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Cop dreams
I want to tell you about a dream I had.
You are probably rolling your eyes and thinking how ridiculous it sounds.
Stick
with me for a minute and I am sure you’ll understand why I am writing
about it.
I fell asleep on the couch while watching the nightly news. I began to
dream
about being out on duty. I was in my patrol car in the city where I work.
The
dream seemed so real that it was as if I was really in my patrol car. You
know
that kind of dream, the sounds, the colors, and the actions around you.
As I am driving down the road I pull behind a car at a red light. The
driver
quickly looks into the rear view mirror and catches eye contact with me.
That
look means something. He is nervous about me presence. WHAT IS IT?
I hurry and open my laptop computer and run the license plate through the
state
computer. It’s dark outside, so I know the light from the computer makes
the
inside of my car glow. The glow outlines my silhouette dangerously. The
brightness also causes my eyes to be night-blind for a split second.
With the laptop still open I see the lights of a second vehicle. I
casually
look over the top of the lid to see the second car pull up on my passenger
side.
It took a second to be able to make eye contact with the driver.
Just then my heart sunk. I could now see the driver next to me. His face
had no
expression. Then I saw it. He was pointing a gun directly at me. Before I
could
react I saw the flash. I did not feel anything. I was sure that if the gun
had
gone off, but luckily it missed. It had to, right? I did not feel
anything, but
by entire body jolted.
Immediately I tried to get out of the situation. The first thing I could
think
of was to get out of the car. I opened the door and leaned out in an
effort to
exit.
What was wrong?
Was I hit?
I was!!! Damn!! How did this happen? WHY? WHY ME!!?? WHY NOW?
I leaned to get out, my body slumped toward the ground. My lower half was
still
on the seat and my torso was hanging out toward the ground. There was no
pain,
but I knew it was bad.
My only goal at that time was to advise dispatch. This son of a bi*** is
not
gonna get me that easily.
As I hung there I could see the mic from my radio hanging next to my face.
All I
needed to do was grab it and speak. I took a deep breath and reached for
it.
Before my hand was able to grasp the mic, I saw a pair of shoes. I looked
up
from to see the face on this figure. It was the same guy from the car next
to
me. He raised his gun and fired again.
BANG!
Just then I woke up. My entire body jolted. I sat up from the couch and
looked
around. I was in pain, literally. Every inch of my skin was tingling as if
I had
been struck with a bolt of lightening. My ears were ringing. My mind was
racing.
I swung my legs off the couch and sat there with the TV on in the
background.
WOW! I began to realize that I was alright and it was all a dream. I could
not
believe how intense it was. Every second of that dream was so real.
It has been a long time since I had a dream like that. I call it a COP
dream. I
have had similar dreams in the past, however I think most were in the
academy
and new on the street.
Later in the evening I got ready for work. I kept thinking about that
dream. I
kept thinking how intense it was.
All night at work I avoided pulling next to other vehicles at red lights.
I was
jumpy about every person on the street and every call I went on.
It was a long night.
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--
Russell
http://www.lifeonthebeat.com
--
A gripping, sad
story.
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Last Nights Shift is a tough one.
Dispatch advised of a caller reporting a baby, not breathing. When that
happens the radio traffic goes silent. Everyone stops to listen for
dispatch's next words. Finally..........they give the address and
continue with the details that the baby is not conscious and not
breathing.
Click, click....snap...........on go my lights, wig-wags and siren. I am
sure its loud and intimidating, but I can't hear it. It's called tunnel
vision and it's a bad thing for a cop, but for the most part its
unavoidable.
As I near the address of the 911 call I relax slightly because another
patrol car swings around the corner ahead of me. At least I can follow the
other guy to the address. Just then dispatch updates the address,
saying there is a language barrier, but now its 2 blocks west of our
current location. Immediately I gripped the steering wheel and swing a
hard (I mean HARD) left.
