The Johnny Law Chronicles

Justice is Served

2009-12-01T10:42:00.002-06:00

I'm glad to hear this cop-killing piece of garbage is now dead and it is finally over except the grief.

Good shooting officer.

Lakewood police shooting suspect killed by Seattle police officer in South Seattle early this morning

Troyer praised the Seattle officer who shot Clemmons, saying the officer was lucky he wasn't killed. The officer has been placed on routine administrative leave.

Seattle police said the officer, a seven-year veteran, was on routine patrol when he saw a car with the hood up and the engine running.

The officer ran the license plate and determined the car had been stolen, said Seattle Assistant Chief Jim Pugel.

The car had been stolen in another neighborhood shortly before 2 a.m.

As the officer sat in his patrol car doing paperwork on the stolen car, he noticed a man was approaching the driver's side of the patrol car from behind.

The officer immediately recognized the man as matching the description of Clemmons and got out his patrol car, Pugel said.

"He ordered the person to stop. He ordered the person to show his hands, that person would not show his hands, and also began to run away counterclockwise around the vehicle," Pugel said.

The officer again told him to stop and he didn't comply, Pugel said.

The officer then fired several shots at Clemmons, who was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Ranger School! You'll Fight Tigers!

2009-12-01T02:13:00.002-06:00

Because we all need a laugh right about now:

You'll choke the shit out of people!

Officer Down and Life In the Red Zone

2009-11-29T20:09:00.005-06:00

My heart sank today when I read about the four Washington State officers that were murdered today. It is a horrible thing and it is another example that ambushes are becoming much more common.

Heck, it was only a few weeks ago that Seattle PD Officer Timothy Brenton was shot while sitting on the side of the road. Even more recently, LVPD Officer Trevor Nettleton was ambushed in front of his house. Of course let's not forget the Oakland officers that were gunned down on a traffic stop and the SWAT officers who died trying to arrest the piece of garbage that did it.

The first thing I thought when I read about today's shooting was, "How did this guy get the drop on and kill four officers?" The four were experienced cops. They had over 40 years of police experience between them and ranged in age from 37 to 42. These were not a couple of academy cadets sitting around.

Unfortunately it is not that hard to kill a group of police officers, especially when they are not on a call. When we are on a disturbance call or a traffic stop, our radar is up and we are ready for trouble. We need to stay in that mindset for our whole shift but it is hard to maintain staying in the "red zone". I know that I tend to relax when I am sitting at the dinner table with some of my coworkers. There have been times that people have walked up on us to ask a question and we didn't notice him right away. This shooting could have easily gone down the same way.

Take that level of complacency and add a reaction gap plus the difficulties of drawing your weapon while seated and it is easy to imagine how these officers went down. So what can we do to protect ourself? Remember that when you are in uniform, YOU ARE A TARGET! Several times while off-duty, I have seen deputies walking around Wal-Mart after work but still in uniform. How do I know they were off-duty? They DIDN'T HAVE A GUN BELT ON! There is no excuse for that. I know the belt is uncomfortable but if the blue suit is on, the vest and gun stay on too. No compromises!

Another thing you can do is watch your positioning. If you go to a coffee shop or restaurant, try to get a table in the rear of the establishment. Make sure at least one of you sit with your back to the wall so that they can keep an eye on the door. I would rather see trouble coming at me instead of taking one in the back of the head.

Practice drawing your weapon while sitting down. Many level 3 holsters require the gun to be tilted a certain way and the chair could prevent this while trying to draw under high stress.

I sometimes get into internet debates with people who claim that the police are paranoid and too quick to take command of a situation. These same folks claim that police are too militarized and more concerned with being a Law Enforcement Officer than a Peace Officer (whatever that means). My answer to them is always the same. This job is dangerous and we have to adapt to the dangers. Life is not a Norman Rockwell painting and there are people trying to kill us. Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

Be safe out there brothers and try to learn from this tragedy so that we all make it home at the end of shift.

Way to keep a low-profile

2009-11-29T02:14:00.004-06:00

My shift and I were working a traffic assignment the other night. There is an area in my beat that gets a ton of vehicle traffic on the weekends. Due to the number of cars, traffic gets backed up for several blocks. What we do is ride our bikes up and down the street and keep an eye out for any violations.

We usually end up finding expired registration stickers, people smoking weed, seatbelt violations, DUIs, and all kinds of other goodies. It is a great spot to get some decent activity. I usually hate stopping cars while on a bicycle because it is so easy for the car to evade. However this area is so backed up that the cars have nowhere to go. Even if they go up on the sidewalk, there are concrete benches that will stop them before they get far.

On the night in question we were going back and forth when we heard a loud car stereo blaring. When I say loud I mean the bass was so heavy it was making the glass shake on all the other cars in the street. We quickly narrowed this down to a big shiny H2 Hummer going down the road. An officer rode up to the driver and knocked on the window to get his attention. The driver looked over and his eyes popped out of his head.

The Hummer cut to the left and the driver punched the gas. This tank came within inches of slamming into the officer. The car tried to get up on the shoulder and go around traffic but due to some huge pillars blocking off a nearby bus station (empty) the car had nowhere to go. Within seconds he had several red laser dots dancing on his face while other officers pulled him out of the car by his ears.

We ended up finding several pounds of weed, a few thousand dollars, and digital scales. The driver was also out on bond for another drug case that was pending.

My question is if you are carrying around a felony amount of drugs and are out on bond, why the hell are you blasting your music and driving one of the most conspicuous vehicle around? You might as well have a "take me to jail" sign on your door.

Ahh sweet sweet job security.

