2/26/2013 10-11 by CAD

Looks like its shaping up to be a miserable day but hey roll call was a lot of fun like it usually is.

Ok now to the action, or lack of.......

First call out of roll call was to assist a disabled motorist stuck in a travel lane. When I get there sure enough she is right there smack in the travel lane and it's pretty busy with traffic. I get behind her and put my lights on and walk up to her while she is sitting in her car and I ask her whats going on with her car and she tells me she ran out of gas and that AAA is coming. I tell her I'll sit behind her until they get here pending they don't take all day. They show up, quickly I might add, and put some gas in her car and the guy tells her there are a few gas stations up the road and then he leaves. So me wanting to make a difference today, decide to follow her to the closest gas station just in case she breaks down again. Well she passes 4 gas stations and it doesn't look like she's going to stop at the next one either so I guess I don't need to follow her any more since its pretty obvious that shes not stopping to get gas. I'll bet she'll drive on that little bit of gas until she runs out again and then she'll call AAA again. I guess everybody has a scam.

So the shift continues on without any major calls for service or any drama until around 1500 when I pull into the firehouse to get some gas. As I'm pulling in one of the firemen comes out and tells me there is a guy in the firehouse that needs to go to the hospital and that a bus came about 15 minutes ago and they didn't take him because he went back to the assisted living home with the people in charge. I go in and talk to the guy and find out he is from a residence in the neighborhood that houses people with diminished capacities and that he wants to go to the hospital. I ask him whats wrong and he tells me he wants to go to the hospital. After about 10 minutes of going back and forth one of the firemen gets in touch with somebody from the group home who comes over to the firehouse.

She tells us that he just ran away from the house after they brought him back because he couldn't go to the park because it was raining so he threw a fit and ran out of the house. I told her that we called an ambulance because he stated to me and about 3 firemen that he wanted to go to the hospital and once he states that we cannot deny him medical care.

Ok so the bus comes and he walks over to the bus and gets in and I go talk to the person from the group home and she tells me that he constantly does this when he doesn't get his way and I politely explain to her that I do not know him and and his little tricks but if he says he needs to go to the hospital that I am obligated to see that he gets to a hospital.

I go back to the bus to explain to the guy that if he is pulling a fast one on us that this is his first and last time that he will do it. I open up the door to the bus and hear him ask the medic "do they have good food at the hospital" I shut the door. I guess everybody has a scam!

Oh and if you think you have a shitty job, well look at this guy. At least you don't have to wrestle a shit container for a living.

Did I make a difference today? Maybe I didn't but he sure did.

10-7 EOT

2/25/2013 10-11 by CAD

Well I woke up today another year older and hopefully another year wiser. Happy Birthday to me!

Today was another beautiful day here in the RVA. Today I was blessed with a few radio calls including 3 accidents. 1 was non-reportable so a quick exchange form and off we went. The next 2 were reportable so I got to do an FR-300 on both of them. My regular vehicle is in the shop so I borrowed a Sergeants vehicle that has the FR-300 on the computer but it does not recognize the print server so in order to print my accident reports from that vehicle I need to save them to a zip drive then go back to the precinct and open it up on a computer inside the precinct and then print it. That's a lot of work for an accident report so I just went back to the precinct and did the FR-300 on one of the computers in the roll call room.....no muss no fuss.

2nd accident was a rear ender with reported injuries but when the FD and the bus showed up nobody elected to go to the hospital so I got to finish my paperwork right there on the spot. Exchange form and a summons for following too close and then I'm off to the precinct to do the FR-300.

3rd accident was also a rear ender but the striking vehicle was a motorcycle and dude got busted up pretty bad. So he goes in the bus to the hospital and I finish up what I had to do at the scene and then head on over to the hospital. Well they transported him as a trauma so when I get down to the hospital they are working on him in the trauma bay and I look over and see the most beautiful face in the world, my wife, who happens to be a NP in the Trauma Service. She asks me what happened so I tell her and now she introduces me to all the doctors and nurses and we have a little fun while my guy is taken to CT scan. When he comes back about a half hour later I give him a summons for following too close and have him sign it and I wish him good luck and then I leave. Oh by the way, the accident happened right in front of a law office that specializes in auto accidents. I was waiting for a bunch of them to run out and start handing business cards to everybody there. Oh well wishful thinking.