I pull up in front of the house and I can see a group of people near the
sidewalk. All of the people are frantic and they are waving me down. At
this time the tunnel vision became more focused. I could see a person
holding a baby in her arms. She was doing chest compressions on a
lifeless body of a little baby. Some man, a neighbor I guess, had his
mouth over the baby's mouth and nose, to give breaths.
The first thing that goes through my mind is that I wish "someone better
than me" was there to help these people.
Luckily, the ambulance arrived just behind me. I took over chest
compressions and tried to follow the lead of the paramedics. We all
loaded into the ambulance and began "working" this poor kid. I'm sitting
there pumping her little chest, thinking to myself, "
Why don't I feel any emotion? Why don't I feel sorry for this little
baby? Aren't kids supposed to be the worst?" Confused a little with my
lack of feelings I continued what I was doing. The paramedic in charge
had scissors and was cutting fabric to expose her little body, making it
available for him to perform his job. He seemed to cut a million layers.
I remember him saying in frustration, "Can anyone put a kid in more
clothing?"
Before I knew it, we were at the hospital. We checked again for
heartbeats and still we had nothing. Little tubes and medical patches
began to clutter her skin. Needles were stuck into her arms and legs.
Still no breaths. Nothing. Her eyes were half open, but obviously
lifeless. I grabbed her hand and held it. She was so small that I only
needed a couple fingers to compress her chest. They were sucking chunks
of food out of her throat. Every time they tried for more, they filled
the tube with white soggy food.
By now, we're walking through the wide-open area of the emergency room.
Every nurse, patient, and doctor stopped to look and it was so silent in
there. The silence spoke for itself.
I have never been so happy to be at a hospital.
By the time we reached her room, people were moving with authority. I
wouldn't compare it to the emergency rooms on TV, there was no yelling,
no desperate orders to the nurses from overpowering doctors. It was very
orderly and professional.
I continued to give chest compressions and I didn't stop. Finally, I
could feel the airbag pushing air into her chest. She was finally
getting some air.
After all the machines were hooked up and all the monitors were flashing
lights and tones, I turned my position over to a staff of nurses. The
first thing I did was check the screens for a pulse. Still nothing.
In the background of the hospital noise I could hear the mother of the
baby arrive. I could hear her, in the hallway, giving the name and other
information for her baby. She said that the baby would be two next
month. All the sudden my body went cold and numb. My youngest son will
be two next month. About the time I began to feel sorry for myself for
being in this situation .I noticed something. I did a double-take and
then I confirmed with a nearby nurse. SHE HAD A HEARTBEAT! It said 176.
Are you kidding me? It's been forever since she had a heartbeat.
I went into the hallway and whispered in the ear of another officer that
she had a heartbeat. I didn't want to say anything out loud because I
didn't want to extend false hope to the family.
Finally, upon returning to the room, I noticed her chest rise in sudden,
almost violent manner. A minute later---exactly a minute, I saw it
again. I checked the heartbeat and it was still going like mad. This
time there were two breath attempts in a minute. The next minute was
five and then ten.
In my right ear I could hear dispatch for calling officers to a traffic
accident. It was blocking an intersection and paramedics were called to
assist with injuries. Elsewhere, there was another call pending. I left
the hospital and responded to a family fight.
Even though it makes a person wonder, I don't know if the baby lived or
died. I just don't. Pilots from a rescue helicopter were walking
through the doors as I was walking out. They must have landed on the pad
outside. Normally that means that they are transporting her to a larger
hospital with a pediatric center with more specialized personnel and
equipment.
Believe it or not, then next call resulted in the arrest of a woman who
left her 2-month-old infant in the lobby of a title loan store for over
30 minutes. She was upset with her boyfriend, who wouldn't sign
documents to allow her to get a loan. When he walked out to the loan
store, she left the baby, sitting there in a car seat, right there on
the floor. I talked to her about the dangers of the world. She honestly
seemed to not understand that there was a problem. She compared it to
daycare, saying that you never know the person caring for the baby when
you drop 'em off there. Long story short, she'll be talking to the judge.
Now I come home to a quiet house. All my kids and family are at the
library. I guess this is just another day in the life of "Life on the
Beat".