Show some respect

2009-11-24T00:02:00.003-06:00

I read this story and I almost broke my keyboard. At least the family of this murdering scum is speaking out against it.

So a police officer gets shot down while sitting on the side of the road and some POS garage band wants to make a t-shirt with the murderer's face on it? Makes me sick.

According to the story, "A local punk band created the T-shirt because "we like this guy and back his actions," according to a Web site, which is selling the shirts for $13."

Excuse me? What the hell is wrong with people? At least it looks like the shirts are no longer on sale. I sure would like to know the name of the band.

The assassination of Officer Tim Brenton just shows that there are people out there who have an insane hatred of the police and you can't let your guard down. Whenever I need to do some paperwork while in my unit I try to park in a place where I can't be approached from behind. I prefer to find a parking garage with a high concrete wall behind me. If that isn't available I look for an empty parking lot and park in the middle of it with a clear view 360 degrees around me.

This isn't the first time an officer has been ambushed while sitting in his car. I can remember reading about the same thing happening to an officer in DC a few years ago and I bet there are others I don't know about. Be safe out there folks and watch your six. It's a dangerous world.

Wasted Youth of the Counter-Culture

2009-11-23T11:19:00.005-06:00

*photo removed at request of counter-culture loving photographer*

My city has recently started to suffer an infestation. It happens every year as the weather changes. If you live anywhere on the West Coast such as Portland, Seattle, or San Francisco, you are familiar with the problem.

Teenage bums. Dozens of them.

It's probably a good thing that the picture was removed. Just use your imagination and think of a young person who hasn't bathed in months and likes to wear dirty cargo pants.

They usually range in age from mid-teens to early 20s. They love to have nasty dreds and smell like the ass of a camel (or at least how I imagine a camel's ass smells). It seems like each one is issued a mangy dog to lead around. Most carry backpacks bigger than the ones carried by US Infantry. Heroin is often their drug of choice.

Apparently they migrate south when the weather gets cold and then head back north during the summer. I really hate dealing with them. While there is something sad about dealing with older homeless folks and the concept of a life wasted, I just get angry when interacting with these kids. Many are homeless by choice and think it is cool to buck society. Whenever I deal with them they are disrepectful, smug, and think they have life figured out. What they don't get is that the longer they waste away on the street, the harder it will be to get out when they decide they have had enough.

I just have to shake my head at their stupidity. Don't they see the older homeless and see what their lives will turn into unless they shape up? I don't understand the appeal of stinking while sitting on the sidewalk playing a guitar for change.

I give them very few breaks and often "suggest" that they go back to wherever they came from. Unfortunately I know that they are like cockroaches and I won't be rid of them until the weather changes again.

Poor dogs.

At least he is upfront about it

2009-11-19T11:04:00.002-06:00

I actually hope this guy got a job. *(click to enlarge)

Dealing with the police

2009-11-13T10:33:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I really wish they taught a class in school on how to interact with the police. It seems like people have absolutely no clue on what is proper behavior. Since I work in an entertainment district I often arrest people who are out with a group of friends. I don't know why but many of these friends think it is appropriate to run up in the middle of the arrest and try to get in our way.

I understand that people are concerned for their friend but it is not acceptable to grab the cops arm and demand to know what is going on. The proper (and smart) thing to do is stand aside and ask to speak with an officer once things are under control. I am just amazed at some of the stuff people do. I've seen people try to pull their buddy away from us. People have tried to block our path as we walk them to the car. These things always end badly for the friends that get in our way.

When we are arresting someone, other officers try to form a circle around the incident to keep crowds back. We once had a suspect's buddy run up and sucker punch an officer making an arrest and gave the officer a serious concussion. Because of incidents like that we typically keep everyone way back.

The other night a bunch of us responded to a call of a fight in the street. When we arrived there was a man laying on the ground unconscious. As we were trying to help him, his buddies came up and tried to get between us. They said they would take care of him. We wouldn't let them because he was obviously injured and EMS was on the way. One of his friends wouldn't get back so we put him in cuffs.

A struggle ensued while handcuffing him and another buddy came running up full speed at the back of one of the officers as if he was going to jump on his back. I had both hands occupied but I was close enough to kick the guy in the gut. He went down and another officer started to put him in cuffs. I heard yelling behind me then the CLACK CLACK CLACK of a taser going off.

All we originally wanted to do was stand by with an injured subject until EMS arrived. We ended up arresting 5 people for interfering with police and resisting arrest. What the hell is wrong with people? If they had just stayed back like we asked, EMS would have treated their friend and we would have been on our way.

I really think that alot of it has to do with how people are raised. I deal with a majority of college students and soldiers in their early 20s and it seems like people are not used to having to listen to authority figures. Everyone thinks they can just so whatever the hell they want to. It is only going to get worse as time goes by.

That's pretty much how I remember it

2009-11-10T11:13:00.000-06:00

Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks

Don't Tase Me In The Chest Bro!

2009-11-06T10:05:00.008-06:00

Some strange stuff is coming out of Taser International lately. They posted a warning advising departments to avoid shooting subjects in the upper chest. The warning said that there was no danger to individuals if they were shot there but they still advise against it. I have to admit that I am a little confused by the warning.

I personally think that Taser is getting beat down by all the pathetic lawsuits and is simply trying to limit their liability. It bugs me though because all the anti-Taser morons out there are now jumping up and down claiming this proves they are right. I think that Taser has decided to compromise their stance for financial reasons and this is going to hurt their product. I am sure that this will prevent some departments from adopting this tool.

(Comic below is courtesy of the Police Limit by Garey McKee)

*note* I can't seem to get the whole cartoon to show up. You can read it here.

