three-bedroom apartment at gunpoint, finding nothing.

There weren't even signs of a fight or struggle.

En route to an audible alarm, I was disregarded and sent to a welfare check

at a neighborhood park. A jogger reported seeing an elderly man fall down.

He said the man was dressed in mis-matched pajamas and socks. I was right

in the area and got there a minute after the call was dispatched. I found

the 86-year-old man, who told me that he wasn't hurt. He gave me his name,

date of birth, wife's name, and phone number without difficulty, but gave me

several addresses and didn't know the day, month, president of the United

States, etc. I figured he was a walk-away from a care facility (quite

common). I didn't feel he was a danger to himself, so I couldn't compel him

to come with me, which he didn't want to do. Dispatch found a driver's

license record for the man and his local address. I drove to it to see if

his wife or caretaker was there. I was shocked that it was nearly a mile

away and he had crossed a very busy street without any problem. His wife

was there and had just returned from the store. She was very concerned and

came with me to the park to get him.

While I was tied up on this welfare check call, other deputies were involved

in a brief pursuit with a stolen car, which ended up crashing into two other

cars. Unrelated but right around the same time, another deputy was

transporting someone to jail and was rear-ended.

I responded to an audible alarm in a decent neighborhood and found nothing

out of the ordinary. A dog in the back yard prevented me from walking

around the house. Responded to a very large corporate complex to pick up

some found property. Some drunk had been trespassed the night before by

their security, and they didn't find his backpack until the next day. As a

community-policing deputy, sometimes I have to spend more time on

neighborhood issues than I would like. I try to be very patient and

thorough, but sometimes I feel it is a huge waste of time. I spent the

better part of an hour listening to three residents tell me about teenagers

hitting golf balls with a baseball bat from a deck on a house on the hill

above them. I tried to find out who it was, but it would be too hard to

prove who did it without a confession. I responded to a criminal mischief

call at a local park where someone had called in anonymously to report that

person A and person B (names were given) had used markers to write ("Fat

Ass" and "Red Head Bitch" among them) on the swings.

I responded to a custodial interference call at some nice apartments. A

lady told me that she and her husband were arguing and he left with the kids

to his friend's house. I asked what they were fighting about and she said

he is addicted to Cybersex. She said he looks at porn, posts his own and

responds to other women's personal ads, etc. and she is sick of it. I told

her that since they are still married (they aren't even separated) I had no

lawful authority to get her kids back from her husband.

Next I responded to a fraud call at a pizza restaurant. But first, I had to

drive through a Carl's Jr. and get some food. I hadn't even had breakfast

this morning, so I was really hungry by 6:30pm when I was dispatched on the

bad check call. A delivery customer had written a $100 check to the

business and the check wasn't any good. I got a description of the suspect

and seized the check and the order ticket as evidence. As it was so busy, I

did not get to follow up on this during my shift.

On the computer, I saw a burglary call holding and I recognized the address

as the house where I responded to an audible alarm earlier in the shift. I

volunteered for the call and responded. The residents told me someone had

forced the door that goes from their back yard into their garage. I saw

their forced door, which they had already touched, eliminating the

possibility of the collection of fingerprints. I am not sure how the person

did it with the dog in the back yard. The residents guessed it was someone

that the dog recognized.

I have been looking for a suspect in an Assault IV case and have been going

to his apartment at different times on different days trying to find him at

home. I hadn't been successful, so I tried again at the end of my shift

last night with another deputy. This time, he was standing out in front of

his apartment. I hadn't seen him before (just had a good description from

his wife, who was the victim in the case) so I had to make sure I had his

identity correct. He lied about his name, but was so dumb he couldn't come

up with a last name or date of birth for himself. He would not consent to

let me search his back pockets, only the front ones. Finally, he said he

had ID in his car he would show us. He pulled out a very fake Resident

Alien (green card) and a very fake Social Security card. I now had a crime

(Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument) to arrest him for and search

his back pockets. Sure enough, he had his wallet and in his wallet a state

ID card identifying him as my suspect. I took him to jail and lodged him.

I then got about 45 minutes of overtime writing the report about him. A

VERY busy shift - ten calls handled in eight hours.

Thursday, June 6, 2002 - 2pm to 10pm

Today was a lot slower than yesterday, which was nice, because it allowed me

to catch up on several reports that I still needed to write. For the first

two hours of my shift, I was inside the office on the computer and on the

telephone. It felt SO GOOD to finally leave the office and go out on

patrol.

Right off the bat, I responded to an injury crash involving four cars.

Three cars were stopped for a red light when the driver of the fourth

slammed into a car, causing the chain reaction. Only one driver (the third

of the four cards) was injured and transported to the hospital. Another

deputy cited the fourth car for Careless Driving.

I responded to a cold (not in progress) burglary and took a report from a

man who had some musical equipment ($1,900 worth) taken from his vacant

former residence where he held practices for his band. He had no suspect

information. He said the house had boards on the windows, but some of the

boards are missing and it is very easy to get in. In addition, he was

unsure if the front door was unlocked during the time in question when the

suspect entered the house.

I met my roommate at Starbucks and had a new experience. As we were sitting

outside and I was sucking my berry smoothie from a straw, I hear a voice

say, "That's him. That's the mother fucker that towed my car." I look up

and recognize a young man whose car I towed a few weeks ago, because his

friend was driving it without a license. I spoke up and asked if he had

questions for me or if he wanted to come over and talk to me in my face

instead of muttering things. He did not, but continued to make little snide

comments. He and his group of friends sat at the outdoor table right next

to mine and he loudly explained that the Sheriff's office "aren't real cops"

and that he was going to go to "lawyer school" someday to "get criminals

off."

My friend and I finally left, wanting some peace. I had already been

accosted by a strange man as I approached the Starbucks. He said, "I'm the

one that called!" I of course had no idea what he was talking about, but I

guess he had a confrontation with a gang member shortly before my arrival.

As there was no crime or emergency, I told him to wait for the city police

officer that was en route. Just inside the store, another lady came up to

me and told me that someone ran the stop sign in the parking lot and almost

hit her.

Responding to a cold hit-and-run call, my lane of travel was blocked by a

car who was trying to make a left turn. There were two lanes going east,

two lanes going west, and a center left-turn-only lane. This car was almost

100% in my lane (I was going straight) and well ahead of the white line

indicating where cars need to stop. This gentleman had cross traffic. His

biggest problems: he was blocking my lane of travel and (!) where his car

was, he wasn't going to trigger the left turn light. I hit my air horn to

get him to go straight, but he continued sitting there.

