We catch a break, a witness saw a suspicious person running from the area when a car alarm was triggered about 10 minutes before we got the BMV calls.  The description goes out to our units and the 2 neighboring cities.

The registered owners are contacted and they begin to assess the damage and determine what was taken.  One car had two purses sitting in the front seat along with a brand new GPS unit. (not smart)

Dispatch gets word from city to our north that they have had a string of BMVs tonight also, about 30, and have someone detained that matches our description.  It’s him and he has some buddies with him.  Their car is loaded down with about 20 car radios, a handful of speaker systems, and 30+ GPS units.  They’ve been busy.

3 things to take away from the night:

1. Don’t leave valuables sitting out in plain view in your car.  Hide them, or even better, take them with you when you get out of the car.
2. Don’t be greedy.  The suspects could have stopped 10 cars earlier and made it home with a nice haul of pawn shop goodies.  But, they decided they needed to get more and more and more, and eventually it caught up to them.
3. It sure is nice when the good guys win.

I drove by last night to check for obscenities or gang related tags and I saw that someone had tagged a wedding proposal.

“Cindy, Will You Marry Me?”

Really?

Graffiti has replaced getting down on one knee?

“Cindy” hasn’t spray painted a response yet so I don’t know how everything turned out for our Casanova tagger.

We track him down and it’s a 26 year old kid walking through a parking lot with a cardboard box and a backpack.  Questioning ensues…here are the highlights:

What do you have in the box?  Metal.

Metal?  Are you making art out of it? Recycling it?  Recycling.

And what’s in the backpack?  Metal.

OK. That’s cool.  Where were you coming from when we stopped you?  I don’t know.

Do you know where you are now?  Yes.

Can you tell me where you are now?  Right here.

OK.  Are you on any medication?  Yes.

What medication and what is it for?  (lots of mumbling here) for my Schizophrenia.

You’re Schizophrenic?  When were you diagnosed?  10 years ago.

Have you taken your medication tonight?  No.

OK.  Where were you headed tonight?  I don’t know.

Where do you live?  Is it nearby?  Yes.

Where is it?  Bill’s house.  My friend.

You stay with your friend Bill?  Are you walking there now?  Yes.

Which direction would you walk to get there?  Straight.

OK.  Can you point in the direction you would walk.  (he points south and proceeds to give very detailed walking directions…)

Is there anyone else here with you tonight?  Yes.

Who?  You.

OK.  Noone else besides us though?  You came alone?  Yes.

In the meantime dispatch has confirmed a warrant from a neighboring city so it’s off to jail for this confused kid.  He wanted to be certain that the metal and aluminum cans he had collected would be recycled and not thrown away, we complied.

This kid is dealing with some stuff inside his head that thankfully most of us don’t have to deal with.  His answers weren’t an attempt at being a smart-aleck, he just doesn’t process the same way as most.  He’s been dealt a tough hand, but hopefully through some counseling and staying on top of his medication he can lead a successful life.

Our intention is 100% officer presence.  We don’t want to ruin the fun.  We know that it’s college, it’s friday night, it’s Halloween.  Kids are gonna have fun and they are going to drink underage.

We are only concerned with not letting anyone that’s been drinking get behind the wheel and alos to make sure that there aren’t any kids that have had so much to drink that there is concern of serious health risks to them.

The night is going great.  We’ve pulled a handful of drunks out of the group to make sure they have a responsible and sober ride home and tell them that their night is done.  The cops and the drunks are all respectful, it’s going great.

Until the last bus of the night.  A kid gets off the bus, obviously hammered.  2 officers pull him to the side to make sure he’s not “over-drunk”.  He’s close but the officer’s decide that he is still OK enough to get a ride home from his buddy that hadn’t been drinking.

Then it hits the fan.  The drunk kid pulls out his wee wee and begins to urinate on the two officers talking to him.  He then is introduced to the pavement.  Now he has scratches on his face, he bit his lip, it’s bleeding, and he has pee all over himself.

Now he’s under arrest and will be spending the next 6 hours in jail.