TASER advises cops not to aim at suspect's chest
TASER's New Training Targets

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The maker of TASER stun guns is advising police officers to avoid shooting suspects in the chest with the 50,000-volt weapon, saying that it could pose an extremely low risk of an "adverse cardiac event."

The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, is the first time that TASER International has suggested there is any risk of a cardiac arrest related to the discharge of its stun gun.

But TASER officials said Tuesday that the bulletin does not state that TASERs can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy over the subject if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.

The recommendation could raise questions about whether police officers will find it more difficult to accurately direct the probes emitted by a TASER gun at a recommended body area in order to subdue a suspect. TASER officials say the change won't hinder officers' ability to use TASERs.

In a memo accompanying the bulletin, TASER officials point out that officers can still shoot the guns at a suspect's chest, if needed.

Police departments across the United States and in Canada and Australia reacted immediately to the bulletin, with some ordering officers to follow TASER's instructions and begin aiming at the abdomen, legs or back of a suspect.

Officials with the Phoenix Police Department, one of the first in the country to arm all its officers with TASERs, said Tuesday that the new guidelines are being adopted by trainers who are reviewing departmental policy for possible changes.

Critics, including civil-rights lawyers and human-rights advocates, called the training bulletin an admission by TASER that its guns could cause cardiac arrest. They called it a stunning reversal for the company, which for years has maintained that the gun was incapable of inducing a cardiac arrest.

Scottsdale-based TASER insisted that the revision admitted no risk of cardiac arrest and served only as risk-management advice for law enforcement.

In the past, TASER has cautioned that use of its stun gun involves risk inherent in police-suspect conflicts, including the risk that suspects fall after being struck by a TASER.

"TASER has long stood by the fact that our technology is not risk-free and is often used during violent and dangerous confrontations," TASER Vice President Steve Tuttle said in an e-mail. "We have not stated that the TASER causes (cardiac) events in this bulletin, only that the refined target zones avoid any potential controversy on this topic."

TASER's training bulletin states that "the risk of an adverse cardiac event related to a TASER. .. discharge is deemed to be extremely low." However, the bulletin says, it is impossible to predict human reactions when a combination of drug use or underlying cardiac or other medical conditions are involved.

"Should sudden cardiac arrest occur in a scenario involving a TASER discharge to the chest area, it would place the law-enforcement agency, the officer and TASER International in the difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any, the TASER. .. could have played," the bulletin says.

The bulletin recommends that when aiming at the front of a suspect, the best target for officers is the major muscles of the pelvic area or thigh region. "Back shots remain the preferred area when practical," it says.

For years, TASER officials have said in interviews, court cases and government hearings that the stun gun is incapable of inducing ventricular fibrillation, the chaotic heart rhythm characteristic of a heart attack.

The guns are used by more than 12,000 police agencies across the country, including every major law-enforcement agency in the Valley. Many authorities credit the weapon with preventing deaths and injuries to officers and suspects.

Advocacy groups such as Amnesty International allege that TASER guns are often used by police as a compliance tool on unarmed individuals who pose no deadly threat, who are drunk or on drugs and simply quarrel with officers.

Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union, who has tracked TASER issues for years, said the bulletin means that police departments should now be asking questions about liability and reconsider how the stun gun is used.

"This is further evidence that law-enforcement agencies need to stop and ask if they have been sold a bill of goods," he said. "This (training) bulletin confirms what critics have said for years: that TASER has overstated its safety claims.. .. (It) has to be read as if TASERs can cause cardiac arrest."

Since 2001, there have been more than 400 deaths following police TASER strikes in the United States and 26 in Canada. Medical examiners have ruled that a TASER was a cause, contributing factor or could not be ruled out in more than 30 of those deaths.

The training bulletin is drawing significant attention in Canada, where controversy erupted after the 2007 death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport. The man stopped breathing after being shocked five times by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers.

A Canadian government investigation in July concluded that TASER stun guns can cause death, spurring law-enforcement agencies across the country to put severe new restrictions on how and when police there can use the weapons.

In view of TASER's bulletin, the Mounties revised policies to urge officers to avoid firing at suspects' chests.

Halloween Summary

2009-11-01T11:44:00.003-06:00

Well the night is over and I survived it (barely). Here are some totals:

Number of people who told me I had a nice costume: 15
Number of people who asked if I was a real cop: 4
Number of people in prisoner or police costumes that wanted a picture: 8

Interesting arrests:

White guy dressed as Poncho Villa (We finally caught the bastard!)
Dallas Cowboys cheerleader (professional quality replica!)
Rorschach
2 Clowns (one of which was crying)
Aladdin
A Spartan warrior

Number of arrests made within the 8 block radius of our bar district: 32

Add the fact that daylight savings time caused the night to last an extra hour and you can imagine how exhausted I am.

Give me strength

2009-10-30T11:25:00.002-05:00

Well it is that time of year again when the idiots come out in herds. It's the time when drunks dress up as convicts and want pictures of you handcuffing them. It's when people come out dressed like the cast of Reno 911 and want to hug on you. It is the night when at least 60 people think it is original and hilarious to tell you that you have a nice costume. Others think it is equally genius to ask if you are a real cop or not.

It's Halloween again.

Give me strength...

When in Rome, Do As the Romans Do?

2009-10-20T13:20:00.002-05:00

I was having an interesting debate with a couple of other officers last night. Apparently my department has an officer under investigation for going to a foreign country and hiring a prostitute. Now prostitution is legal in this other country but my department is still trying to hammer him for ethical issues.

I think that you should not be punished for going to another country and doing something that is legal there even if it is a crime here. After all, a society determines what should be forbidden or not. If my country/state/city feels that it should be illegal to sell beer on a Sunday but another county feels it is okay, well that is up to them and I am fine with it. The same goes for things such as prostitution, gambling, ect, ect...

