I am involved in changing the traffic flow for a particular location and we are about to put the new traffic flow into effect on Monday January 30, 2011.
In preparation I have been handing out the new pattern on a flyer. I would stop everyone that pulls into the particular location, hand them the sheet of paper and explain the new pattern to them. I give you all this back story to tell you about this one driver.
This driver pulls up and I stopped her. She didn't speak great english. I explained the new traffic pattern and she says, "Ok so I come in this way and go around and exit the other way."
I said, "No, you come in over there and you exit out right where you are right now."
She shook her head like she understood and drove away. As she drove away I walked to a different area and was stopping traffic and handing out more forms.
Surprisingly I ran into the same woman, but I didn't recognize her until I stopped her. I asked, "Did you get a form with the new traffic pattern, that starts Monday."
She said, "Yes, but I am a little confused because you are telling me I have to come in this way and exit over there. The other officer over there told me to enter over there and exit here. I am so confused."
I explained the traffic pattern again and she drove off. She never even recognized that the other officer was me. She was soo confused.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
The Man that tried to kill me
I can finally fill you in on the horrible incident that I was involved in that put me out of work for exactly two months. Today is the first anniversary of the event and I am happy to say that I am still working and feeling good. I still have a constant pain in my lower back and I also continue to have troubles with my shoulders and base of my neck; other than those issues I am doing well.
On to the incident.
I came into work on January 18, 2011 ready to Police the streets. As I walked into the station I stopped to talk to the officer I was relieving to see if anything happened that I needed to be aware of. The officer advised me they responded to a house for a family dispute. Two brothers got into an argument over something. One brother chased the other brother outside and into his truck. One guy started to beat on the truck as the other one was sitting in the truck. The guy in the truck called the police and when the police arrived the guy fled the scene. So they took a report and had been looking for him. The officer asked me to go by the address and check to see if he had returned and check on his well being.
Around six o'clock in the morning my SGT called me and asked me to go by the address one more time and see if the subject was there. So my partner and I went to the address to see if he had returned.
As we pulled down the drive way (my partner was in his car in front of me) a man matching the description was walking out of the house. I radioed to my partner that I believe that was him. The subject jumped into the truck and took off into his back yard. We had a lot of rain in the couple days leading up to this, so I thought he would get stuck in his backyard. My partner and I ran around the front of the house towards the other side of the back yard in an attempt to cut him off. As we came around the house he came around the house driving the truck. He tried to turn the truck to his left but ran into a bush. He backed the truck up towards my partner and I. I pulled my gun and pointed it at him through the passenger side window. He looked me dead in the eye and gave me the middle finger. He then gassed the truck and he was headed straight for a tree. Unfortunately he was able to stop before hitting the tree. He then backed the truck up trying to hit my partner and I, but fortunately for us we were able to get out of the way.
He took off towards my partners car at a high rate of speed and slammed into the side of the patrol car (partner was not in the vehicle). He then took off towards the main road in A manner that led us to believe he was fleeing the area. My partner ran towards his vehicle and I ran towards my vehicle. I yelled to my partner to get into my vehicle and lets go after this guy. As he came around the front of my car I heard a loud acceleration of another vehicle. I looked back and noticed the truck was coming down the driveway at a high rate of speed. The truck slammed into the rear left side of my patrol car. He pushed my vehicle at an angle approximately 40 feet. This caused my vehicle to slam into my partner (who was on the front side of my car) throwing him into the air and he landed next to his patrol vehicle.
The subject backed his vehicle up and then took off again towards the main street. My partner and I both got up and gave chase on foot, but quickly realized we were both injured. I did the best I could to get the description of the subject and truck out on the air. As the truck fled the scene there was another officer parked on the side of the road ahead watching for this guy.
The subject passed this officer and then turned around and at full speed rammed into the side of the officer's vehicle. The subject then backed up again and started towards the officer again. About this time another officer was pulling up and he slammed his vehicle into the side of the subjects vehicle preventing him from striking the officer again.
The subject continued to drive down the street attempting to get away. He eventually bailed out of the truck and ran into a house, where we was arrested. We later found out this was his Aunt's House.
Out of the whole incident there was four patrol cars damaged and three officers injured. All the patrol cars are back on the road and two out of the three officers are back to work, but still dealing with the aches and pains of this horrible tragedy.
As far as the subject that did all this damage. He was sentenced to 25 years per count of first degree assault. There were three accounts of assault. For those mathematically challenged (like me) that's is a total of 75 years. The judge the suspended all but 13 years for each count, but he will serve all those concurrently. All this means is he will serve 13 years total in jail.
I am very satisfied with this sentence because it means this guy will be in jail until I am eligible for retirement.
Monday, January 16, 2012
You just can't turn off being a Police Officer
My wife and I were running errands today. We went to our local Home Depot to pick up a new storm door canister.