He went from being released to a friend with nothing but a hangover, to spending the night in jai, having to pay to get bailed out, and some nice battle wounds.  Good move slick.

It has gotten easier and easier as I’ve gotten further into the program.

One thing I have learned, I am horrible at Yoga.  I’m reasonably flexible, but some of those positions are just not meant for a guy.  Period.

I’m also signed up to run in a 5k on November 7th.  I’ve never run a 5k before and I’ve really never ran that far without stopping before in my whole life, but I feel like I am in decent enough shape that I can fight through it.

My goal is to finish in 30 minutes with no breaks for walking.  A nice gentle pace for 3.2 miles.

I’ll let you know how that works out…

7.  “Hey You, Come Here!”

You have just warned the subject that he is in trouble. “Come here” to the subject means, “Go away-quickly!” The words have provided a warning and possibly precipitated a chase that would not have been necessary had you, instead, walked casually in his direction and once close said, “Excuse me. Could I chat with you momentarily?” Notice this question is polite, professional, and calm.

6.  “Calm Down!”

This phrase is a criticism of their behavior and suggests that they have no legitimate right to be upset!  Better, put on a calming face and say, “It’s going to be all right. Talk to me. What’s the matter?” The phrase “What’s the matter?’ softens the person up to talk; where ‘Calm down’ hardens the resistance. The choice is yours!

5.  “I’m Not Going To Tell You Again!”

This phrase is almost always a lie. You will say it again, and possibly again and again!  Parents do it all the time with their kids, and street cops do it with resistant subjects, all the time! The phrase is, of course, a threat, and voicing it leaves you only one viable option-action! If you are not prepared to act, or cannot at the time, you lose credibility, and with the loss of creditability comes the loss of power and safety!  If you want to stress the seriousness of your words, say something like, ‘Listen, it’s important that you get this point, so pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you.’

4.  “Be More Reasonable!”

You will never have anyone run up to you and say, “Hey, I know I’m stupid and wrong, but here’s what I think!”.  Make people more reasonable by the way in which you handle them.  Use the language of reassurance-“Let me see if I understand your position,” and then paraphrase back to them their meaning, as you see it, in your words. Using your words will calm them and make them more reasonable because your words will be more professional and less emotional.

3.  “Because That’s The Law!”

If ever there was a phrase that irritates people and makes you look weak, this is it!  If you are enforcing laws that exist for good reason, don’t be afraid to explain that! Your audience may not agree with or like it, but at least they have been honored with an explanation. Note, a true sign of respect is to tell people why.

2.  “What’s Your Problem?”

This snotty, useless phrase turns the problem back on the person needing assistance. It signals this is a “you-versus-me” battle rather than an “us” discussion. The typical reaction is, “It’s not my problem. You’re the problem!”  Substitute tactical phrases designed to soften and open someone up, like “What’s the matter?”, “How can I help?”, or “I can see you’re upset, let me suggest . . . .”

1.  “What Do You Want Me To Do About It?”

When you say, “What do you want me to do about it?” you can count on two problems: the one you started with and the one you just created by appearing to duck responsibility.  Instead, tactically offer to help sort out the problem and work toward a solution. If it truly is not in your area of responsibility, point the subject to the right department or persons that might be able to solve the problem.

***

Remember, insult strengthens resistance and shuts the eyes. Civility weakens resistance and opens the eyes!

It’s tactical to be nice!

First, we finally hired a new chief of police.  He is a veteran chief that comes from a larger department than ours and I am very excited to see the changes he implements here.

Secondly, one of our officers has been AWOL for about 2 months and the brass either does not know where he is or is not at liberty to tell the other officers.  This particular member of the department was not the most popular or likeable fellow.  He rubbed a lot of the officers the wrong way, and to be totally honest, much of the department wouldn’t shed a tear if he never came back.  He is a very experienced cop and brings quite a bit to the department, but the other guys just don’t like to deal with the other crap that he brings as well.

Moral of the story is two-fold.

1-  Don’t be a jerk.

2-  Don’t focus on the negative in someone else.