All in all a very good day. And yes I made a difference today.

10-7 EOT

2/22/2013 10-11 by CAD

Let me start off by saying that I woke up this morning at 0230 with a sinus headache that could have killed a small nation and the only reason I even went to work was because I had court. I was not looking forward to working at all.

Southside traffic court starts at 1130 so I struggled until then with only 2 calls prior to court, both being non eventful and nothing to write about. After court the radio call Gods must have been looking down upon me and my fellow sector mates because it was an uneventful rest of the shift and I made it to the end of the day still dealing with my sinus headache.

Did I make a difference today........... absolutely not!!!!!

10-7 EOT

2/21/2013 10-11 by CAD

Traffic Court..........a necessary evil for every Police Officer and some probably like it but I for one do not, but I carry on and do my best to stay interested while I'm there. Some Judges run their courtrooms different and try and get the people out in an expeditious manner. I have a problem with that. There should be an order in which things are done in traffic court, or any court. Police Officers should go first, especially the ones who had just worked a midnight shift, then it should be the ones on their RDO, and then the Officers who are working the street so they can get back to patrolling. The private attorneys should go last. Thats all I have to say about that 0930 to 1136, 2 hours and 6 minutes I'll never get back.

After court nothing really interesting happened until around  1520 when I got a call to meet a complainant in her back yard because her house is bugged and someone has hacked into her wifi. I recognized the address because I was there several months ago for something similar so I didn't go into this call blind.

Well I get there and knock on the door and she answers it and asks me to come in and I ask her whats going on and she says can we please step outside I don't want to talk in the house. I say ok no problem and follow her out to the yard. She then proceeds to tell me that someone has hacked into her wifi and also her alarm system and they have been disarming her system and coming into her house and taking her important paperwork. She also said they took all the evidence off of her computer that proved she was hacked into. This was the same story she gave me months back but at that time her Mother was there and she told me that she has mental issues. I ask her how they are getting in and she says they have a key and after they leave they hack back into her alarm system and turn it back on.

Now since I have dealt with her before as did my fellow sector Officers I know she is 10-96 (that's a 302 for my Philly friends) and is on several meds. I continue to listen to her and after about 20 minutes I've had enough. I tell her there is absolutely no evidence that someone has entered the house and that there is nothing we can do about it. As for the wifi issue I tell her to password protect her wifi and contact her internet provider for assistance.

So I get ready to leave then she drops a bombshell on me. She tells me she was raped back in October by a guy she met in the psyche ward of a hospital she was in. Ok I can spare a few more minutes so I ask her what happened and she says that sometime in late October of last year she woke up around 1:30 AM to go to the bathroom. She then said that she was given a date rape drug and somehow ended up downstairs with a nightgown on with a lot of bright lights. I asked her who had given her the date rape drug and she told me I don't know I did not see anyone but I think it was (name withheld). I asked her how he got in and she says he was never in the house. I ask her why she decided to report it now and she tells me that she told someone at the Y and that the person told her to report it to the Police. I felt like saying "liar, liar pants on fire" but I like my job and need my job so I bit my tongue and took down her information for my report which was labeled "suspicious situation" and not sexual assault.

I cannot make this shit up if I tried, trust me. I would like to write a book but the only ones that would buy it are other Police Officers because they know its true and can relate. Plus if I counted on Police Officers to buy my book I would not make a ton of money because we work for practically nothing so I will continue to write this daily insight of my job and hope it gives you a little peek into our world free of charge.

I love what I do and do what I love.

Did I make a difference today..........probably not.

10-7  EOT

2/20/2013 10-11 by CAD

What a beautiful day here in the RVA. The sun was out and the temperature was very nice and the citizens for the most part behaved.

Having been logged 11 calls for service would seem, to the lay person, busy for a day shift but not really. It's actually nice when they are spaced out throughout the shift and makes the day go by a lot faster than not having any calls at all. Some calls I was the backing unit and was disregarded before I marked on location so I guess those calls do not count.

