What is Delaying and Obstructing?

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Badge415

California Penal Code Section 148
148. (a) (1) Every person who willfully resists, delays, or
obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical
technician, as defined in Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 1797)
of the Health and Safety Code, in the discharge or attempt to
discharge any duty of his or her office or employment, when no other
punishment is prescribed, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding
one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail
not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

V C Section 2800 Compliance with Peace Officer Orders
2800. (a) It is unlawful to willfully fail or refuse to comply with a lawful order, signal, or direction of a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, when that peace officer is in uniform and is performing duties pursuant to any of the provisions of this code, or to refuse to submit to a lawful inspection pursuant to this code.

I hardly ever watch videos on Facebook that are police related. That’s because of the ignorance of those involved in lot of the videos. It just plain frustrates me when I see some knucklehead acting dumb on a video claiming to know what he’s talking about.

It then frustrates me even more to know there are people watching the same video, who are getting the wrong information because they’re also misinformed.

So, like I said, I usually skip videos all together because I have better things to do on the phone, like playing a game.

Well, today I didn’t follow my own advice and I watched one. I knew I should’ve just moved on to something else, but for some reason I clicked on it. The video showed a guy, who was clearly being difficult on purpose during a car stop.

During the video the officer said he was “giving a lawful order,” which of course, the suspect didn’t comply with. This went on for quite some time before he was taken into custody.

It got me wondering if people knew it was against the law to disobey “a lawful order.”

I also wondered how many people knew it was against the law to delay, obstruct or resist an officer.

Now, let me start by saying most people at work are law abiding citizens, who comply with my directions and request the first time I ask. I hardly ever have to ask twice because most people understand I’m in the middle of an investigation and they’re in the way.

So, this brings me to the two laws I copied and pasted at the top.

Let’s look at 148a of the California Penal Code first. “Every person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer.”

Now, most people aren’t going to fight with the cops because they know they’re going to jail afterward. Everyone knows fighting or running from the cops falls under the “RESIST” part of the law.

How about the delaying or obstructing part of 148aPC?

There’s misinformation out there or ignorance as to what delaying or obstructing is. If I can’t do my job like the other 99.9% of the time because you’re in the way or causing me to get distracted from what I’m doing, then you fall in the delaying and obstructing category.

If I tell you to do something over and over again, but you refuse, then you fall into the delaying and obstructing category also.

All that has to be proven in court is a person was willfully doing it. In other words, you’re doing it on purpose after I told you to stop or to move.

It amazes me to see the hurt and upset looks I get when I have to change the tone in my voice because someone didn’t get it the first couple of times. They look at me like I did something wrong.

The reality is I want to finish my call and move on to the next with as little conflict as possible. It’s just easier that way for everyone. Why would I want to be there any longer than I had to if there were going to be problems?

Let’s also look at 2800(a) of the California Vehicle Code.

It is unlawful to willfully fail or refuse to comply with a lawful order, signal, or direction of a peace officer…..

This seems pretty simple too.

If an officer asks you to do something and you don’t do it, then he or she is going to tell you to do it. At that point it’s an order. If you hear the words, “I’m giving you a lawful order,” then you’re about to go to jail. Anything other than complying is being done on purpose because you’ve already been put on notice.

When you look at it this way it should be pretty simple. Just let the officer do his or her job and listen to the instructions.

If the officer stops you while you’re driving and asks for your license, then guess what? You need to give up your license on the first request. Not after ten times. Any normal and reasonable person can see that this is delaying and obstructing. Especially if the officer is standing in traffic at the driver’s door.

I could go on and on with examples, but it’s a pretty simple rule to follow.

So, the next time you watch a video on Facebook and you hear the officer tell someone to do something ten times, then you know that person is breaking the law by delaying or obstructing. That person had control of their destiny by listening and following the directions the first time, but they refused to.

There’s no way a person can say, “The cops grabbed him for no reason,” or “He didn’t do anything wrong.” Yes they did.

We don’t want to fight or argue with you. We just want to get the call done and move on to the next one to help someone else.

This isn’t rocket science. It’s common sense.