Another officer disagreed and tried to argue that we signed up to enforce the laws of our jurisdiction and therefore are held to a higher standard. He said that if is wrong in his city then it is wrong for him anywhere. I had a hard time with this and asked what if our jurisdiction decided to legalize prostitution? Would it then be okay to go to a brothel? He grudgingly said he guessed it would be okay then.

I pressed him and asked if he ever goes to Vegas and gambles. He said he did and I pointed out that casinos are illegal in our area so I guess he should be punished for breaking the rules of where he works. I then pointed out that prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada. Since those areas have cops, is it okay for them to go out of country and solicit prostitutes since it is legal in the jurisdiction they work? According to his criteria, that would be okay right? If it is okay for a NV deputy, why not a cop from another city?

What do you folks think? It was an interesting debate and I am curious about that other people think.

Take Off the Special Hat

2009-10-13T19:10:00.004-05:00

Last weekend I was parking on the street in our downtown area. This particular intersection has certain parking spots that become police parking at night. This is because we try to keep a visible presence near the bars and the designated spots keep us from having to park in a lane of traffic.

These spots have signs and arrows that mark the areas as a tow-away zone after 9 PM. If anyone simply takes the time to read the big red and white sign with a tow truck symbol, they will understand that it is a bad place to park. Of course people never read the signs. Or they do read the signs but decide to go ahead a cop if they can park them anyway.

I can never understand this. If it says no parking, why would you go up to a cop and ask if it was okay to park there? Of course it isn't okay.

Well that night I was backing up into an open spot in this tow-away zone when a woman came up to my window. She started waving at me as I was backing up. I held up my hand to indicate that she needed to wait a minute. Once I parked safely I got out and asked if I could help her.

She pointed at the parking spot in front of me and asked if she could park there. While she asked me this she was standing directly under the big "Police Parking Only - Tow Away Zone" sign. I told her that it was currently reserved for police parking and she could not park there. I didn't say it rudely or with sarcasm. I simply stated the information.

She then asked if she would get a ticket if she parked there. *sigh* I replied that she would get a ticket and her car would be towed.

She looked irritated and started to walk to her car. She abruptly turned around and demanded my name. I asked what the problem was and she said she thought I should treat people a little better. I had no idea what the hell she was talking about. Believe me, I can be rude to people and I was in no way rude to her.

As I looked at her, I noticed her designer shoes and Louie Vuitton purse. I looked over at her car and saw it was high end Mercedes. That is when I understood. This chick had some cash and resented being told that she couldn't do something.

She told me that she intended to call the mayor and let him know how rude the police were in this town. I laughed and told her that I was sorry I didn't answer her question correctly. I told that the next time I got a stupid question, I will just politely tell the person to read the big obvious sign that is above their important head.

Her face got red and she jumped in her car and sped off. I suppose I will hear about this one but screw em. I hate people who think they need to have their asses kissed.

Come For the Protests! Stay For the Tear Gas!

2009-10-05T12:29:00.002-05:00

The Pittsburgh PD has been dealing with the usual unwashed protesters at the G20. I came across some videos on the net and was impressed. It's obvious that people are doing their best to post some negative footage of the way police handled it. Too bad all they can find is a well-equipped, professional crowd control team taking care of business in a very organized manner.

I have been involved with several mass protests and I am very impressed with the way the police responded in Pittsburgh. There are multiple videos out there but this one shows a compilation of footage. My favorite spot occurs at 00:20 on the video. Let's just say that a riot is a bad time to try to hug a cop.

I've got no sympathy for the folks that got caught up in this. You can clearly hear the announcements to disperse. If people wanted to hang around and watch after hearing that, then they take their chances.

Have a Plan

2009-10-04T12:34:00.003-05:00

This is something that my training officers stressed constantly. I was taught that you should always be getting mentally ready for that moment of danger. While I am approaching a car on a traffic stop I'm judging which direction I am going to throw myself if a gun comes out the window. While I' biking around, I'm planning on where take evasive action towards if a car comes into my lane.

It really becomes second nature after awhile and it works. I've had people try to bolt away while in mid-sentence with me but I was able to snatch them as soon as they started to move. It's not because I have super-human speed. I was just watching them and pre-planning how I would react if they tried to run.

Last night I was dealing with a guy whose car was getting towed. He was very irate and carrying a strange type of shoulder bag that had his hand next to the opening. As he got more and more angry I was scanning objects to use as cover in case he had a weapon or charged me. The incident ended with him calming down and apologizing. As he left I wondered if he had any idea that I had a pretty solid plan on how to kill him if it came to that.

While this may sound horrible and paranoid to the public, very bad things can happen to officers who are caught with their pants down.

For example:

Always have a plan.

Another Blast From the Past

2009-10-01T11:28:00.002-05:00

I first posted this back in 2006 when I worked in a unit that handled street level dealing.
-----------------------------------------------------------

The other night we were rolling around trying to buy some dope. It was an uncover operation but it wasn't anything out of Miami Vice. No meeting the Columbians in some airport hanger with a suitcase full of flash money. Nope. No big takedown with SUVs full of cops. That's a mythical undercover op.

This undercover op consisted of two white boys (cops) in a beat up car driving around street corners and trying to get a rock or two of crack for $20. We were just killing a slow night by trying to catch a few people on the bottom rungs of the drug trade. Aka, bottom feeders and corner boys. Once the deal was done, we'd call it out over the radio. Nearby takedown units would grab the dealer as we skipped out of the area and drove down to the next corner.

We pulled into one hotel parking lot and a guy ran up to the car to see what we wanted.