I walked up to the counter for special order doors and asked an employee where I could find the door canister and he politely pointed me in the direction. As my wife and I walked towards the area I heard an alarm go off and I immediately recognized the door alarm. It was the alarm that sounds when you go out a fire door. I immediately looked in the direction of the door and notice a rather tall white male walk away from the door carrying something. (My initial thought was he was trying to exit and didn't realize it was an alarmed door) I looked down the isle and noticed the man was no longer carrying anything and he was headed towards the front of the store.
So before I even realized it or had the chance to tell me wife what I was doing I sprang into action. I quickly jogged down the isle and noticed he dumped a Makita Drill on a cart. I grabbed the item and ran towards the front door and as I came around the corner I noticed the gentlemen that helped me. I handed them the drill and told him this is what he was trying to steal. He took it and I went out the door to see where the thief was headed. As I was exiting the door I felt for my gun and remembered I didn't bring it with me, so my mind set immediately went from apprehension to identification (this means I stopped running so fast and kept a safe distance). As I exited the door I looked to my right and noticed the guy walking but he was at the corner of the building. As I got to the corner of the building he looked back and noticed I was still following him. He ran to a Dodge Pickup truck and jumped into the passenger side of the vehicle. I was able to get the tag number and I passed it on to the Manager of the Home Depot.
I walked back into the store and was reunited with my slightly confused wife. We continued our shopping and made our purchases and left.
I learned two lessons in this incident:
Lesson One: Make sure you communicate with your wife before you leap into action.
Lesson Two: Stop leaving your American Express (this is the name of my off duty weapon, cause I usually don't leave home with out it) at Home.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Update on my line of duty Injury
For those of you waiting to hear the story about how I got injured I have news for you.
Your wait is almost over. I am headed to court the first part of October for the sentencing, this is where we find out what the punishment will be for the suspect. As soon as that is over I will be able to share the incident with you.
SO STAY TUNED.
Your wait is almost over. I am headed to court the first part of October for the sentencing, this is where we find out what the punishment will be for the suspect. As soon as that is over I will be able to share the incident with you.
SO STAY TUNED.
Old Writings.
The other day my wife was sorting through papers and found a one page piece of paper that I had written. I don't know when it was written but it was about police officers. I thought it would be neat to share it with me readers. This is exactly how it is written on the paper.
Many of you have heard the expression Police Officers bleed blue. This may not make much since to you after all a Police Officer is just a human being, but few people view Police Officers as simple human beings for most they become some how mythical, Demons to some angels to others. In the world of the Police Officer the ability to make the right choices over life and death, over good and evil must be made in a split second, but in that split second they decide not only their own fate, but the fate of others. It's true they often enjoy the rewards of being a strong contributing member of their community, but contrasting those rewards are bouts of isolation, and exclusion. They are forced to risk their lives protecting the rest of us day after day for a salary the good lord himself would undoubtedly consider spartan. I would imagine many people wonder why they do it at all and I'm sure their are some officers that wish they didn't, but they do it because we need them to, they do it because it's their job. They do it because their blood is blue.
As I was typing this I wanted to make corrections to this writing, but I fought the urge and left it in its original state. I am guessing based on the writing and the thoughts it had to be written when I was in high school, or at least before I became a police officer.
My favorite line is as follows: They are forced to risk their lives protecting the rest of us day after day for a salary the good lord himself would undoubtedly consider spartan.
Well I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did sharing it.
Many of you have heard the expression Police Officers bleed blue. This may not make much since to you after all a Police Officer is just a human being, but few people view Police Officers as simple human beings for most they become some how mythical, Demons to some angels to others. In the world of the Police Officer the ability to make the right choices over life and death, over good and evil must be made in a split second, but in that split second they decide not only their own fate, but the fate of others. It's true they often enjoy the rewards of being a strong contributing member of their community, but contrasting those rewards are bouts of isolation, and exclusion. They are forced to risk their lives protecting the rest of us day after day for a salary the good lord himself would undoubtedly consider spartan. I would imagine many people wonder why they do it at all and I'm sure their are some officers that wish they didn't, but they do it because we need them to, they do it because it's their job. They do it because their blood is blue.
As I was typing this I wanted to make corrections to this writing, but I fought the urge and left it in its original state. I am guessing based on the writing and the thoughts it had to be written when I was in high school, or at least before I became a police officer.
My favorite line is as follows: They are forced to risk their lives protecting the rest of us day after day for a salary the good lord himself would undoubtedly consider spartan.
Well I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did sharing it.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
AHHHHHMAZING
I was off this weekend and even though I was off I got the opportunity to experience something truly Ahhhhmazing.