The Highs and Lows of The Job

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Badge415

Tonight was the perfect example of how one call can be a complete polar opposite of the very next.

I went to a call involving two tourist who just happened to crash into each other. This woman drove two hours to watch her granddaughter compete in a cheerleading competition today. She was on her way home when her vehicle was disabled in the collision.

She was now stranded far from home with no transportation. Taking a taxi was not an option. If she wanted a rental car she would have to go to the Orange County Airport because everything else was closed. That wasn’t going to work either.

She now needed a hotel room for the night. I told the woman I wasn’t going to leave her alone and I would drive her to whatever hotel she wanted to go to.

We were in front of the Double Tree Hotel, so she checked there first. They were having trouble finding her a room and it looked like I was going to drive her somewhere else.

While we waited, she showed me a competition photo of her granddaughter and she asked about my family.

The hotel finally found her a room and it was time for me to leave. The woman thanked me again for staying and not leaving her alone. She then asked, “Can I give you a hug?” I told her she could and we both smiled. She then gave me a giant hug and I left.

I was feeling pretty good after that because it’s not every day in this job that you have an interaction like that.

The very next call didn’t have the same happy ending.

I heard the call go out over the radio about a woman who was not breathing and a family member was performing CPR at that moment. I was close by and off I went with lights and siren.

I was hired in 1994 and graduated from the academy in February of 1995. Up until last summer I had never performed CPR on anyone except for the dummy at training.

Now I was en route to CPR attempt number three since August. The first two times didn’t work out for me or the victims. Now I was feeling apprehension and dread as I raced toward the house because I knew I was going to be the first one there.

When I pulled up to the house I was mentally prepared for what I was about to do. This was different than when I performed CPR the first two times.

I went into the upstairs bedroom and there was a woman in her mid-sixties lying in a hospital bed. A man was bent over doing chest compressions on his wife of forty-five years.

I then took over for him as he watched with hope. This didn’t look good, but I still had to try. She had a lifeless look on her face and some type of fluid was coming out of her mouth.

I was in an awkward position, but I kept pumping away as I waited for the paramedics. Two minutes seemed to take forever until they arrived. When they did, they hooked up a monitor and checked for a heartbeat.

She was flat lined and they pronounced her right there. They then pulled the sheet over her face and told the family they were sorry for their loss.

She was about the same age as the woman who just hugged me on the last call.

There was nothing else I could have done. I stood in the hallway as her husband called someone and said, “Mom’s dead.”

I felt kind of weird being there to hear him make that call since this was such a private moment. It took me back to when I told my kids that my father had passed away.

Now it was time for them to grieve for their wife, mother and grandma. It was also time for me to go to another call.

Tonight was the perfect example of the roller coaster ride we call police work.

This job is also just like Forest Gump and his box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get……

I work in the Twilight Zone

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Badge415

Sometimes it seems like I never get a normal collision call to handle. There’s always something.

Here’s what I consider a normal call.

All the drivers have licenses.
There are no injuries.
Everyone has insurance.
No hit and run.
No one has been drinking or taking drugs.
There are only two vehicles.
There’s no drama.

It’s not like I’m asking for much.

There was a call last Wednesday night that didn’t come close to what I just described. It was just one of those weird calls where I was in the Twilight Zone.

For the story we’re going to refer to one guy as DUI Man and the other as Motorcycle Man. Then there’s Motorcycle Man’s son. We’ll call him Knucklehead.

On that day, DUI Man was driving his vehicle even though he was never issued a license. The unlicensed part didn’t bother him because he drives all the time.

DUI Man doubled parked his truck in the middle of the street in front of his house. He left it there so he could talk with a friend. I’m sure parking in the driveway would’ve been too easy.

While DUI Man was talking to a friend, Motorcycle Man started riding up and down the street, even though he didn’t have a motorcycle endorsement on his license. DUI Man thought he was riding too fast and he was concerned for the neighborhood children. He decided to tell Motorcycle Man to slow down.

Let me say that again. DUI Man was worried about the safety of the neighborhood kids.