Since he was restricting my lawful movement to move forward, we now had a

violation (Impeding Traffic). I turned on my overhead lights, then backed

up to trigger the left-turn light. When it turned green, I let him go and

then followed him into a parking lot, where I issued a citation for:

Impeding Traffic ($77), Failure to Carry Vehicle Registration ($77), and

Failure to Carry Proof of Insurance ($175).

The hit-and-run was at a bar and had occurred the night before between

6:30pm and 2:30am. The victim was a bartender. He had a very large dent in

the left quarter-panel of his Toyota Camry. He had no suspect information

and the bar does not have surveillance cameras in the parking lot.

Another deputy called for back-up (or "cover," as we say) on a subject stop

with three gang members. I was nearby, so I volunteered. We conducted

field interviews and learned that these were only "wanna bes," meaning they

had not yet been "jumped in" to membership with the gang ("Brown Crowd").

The deputy stopped them because one was carrying a large stick, which he

promptly put up his sleeve when he saw the gang task force car.

I hid in a Kindercare parking lot behind a yellow bus and wrote out my

reports. It was now the end of my shift and I had a few minutes to kill. I

passed a car without its headlights on, so I turned around and went after

it. While this is sometimes a violation that leads us to drunk drivers,

it's often just a simple mistake. When I got positioned behind the car and

was about to turn on my overhead lights, he makes a left turn, running a

solid red light. Now I figure that he saw me and is trying to run, so I

call out my location and call for cover. The guy starts getting out of his

car and I yell at him to stay there, still not knowing what I have. It

turns out he's a normal guy, a dad who was late picking up his kid from

somewhere. I made him a little later, though, by citing him for Failure to

Obey a Traffic Control Device ($175).

Robert

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#101 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Sat Jul 20, 2002 8:41 pm

Subject: Flipping the birdie lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

I recently responded to a call that just seemed wrong. A female advised that a

small wild bird had just attacked her daughter. When dispatch gave me the

assignment I figured that it was just another unfounded chirping bird call.

Since it was on a weekend there is no Animal control units on duty, the officer

in that area gets the call.

When I arrived I pulled my patrol car next to the curb a few houses down. When I

got out of my patrol car I walked to the address that I had been advised. A very

frightened adult female peaked though a partially opened door. She appeared very

frightened and was sobbing slightly as she spoke.

She explained to me that a small bird had just attacked her daughter. When she

went out to help her daughter, the bird began flapping and flying all around

their heads, pulling at their hair and chirping loudly and frequently.

I stood there on her front porch and silently rolled my eyes as her story seemed

to be a bit more wacky with every detail she added.

"Can you get rid of it for us"? I said I am not sure, but I think I can help

ya.

Ma'am. why don't you close the door and l will go look for the bird. She said

its over there, pointing to the west corner of the home. I walked to the area

and then heard a quick Chirp. Then another, and another. As I rounded the

corner I could see this little black bird sitting in the middle of the driveway.

He was suddenly silent now. I stood there staring at him with the same silence

he had showed me.

As I relaxed and began to make a mental plan as to best deal with the little

critter. At that moment the battle had begun. I just didn't know it. The bird

squared off with me. I took a step back to see what he was planning. With that

movement back, the bird hopped quickly toward me. He was only a few feet back

from me now. I took two big, quick steps back in order to give myself a little

space.

At the last moment, the bird lunged. He jumped and flapped right toward me. As

he closed in I though about all the items I could use on the bird. The gun not

an option because I didn't really think it would take on shut as the darn thing

was in my face like a Tasmanian Devil. I stumbled back from him, swinging my

arms in all different directions. It was like swinging at the thin air. I was

just about to start yelling and screaming. But my first attempt of a scream came

out more like a high pitched little girl.

I gathered my senses and decided to step back again. With on intense swing, I

nicked on of his wings deflecting the little predator. He intent was to impale

his little beak into the center of my chest, so the deflection sent him into a

tail spin. He landed about 15 feet away.

I stopped and took a large breath of fresh air.

How am I going to catch this bird? I think if your scoring rounds, he's up 2-0

I called the other officers and asked if any of them had a net. Of course there

was only silence. The silence speaks for its self.

I could see that the children who had been attacked earlier were inside the

house looking out the window. They saw very clearly as that tiny winged thing

whooped up on the cop sent here to save em. I just lowered my head in shame.

Suddenly I saw another patrol car round the corner "BACK UP" I thought to

myself.

Then the officer stepped out of his patrol car and asked what I was doing. I

could tell that he had the mind set that this is a bunch of BS and lets get this

call over with.

He walked over to my location and handed me a small box. Let's put him in here.

I said, ok. Lets.

Suddenly the little bird began flapping and darting right at me. He was

squawking and squealing as if there was no tomorrow. This was his last chance.

He wanted to go out in a ball of fire.

The other officers eyes got that OH CRAP look as the tweedy cruised toward me.

He stepped back but I had not time. At the last second, I swung the box in an

effort to save my face from being impaled. The box struck the creature quite

solidly. He flew in a small circle looking for a safe place to crash land. He

made a little poof sound in the grass as he settled in.

I walked over and put the box over him and relaxed.......................but it

was too soon. As soon as I adjusted the box to seal it----------------the bird

instantly escaped.

He flew across the yard and appeared to be preparing another attack.

This time we charged toward him. He took a couple hops backwards. As soon as he

looked away we pounced on him like two veteran ally cats.

I was able to seal the box and secure it in the trunk of my car.

Then the reporting party came outside and asked if there was anything she could

do. I told her that we had it all well in control.

She pointed to a large tree on the east side of her house. There was big fluffy

yellow cat laying across a branch. She said, "I bet that cat frightened the bird

outta the tree". I said "I think its more likely that bird scared that cat up

the tree and he's now scared to come down.

I took the bird out a an forested area west of the city and left him outta the

box. I did it carefully and got back in my patrol car again before the bird had

a chance to attack again.

This story was sent to me by a subscriber. I got such a kick out of it that I

decided to forward it to ya'll.

List is currently at 2138 members. Help this email list to grow. Please forward

these emails to your colleagues, friends, and family! They can join this free

service by writing to me at russ@lifeonthebeat.com or by simply visiting my

website http://www.lifeonthebeat.com and clicking on SUBSCRIBE at the main page.

Stay in touch and let me know what you think.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#102 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Sun Jul 21, 2002 5:33 am

Subject: oops lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

That last story was about me. When I copied and pasted the clip at the bottom

requesting ya'll you foreword the message I copied too much from one of the last

emails I sent.

I admit. That is a true story. I lived it.

The bird is happy now. No cats where I dropped him off.

Russell

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#103 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Sun Jul 21, 2002 9:04 pm

Subject: A friend needs help. lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

Tonight I received an email from a friend of mine in Wisconsin. She is asking

for assistance in locating a man wanted as a suspect in the disappearance of her

nephews fiancé.