Me: "Hey can you get me a rock?"

Dealer 1: "You a cop?"

They always seem to ask this. Somewhere out there, crooks teach each other that the police have to tell the truth when asked this question. I don't know why they think this but it is one of the pleasures of policework to see their hurt expressions when they realize we lied.

Me: "Gimme a break. No way."

Dealer 1: "You look like a cop. I think you're the law."

He looks at me hard as he says this. He then motions over to another guy standing in a dark corner. This guy trots over.

Dealer 1 to Dealer 2: "This motherfucker wants a rock."

Dealer 2 looks at me and starts to smirk.

Dealer 2 to me: "Let me see your wallet." He leaned deep into the window at this point.

Me: "What are you talking about? I have the cash right here."

I was holding the money in one hand as my other hand started slowly inching towards my gun that was stuck in the seat cushion.

Let me say that there is something about this type of operation that always makes me a bit nervous. When you are in uniform, you have on your bat-belt, weapons, badge, and vest. You are The Man and you are in charge. During undercover buys, all you have is your badge in your sock and a small gun under the seat or in the small of your back. Dealers may see you as a customer or they may decide to just rob your ass. When things start to go bad, you just have to hope that your back-up in on the ball.

Things felt like they were about to go bad.

Dealer 2: "Let me see your wallet first."

Me: "Why do you want to see my wallet?"

Dealer 2: "Cause I know that's where cops keep their badge Officer."

Enough of this shit. Undercover or not, I wasn't gonna sit there and be disrespected by some piece of street trash while my co-workers listened in on the wire.

Me: "Man, fuck you. Either sell me the shit or not. If you're scared, let me know and I'll fucking go somewhere else and score. I said I'm not a cop and I'm not gonna tell you again."

The guy looked at me with a slightly surprised expression on his face. I don't think he expected me to go off on him like that. He nodded his head and said, "It's cool. It's cool. I'll sell to you."

Dealer 2 gave the dope to Dealer 1. Dealer 1 gave me it to me as I gave him the twenty. Dealer 1 then gave the twenty to Dealer 2. This is another misunderstanding in the criminal world. For whatever reason, Dealer 2 thinks that if he didn't actually give or take anything from me directly, he can't be charged. Wrong. If that dope passed through five hands to get to me, five people can be charged.

Deal done, I rolled off and called in the takedowns to collect the suspects.

Back at the office, one of the takedown guys said that Dealer 1 and Dealer 2 kept repeating, "I knew he was a cop," over and over again while enroute to the jail.

Then why did you sell me crack cocaine, dumbass?

Another night in the big city

A Cog in the Machine

2009-09-24T12:09:00.003-05:00

I have always loved my job with the exception of a two year period. My first assignment when I promoted to detective was to the Domestic Violence Unit. it was a very depressing and thankless job. It didn't help that my department has a very strict policy on which cases will be filed on. My department is also very "progressive" and officers are scared to minimize any possible domestic violence call. This meant that I was swamped with multiple bullshit cases that I still had to prosecute even though either:

1) I felt the victim was making it up to punish the other party.

2) It was a minor argument with the only force being used was sometime small like grabbing a person's wrist and causing a boo boo.

3) The victim didn't want to file charges.

Don't misunderstand my stance on real domestic violence issues. Assholes who beat their wives need to go to jail and I dealt with plenty of those too. The problem was it was so hard to get the time to really work a serious case because I was too busy with bullshit.

At first I tried to rage against the machine and get these cases cleared without ruining lives. My supervisor was one of those types who was scared to death to make a decision. He found it politically safer to blindly follow policy and started getting upset with me bringing weak cases to his attention. It was such a battle that I eventually gave up and became another cog in the criminal justice machine. I would get a case, judge it by our established guidelines and issue warrants without doing any significant follow-up. It was a miserable time for me because I rarely got any job satisfaction.

I remember one case I got where this drunk lady called the police. The cops showed up and she had some bruises on her forearms. She claimed her live-in boyfriend did it but he wasn't home at the time. The report stated that the house was a mess and the "victim" was hammered. Photos were taken of several bruises on the legs and arms and entered in the case file.

A quick search of this woman's history shows that she had a history of getting drunk and tearing shit up wherever she was. She had done this in bars, stores, and other public places. Some of these fits caused bruises on her arms where she was swinging them around.

Now based on our criteria, a victim who called the police and had visible injuries plus gave a statement (drunk or not) meant that we file charges against the names suspect. There is no leeway on this. Before I could start the paperwork, the suspect called me and explained that his girlfriend got mad because he went out with friends. She got herself drunk and tore the place up when he wasn't there. Then she called the police and claimed he did it to get back at him. The victim then called me and told me that she had drank a ton of cheap wine that night and didn't remember much of what happened but her boyfriend was gone at the time. She said he had never hit her and was sorry for making up anything.

Both parties were willing to give me a statement and the boyfriend had witnesses who could show that he wasn't home when this assault was supposed to occur. This all sounded pretty reasonable to me. I took it to my boss and he didn't agree. Apparently the boyfriend had been involved in a verbal domestic disturbance with this female a few weeks ago and that report indicated that he yelled at her in public. To my boss this meant he had a serious temper problem and it would be better to "just let the courts sort it out."

I was amazed. I mean, I had witnesses that said he wasn't there, the victim had no credibility due to her history, her injuries matched previous self-inflicted behavior, and SHE SAID SHE LIED! I stood my ground and finally won but I had to collect statements from everyone involved, threaten everyone with polygraphs, and finally get the District Attorney's office to agree that they didn't want the case. Our DA is very jumpy as well and I had to go through the same song and dance with them. At the end of it I got a lecture from my boss about trying to go against policy but the case was finally closed with no charges filed.