Motorcycle Man’s son (Knucklehead) didn’t like this and decided he needed to get involved for some reason. Before you knew it, Knucklehead and DUI Man were fighting in the middle of the street. The crowd separated them and DUI Man wanted to leave.

DUI Man jumped into his vehicle, but there was one small problem. DUI Man was really DUI. As he drove off, he sideswiped Motorcycle Man’s car by accident. He then fled the scene, but returned a short time later.

DUI Man walked up to me and wanted to report an assault and battery because he was a victim. Did I mention that DUI Man was also an illegal alien and they were neighbors? Not that it mattered, but it just made the story that much more bizarre.

DUI Man ended up getting arrested and went to jail. Of course, this wasn’t his first DUI arrest.

That’s when I learned a little bit about Knucklehead. It turned out he was in his thirties and still lives at home. He is unemployed and has “Three baby’s mammas.” Those were his words.

He has a couple of arrests for domestic violence, but he just got off probation. I’m sure he’ll treat the new “Baby’s Mamma” much better than the last two.

I forgot to mention that Knucklehead was shot during a drive-by years ago and his license is suspended for not paying child support.

The only thing missing from this call were circus animals, clowns and some midgets.

The next call was much easier. That one involved an unlicensed driver who, crashed head-on into another car while on the wrong side of the road.

There was a restriction on the victim driver’s license for corrective lenses so I asked him where his glasses were.

The driver told me ink spilled on his glasses and they were smashed. After that, the glasses were in the kitchen and the dog, “Disappeared them.”

“Your dog ate your glasses?” I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“It was a Pit Bull,” he said.

That was the funniest thing I heard all night. See, you just can’t make this stuff up.

“It’s Ferguson All Over Again”

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Badge415

You never know when hatred is going to be spewed your way.
Let me first say this. For the most part, the people I deal with are pretty nice. Most of my calls involve normal people who crash into each other and they’re happy to see an officer. And almost everyone says thank you when I give them a card with the report number.

When it comes to having a vehicle impounded, they’re still pretty nice despite the circumstances. They may be upset, but they still hold it together.

They already know they’re in the wrong in the first place for being unlicensed or having a suspended license. It’s pretty cut and dry. Either you have a license or you don’t. There’s not much to debate there.

I wanted to share an unusual call from last Friday night. It was actually more than unusual. It was downright ridiculous. Let me start by giving the facts about the crash.

• This woman made a left turn in front of another vehicle and they collided into each other. She was clearly at fault, but she was upset at the other woman. The best quote up until that point was, “Can’t a person make a left turn without someone hitting them?”
• She didn’t have car insurance.
• She recently purchased the car, but it wasn’t in her name yet.
• Her license was suspended for failure to appear.
• Her failure to appear was for an insurance ticket.
• She moved twice and never notified the DMV of her address change.
• The other driver was transported to the hospital by ambulance.

When it came to driving a car, she was pretty much wrong in every possible category. So, I really didn’t think there was going to be problem when I told her the vehicle was being impounded.

Boy was I wrong.

The first thing the driver told me was I was being racist. That’s when she yelled out, “It’s Ferguson all over again,” as she waved her arms around. It went downhill from there. Her performance was more Golden Globe than Academy Award. It was more PBS than Prime Time.

I couldn’t help but laugh inside at how dumb she sounded.

From there the drama was non-stop while we waited for the tow truck. She yelled and screamed for about twenty minutes. I was surprised she didn’t take a water break at some point.

Her behavior was so over the top it left me shaking my head in disbelief. I was really happy we had the body cameras rolling for this spectacle.

At one point, she actually bent over and yelled into the camera like a crazy woman.

Who does that?

Then her mom showed up and it started all over again. Nothing like having the mother of a twenty-nine year old woman show up at a collision scene and call you a racist too.

The show was finally over when the tow truck left with her car.

It’s still hard to believe she compared her irresponsibility and the impounded of her car to the events that occurred last year in Ferguson, MO.

I understand she only saw the badge. I wasn’t a person, a father, a husband, or a minority to her. I was just a cop.

I didn’t get my feelings hurt or even take anything personally. It’s sometimes part of the job to deal with people like that and there’s nothing I can do that will ever change her mind.

There’s one big difference between she and I.