Apparently he is on the run back there. Read this article and then keep your

eyes open for us. I know that there are several subscribers from the upper

mid-west.

If anyone has any idea's let me know.

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Have been meaning to e-mail you and actually ask if (Russell) can help. My

nephew's (brothers son who all live in Wausau,Wi) fiancé is missing in the

Wittenberg area-- which you will also be familiar with in your travels--. They

go out to a campgrounds on alot of weekends and tend bar and stay in a trailer

for the weekends. Last Saturday night Mike left her when she was counting the

money in the till and walked a guy back to his trailer who was pretty

drunk--usually he waits for her to help clean up and this night he decided to be

a good guy and help this guy get home. Anyway she has not been seen since. The

owner went and got Mike when Deanna didn't bring the money to his place and went

back to the bar and the outside back door was wide open. Have searched the

area, had dogs out and everything but nothing. There was no signs of a struggle

and now can figure out why. They are looking for a 6"9" , 259# guy who was

bragging about abducting her and having sex with her. He was also seen burning

some bloody cloths in a trash can outside the apartment he was living in and

they have found articles of her belongings in his garage. Anyway he is on the

run. At that size should be easily seen--his nickname is "whale" and real name

Dale Milton Robinson. He was recently released from prison for armed robbery not

far from here and is only 29 years old. We need people all over to get his

picture out--can locate his and hers on the Wausau Daily Herald newspaper web

site. She is a mother of 3 and the baby-not even 2 yet is Mike's daughter.

There is an article in that newspaper today about "Missing Adults Draw Less

Scrutiny" and is that ever true. Wednesday I called all the Greenbay t.v

stations to get it broadcasted and help find her--that was even before they had

a suspect--and has been absolutely nothing on any of them. Even my husbands

brother who is chief of police in northern Wisconsin has had nothing come across

thru his department as of yesterday morning. This is absolutely ridiculous--an

adult isn't any less important to a family than a missing child is and nothing

there to have everyone help find her--she is only 33 years old and a mother of

3. These things always happen to someone else and really don't think about the

laws until it happens to you!!! PLEASE see what you can do about getting an

interest started so they get looking for this creep nation wide. Try to find

the article in the Wausau paper from today. I could only get into it by putting

is Wausau,wi newspapers. Have copied the article and am going to write a letter

to the Green Bay t.v stations just to let them know how I feel about them not

putting anything on. Their viewing area connects with the Wausau viewing area

and feel any kind of publicity could maybe help find her and more importantly at

this point HIM so maybe at least he will talk and let everyone know where he

left her. Please help if you can!!! Thank you--the whole family and hers will

appreciate anything that can be done!!! It doesn't look very promising that she

is still alive but if can at least find her one way or

another-----------------------------------

Thanks,

Sal

Anyone with information should call 911, the Marathon County Sheriff's

Department at 847-0200 or the Langlade County Sheriff's Department at 627-6411.

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Here are some websites I looked up quickly. I will try to add her pic and the

suspect to my site as soon as I find one.

http://www.waow.com/missing/ (More information and photos of Deanna and suspect)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/284013245078750.shtml (Article about

the abduction with some details of the suspect)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/280646882678877.shtml (Article with a

few more details and information about this case)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/275417095259537.shtml (Article

detailing information on the suspect)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/276278600460874.shtml (One of the

first articles in the local paper)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/275394196484572.shtml (Initial Details

from the local paper)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/277124483944616.shtml (Another article

from last week)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/photos/Missingposter.jpg (This is

a picture of the missing girl)

Thank you for your help,

Russell

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#104 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Thu Aug 8, 2002 10:32 am

Subject: New list and lastest adventure lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

Before I give ya the rundown on my latest adventures I want to make a huge

announcement. I have began a new mailing list through YahooGroups.com called

CRIMESTORIES. Anyone with a police or law enforcement related story can write

and send it out to the list. This will not be a discussion list at this time,

only another place for some more police stories.

I believe the link to sign up for CrimeStories is

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Crimestories/

If you would like to send stories into the list for all to read follow these

directions. First, sign up for the list through yahoo or email me a request to

join CrimeStories. Then, after your signed up, email me a request to participate

as a moderator. This will allow you to send stories.

The rules for your stories are simple. They need to be interesting and related

to law enforcement. They also need to be clean (no swearing) and free from any

personal advertising.

Once you have signed up as a moderator you can feel free to send as many emails

as you would like. I am hoping to get a few hundred subscribers to read the

emails before the end of the month.

So far, everyone I have spoken with about this new list is very excited. Please

let me know if you have any questions or comments.

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*************************************

Working day shift seems to hamper a lot of the really exciting calls but, this

week I have seen a few crazy calls.

About a week ago I was on a traffic stop. I had pulled a man over for speeding

and already written the citation. He was 45 in a 25 (a residential area), so I

scratched him one. He began to tell me that the reason he was speeding is

because he is lost and had never been down this road before. I quickly and

honestly answered him by saying "If you have never been down this road, don't

you think that its a better idea to drive slower, instead of faster than the

speed limit?" He agreed, but I already knew he would. I have heard that excuse

about 1000 times. Anyway, 20 over is gonna land a cite nearly every time.

I gave the guy directions (because he was lost, remember) and got him on his

way. I was walking back to my patrol car when I saw a huge cloud of dirt and

dust behind my patrol car. I knew what it was but it did not make sense. The

rear of my patrol car was on the north-east corner of the intersection, and the

dust was on the south-west corner of the intersection.

I continued to watch the cloud of dirt and dust to see the cause as I walked to

the patrol car. I got to the door of my car and then saw a vehicle emerge from

the cloud and pull onto the roadway. The vehicle pulled to the stop sign and the

driver looked at me. I could see now that he had lost control of he car and left

the roadway. Both tires on the drivers side were flat and the vehicle was

covered in dirt and weeds.

The drivers eyes were as wide as silver dollars when he looked at me. I was

still a bit confused as to what had happened, so I waved to the guy and motioned

him to pull over. At that time, he floored the car and turned east up a road

behind my patrol car. As he floored it he turned his head and appeared to me

that he was not going to stop for any reason.

I hopped into my car and backed into the intersection. By now there was several

motorists stopped at the intersection waving my through because they observed

the man fail to stop for my command. I quickly slammed the car into drive and

mashed the gas pedal, eastbound in an attempt to stop the guy. I still had my

overhead lights and wig wags on, so I just grabbed the radio and asked for

another patrol unit to start my direction.