Next adventure.
Russell
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A
call to make you cry
Last night was a tough shift.
The night started out slow. There was not a lot of calls out there. It was
raining quite hard and my desire to pull people over and stand in the rain
was not very appealing.
My second call was a tough one.
It was exactly like the call that "Cuz" wrote about on
Christmas.
Dispatch advised of a medical call, code 3 (lights and sirens).........32
year old male not conscious/not breathing. Another officer was dispatched
to it, but because I was nearly ready to clear the call that I was already
working, and because I was very close, I decided to take the medical call.
As I arrived the paramedics had already entered the house. I walked up to
the house as one paramedic came out asking for my help. He said that they
needed the "Gurney" and a backboard. I helped him get it out of
the ambulance. He said "this guy is in deep." I already knew
what he meant, even though I had never heard it quite that way.
When I went into the house I saw a woman in a T-shirt with a badge with
her name on it. On the front of the shirt was the name of a local
restaurant.
There was several small
children around and they all looked somewhat interested in our comings and
goings but not too much. One little gal about 4 years old hid around a
corner when I came in. She poked her head out, smiled and then waved at me
shyly. I waved back and smiled, she then ducked back out of sight behind
the wall. Then I went into the bedroom where the paramedics were working
on the man, the father and husband to these people.
He was pale white. No color. He was completely out and had no response to
anything. They were getting tubes into his lungs and veins. All seemed to
know exactly what to do. They worked like a machine. I offered to help,
knowing that there was something I could do. They told me to pump the bag
that was filling his lungs with air. I began to do that and they threw out
medical jargon like it was going out of style.
I looked around for anything out of the ordinary. I looked for any sign of
a reason that this guy was unconscious. There was nothing. While they were
doing CPR and getting the I.V. going I looked up. In the hallway was the 4
year old girl that was waving at me when I came in. She was watching
everything. I told one of the paramedics quitely to "get her into the
other room", there was no way that I wanted her to see what we were
doing to her "daddy".
They worked him for several minutes and then quickly loaded him onto a
backboard and then onto the gurney. I stopped in the front room and made
sure that the wife had a ride to the hospital. She said she was fine to
drive. Then I asked if there was some family I could call, I explained
that we needed someone for the kids. She said that family was on the way,
but in the meantime the 13 year old daughter was going to watch the kids.
She told me how she was getting ready to go to work. She said that he had
felt sick all day and she just noticed how bad he really was so she called
911.
By that time the ambulance was pulling out. She started to follow.
One of the paramedics stayed
behind and began to clean up all of the papers and garbage that was left
behind in the bedroom. I began to snoop around for anything suspicious.
Then I found it!! There was a piece of paper folded up by the bed. I just
knew it was a suicide note. I quickly opened it and read it......it was
not what I thought at all. It was a drawing from one of the kids. It was a
stick man and scribbles. There was more pictures like that on folded up
papers throughout the room. No suicide notes.
Now the last paramedic had left and I was alone in the room. I covered up
the blood on the bed so that the kids could not see it. Then I walked out
of the room.
Standing in the hallway was all five kids. The 13 year old was holding a
baby, the only boy. She was crying, she asked if he was dead. I told
looked at her plainly. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I said "I am
not going to lie to you". She said, like a grown up, "I would
not want you to". I then said simply "It does not look
good." There was another girl there. She was crying and having a very
difficult time with it. I knelt down to talk to her. I asked her name.
"Katelyn", she said. "How old are you",
"Eight" she said.
Then she ran up to me and hugged me and would not let me go. I could not
talk, I could not move, I could not get rid of that huge lump in my
throat. I held her. I thought about my daughter, I thought about Katelyn
growing up without a dad, I prayed for her.
At that time I thought that I just might be in the wrong profession. Who
am I to try and console these kids. Who am I to try to justify or
explained the death of their father. I dealt with it the best I could.
Tears flowed on the two older girls faces. The younger two girls began to
play and giggle on the floor in the hallway. Not many words were said. Not
many were needed. None would fit the situation and few seemed as though
they would explain the problem.