The difference is I don’t see all citizens as assholes like she sees all cops.

I just see them as regular people that call the police for help. Every once in a while an asshole is thrown in there just to make things interesting though.

She will forever live in her close minded world. She will only see the badge and never see the person behind it.

That’s okay because there are plenty of nice people out there that still make this job worth doing.

I only tell this story to show how crazy, irrational and downright dumb some people can act when they’re mad at the police.

One last closing thought.

Go pound sand lady. I’m still proud to put that badge on and help people.

DRE School

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Badge415

What is a DRE?

If you asked me what a DRE was ten years ago I would have said it was an officer who dealt with street drugs and addicts. Those were two subjects that I stayed away from because they didn’t interest me.

Ask me the same question today and I’ll have an entirely different answer. In fact, I’ll talk your head off about the subject and tell you why it is so important.

The first thing I learned at DRE School was how much we take DRE trained officers for granted. The average cop has no idea what they do, or how much training they have been through. That includes the brand new cop all the way up to the chief of police. Unless you’ve been through the training, you have no idea how much work it is.

Say “DRE School” to most cops and they’ll run the other way. I know because I was one of them.

Cops would rather go to an active shooter call at a nuclear power plant meltdown than go to DRE School. Handling a triple fatality collision sounded much more appealing than going to DRE School.

On the first day, the instructors told us this was going to be the hardest advanced officer training class we would ever take. They weren’t lying.

The information was piled onto us with no mercy. It was like a wheel barrel pouring concrete onto a new house foundation. It went everywhere and there was no room to breathe.

My world suddenly revolved around CNS Depressants, CNS Stimulants, Hallucinogens, Dissociative Anesthetics, Narcotic Analgesics, Inhalants, Cannabis, nerves, neurotransmitters, blood pressure and heart rates.

The eyes were now the window to the soul as pupil sizes and reaction to light helped tell the tale of drug use.

By the third night I felt overwhelmed. I thought there was no way I was going to remember all of this stuff. It was like going up a steep mountain in a snowstorm with a strong headwind pounding my face.

There were two choices. Put up the white flag of surrender or I could listen to the “Eye of The Tiger” song from Rocky 3 and gut it out.

The first week of DRE School was like watching a foreign language film with no subtitles. I know I wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

At one point the light bulb switched on. It was dim at first, but then got brighter. The drug matrix card started to make sense after a while. It started to become more than just a bunch of boxes with words in them.

Slowly the subtitles started to appear in that foreign language film that made no sense a week before. Then, by some miracle it clicked.

What was once pure nonsense in the first week was now like listening to the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It all came together. If you’ve heard the symphony, then you know what I mean.

Those two weeks of DRE School turned my household upside down. Everything revolved around my class. All scheduling for my kid’s school, childcare, practices and dinner was planned around my school and studying.

Then there was the occasional DRE dream where I was evaluating someone for drug use. Friends in the class told me they also had the dreams.

At the end of the class our main instructor asked us if we were ready to stop alienating our families and having those dreams. I laughed hard because it was so true.

So, what is this DRE class?

The Drug Recognition Expert program had its beginnings with the LAPD in the 1970s.

Before an officer can become a DRE they have to attend two prerequisite training classes, along with the 72 hour DRE School.

You must get 80% or higher to pass the class.

After passing the course, the officer must complete twelve under the influence evaluations with a DRE instructor present. The officer must be able to name which of the seven drug categories the suspect is under the influence of and this must be confirmed through the chemical test. And finally the officer must pass another written test after their drug evaluations have been approved.

This was not a class I signed up for. It was a class I was told I had to go to. I started out being forced to go, but I had an epiphany half way through. I saw just how important this training was for me. I realized how important it was for every officer on the street. I also saw how important it was for public safety.

Say “DUI” and people automatically think of drinking and driving. That’s no longer the case. Marijuana and prescription drug use is on the rise like never before.

And finally, this isn’t the class we should be running away from. This should be the class officers are trying to get into.

Almost every crime we deal with revolves around drugs. The word “drug” doesn’t mean illicit drugs anymore. It also means prescription drugs.