I called the "suspect" and explained that he needed to reevaluate his relationship with the crazy woman and that it wasn't smart to be with someone who is going to call the police with crazy claims whenever you piss her off. He said he understood and was moving out.

Two weeks later I come back to work from the weekend and find another case with their names on it. I swear it was the exact same situation as last time. Are you kidding me? There was no way I was going to go through that circus again and get my ass reamed because of this dream couple. I immediately filed the paperwork and issued the assault warrant on the guy.

As I came back from the judge's office, my phone rang and it was the suspect again.

He started to explain that Sheila was up to her old tricks again but I cut him off and asked him why he stayed with her. He said he intended to leave but hadn't done it yet. I told him there was a warrant for his arrest for assault and he needed to turn himself in. He got very upset and started trying to tell me about the case and I said that he now needed to tell it to his defense attorney.

He asked, "Detective, she lied again! Don't you care about the truth?"

I replied, "I used to but not anymore. Get an attorney and move out or else this is going to happen again. Either that or move to a different city."

Like I said, I just became a cog in the machine. The day I transferred out of there was one of the happiest days of my career.

Blast From the Past

2009-09-19T12:25:00.003-05:00

I've been very busy lately and haven't really had time to post anything. I figured I would fill some space by posting some of my first blog posts. Here is the first war story that I posted back in 2006. This call still sticks out in my mind more than any other and I can remember everything like it was just yesterday. It's funny how just a little more pull on the trigger would have probably changed my law enforcement career entirely.

*************************
When I am off-duty and meet people for the first time, they often ask me questions like "What was your scariest call?" or "Have you ever pulled your gun and almost shot someone?" I have several stories that I tell but this incident usually is the first to come to mind.

I had only been a cop for a few months and was coming on shift. As I was entering the station, I saw all these other officers rushing out. I asked what was going on and was told that an officer in another part of town had just been shot during a traffic stop and wasn't expected to make it. Officers had to go out and help cover calls in that area while others tried to find the suspect. This really shook me up. As I said, I was very new and this was the first time an officer had been injured or killed since I joined up. Up to that point, it was really just a fun game for me and the danger didn't seem real.

However I still had work to do so I grabbed my gear and went in service. The first call out of the box was a disturbance call at a nearby apartment complex. The 911 caller heard shouting and stuff breaking next door and wanted us to check it out. Due to all the things going on, there was no back-up available. Now this apartment complex was well known to me. It was mostly welfare housing and had all the usual welfare problems such as drugs, fights, drunkeness, and the like.

I arrived and tried to find the building where the call came from but the complex was like a maze. As I walked through the parking lot I saw an old beat up Lincoln driving towards me. There was a black male behind the wheel and an black female running after it. The female was yelling, "Stop him! Stop him! That's mine!" I really didn't know what was going on at this point. it could have been a family disturbance or an auto theft for all I knew.

I raised my hand and gestured for the vehicle to stop. I was surprised that the driver listened to me. I then began giving the driver commands to get out of the car and get on the ground. I didn't draw my weapon at this point but had my hand on it. The driver looked at me, got out of the car, and started walking back towards the trunk. I kept yelling for him to get on the ground but he ignored me and kinda paced back and forth by the trunk.

I could see that he didn't have a weapon so I began walking towards him with the intent to grab him and take him to the ground. As I got about five to ten feet near the front of the car, he turned and went back to the driver's side. He then reached down and put his hand under the seat. I thought, "Oh my God, he's reaching for a gun." I drew my weapon and began screaming at him to put his hands up but he kept digging. He then straightened up and began turning towards me with his right arm extended. As he did so, he said, "I don't wanna go back to jail." I could see something black in his hand.

I remember time seeming to slow down as I thought ,"This can't be happening." Remember, we had just had a officer shot (and killed as it turned out) less than an hour earlier. That fact quickly flashed through my mind. I began to apply pressure to my trigger as the guy continued to turn towards me. At the last second I saw that he had a cell phone in his hand. I released the pressure on the trigger as the guy put the phone on the hood of the car.

At this point, I am pissed. I holster my gun and draw my baton and I approach this guy. By God, he is getting on the ground or getting the stick. The dude looks at me and takes off running. I chase him through the apartment complex and straight through a basketball court with a game in progress. He eventually loses me but there was another unit that heard me yelling on the radio that caught up with him on a side street. By then the guy had run himself into the ground and just gave up.

I get the suspect from him and walk him to my car. As I said, I was pissed. Turns out the guy had just gotten out of jail that day (nice) and came over to visit his girlfriend. The two got into an argument and a dish got broken. He was driving off in his car but she had left her phone in it. That was why she was running after him and the reason he reached in the car to get it. That's it. There was no assault and no arrestable offense until he ran.

This guy had no idea how close I came to killing him. I asked him what the hell he was thinking and if he knew I almost shot him. He looked at me in surprise and asked, "You were gonna shoot me? You only wanted to shoot me because I'm black."

Priceless...

I still think about that incident. What if I had shot an unarmed black man? The press would have had a field day with that and would still be talking about it. Still, I would have been legally justified due to his actions and that fact that I feared for my life when he came up with that phone in his hands. Why didn't I shoot? To be honest, I hesitated too long. If he had had a gun, he would have gotten the first shot off. Luckily for him, I don't think I had completely come to grips with pulling the trigger on another person. Since then, I have had a lot of training on the warrior mindset and how action beats reaction. I doubt I would hesitate as long now if the situation repeated itself.