After a while someone knocked on the front door. It was a lady from the
church. She was there to do whatever she could. I could not talk to her. I
just left.
Outside there was two neighbors. They began to talk to me. It was simple
talk with no subject. It was a time that I did not feel like talking. They
asked how he was doing and I said not very well. One guy said, "I can
tell by your actions what you are thinking." Nice observation.
I got into my patrol car and began to drive. Dispatch gave me a call of a
"gas skip" that had just occurred. I went to the gas station and
got the information from the clerk. He was very concerned. I asked how
much was stolen. It was a few bucks worth of gas. A few lousy dollars, who
cares about a few dollars. I told him that I would work on it and see if I
could find the person.
I then pulled around to the back of the station and called my wife. When
my son answered the phone I nearly cried. "Get mom" I told him.
When she got on I told her. Then I cried. And I cried for a long time. She
did not say much. I did not want her to. What can a person say. There is
nothing she can say.
I kept crying. I saw those 4
little girls and that baby. I felt Katelyn hugging me so tight. My tears
were dripping off my face. I turned the police radio off. The rain was
falling very hard on the windshield, so I knew no one could see. After a
while I told her that I needed to go. She offered to come over and see me,
I declined.
Then I went about my work. I gave it a serious effort to find the gas skip
suspect, without luck.
After that I drove around for a while. I saw speeders and other traffic
violations. Right now, I did not care. I did not understand.
Nothing seems to fit into the
whole scheme of things.
I went by the hospital before I left work. All they would tell me is that
they did get a heartbeat on the guy, but he was not breathing. He was on
life support.
Its like if life was a glass water globe with snow in it and someone shook
it up. Things were all messed up. I know that the "snow" will
settle very soon, but I also know that the "snow" will never be
the same when it settles.
I know that I will never be
the same after seeing the look in those kids faces.
Russell
(I found out later that the
man in this story did pass away, I never could go back to the house. I
watched as the house went up for sell. Then the sign came down and a
family moved in.)
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Got
Meth?
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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Stress
Stress and more Stress
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 auto-burglaries 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
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Latest
Adventure
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
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ON
OUR OWN
Its very late and I had some long hours of training this week. The more I
try to come up with something interesting to write about, the less ideas I
have. Let me see what I
can come up with.
The group of guys I am working with right now is growing together more and
more as a team. We are learning how to work well together and the trust
between us is also beginning to grow. The following story is an example of
that.
After briefing we all met in the hallway. We discussed typical cop stuff
and everyone tried to get pumped up to go out on this cold windy night and
be pro-active. After some laughs and making fun of each other we filtered
out to the parking lot.
Officer Teach and I were assigned the south area of town. We both decided
to try to make a lot of traffic stops this evening, hoping we could
stumble across something interesting.
It did not take long before I had a car pulled over for equipment
violations. As I spoke to the driver, he bragged of being stopped about 10
times for these violations and never getting a ticket!! I cracked a half
smile as I told him to sit tight. I sat back in my car and listened to
officers talk on the radio as I scratched him a "fix-it-ticket"
and returned to the door of his vehicle.
Just as he signed the ticket I heard Teach on the radio requesting back
up. Something did not sound right about it. I suddenly had a gut feeling
that he had something serious. I am not sure if it was the tone in his
voice or if I heard something in the background. I just knew it was
serious.
I quickly tore off a copy of the citation for the driver I had stopped and
told him to get it taken care of. I ran back to my patrol car and
slammed it into gear. I could see lights from Teach's patrol car about 3-4
blocks behind me. I spun my car around and joined the heavy northbound
traffic and kicked on my overhead lights, wig-wag headlights and siren. My
heartbeat seemed to keep time with each flash from the red, blue and white
strobes on the top of my patrol car. I felt my adrenaline begin to speed
up. I thought about what the officer said last week, "You must be
amped up". Yes, now I am amped up.