The bad part about grabbing the radio at this time of a "pursuit" is that your

voice is never as calm as you want it to sound. I mean for me, I would like to

have one arm draped over the seat next to me, the local tunes on the dial, a

window down so I could wave at small children as I chased the

suspect..............but that never happens. Immediately your voice tightens up

and you scream your location to dispatch. Usually your sense of north, south,

east and west is about as reliable as a broken compass in a magnetic room (or

something like that).

After calling for some back up I needed to keep a keen eye upon the suspect. I

knew that he had a slight lead on me, but could not get too far without the two

tires on his drivers side. He crested a hill a few hundred yards ahead of me

then disappeared around a corner. As I came to that intersection I was not sure

what way he had gone. Then I saw him, he was flying down the middle of the

roadway of a quiet residential neighborhood. This stuff scares me because its

people like this kid that end up killing innocent people.

Realizing that I have no idea why the kid is running, I decided that it may be

best to back off. Just as I was throwing that decision through my head, I saw

that the car was slowing a bit. I sped up and pulled behind the suspect. He then

slammed on his brakes and pulled to the right side of the road quickly and

erratically. His car remained at about a 45 degree angle, with the tail end

hanging into the roadway.

I popped out of my car and leaned on the open cruiser door. I ordered the two

individuals inside to put their hands on the ceiling of the car. Slowly both

followed my commands. I was waiting for backup when the driver yelled something

out at me. I told him to sit tight.

As another unit arrived I approached the vehicle on the passenger side. The

passenger looked straight ahead and would not make eye contact. I slowly looked

into the vehicle and spoke calmly to the driver. "License, registration, and

insurance --sir". He immediately attempted to explain himself. I tried to get

his information before getting into it, but finally realized he was quite amped

up.

I got the driver out of the car and quickly scanned him for weapons. When all

was clear I asked him what he was doing. He said that he was not paying

attention and drove off the road. When he saw me he freaked out.

I asked if he saw me wave him over to stop. He said he did, but was just scared

because he wrecked the car. I pointed out the fact that both tires on the car

were flat and the car was covered in dirt and weeds. He seemed surprised that he

was driving on 2 flat tires and asked if he could look at them.

Another officer went back to the scene and at his best guess, the suspect had

been going too fast down the road, he must have saw my patrol car with the

lights and then lost control of his car into the field. He had slid several feet

sideways into the area and hit several large rocks, thus popping the tires on

the drivers side.

He admitted that he was trying to evade me, but he only did it because he was

scared.

After speaking to he and the passenger, I found that they were both juveniles.

We had a long conversation about driving safety and then running from the

police.

I charged the driver with several small violations instead of the large felony

evading charge.

After getting the car out of the roadway, I shuttled both kids home and

explained the situation there.

I guess I was lucky again that every thing turned out for the best. I can only

imagine what would have happened if that kid lost control of his car 1-2 seconds

later. He would have taken my patrol car out with him.

Russell

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#105 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Mon Aug 19, 2002 7:56 pm

Subject: stress, stress and more stress lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

Working day shift today was much the same as any other day. Boring, delayed

calls from people who leave expensive items in their vehicle, expecting that the

stuff will be there in the morning. Every Monday its the same thing. We respond

to the dozens of autoburglaries from the weekend. I never understand people

leaving laptops, PDA's, Cell phones, credit cards and checkbooks inside a

vehicle.

I will roll up the windows and lock the doors, it'll be safe. WRONG.

Anyway, after taking calls of that nature things usually slow down. We head to

areas that generate a lot of complaints from citizens about speeding persons. As

I pull up to this one area I stop and speak to a lady. She is going on and on

about the speeding cars up and down the road. I said, "You see that pull out,

right over there", she said "yes". I said that's right where I am headed to run

some radar and do traffic control.

She then got this real discussed look on her face. She said, "you know what?" No

say's I "I really hate it when you cops run radar like that. It's like your

setting a trap. I see you as if your a snake in the grass.

Now I am confused. You want enforcement but don't do it this way or that.

She acknowledged that it was contradictory, however, that's what she thought.

I felt Deja VU---------When I talk to my 2 year old and she gets caught in a

corner, with nothing else to say pppppppbpbpbpbppb!!!! She sticks out her

tongue. Fair enough she wins.

While talking to the woman in this story I was tempted to end the conversation

by using my daughters tactics. But I did not, However as she turned back around

to face me I could have swore she was going to poke her tongue at me out of her

own personal self-defeat.

I left the area, tongue in mouth----actually it was in cheek.

Dispatch advised, very calmly and matter of fact that we had a traffic accident

at a major intersection. The call sounded as if it was just a fender bender.

Then an off officer rolls up and upgrades the paramedics to CODE 3 (lights and

sirens)

II could see that an entire street needed blocked up. I pulled my car across

several lanes with the lights flickering. I got out of my car and wave oh heat

hits me. I could feel the undershirt I wear below my vest become instantly

soaked with perspiration. My mouth was as dry as a popcorn fart (sorry, my dad

used to say that and it is the only thing that fits)

So I get outta my car and walk toward the worst are of damage of 3 vehicle

spread across the lanes of the intersection.

Each vehicle I passed I confirmed injuries and how bad. When I got the last car,

I could tell that they took the worst of it. I attempted to speak to the driver,

but about 3-4 people were standing there above her. I could see that she was

talking to the people, so I stepped back and updated the medical crews of the

problems that were about to see.

Just then I heard someone inside the car say that she is losing her pulse. Now I

felt that I needed to be more hands on and take some initiative. I began asking

people, nicely to give me some room to work. I yelled for someone to get me a

blanket. The concrete extra hot at the time. I then yelled at a lady and

demanded that she give me some room. She snapped back, but at that time her

words did not even warrant a response from me. I had bigger worries. Next thing

I know, I am right up in the face of the poor driver. I literally watched the

life slip out of her body. I could hear dispatch requesting information from me

and asking for this and that, but I did not have time to answer. Nor did I care.

I confirmed that there was no pulse and no breaths. THAT'S IT. I pulled her out

of the car, with all my little helpers, eager to jump in and help. One lady

offered to take the mouth and I was in the process of starting chest

compressions. Dispatch then Barked on the air to me, "DO WE NEED EXTRICATION"

(the truck that cuts cars open if necessary) I snapped. I had heard enough of

the endless questions and I popped off to dispatch. I AM BUSY RIGHT NOW, WE ARE

DOING CPR AND I CANNOT ANSWER YOU-------RRROOOAAAAARRR The paramedics were just

pulling up when I checked on last time for a pulse, WAIT. I feel one. Its faint

but I got one. Oh, now I see her chest rising and falling. WHooohooo she is

breathing. deep breath from myself----- THANK YOU putting a thumb in the air and

looking up to the sky. -------Within the next 20 seconds the female was awake

and coherent. The paramedics looked at me like what's your problem. I said, man

we lost her there for a second. I cannot believe the turn around, but I will

take it. I looked up to the heavens again and said THANKS-----I said it

sarcastically as if to indicate I meant Thanks, but I did not need the drama.