A heroin junkie is just as dangerous behind the wheel as the soccer mom who is abusing Xanax or the person who is stoned on marijuana.

Next time you’re stopped at a red light. Take a look around. Chances are they’re probably next to you. Do you really want to share the road with that person?

I don’t either.

Let’s train more DREs to help stop these people before they hurt someone.

Another Facebook story

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Badge415

Do you know who your child’s Facebook friends are? Do you inspect their social media accounts? Here’s a story that will make you think twice.

I have a friend at work who is assigned to the safe schools detail and she told me a story I had to share.

The officer contacted a seventeen year old girl at one of our high schools one day. The girl told the officer she had received a “friend request” on Facebook from a stranger, who was also seventeen years old.

Even though she didn’t know the male, she accepted his friend request. After becoming “friends” they started messaging each other through Facebook.

At one point, the male asked the girl to take a picture and send it to him. She did and sent him the photo. Their conversation continued as he gave her compliments about how good looking she was.

The male then asked her to take a topless picture and send it to him. She took the selfie and sent the photo.

He complemented her some more and then asked that she take a picture below the waist. She took it and sent the pic.

Then something happened she never thought of. The pictures got out. Worst of all, the picture got out with her name and face.

The male really was seventeen years old and was in high school. He had a girlfriend who found the pictures and she posted them to her Facebook page for all to see.

That private message and picture weren’t so private anymore.

When the officer was taking the report, the girl said she liked the attention the male gave her. Wow.

That was all it took to get this girl to send naked pictures of herself to a stranger. Attention….

How many other kids are doing this? What other apps or social media sites are your kids being exploited on without you or them knowing?

Take the time to talk with your kids. Make sure they don’t end up like this one girl, who showed a little more than she wanted on Facebook.

There’s no “LIKE” button for that.

She Was JELLO

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Badge415

Have you ever thought a train was going to hit you?

I see “Car Accident Stress” every night at work. It’s usually the feeling of the unknown after the collision that the driver feels. Or it’s how a person reacts to what just happened. Over the years I’ve seen all types of reactions to car accident stress.

Every once in a while someone’s reaction stands out more than others. Last night was one of those times.

When I arrived, I saw the aftermath of a two-car rear end collision. Both vehicles were still in the street, blocking traffic. One vehicle’s front end was smashed and there was fluid all over the road.

Both vehicles were stopped next to a railroad crossing. This particular track is very active with trains going by all the time.

The first driver I spoke to was calm and told me a tow truck was already on the way.

The other driver was still sitting in her vehicle. I walked up and noticed she was crying. She had minor damage to the rear bumper of her Ford Expedition and I wondered why she was still crying twenty minutes after the crash.

I then asked her what happened.

As she started talking the railroad lights and bells started ringing as it singled the approach of another train. The railroad arms came down inches from the front of her vehicle. Thirty seconds later a train blew by us at 50 miles per hour.

Between sobs and tears, the woman told me she was driving down the street when the railroad lights came on as she approached the tracks. She stopped and was then rear ended by the truck behind her.

The impact pushed her forward onto the tracks where she came to a stop. After the collision she looked to her left and saw the headlight of the train coming toward her.

Now, that’s not something you hear every day.

“You actually saw the train’s headlight?” I asked.
With an even louder sob she replied, “Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I backed up,” she said between deep breaths and tears.
“Wow. Did the train honk its horn?”
“No.”

This woman seemed like she was going to need some major counseling after tonight. She truly had the look of fear in her eyes and her body language was basically JELLO now.

From training classes, I know that it takes thirty seconds for the train to get to the crossing after the lights and bells start sounding. I also know that it takes a while for the train to start back up again after the emergency brakes have been applied.

This all made me think she really wasn’t that close to getting hit by the train. Plus she was able to back up before the arms came down.

She was an emotional mess so I thought I should give her those facts to put her mind at ease. I figured it was the least I could do since she was now JELLO.

I tried explaining it to her, but it didn’t help. I thought I’d get a smile and a deep sigh of relief.

Instead, she cried louder and the sobs were bigger than before. She went from being solid JELLO to runny JELLO. Kind of like JELLO that gets left out all day long at a picnic on a warm summer day.