*note*

I recently looked up this guys criminal history and since this incident he has been arrested multiple times for everything from drug dealing to robbery. The guys sheet is several pages long. He is now a documented gang member and a class A turd. While I am glad that I didn't shoot an unarmed man, it doesn't seem like society benefited very much from my restraint that day. I bet some of his many victims would have preferred a different outcome.

Doesn't anyone watch TV?

2009-09-14T11:19:00.003-05:00

I am amazed at how many people just stumble around life with their heads up their asses. There have been so many times that I have been involved in some pretty important/dangerous stuff when Sally Citizen wanders up and asks some ridiculous questions. People seem to be oblivious to things that go on around them. It's actually no surprise to me that people have been driving off cliffs, across flooded roads, and onto train tracks just because their GPS devices told them to.

I know these examples are all from the UK but Americans do it too. These GPS idiots are just one example of how people stumblefuck through life without paying attention. It makes me wonder why more people don't get run over crossing the street.

I was working a crime scene the other day in one of our local parks. It was a classic television moment. We had the parking lot taped off with yellow "POLICE DO NOT CROSS" tape. In the middle of the crime scene area there was a civilian car with all the doors and trunk wide open (scene of recent car-jacking). There were three marked patrol cars parked nearby blocking the entrances of the lot and their overhead lights were on. We had a big van marked "CRIME SCENE UNIT" next to the yellow tape. There was a uniformed evidence tech taking flash photos of the scene. There were also two detectives in suits walking around examining every corner of the location. If there had been movie cameras, we could have shot a scene for CSI: MIAMI (minus the H3 police car).

My point is that any idiot that bothered to look around could see that it was a FREAKING POLICE CRIME SCENE!! These things were clues that it might be a bad idea to walk into it without at least asking one of the 6 or 7 officers on scene if that was okay.

While I stood there helping secure the perimeter I observed at least 7 different people amble up to the crime scene tape and duck under it without giving it a second look. Most of these folks were trying to get to their parked cars and I guess they never thought to wonder "Gee this tape and all these cops weren't here before. Wonder what happened?"

When I would stop them and ask them exactly what the hell they were thinking, most would just look at me with a blank expression on their face. Man I hope stupidity isn't contagious.

A strange relationship

2009-09-09T11:53:00.002-05:00

The area I work has at least 50 bars or clubs in it. The crowds can get pretty rowdy and each establishment has doormen who check IDs and bouncers who maintain order in the club.

The way it usually works is that when there is a problem inside the club, the bouncers do their thing and toss the troublemakers out onto the curb. If the problem continues, one of them runs to the nearest officers and gets their attention. We'll go over to that location and it usually ends up with us arresting someone for being a drunk asshole.

It mostly works out pretty smooth and we all tend to get along pretty well. The problems being when the bouncers start to think that they have the cops on their side and that they can do what they want with impunity. I've seen bouncers chase a guy down the street a block away from their club and start beating his ass in the street. We swooped in and peppersprayed the whole gang. This got the bouncers all upset and they started yelling that they worked at Generic Bar #1.

Well that's just great if they are fighting a guy trying to tear up their club. It's a little different when they are a block away and are curb stomping a person who is in the fetal position. They were completely shocked when they went to jail for assault.

Other problems arise when they try to interfere in our arrests. There was a private party at Generic Club #2 the other day. Apparently some of the customers were friends with the doormen. A fight broke out in front of the club and we started arresting people. Since we were arresting their friends, the club employees tried to intervene on their behalf. It was obvious who needed to go to jail so we told the employees to bug off. Some were more insistent than others and we actually arrested a few bouncers for interference when they wouldn't back away from us. So many got arrested that the club couldn't meet local security regulations and had to shut down for the night.

The next night the club was open again and the bouncers had to come get us for another disturbance. We hooked up the drunks and took them to jail. I had the same bar employee I arrested the night before come up and thank me for helping out.

Like I said, it's a strange relationship.

Please Arrest Me Officer

2009-09-06T13:11:00.002-05:00

Quick question for everyone:

Let's say you are under the legal drinking age of 21 but would like to go out and drink in the clubs. You were able to obtain an ID from a friend who is over 21 and looks vaguely like you. You take this ID card and go bar hopping. You show the ID to several doormen and they fall for it without much trouble. As a result you are able to drink for several hours in a couple of different clubs.

About halfway through the night you try to go into another club but this doorman is on the ball. He notices that something isn't right about the ID and he refuses to let you in or give back the ID. He tells you that the only way that he will give it back is if you can get a cop to come over and verify it.

Got it? Okay, what would you do next?

A: You decide to cut your losses and call it a night. After all, you have a pretty decent buzz and the ID worked for a least a little while.

B: Take your real ID and go finish the rest of the night in one of the several clubs that allow minors inside.

C: Go find a cop and tell him that the doorman stole your ID "for no reason" and won't give it back.

Yeah, she picked C. I guess she thought I would just verify that it was a real ID and make the doorman give it back. You should have seen the panic on her face when I started comparing the picture and asking her what her birthday was.

She ended up going to jail for being an intoxicated minor, possessing the license of another, and providing a false name to the police. It was pretty stupid but she gets extra points for having big brass balls.

And now for something completely different

2009-09-03T11:59:00.001-05:00

I always thought that song didn't make any damn sense. Love the new version though.

A Duty to Escape and Evade?

2009-08-31T12:23:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I broke up a fight between two guys in our bar district and arrested both for being drunk and disorderly. One of the parties was a soldier and he was very upset about being arrested. As I walked him to our processing location he begged me multiple times to let me go. He told me that I wasn't just ruining his night but that I was ruining his life too. I asked how I was doing that and he told me that he was in the military and was about to be promoted to sergeant. He was afraid that this arrest would really hurt his military career. The poor guy was practically in tears.