At that point it was a matter of getting tow trucks loaded and cars outta the

roadway. After a few minutes you would never even know anything happened here.

I spent a great deal of time down at the hospital exchanging information and

filling out accident forms. No fun. But, I am glad it all turned out alright.

I did have a chance to talk to the girl. I told her the story much like I told

you. She said she was sorry, that made me laugh. All three parties involved her

just great people to meet. I am happy that all three will recover without

long-lasting problems.

Anyway, now I have to figure a way to approach dispatch and apologize. I

normally am not the grouch I was for that 1 minute of time.

Oh Well,

Next Adventure

Russell

www.lifeonthebeat.com

PS. The new list CRIMESTORIES is growing fast. Several people have written

stories and sent em in for all to see. The cool thing about it is the variety of

the styles written and the similarities of the work we do in separate corners of

the world.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#106 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Fri Aug 23, 2002 12:01 pm

Subject: Off topic lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

I know this is a little off the topic, but here goes. I am a huge sports fan and

I love playing fantasy football. For the first 10-12 people that you like to

join a fantasy football league with me, please reply to this email. We can

probably hold a live draft over the net and have a lot of fun as the football

season progresses.

See ya,

Russell

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#107 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Sat Sep 7, 2002 6:28 pm

Subject: Got Meth? lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

This is my first week back on the night shift. I am loving it as much as ever.

The type of work you do and the call you get as an officer are much more

involved than then average day shift call. It's an entirely different world out

here when the sun goes down.

Last night started out quite slow. We had a few calls but nothing to big. An

officer who I used to work with quite a bit, I nicknamed "Tot" is now back on

our shift. He got the call of the night. A citizen had his cell phone stolen

while at a local motel. The victim saw the suspect go into a certain motel room.

When officer Tot arrived he made contact at the motel room of the suspect.

Before long he was in the room with 3 suspects under arrest for possession of

stolen property, forgery, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of

Methamphetamine.

The investigation led to several rooms and became more and more involved. I

responded down to assist with all the evidence. I had just spent 30 minutes

making up an evidence kit with several different size baggies and other items.

This one case depleted my entire kit. I joked with Tot that this kit was

supposed to last a year and he messed it up in 5 minutes.

After leaving that call and booking the evidence we were well into the shift.

Another officer had arrested a couple people from a traffic stop with Meth.

By now I was getting a little jealous.

I decided to drift down to the West side of town and see what I could stir up. I

parked in a dark spot off the side of the road so that I could keep an eye on an

out of the way auto repair shop that frequently gets hit with auto burglaries.

The first car that passed was the car I had been waiting for. I could see that

the dome light was on and 3 people were inside the vehicle. For some reason that

dome light being on struck a cord with me. I watched as the car went by and

noticed an equipment violation. I pulled out onto the roadway and pushed on the

gas pedal. The engine raced as I flicked on my overhead lights and wig-wags. The

suspect car did not pull over right away but finally did slow and pull to the

edge of the dark roadway. I called out to dispatch and told them my location and

the plate number then I quickly popped out of my car. I could see right away

that the two persons in the front seat of the car were moving around and

appeared to be hiding something. My first instinct is that they may have

weapons. I was cautious as I approached the vehicle.

I asked the driver for her license, registration and insurance information. I

could not see the face of the passenger in the front seat but I did keep a keen

eye upon his hands. They were sitting nervously in his lap. The driver seemed to

look everywhere for her vehicle information and drivers license. After a few

minutes she declared that she could not locate any of the required information.

No one was wearing seatbelts and the rear passenger was out after curfew, so I

gathered information on all three occupants. I had that feeling that something

was going on inside this car. The longer I watched the occupants the more

nervous they appeared. The front seat passenger began sweating from his brow and

I knew he was hiding something.

As I got to my patrol car I sent a message on the computer to another officer to

start my way. He quickly arrived and I updated him on the information. As soon

as I mentioned the name of the nervous front seat passenger, he said that he

knew that person well because of recent drug arrests.

We walked back up to the car and began speaking to the occupants. Right there on

the passenger floor was the reason for the sweat and nervous actions.

A one inch by one inch plastic baggie with a white crystal substance was sitting

on the floor near the feet of the passenger.

At that time questioning turned to drugs. Before it was over all three were

arrested for possession of meth, a felony, and several other misdemeanor

violations. We booked in about 2 grams of crystal meth from this traffic stop.

Upon talking to the nervous male passenger, he admitted that he turned on the

dome light as he was shooting up his meth into his right arm. A loaded syringe

was found under his seat. It had fresh blood in it and no cap on the end. Quite

a dangerous situation for anyone.

By the time the night was over, we had 7 people booked in our jail for

possession of meth. I would say that is not a bad nights work.

Russell

www.lifeonthebeat.com

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Stay in touch and let me know what you think.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#108 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Fri Sep 27, 2002 6:22 pm

Subject: Stupid criminal story lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

Over the last few weeks I have been fortunate to get into several big cases. I

arrested several for meth last week, then pulled up on three kids loading stolen

property into their vehicle. Earlier this week we arrested two suspects for an

aggravated armed robbery. Last night we arrested three very intoxicated

autoburglars.

The difference between nights and any other shift is obvious. It's a simple

matter of catching this stuff in progress or taking a delayed theft report on

day shift.

I have a perfect story for the Stupid criminal of the month. We were just

leaving briefing at the station when dispatch advised of an armed robbery in

progress. Several other officers were in the area and set a perimeter of the

area. I was the last officer to arrive so I listened to see who might need my

assistance. After a few minutes one officer had advised of a citizen who saw the

suspect running from the scene. A cell phone was reportedly dropped by the

suspect.

I then met with that officer. The people he was talking to were all speaking a

mile a minute and wanted to add something to the story. Although it appeared

that by continuing the conversation we were only spinning our wheels.

I did hear mentioned that the suspect ran south down a dead end road and then

through a fence where he disappeared into the backyard of another house.

While I was determining the course I was going to walk I heard information that

the cell phone had rang and the caller asked for a specific person. We had a

lead.

I began retracing the steps of the suspect. It was a very good possibility that

he may still be in the area. I learned that a female had just arrived at home,

as she stepped out of her vehicle a man with a ski mask jumped out and stuck a

gun into her face. He demanded her purse. She was extremely frightened and gave

the purse to him. One terrible thing to add to the event was that the victim's

10 year old son witnessed the entire event. The masked gunman then ran off,

south down a dead end and then into several back yards.