As I desperately carved my way through traffic and was nearing the traffic
stop I could see Teach on the opposite side of the road. Southbound
traffic was very heavy and I suddenly felt that I wasn't going to get over
fast enough to stop what happened next. It all became slow motion as I
saw, through traffic, a man begin lunging at Teach. Just then there was a
break in traffic and I flipped my
car around and slammed it directly behind Teach. Both of my tires flush
against the curb. I excitedly tried to key the mic to update other
officers of the problem. Someone was talking and I could not get through!
Then I knew ... WE WERE ON OUR OWN!!
I jumped out of my patrol car and ran toward Teach. He had the suspect
pinned to the ground with one knee. The suspect was face down, screaming
and swearing. Teach had lowered down and was his Smith and Wesson .45
leveled in the direction of the passenger area of the suspect vehicle. The
window tint was so dark that I could not see into the car at what unknown
threat Teach had seen. Something or someone was still in that car! As I
ran up I intended to secure
the suspect so Teach could go after whatever it was he knew was in that
car but instead Teach yelled as he struggled to maintain control of the
man on the ground, "No, I've got this guy, you take the one in the
car!
We were in a really bad position. When Teach and the suspect began
wrestling it took us out of any position of cover or concealment from the
occupants inside that suspect vehicle. Teach and the first suspect were
lying on the sidewalk on the passenger side of the car. The suspect was
yelling in an extremely violent manner. Seeing the crazed look of hatred
upon his face gave no comfort that he
would comply at all with our demands.
Realizing there wasn't time to get all the details from Teach, I knew I
needed to take out any potential problems still remaining inside the
vehicle.
I crouched down and drew my gun from its holster, raised it in the
direction of the threat and began to slowly slide along the passenger side
of the car. I strained hard to see through the blackness of the window
tint. Finally I was able to make out the silhouette of a person in the
front passenger seat.
There was one male sitting on the passenger seat facing away from me. I
finally reached the area behind the front door and yelled into the car for
the suspect to show me his hands. As I yelled again the man turned and
looked directly at me. He then took both hands and brought them to his
chest area, well out of my view. Immediately I assumed he must have a
weapon. His actions were very suspicious and intimidating to me. I felt
very defenseless. Just then I could see him reaching to open the door. As
the door began to move, I jerked it open, holstered my gun, and then in
one fluid motion reached in and grabbed ahold. I continued yelling for him
to put his hands up. I could see his left hand because he had been
reaching across to open the door himself but his right hand was securely
hidden in his chest area. I knew that he must have a weapon, there was no
doubt in my mind. I grabbed his clothing, hair, limbs and whatever else I
could get. The thought that went through my head was "If he has a gun
or a knife, I will pull him so fast out of the car that he will not have a
chance to direct it at me". My mitts latched on. I leaned back and
pulled with all I was worth. I figured that if he had a gun hidden in his
hand I would not let him have any chance to aim it. I pulled him free from
the car in one motion. He came out head first and landed on his stomach,
flatly upon the sidewalk. I stepped around and was able to secure a
position on top of him. He was yelling and swearing at me. It was in
Spanish, though, about the only thing I understood was the curses about my
mother.
Finally I was able to get cuffs on the suspect. I rolled him over and
brushed him off. I then patted him down for weapons. None were
located...luckily.
Teach and I placed both men into a patrol car and spoke about what we
could have done better.
To make a long story, even longer now.
I found out the other details of the case. Teach had attempted a traffic
stop on a vehicle. When they saw him, they fled. He pursued for several
blocks. They finally hit a curb and skidded to a stop. The driver got out
of his car and was instantly aggressive. That's when I knew something was
up. Teach gave several commands but the man refused to follow orders. The
man then lunged at Teach. They wrestled for a bit but Teach being half
machine, half animal took control and eventually got a set of cuffs on the
suspect.
Teach explained that the reason he did not want me to take his suspect was
because he was so violent he did not think he could let loose of him for
one second as it would have taken for me to take over.
Talk about Amped up........ yeah. This was something to getcha Amped up!
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