Now the poor girl couldn’t drive her vehicle out of the street. I had to get her father to move the car to a parking lot.

After the street was clear I drove to the parking lot to ask her one final question. She wasn’t crying anymore, but she had the thousand-yard stare now. I felt bad for her because she truly thought she was going to die in fiery ball of death.

There was nothing that I could say to make her believe the train really wasn’t going to smash her car into little pieces. All of this was probably made worse every time the train passed by.

One thing is for sure after last night. If she ever has a son there won’t be any train sets in her house.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Badge415

I should have a frequent customer card for people. I could punch it every time I run into someone. Actually, every time someone runs into them.

Tonight I was at a crash involving two cars and a person. The two cars were parked facing the same way, which were next to each other. There was a guy named David in the driver seat of his car with his door open.

He was under the dashboard trying to change a fuse with his cell phone as a flashlight. His feet were outside the car.

While he was under the dashboard he heard the vehicle on his left start up. He tried to close his door, but he was too late.

The vehicle next to him sideswiped the door and ran over his foot. It’s pretty safe to say I have never taken a crash like that before, but that’s not even the best part of the story.

While I was speaking with David he told me I had taken a report for him before. I asked him what happened.

“It was a hit and run,” he said.
“Were you the good guy or the bad guy?”
“The bad guy.”
“Did I arrest you?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“For hit and run and for lying to you.”
“Oh, what a small world,” I said. “So, how’s it going?”
“Good. I paid the fine. I’m on probation now.”

This isn’t the first time this type of conversation has happened to me. After all these years it’s still funny to run into past customers. I later looked up the report and found the incident.

The crash happened in December of 2012. He crashed into a median while exiting the freeway. He was unlicensed and sober. Basically, a very easy report except…….

David committed a hit and run on the freeway. He was trying to get away from the victim at the time. Unfortunately for him he was going too fast and crashed. He had the bright idea to report the car stolen afterward.

The cuts to his forehead and hands didn’t help his story either.

After separating David and his passengers I was able to figure out he was lying. Despite all of this, David went to jail still saying he wasn’t driving and his car was stolen.

At least he finally admitted to driving two years later. Better late than never.

Sometimes it’s a small world in this job. You never know when a past customer is going to get run over.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

Taking my son on a ride along

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Badge415

How many people can take their son to work?

I’m lucky enough to have a job where my kids want to go to work with me. My son, Michael got to go on a ride along this past Friday night. He sees spending ten hours in a police car with dad as an adventure.

As we walked out to my patrol car, I could see the spring in his step. He was ready to go and expected to see chaos at any moment.

Every officer knows that a busy and exciting night for a ride long means paperwork for the chauffeuring officer. A boring night for a ride along means a nice and relaxing shift for the same officer.

There’s such a thing called the “ride along curse.” The curse means that nothing happened and the night was boring for the ride along.

Michael has no idea what the ride along curse is. Each time he has gone it has been busy with us going call to call. After the first ride along he told me he wanted to be a police officer.

Friday night was busy as usual. We went non-stop from 5PM to midnight before things calmed down. There were a couple of things from that night which stood out as funny.

At one particular traffic accident, I had to get into the ambulance before they transported the driver away. I told my son to stay with one of the officers. He said, “Can I go? I’ve never been inside an ambulance.”

Most parents would be glad their child has never been inside an ambulance, which was why it was so funny to me when he said it.

We walked over to the ambulance and I got inside to speak with the driver. I let my son come inside and stand on the first step so he could listen.

We left there and responded to another injury accident. This time he got his wish to go Code 3. I heard, “This is cool,” coming from my passenger side as I passed cars on the wrong side of the road.

After that we went to a call involving a baby who was choking. The location was close so I headed that way with my lights and siren on.

As I came up on stopped cars in front of me, I started to slow down. That’s when I heard this tapping sound coming from inside the car, but I didn’t know what it was.

I passed the stopped traffic and came up to an intersection when I suddenly slammed on the brake. I decided at the last moment to turn left instead of going straight because it was going to be faster. I heard the same noise again.