One of my calls was for an auto accident on a bridge that we share jurisdiction with another agency. We have about 30% of the bridge and obviously the other jurisdiction has the other 70% (I'm pretty good at math). So the call comes out that the other jurisdictions officer is out with both vehicles and is waiting for us to get there since it's "on us". Well I get there and they are off the bridge in our jurisdiction and there is no officer in sight, no big deal, I guess he had some crime to fight.

I get out of my car and give them my usual greeting and ask if there are any injuries at which time they both say "no". Ok so far so good right? I ask them where exactly did the accident happen and they tell me on the middle of the bridge. Now me being a math wiz (see earlier comment) I can safely deduce that the accident happened in the other jurisdiction because middle is 50% and if we have 30% then it is a good chance the the middle will fall into the 70%. I guess one officer from another jurisdiction did not feel like doing some paperwork today. Onward.......

The accident is non-reportable, which is that it doesn't meet the criteria that the Commonwealth established so that the accident is not reported to them. Doesn't mean the accident didn't happen its just that the Commonwealth will not be notified and it will not go against anyone's driving record....get it? Good.

I fill out the paperwork and 10 minutes after I arrived all parties are sent on their merry way. Stuff like this happens a lot on the border of our jurisdictions. First officer on location usually pawns it off on the other jurisdiction and then splits like he/she is being chased by the Texas Rangers for horse theft.

Second accident is a reportable. A simple rear-ender. As like most rear-enders the driver of the striking vehicle took their eyes off the road for a split second and then BOOM! Paperwork completed and back in service.

Next call was a domestic. Now in the Commonwealth a domestic has certain criteria that must be met in order for it to fall under the domestic violence laws. The combatants have to be either married or have a child in common, live under the same roof and some other stuff that I won't bore you with. Well these two were just plain old boyfriend and girlfriend who let a verbal argument get into a semi physical discussion. Female basically tells me that she and the boyfriend got into a verbal argument over some money that she claims the BF owes here. She goes on to say that all she wants is her daughters (not his child) disability paperwork that is in the bathroom and she will go on her way. I then go and talk to the BF and explain that all she wants is the paperwork and he lets me in I go to the bathroom and there is no paperwork in there, just toilet paper. So I go back out and tell her that there is no paperwork in the bathroom and that he does not have the $900.00 dollars that he owes her. Well that wasn't what she wanted to hear. She then tells me that he beat her up, choked her and let his dog bite her and she wants him arrested. I say ok let me see your injuries and she shows me her arms which are a little red around the wrist area but no bite marks, no bleeding and no signs of anything around her neck. I get her information and tell her to hold on a bit.

I talk to the BF and he tells me a slightly different story except for the dog part. Oh by the way the dog is a Rottweiler and has a head bigger that the moon but friendly as can be, at least to me. He says that they were arguing and the GF started to get loud and came towards him. Now the dog being a good companion protected his master and went after the GF who proceeded to kick the dog causing the BF to grab her and throw her off the dog. He goes on to say that she then grabs a knife and starts to go toward him and he grabs the knife and they struggle for a minute at which time she hits him several times before grabbing her things and leaves. She then calls us. I get his information for my report and tell him to wait.

I go back to the GF and ask her about the knife and she says "Oh I forgot about that, yea I grabbed it but never went near him" I gave her a report number and advised her that she has a year to take out a warrant for simple assault on him and that he is going to be advised of the same thing against her. Will they follow through with it? Probably not, but at least I made a new friend today.....the Rotweiler!!!!

There are always three sides to each and every story and its our job to try and figure it all out.

Throw in a few burglar alarms and my day is complete.

Did I make a difference today? Yes I did, that dog is a better animal because it has a new friend.

10-7 EOT

2/17/2013 10-11 by CAD

Well today is Sunday and if anyone has ever worked as a Police Officer on a Sunday you all know it has the potential to be a quiet and beautiful day.

Roll call was the usual, get through the important stuff first. Go over what happened in the last 24 hours, who's Unit 9, who's IAD, weapon serial number check, drivers license check etc. Then after that we get to be are fun loving selves for a few minutes before we get our vehicles and get on the street. There is a lot of ball breaking in roll call and with a group as tight as ours were pretty good at breaking balls.

Today was shaping up to be a cold but really nice day out and as 1030 rolled around I was thinking to myself that this is going to be a pretty good shift, that is until somebody fucks it up.