As I retraced his step's I was aware that he likely could still be hiding nearby

and was a definite danger. The first backyard I came to I made a thrilling

discovery. The stolen purse, a sweater and a handgun were hidden below some

boards. This was in the corner of a yard that had a lot of junk and piles of

different items. I was pretty lucky that I came upon this hidden area because it

was quite secluded and could easily have been passed over.

I called out another officer with a digital camera and an evidence bag.

Just then a man pulled into the driveway of the house we were standing. He

seemed to be shocked that officers were in his yard. Officer Deuce and I spoke

to this man about the incident. As we spoke, I got that feeling that things were

just not right with him. Deuce told me that he thought the guy was very pale,

like he'd seen a ghost. I played it off because we had no evidence on this guy.

Because of the cell phone we had some possible leads for a suspect. We ran those

names by the resident that we were talking to....lets call him Ghost. Well,

Ghost denied initially any knowledge of the names we supplied him. After a while

he did mention that a person with that same name lives a block north of here. He

said that person, lets call him Mike, was an old friend, but he had not seen

Mike in several months.

Ghost kept saying that he needed to go to work and asked to leave. I could see

no reason to detain him, although I had a feeling that there was more to his

story that we had gotten.

The original case officer and I then began checking some nearby addresses for

possible suspects. We located Mikes house and began speaking to his mother. She

was not at all surprised when we gave her information as to what had happened.

This made me cue in to the fact that Mike just may be the suspect we are looking

for. She identified the cell phone that we located as her son's cell phone. She

said that he had been in and out during the time frame when the robbery

occurred. She then mentioned that he does have court at 10 am in the morning.

She said that he is getting sentenced on a prior armed robbery. OH REALLY!! Now

the odds were climbing from reasonable suspicion of our suspect up to it is

probable that this is out suspect. She assisted by trying to locate her son but

without and luck.

After we left the area and checked a few additional leads, but none seemed to

pan out.

I went back to the suspects house and began typing other reports in my patrol

car on the laptop. As I was in the middle of one of the reports I saw the

suspect vehicle slowly driving past my location. I zipped in behind him and

called out to dispatch who I was following and where we would be stopping.

He continued to drive into his driveway, then popped out and stood next to the

car. Knowing he was possibly armed we were cautious as we approached him.

He initially denied any involvement and he seemed to have a story for his cell

phone being dropped near the crime scene. His alibi sounded reasonable. He had

been with his girlfriend most of the evening. I explained that we would need to

speak with her to verify this story. He asked if we could not do that because he

did not want to get her involved. I explained that once she became his alibi,

she was directly involved. He said that without his cell phone he could not call

her, but he could show us to her house. I then asked him to sit in the rear of

my patrol car and we would drive over there right now to verify his story.

I was beginning to question all of my evidence. I was beginning to wonder if I

had enough circumstantial evidence to prove that this was our guy. I stood there

talking to Deuce about it. He said, "you got your man". I explained my doubts

and thoughts about the case. He then said, "look at him in the back of your

car". He was sweating and fighting all about. He was very nervous and definitely

was not giving the characteristics of an innocent person.

Deuce and I walked over to him and opened the door. After about 30 seconds he

admitted that he was never with his girlfriend. He admitted that he did not mean

to hurt anyone, however he just wanted the money and prescription pills she had

hid in her purse.

He stepped out of the car and was very cooperative. He knew that he was caught

and took responsibility for it. He gave locations of other evidence and then he

commented about a second suspect.

We followed up on the information of the second suspect and came back to the

first male, GHOST. I guess Deuce was right when he thought the guy looked a

little pale.

We booked in Mike and then went back to speak to Ghost. We located evidence

inside his house and then listened to him lie and deny any involvement. We then

explained all of the evidence that we had gathered and the statements that

contradicted his alibi.

As it concludes we found that Ghost and Mike had knowledge of the woman getting

her prescription on a certain day. They knew it was a large amount of pills that

they could sell for a large amount of cash.

Both men were booked into jail.

Russell

List is currently over 2200 members. Help this email list to grow. Please

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contribute your own stories go to my site and sign up for Crimestories. We love

hearing from others in the field.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#109 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Thu Oct 3, 2002 6:15 pm

Subject: Double DUI lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

First of all a bit of thanks........By Steve Irsay of CourtTV at

www.courttv.com He discovered my site and did an hour long interview with me

on the telephone. I revealed my real name and location. So if your interested go

check it out. It sure is causing a lot of new subscribers and visitors to my

site.

********************************************************************************\

*********************************************888

The last new nights at work have been very busy. Last night was no exception.

We began as normal in briefing. Because we had a full crew last night, the Sgt

assigned me and another officer to work in an unmarked car. We call it the CREEP

car. (No comments about the people inside being creeps please).

We decided to go out and be real proactive. It was a cold, windy night, the kind

that makes a normal person want to stay inside by a warm fire. I grabbed my

thick coat for the first time this fall. Together we loaded in the equipment we

would need for the night, citation book, PTB testers, and other small stuff.

The first traffic stop we made was an older large blue truck with a headlight

out. I approached the truck and spoke to the driver. He was immediately

irritated. He began throwing things around the truck and acting very upset. I

could smell an odor of alcohol and began looking around the inside of the truck.

Just then my back up officer Lets call him TeeDub, looks over the top of the

truck and whispers......"open container". (In this state it's illegal to

possess an open container of alcohol while driving). I could not see the can at

all. I asked the driver if he had open containers in the truck. He denied that

he did. I then politely asked him to step out of the truck and speak with me. I

wanted to see if I saw signs of impairment for a possible DUI investigation.

As soon as he stepped out he got aggressive. He stepped right into my personal

space and demanded to know the reason I stopped him. I stepped back and raised

my voice. I told him that we would talk about it ON THE SIDEWALK and not in the

middle of the roadway.

We stepped to that point and he kept up with the attitude. I then explained that

he would not be allowed to yell at me and its in his best interest to calm down.

At that point we both lowered the tone and started over. I explained the reason

I stopped him was for a head light out. He said OK. I then said, is there

honestly any open containers of alcohol. He said Yes and lowered his head.

We then conducted field sobriety tests, which he passed. He showed a very low

about of alcohol in his system, but we still had that talk about drinking (any

amount) and driving.

His vehicle was not registered and had no insurance. After a quick citation he

promised not to drive the vehicle until getting all the paperwork in order. He

said the only reason he lied was because he did not want a ticket. We also

talked about him losing his temper. I explained that I am about the nicest cop

in the world and there was no reason to get upset. He agreed.