I then asked my son if he was stomping down on the imaginary brake pedal on his side of the car. He laughed and said yes. Now I knew what the noise was.

We arrived at the call just as an officer advised over the radio that the child was breathing. We got out of the car just as the ambulance and paramedics arrived. There was nothing for me to do so I walked back to my car. Michael looked like he had been cheated because we were leaving so fast.

Moments before he was stomping on his imaginary brake pedal while going to a choking baby call and now we were leaving. He wanted to see more action.
There were other calls after that, but after four reports and three Code 3 runs later, I had to do paperwork. I decided to head to the traffic office so I could type.

The first question out of his mouth was, “How long are we going to be here?”
I replied, “As long as it takes.”
“You mean an hour?”
“I don’t know.”

He was like an alarm clock, because an hour later he asked if I was done. I told him not yet. He started pacing around and then asked, “Can I help you with something?” I laughed and told him I had to do the work myself.

An hour after that I heard, “I’m bored.”
I told him doing reports was the other side of police work that people don’t see.

I put him out of his misery and we went back outside for one last drive around. I stopped by a donut shop and got him some fresh donut holes.

We then cruised down one of our major highways. At one intersection he asked, “Is that where the boy died?”

He knew the story from a few months ago when my partner and I performed CPR on a ten year old boy at a crash. I was surprised he remembered the intersection from when I showed him during another ride along.

The shift was finally over and I drove back to the station. My son mentioned waiting around for something else to happen. I told him our night was done and it was time to head in.

Once in the back lot, I unloaded my gear and parked the police car. I turned in the key and changed to go home. As we walked out to my car my son told me how much fun he had tonight.

On the way home Michael told me he wasn’t tired yet. We talked about the night and the crazy stuff people do to get into trouble.

We pulled into the garage and we were back in our little world, which was far from the one I work in.

He had fun that night and I hope he appreciates what he has compared to other people. I’m glad I was able to give him a peek into a world that most people will never see or know about.

Right before he went to bed he gave me a hug and he said, “Thanks for taking me tonight.”

It made me smile because I knew he meant it.

Why do I do this job?

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Badge415

Why do I do this job?
Why should I care if nobody else does?

A month ago these were the questions I asked myself after watching the civil unrest unfold in the Mid-West. I was shocked at the venom that was spewed by people. I was outraged by the negativity.

I wondered if it mattered anymore.

I then started reading the comments on social media and news stories. Some comments were ignorant and downright mean. The comments were from people, who have no idea what we do.

I started to wonder how much effort I was going to give at work. I felt like no one supported us and nobody cared. I started to wonder if anything I did as an officer mattered.

I started to wonder if any of this was worth it.

Why should I go risk my neck for people who don’t care? Why should I go that extra mile for strangers, who hated me?

I went back to work a few days after the civil unrest began. I was wondering how people were going to treat me.

I went on my first call and the people were nice to me. Then it happened again on the next call. And again after that. And again.

People were respectful and were happy I was there. They said thank you. They smiled. They told me to have a safe night. They said they appreciated what we do.” I started hearing it more than ever. Other officers told me they noticed the same thing.

I noticed there was actual support for us. I saw that people appreciated we were out there. All of this showed me there was a reason to still do my best for these people.

This past weekend, I witnessed the number one reason why we shouldn’t give up on the citizens we serve.

One incident was on Friday and the other was on Saturday night (the “You’re not the enemy” story).

On Friday night, a nine year old girl named Lilly handed two officers something that was wrapped in Christmas paper.

They opened it up and saw a United States flag she had made. Lilly told them she made the flag for the officers who had been killed in New York.

This nine year old girl did this for officers she didn’t know. She did this for strangers who wore a badge. It was important to her.

There was something about her gesture that was important to me. Her gesture should be important to everyone. It confirmed there was still good in the world and people cared.

This child hadn’t given up on us. That meant her parents hadn’t given up on us either.

This story about Lilly and the flag should matter to all officers. It should also matter to the citizens who support their police officers.

That paper flag is a symbol why we do this job and why it still matters.

And why do I still do this job?

I do this job because you haven’t given up on me.

Be safe