I tried to explain to him that this was the lowest category of crime and that he would be out in a couple of hours at the max. I also told him that I used to be in the army and I knew of several people who had been arrested like this while on active duty. They did have some minor punishment from their chain of command but nothing bigger than a summarized article 15. It was hardly the end of the world but it's impossible to reason with a drunk and he wouldn't listen.

We got to the location and I handed him over to the booking officer. I stepped around the corner to get some paperwork and I heard a commotion behind him. Apparently the booking officer was about to walk the soldier up into our transport van when the prisoner broke away. He started running up the street with flex cuffs on. The genius got about half a block away when he looked behind him to see where we were. He tripped over the curb and did a face plant.

As we walked his bloody face back over to the arrest wagon, I took great pleasure in telling him that NOW his military career was over. I explained that what he just did was a felony escape attempt and that pretty much guaranteed a dishonarable discharge. I told him if he had that kind of poor judgement then he had no business being a supervisor over military personnel.

I just couldn't believe that he escalated such a minor incident into a felony. God people are dumb sometimes. Where did he think he was going to go anyway? We had already bagged his military ID and knew his name, address, and unit. His base was miles away, we had his wallet, and he was in freaking handcuffs. Maybe he thought he was in SERE school.

A Different Point of View

2009-08-26T20:13:00.006-05:00

I was surfing the net the other day when I came across an interesting blog called My Hud House. It is written by a guy who bought a foreclosed HUD house in a ghetto part of Fort Wayne, IN.

Once he moved in, he was very surprised to find out that the drug trade was very active on his street. Apparently his house is in a prime corner location and he started encountering drug dealers selling in front of his house and in his yard. The author was very upset with this and began bombarding the local PD about the problem. Due to his frustrations with getting the corner cleaned up, he started a blog to document his encounters with the dealers and the police.

It's a very interesting read. He started out with calling the police over everything and expecting very quick results. Unfortunately the police were not able to achieve the results he wanted and the blog turned very critical of the cops. He even goes so far as to claim that he thinks the police are in league with the dopers.

I have a lot of sympathy for this guy and I admire his courage (if not his wisdom) in confronting the criminals on his street. I just wish he didn't have such unrealistic expectations of the police. I had to shake my head several times while reading his complaints that the police don't do anything about those guys on the corner. He even went to the DEA to give them the license plate of a "high level" supplier of his neighborhood and was furious when they didn't seem interested.

I think that the average citizen doesn't understand how difficult it is to clear out a drug infested neighborhood. If residents are addicted to the stuff, then dealers are going to come there. People go where the fish are. I have made literally hundreds of dope arrests in high drug areas. Sometimes those corners become clean but I usually feel like I'm running on the treadmill.

I recently drove by an area where me and my team spent months working. We did undercover buys, we did surveillance/spotter ops, and we did mass arrests for all kinds of minor stuff. It made a dent and the bad guys went away. New problem areas popped up and we moved on to those. A few months later the first area was back to its old ways.

One of the problems is lack of resources. While police are attending to this one drug corner in Fort Wayne, how many other areas in the city are screaming for police assistance? It is also hard to change an area if many of the residents don't support the effort. I've risked my life on many dangerous arrest only to have residents come out and yell at me for harassing the young folks.

From reading his posts, I got the impression that the police are trying but that neighborhood is out of control. I was also irked by his allegations that the police must be ignoring the dealers due to either incompetence or corruption. I bet the police bust their asses out there just as much as I busted mine. The author either didn't see it or just didn't understand. I was also bothered by several posts where he complains that the police sometimes harassed him while he was in his neighborhood.

C'mon now. So he complains that they aren't doing their jobs and again when it bothers him. I am afraid that he can't have it both ways. Sorry that all the police don't know him on sight.

I really do feel for the guy because I have talked to frustrated residents in my city about the same problem. I remember one guy who called to complain about a dope house next door to him. I told the person that it would take some time and started looking into it. I spent a week doing research and surveillance on the target. I was able to pull a customer over leaving the place and found dope on him.

My unit had a ton of stuff going on the next week and I had no time to devote to this particular dope house. The following week I was able to sign the previously mentioned customer up as a snitch and sent him in to buy dope from the place. There was no dope at the place that time. I waited a few days and sent him in again. This time he was able to buy dope from the place. After that I was able to write up a search warrant and began planning a raid on the place. About a month after my initial conversation with the citizen, we finally raided the place.

The whole thing took a month and that is when things went pretty smoothly. During that time, the original called was blowing up my phone, my supervisor's phone, and the Commander's phone complaining that we didn't care about his problems. Imagine his anger if I had not been able to move that fast. Often you can't develop an informant from the place or the informant can't buy from there. I have had some target locations open for six months. There have also been some that I just couldn't do a raid on due that pesky Constitution.

Now think about what the HUD blog is complaining about. He is upset about drug dealing out on the street from multiple targets. First off, cops can't just stop someone hanging out on the corner. They have to have some articulable reason to detain someone. As the author even says in his blog, there are plenty of good people in the area. How are the police supposed to know the difference every time?

They may be able to arrest ten dealers but people keep coming to that location. Short of parking a patrol car there 24 hours a day and running non-stop operations, there isn't much else to be done. Don't forget there are also 911 calls to answer and other drug areas that may be more violent.

I think it would do the author good to do a ride-out with the local PD to help him understand the workload officers are under. I would also encourage him to try to start some neighborhood watch and association. Things can't change permanently unless the entire neighborhood is behind it. Either way, I wish him luck and hope that things turn around for his neighborhood. Nobody deserves to live in a slum. Of course, I would never willingly move into one myself.