We then responded to a family fight where the man was injecting himself with

cocaine in an attempt to commit suicide by overdosing. We were there for back up

and the case officer handled the situation very well. The man was taken to the

hospital and then referred to the mental area of the hospital for assistance.

TeeDub and I then stopped a few more cars and then responded to another domestic

fight. We were able to calm down all the parties involved in that case. It was

one of those lose-lose family fights. One that we have very little power to

assist.

As we were leaving that house I saw a truck with several equipment violations.

We stopped the truck and this time TeeDub approached and spoke to the driver

while I stood on the passenger side. I laughed because this time I saw an open

container of alcohol.

I whispered to the other officer but he was already asking questions about the

alcohol consumption.

The guy demanded to get out and see the violations that we spoke of for the

reason for the stop. I thought that was a great idea because we could get an

idea of his balance and look for other impairment.

When he got out he looked at me and yelled "Officer Russell" (using my real name

of course) how are you. I recognized the guy as someone I recently arrested for

DUI and then also gave a warning when he was very close to being DUI another

time. He also was not old enough to drink anyway. We talked for a few minutes

then he agreed to have TeeDub run him through field sobriety tests.

A warrant for contempt of court was then found by dispatch. They explained it

was $500 cash bail only out of a nearby city.

We then arrested him for DUI and I kept him talking about old times. Trying not

to let him focus on the fact he was going to jail and his truck was being

impounded. I try to be as nice to the drunks as possible. It makes it so much

easier. I really could care less about telling them how I really feel about

their actions. I just try to gather all the facts, refer it to the courts and

then let the judge do the punishing.

In this case I am quite sure the judge will give him extended Jail time because

of the long history.

Even during the booking process I kept the atmosphere light and was able to make

small talk throughout the event. He was confident that his parents would bail

him out. I did not tell him that mom had already made it clear to me that she

had no interest in getting him released.

While booking him in, another officer came in with a second DUI arrest that he

had made. They guy was sick drunk. He had been bouncing off the curbs and

hitting garbage cans. When he came in, it was funny to see the reaction off all

the officers. We all knew that guy on a first name basis as well.

I feel that was a successful night on patrol, hoping for more of the same

tonight.

Russell

List is currently over 2200 members. Help this email list to grow. Please

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#110 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Mon Oct 7, 2002 12:49 am

Subject: Animal Calls lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

Over the past few days, with the exposure on CourtTV.com, I have gotten an

increase in added subscribers. I would like to welcome the new members and I

hope that you find the following stories interesting.

For years I have been begging an officer friend of mine to write an article for

me. Well, he finally took some time to write and he pulled through with a good

story.

The first account listed below is a call I took last Saturday morning after a

very busy shift. The second account is from my officer friend. His email address

is listed at the bottom so that you can forward your thoughts and mean comments.

haha I also added a link to his website at the top left corner of my site. If

you have a chance, check it out.

********************************************************************************\

*****************************************************

Last Nights Shift,

By Russell

In policework you need to have a sense of humor. Recently I found myself testing

this statement. Officer Tot and I were working the south end of town when

dispatch advised of a caller reporting a bat in her house. We both looked at

each other and said "how do you catch a bat?".

I continued to think about our problem for the few minutes it took to arrive at

the house. The only idea could come up with is using a tennis racquet or a

fishing net to our advantage. Unfortunately I did not have either of these items

in my patrol car.

Upon our arrival Tot grabbed a blanket from his trunk and winked. I shrugged and

gave him credit for being so inventive. As we walked to the door of the third

story apartment, we joked and laughed about the call. Neither of us were looking

forward to tackling the little critter. Think about it, bats are scary. We're

just a couple of cops and they did not teach that in the police academy.

We knocked on the door and stepped inside when the door opened. Three ladies

were in the apartment, shrieking and running around with pillow cases upon their

heads. I laughed because I knew why they had covered their heads in such a

manner. As one gal explained the location of the bat, she temporarily removed

the pillow case. The bat was hanging on a door frame in the hallway. I looked at

the bat and noticed that it was shaking. I looked at the female who decided to

be the speaker and joked that she cover her head because "that bat will get

tangled in your hair!" I winked at Tot as the three girls shrieked again. They

all then ran into a bedroom at the end of the hall and slammed the door.

Through the closed door they pleaded that we catch the bat........NOW.

I found a small box in the kitchen and quickly walked toward the bat. It

fluttered just a bit as I neared. At that point I jumped back like a scared

little puppy. The bat the flipped off the door frame and jetted down the

hallway, directly at the door where the girls were hiding. He landed on the

floor and started crawling through the open space. I am sure my eyes were as

wide as silver dollars, because I just could not imagine those scared girls

stuck in the room with that bat flapping around the room.

Just then they all began to scream. They were so loud that I thought we surely

would be getting 911 calls from the neighbors that there was surely a murder

going on in this apartment. Tot, still (acting) calm, suggested that they place

something on the floor to block the bat from going into the room. About that

time a blanket was tossed to the ground covering the opening. The bat had not

quite made it into the room. Tot then threw his blanket onto the bat and then

picked it up and took it outside.

We promised that we would not harm the mammal and several other silly requests.

;)

When we got outside we flipped open the blanket and allowed the creature to fly

away, unharmed.

Russell

The "Last Night's Shift" email list is currently over 2600 members. Help this

email list to grow. Please forward these emails to your colleagues, friends, and

family! Anyone can join this free service by writing to me at

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********************************************************************************\

***************

Cruiser Ready

by Officer Lyman DeKoquonut

"Snake: The Stealthy Criminal I Dared Not Pursue"

I never imagined that telling my Lieutenant that I was glad I didn't

train new cops would be the statement that would put me in the passenger side of

the patrol car next to a shivering rookie. Lucky for me the first officer I was

assigned in my new role as FTO (Field Training Officer), was a four-year veteran

from another department. I learned as much from him as he did from me.

One thing I tried to teach this new hire was the bazaar phenomenon

that I had noticed in my career, at that point, 7 years. It seemed to me the

harder I tried to get a complaint from a citizen, the less I got. I was going

to teach this method to the FNG.

The first call we had where he claimed I was "trying to get in

trouble" involved a stealthy and dangerous killer. Let's call him "Snake",

since he was a snake.

Dispatch indicated the complainant had a snake in his house and

wanted us to come and get it. It was a weekend, or evening, or holiday or one

of those other times when animals are supposed to clock out and not be a problem

since no animal control officers are on duty. Wildlife rarely cooperates with

the department brass' strategic planning, thus, we were sent to snag the snake.