My wife and I were headed to Lowe's to do some shopping. As I was driving down the street I noticed this vehicle (I say it was an SUV and the wife says it was a car) traveling in the opposite direction flashing its headlights. I looked at the vehicle and then looked back at my dashboard making sure I had my headlights on, then I looked back up at the vehicle in front of me just in time to see it hit something. Then my wife said, "babe I think that car just ran over a person."
I quickly stopped my car and put it in park. I told my wife to dial 911 and I got out an ran up to the driver's side of the car. I told the driver to stop and not move the car because he ran over someone. I ran to the front of the vehicle to check on the subject but he wasn't at the front of the car. I ran back to the driver's side and looked under the vehicle and there the subject was. Completely under the vehicle, none of his body was out from under the vehicle. I stood up and told the driver to pop his trunk. I was going to retrieve the jack for the vehicle, so I could lift the car and pull this guy out.
As I was retrieving the jack form the trunk another guy ran up to me and said, "We can lift this car off of this guy." I said, "We can't lift this car." Then out of nowhere five other guys showed up and grabbed the vehicle and lifted it up off the ground. I looked under the vehicle and was able to grab the guy by his shirt and pull him out from under the car. I then helped the guys set the car back on the ground.
I spent several minutes talking with the subject trying to keep him calm and awake until the paramedics arrived. He kept trying to move around and wasn't real sure what had happened to him. Finally the paramedics arrived on scene and took over treating him. He was transported to the hospital, but the paramedics considered his injuries non life threatening. I think the fact he was drunk contributed to him not sustaining more damage to his body then he did. Being intoxicated usually helps you to stay loose and "roll with the punches."
Through the investigation we were able to determine the guy was crossing the street from the liquor store and he stopped in the middle of the street to wait for on coming traffic to clear. While he was standing in the street he lost his balance (cause he was drunk) and fell over into traffic just as the car that hit him was approaching. The driver tried to stop, but wasn't able to.
Looking back on the incident it was truly amazing. I was amazed at how well my wife performed in the incident. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to snap into action and get citizens to help. I was amazed we were able to lift this car (Toyota Corolla) up off the ground (that's what I call teamwork). I was amazed this guy wasn't dead when I got to him.
Then I was amazed how quickly everyone went back to normal. Shortly after the guy went to the hospital, all the firetrucks left and the road was opened up people were again crossing the road. They weren't walking down to the crosswalk, which was no farther then 50 yards down the road. They were running across the road, just like the guy that got hit was doing. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.
My wife and I were headed to Lowe's to do some shopping. As I was driving down the street I noticed this vehicle (I say it was an SUV and the wife says it was a car) traveling in the opposite direction flashing its headlights. I looked at the vehicle and then looked back at my dashboard making sure I had my headlights on, then I looked back up at the vehicle in front of me just in time to see it hit something. Then my wife said, "babe I think that car just ran over a person."
I quickly stopped my car and put it in park. I told my wife to dial 911 and I got out an ran up to the driver's side of the car. I told the driver to stop and not move the car because he ran over someone. I ran to the front of the vehicle to check on the subject but he wasn't at the front of the car. I ran back to the driver's side and looked under the vehicle and there the subject was. Completely under the vehicle, none of his body was out from under the vehicle. I stood up and told the driver to pop his trunk. I was going to retrieve the jack for the vehicle, so I could lift the car and pull this guy out.
As I was retrieving the jack form the trunk another guy ran up to me and said, "We can lift this car off of this guy." I said, "We can't lift this car." Then out of nowhere five other guys showed up and grabbed the vehicle and lifted it up off the ground. I looked under the vehicle and was able to grab the guy by his shirt and pull him out from under the car. I then helped the guys set the car back on the ground.
I spent several minutes talking with the subject trying to keep him calm and awake until the paramedics arrived. He kept trying to move around and wasn't real sure what had happened to him. Finally the paramedics arrived on scene and took over treating him. He was transported to the hospital, but the paramedics considered his injuries non life threatening. I think the fact he was drunk contributed to him not sustaining more damage to his body then he did. Being intoxicated usually helps you to stay loose and "roll with the punches."
Through the investigation we were able to determine the guy was crossing the street from the liquor store and he stopped in the middle of the street to wait for on coming traffic to clear. While he was standing in the street he lost his balance (cause he was drunk) and fell over into traffic just as the car that hit him was approaching. The driver tried to stop, but wasn't able to.
Looking back on the incident it was truly amazing. I was amazed at how well my wife performed in the incident. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to snap into action and get citizens to help. I was amazed we were able to lift this car (Toyota Corolla) up off the ground (that's what I call teamwork). I was amazed this guy wasn't dead when I got to him.
Then I was amazed how quickly everyone went back to normal. Shortly after the guy went to the hospital, all the firetrucks left and the road was opened up people were again crossing the road. They weren't walking down to the crosswalk, which was no farther then 50 yards down the road. They were running across the road, just like the guy that got hit was doing. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.
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