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.” Leviticus 19:18

First traffic stop of the night –  No headlight.  Serge walks up to the vehicle and the kid (20) immediately tells him that he got a warning for this same violation yesterday and just hasn’t had time to take care of it yet, but he needed to go get some tea.  (It’s about 1 am at this point…tea?)

Serge wants to double check his story with our local records and also run his ID through the MDT (mobile data terminal) in the Tahoe to see if he has any warrants for his arrest.  He comes back clean.  Serge is back out with him to give him a verbal warning, again, and to suggest that he go get tea during the daytime until he can find the time in his busy schedule to fix his headlight.

In the middle of Serge’s warning, the kid sticks out his hand with a hand-written note asking Serge to sign it.  While serge was in the Tahoe, apparently the kid had written up a permission slip to go get some tea without a headlight.  Complete with blanks for the Serge’s name, the date, signature.

It was classic.

Serge didn’t sign his permission slip.

About an hour later, dispatch calls in a Suspicious Persons report at an apartment complex nearby.  Another officer is routed to the call and the Serge wants to let them handle it so they can learn.  He tells me that if the suspects flee, I am free to get out of the car and get in a foot pursuit, just stay on the radio and tell the other officers where they’re going.  (Sweet.)

The other officer calls Serge over in a few minutes for a supervisor’s advice.  We roll up and they have 5 college kids dressed in all black with black masks (removed at this point), and an impressive assortment of samurai weapons.  Nunchucks, bow staff, throwing star, samurai sword, etc.  As soon as Serge sees the weapons he says, “No question. Hook ‘em up.”

Apparently the kids were on their way to a friends house to play “ninja”.

One kid, 19, claims ownership of all the weapons so he is the only one arrested.  Rough night for him, he is charged with a 3rd degree felony that comes with a 2-10 year prison stint and up to a $10,000 fine in our state.  All the officer’s felt bad for him, but you can’t just let a felony walk, someone has to go to jail for it.

Moral of the story, you can’t get a permission slip to break the law and don’t play “ninja”.

Playing "Ninja"

One is a Bible Study designed specifically for LEO’s (law enforcement officers) and the situational stresses that come in this line of work.  I encourage you to check out this site for more info on the book, and continue to check back here for a complete review when I finish the study.

The other product is P90X.  If you watch any sports channel on TV during non-prime-time hours, you know what P90X is.  It is “a revolutionary system of 12 sweat-inducing, muscle-pumping workouts, designed to transform your body from regular to ripped in just 90 days.”  Here’s the official website.  And here is a video of a guy with a similar body type to myself and the transformation he experienced with this program.

Wish me luck!

5:07p  The building security alarm goes off.  I go to the alarm panel and relay the code to dispatch.  From there, they will look through the book for the building, find out what the issue is and instruct me on how to silence the alarm or take other action if necessary.

5:11p  Dispatch comes back with this response, “The alarm company is downloading a software update for the system, the alarm should be silenced in a few minutes remotely.”  OK.  That’s a little inconvenient for the rest of the building but it’s not the end of the world.  I guess the alarm company assumed that since their business day ends at 5p, so does everyone else’s.

5:20p  “A few minutes” has passed.  No progress on the alarm.  The alarm isn’t a siren, rather just a constant buzzing.  Not loud enough to hurt your ears, but definitely loud enough to disrupt normal conversation levels.  Sounds like there is a swarm of bees on a microphone.  Fun!

5:49p  It stopped!  Relief!  Wait, nope, never mind.  It started again…There was a 3 second intermission, but now it’s back.  I think I was actually getting used to it until I was reminded of what silence sounds like.

7:00p  Still going.  Dinner break for me.  I at least get a little relief from closing the door in the kitchen while I eat the delicious dinner my wife prepared (Pizza Spins!!!).

7:30p  Break’s over.  Still buzzing.

7:47p  Mental note: Add earplugs and Tylenol to my duty belt gear.

8:30p  Fortunately, I am supposed to do one patrol of the building’s exterior every hour.  Normally I only lap the building once around each hour, tonight I think I’ll go around two times each hour.

11:00p  Time to leave.  Alarm. Still. On.