Well somebody fucked it up.

Normally a 2 vehicle accident without injuries can be handled in about a half an hour to 45 minutes. That's with an exchange form and an FR-300. This one took close to an hour and a half because some nitwit decided he was going to sideswipe a parked vehicle and block traffic when his vehicle came to rest.

So I get there and the vehicle that caused the accident is perpendicular to the vehicle that he struck and he is blocking one lane of traffic and about a foot into the other lane on a 2 lane one way street. It's 1030 on a Sunday and there is some moderate traffic and of course when NDF's (no driving fucks) see a pretty Police car with it's blue flashing lights they tend to get fixated and not pay attention so now I get a small traffic jam. No problem I'm working until 1630 so they can wait if they want to screw up traffic.

Anyway I get out of my car and inquire as to any injuries and was told that no one was injured. The owner of the parked car comes out and I get his information as well as the information from the driver who caused the accident. I asked him what happened and he told me he hit a parked car.....no shit, I kinda figured that out all by myself. Both cars need to be towed so I ask the driver if he has a tow preference and he says no so I then go to the owner of the parked vehicle and he says he has to call Geico. Now being a Police Officer for a minute I know that once you get an insurance agent on the phone they want all sorts of information, information that the owner does not have because I haven't even started my paperwork yet. I tell him to wait about 10 minutes and I will give him all the information he needs. Ok all straight, now to call for the wreckers to get this mess cleaned up.

I block off the street because I didn't want some NDF (see above) to try and squeeze by the partial lane and cause another accident while I waited for the wreckers. Well you might have thought I closed down the entire city. I have learned that some people when faced with a dilemma like a closed street with lose their sense of direction, and mind, and cannot figure out how to go around the block. It's really simple, a right, two lefts and then a right and your back on the same street.

Anyways the wreckers finally show up after almost an hour and by that time I had completed my paperwork and had it printed at the precinct ready to be picked up off the printer and turned into the Sergeants office.

A call later in the day for an burglar alarm which turned out to be false and a call for a disorderly who was GOA ended my perfect little Sunday.

I don't know if I made a difference today but I sure hope I did.

10-7 EOT

02/16/2013 10-11 by CAD

Well the snow/rain made for a quiet day today. It kept everybody off the streets for the most part in my area of patrol. We had a call pretty much right out of roll call to assist the ambulance crew for a mental party and while in route to the call we were canceled, but a few minutes after we were canceled we were re-dispatched. Upon our arrival it was determined that it was not a mental party but just a plain old run of the mill drunk who did not need any of our services so we cleared up with the ambulance crew.

My next call several hours later was for a minor auto accident in which there were no injuries and hardly any damage. I fill out the proper paperwork for both the drivers and after that we all went on our merry way.

An alarm and a hit and run report finished up my day and I made it home in the same condition that I left at 0545.

Sorry it wasn't exciting but you learn to take the good along with the bad.

Did I make a difference today? I certainly hope so. 10-7 EOT

The beginning!

Hello and welcome to my blog.

I have decided to create this blog to document my life as a Police Officer for a medium sized city here in the United States. Being a Police Officer for over 23 years has given me the opportunity to meet some really amazing people and witness some really amazing things that would not have been possible if I had chosen any other career.

There have been times when I have laughed, cried, bled, ached, starved, shivered and pretty much everything else you can come up with in my career. I have given a lot to "the patch" doing what i love to do. I have questioned myself, questioned GOD, questioned my supervisors and questioned the public in which I serve, but through it all I would not change anything in my life right now. I have missed a lot of important holidays, birthdays, recitals, school function etc... for this job. There have been good times and bad times and sometime even great times and you have to learn how to accept them and not let then deter you as you go about doing what you do to make a difference.

I have an awesome support system here consisting of my wife Kathleen, daughters Mary, Dana and Tara and my son Ethan. They are always here for me and provide me with love, support and everything else that a family needs to stay together and survive.

I have been given a front row ticket to the"Greatest Show on Earth" and the show is what keeps me going day in and day out. I work with a truly incredible bunch of guys on my platoon who would stop at nothing to help each other out. I trust them with my life as I hope that they trust me with theirs.