We arrived thinking the caller must be an elderly person, a young

frightened housewife or a child. Surely, no mature man would call the police

over a simple pest problem. We arrived and found it was in fact a full-grown

man, his wife and their adult son. Snake must have sensed our arrival, felt the

thrum of the Ford V-8 through the ground or perhaps used his long and slender

body as a whip antenna to intercept our radio traffic. Maybe he had just gotten

bored with the three screeching adults. Either way, he had fled into the loose

bricks around a poorly installed fireplace insert.

With one burly and one medium cop in the room, and Snake off in the

wall somewhere combing his hair or trying to open a can of Pringles, the "man of

the home" regained his composure and started telling us how we should catch the

critter. He suggested we remove all the brick around his fireplace insert

(wrong), set up a snake trap with snake bait (sorry, fresh out) or perhaps we

could just wait until around until Snake came back out and said howdy on his

own, then pounce on him and cuff him up (not very likely).

The officer I was training was used to his previous department

where the citizen was always right, and no matter what, if they called the boss,

you got your butt chewed out. It was my job to tune him into doing your job

right and having your department stand behind you (cross your fingers).

I told the intelligent upstanding citizen there was nothing we

could do about Snake. I told him he could call an exterminator, just like they

would for his associates Bat and Rat, or the rival Termite Gang. I motioned to

my trainee, and we started to leave.

Well, I had angered a taxpayer, he was insistent that I do

something; I told him I could not do anything about his uninvited guest.

As we headed out the door I could tell the officer I was training

was nervous. He thought for sure we were going to get a complaint and it would

reflect badly on him during his tender probationary time.

The complainant was so upset with us he was getting rosy cheeks and

shaking again. We went passed him out the door and down the sidewalk towards

the patrol car to depart. He was committed to get us to do something, anything,

since he called us and we worked for him. He yelled out: "Hey! People are

always speeding down this street - can't something be done about that?"

I yelled back: "Why don't you just throw your snake at them?"

We did not get a complaint. The new officer lived to see another

day. Unfortunately for him, it was another day with me! Not too long after

that we ran into the man who needed a decoder, but that's another story.

lyman@saneasylum.net

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#111 From: "Russell" <russ@lifeonthebeat.com>

Date: Fri Oct 18, 2002 6:02 pm

Subject: Amped up? 10-18-2002 lastnightsshift

Offline Offline

I want to welcome all of the new members to the list. I know it has been several

days since my last email, but I took a few days off and also had a couple of

extremely slow nights. I just don't want to fill your email box with boring

material.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I went into work last night feeling pretty tired. I helped a neighbor tear the

shingles off his roof. That to me is real work. This cop stuff is 90% playtime

compared to that.

What gets me in police work is the mental side of things. You spend so much

time trying to out think suspects, witnesses, and everyone else that it wears

you down mentally. The longer you go in your career, the longer it takes to

recover and stay sharp.

Because I went in a bit tired, and I do know better than that, I just did not

have a lot of motivation to stir it up. I call that having low "mojo".

As soon as I left the station, an officer called for back-up on a traffic stop

he had made. The driver had warrants and he suspected the two were likely in

possession of drugs. We called a dog down to sniff the car. He found several

different items. Charges were referred on both.

The most interesting part of this call is something we call the "good cop/bad

cop syndrome." In a lot of cop shows on TV you see cops employ this tactic for

interviews and interrogations. I can't say I have not used it myself. However,

in this case I simply arrived for back up for another officer. We had the

evidence and there really was no need to interview the suspects more than the

simple "Whose dope is it?". The part I found funny was that the female

passenger acted the part of the suspect caught in the middle. As I spoke to her

she got very defensive and said I was rude, yet when the other officer asked

the same question she was meek and honest with him. When I asked the next

question, which I thought sounded very casual and non-threatening, she flipped

out again. She yelled at me not to be so rude. She put her nose in the air and

refused to answer my questions. It got to the point that I felt I was wasting my

time with her. I just gave the other officer a half smile and a wink. The other

officer then began to lose his patience with her as well. She was so dramatic

and over reacted about every little question that I finally gave up. We had

everything we needed and the "drama queen" wore out any compassion I had for her

at the time.

Later in the evening we were dispatched to assist a city that borders our town.

An officer had responded to an alarm at a bank ATM. When he arrived the two men

ran off on foot. The area of the crime was directly on our border, so they

called us to assist. I was the last officer to arrive for our city. I explained

on the radio that I would remain on the perimeter where I had a good view of the

area.

The edge of our city has a long row of houses that set upon a steep hill

overlooking the area where the crime occurred. The suspects were last seen

running for that hill in an attempt to escape. Because the two agencies operate

on different radio frequencies, the communication was difficult. I finally

decided to grab one of their officers so that I could hear updates from our

dispatch and then also hear the information they were broadcasting.

I shined my light from side to side and then saw movement about 4-6 houses south

of me. I watch the area for several minutes and finally decided I must be seeing

things. I moved my light away from the area and then back again. That time I was

sure I saw movement. I attempted to update the other officer of what I had

observed, however I did not want to alarm everyone if it turned out I was

looking at a garbage bag blowing in the wind. The other officer and I slowly

made our way to the area where we had seen the movement. We hopped several

fences and climbed over gaps in the properties to make our way to the suspect.

When we got to the area, the suspect was not there. He had moved and we could

not locate him. The side of the hill was covered in very thick brush and bushes.

Just then I knelt down and saw a white patch of something in the bushes. Because

of the probability that the suspect possessed a weapon, we were very careful

about approaching him. We yelled at him several times, identified ourselves, and

yelled again, however he was playing possum hoping we did not see him.

The other officer got to a point of cover and then I moved in. I was able to

scale the hillside and finally attach my left hand to the suspect's shirt. I

pulled him free of the bushes as he finally gave himself up. He did a good job

of keeping his hands visible at that time. Of course if you had a gun pointed

directly at you, I think you'd move too.

After we pulled this guy free, we cuffed him and walked him up the hill to the

roadway. He was soaking wet because he crossed an irrigation ditch at one point.

He also began throwing up, he said it was because he had run so far. I wondered

if that was it or if he had been drinking. I really did not care, because the

crime had occurred in another city. I just held onto him until the other

officers were able to respond and put him in their car.

Soon after I arrested this guy, the other officers closed in on the second

suspect. He had been hiding just below the suspect I arrested. The officers

scooped him up and both men went to jail.

I later talked to a friend of mine from another agency. He said that he had been

listening on the radio to the broken traffic. He was able to piece it together

and understand what we were doing. When he called he said "you must be Amped

up." I said, yeah, it was a fun call, but I am not really excited or anything. I

just got lucky to see the guy, I got lucky that no one got hurt, and I got lucky

that the teamwork between agencies worked well. I told him that in the old days

I probably would have been really excited about catching felony suspects, but

tonight it was just a call that worked out for the best. We all had great

teamwork and it went well. He lau