"I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement." ~Calvin Coolidge

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Hook em' and Book em'!

Well, I hit the pavement running and haven't stopped! I started out riding with a young officer that has been with the department for 9 years. The one thing that I definitely need to get used to is getting up at 4am in the damn morning! I worked over 20 years from 3:30pm till 3:00am. I am so not used to the morning time but I have to say, it sure is great to be back out doing what I love.

I made my first drug arrest when I spotted a couple homies sitting in and around an abandoned car. I walked up and saw one of them slide something under the seat. You don't have to be out of police work for too long to remember that's a clue! I got him out of the car handcuffing him for my safety. As he is getting out of the car he tosses something back into the car. This would be clue #2. I snatched up the other guy just for him standing there looking stupid as if I was doing something illegal. When I start to handcuff him, he starts sweating profusely, this would be clue #3. I asked him if he had anything illegal on him, anything that would stick me or any bazookas? He of course said the proverbial “no”. When I start to pat him down for “Officer Safety” he starts squirming like he had ants in his pants. I'm feeling pretty good about myself now. Oh yea, hook em' and book em' baby! I pull out 7 small “Nickel” baggies of marijuana and about $300.00 dollars in the old 5's and 10's, shocking I know. So he was stuffed in the back with his partner in crime. A check of the car found more marijuana, scales and tons of baggies. He wasn't planning on selling of course, no, he's just a really organized pot head. I have to say I was pretty excited only because I was doing police work again and not sitting in a courtroom reading a book. They were released the next day on bond but I could careless cause they will be back another day.




The pace of the job is something that actually has been a welcomed relief from my days in the busiest zone in my old department. I would check on and the dispatcher would be holding 35 calls. Now, I might handle 35 calls in a week. The really great thing is that I work 2 days, off 2 days, work 2 days, off 3 days. I only work 2 weekends a month which still allows me to enjoy time with my sweet girl. We do work 12 hours but the time goes by pretty quick. I am learning their system fast I think. They have a very different computer reporting system that has been a bit troubling but I am getting used to it. They told me that I would probably have to go through the entire 14 week training program due to my 28 years of prior experience. I was told by the Chief that he was going to tell the Sheriff that they are wasting time training me and that they should just cut me loose because I do have so much experience. I am all for that but I'll tell you this, I am lost!!! I have never been in the area so it is unnerving trying to navigate. I am planning on buying the best GPS money can buy, so if any of my fellow bloggers can recommend a top notch system let me know!!!

Aza is just as beautiful as ever of course. She is taking great care of me making sure that my uniforms are clean everyday. I just can't brag enough about her, she's amazing! So I can't complain when it comes to my personal life, it rocks just like my girl...

We had a very sad case of a missing 7 year old little girl very close to here. This last Monday she was walking home ahead of her siblings and just disappeared. The thing that really disturbs me is 10 days prior a 5yr old child in the same small town, 2 blocks from where this little girl disappeared from was almost abducted by 3 people. The agency responsible for responding to that attempted abduction didn't warn the school or parents in the area so no one knew their children were at risk. The child was rescued by a passerby, a good Samaritan that got involved and stopped these sick bastards. I just feel that this should have been broadcast in the media letting everybody know that somebody was out there trying to snatch kids up.

At 4:15pm yesterday the Sheriff of that county held a news conference and broke the news that her body had been found in a Georgia landfill. Please tell me how somebody could murder child, throw her in a trash dumpster and go on about their day? What a sick society we live in guys!!! It's been said that the 3 suspected in the attempted abduction are not responsible for this recent abduction and murder. I just can't help but think if the citizens knew what had happened, this little girl might be alive today. This is not the 70's folks, there are sick, perverted people roaming the streets. Please take the time to take your children to school. Make a plan with your neighbors to be at the bus stops when they get off so these innocent children don't have to fight for their life. If your not doing this now, you need to start. Just imagine if it were your son or daughter missing. Please love and take care of your children, be a responsible parent and do the right thing. God Bless all of you and your children.

I'm Out And We'll Talk Later!!!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Back on the street and lovin' it!

Well it has been a long time coming but Big Daddy is back pounding the pavement!!! Yea baby, I'm putting bad guys in jail again! Yesterday was my first day back on the street. It started with the swearing in ceremony at 8am. Aza and her dad were there and that's all I cared about. We all walked into the Sheriffs office where I received and gave the oath. After that the Sheriff handed me my badge and said congratulations and welcome aboard. I was so pumped and excited. The best part of all for me really was that Aza pinned my badge on for me. I can tell you that I could only hope that some of you have a support system as good as I have. I just can't brag enough about her and words really aren't enough to fully understand the depth of love and respect I have for her and her dad. I call him dad because in my heart he is my dad. I go to him for advice and he has and always will be there for me and his daughter. I got a text from him later in the day that just simply said, “I'm so proud of you”. It doesn't matter how old you are those words meant everything to me. The really neat thing was that Aza said it to me as well just prior to that. Like I said, what an amazing support system.

So they left and I got the grand tour of the department. It is very organized and well put together. I had to laugh though, I walked around there for 2 hours and they hadn't given me any ammunition! I felt like Barney Fife for sure! I did finally get 48 rounds of 40 caliber ammo so I felt complete and ready to go.

The department had a policy on tattoos that if they were visible they had to be completely covered. Well I had no choice so I showed up with my entire right arm covered because I have a full sleeve (from the top of my shoulder to my wrist) tribal tattoo. When my F.T.O. showed up I noticed that he had a half sleeve and it was uncovered. I said, “Hey, how come you aren't covering your tat up?” That's when I heard those beautiful words!!! The Sheriff changed the policy. Wooo-hooo! Let em fly, so I did. I immediately hit it off with my F.T.O. He looks just like me, shaved head and tats. I got in his car which is a K9 unit. They have non aggressive K9's that are drug, bomb, etc. dogs which is cool. Of course as soon as I got in there that bastard starting passing some serious gas. This dog sh@t on me all day and laughed about it, so did his daddy. Whew it was bad, but God was it good to be the POLICE again. I had to laugh at my first call- a horse running loose! Are you kidding me really?!? Okay, so we didn't find lil horsey running around but hey, it was a call. We handled some domestics which are all about the same anywhere you are. Then the first alert tone came at about 1230, accident on the interstate, over turned van with serious injuries. Hell yea baby, lights and siren!!! Now its been awhile but I remembered how to yell and scream at stupid idiots that panic when they see a police car coming. So after sorting through a few F bombs we got there to find a van full of guys all cut up, bruised up and scraped up. Of course no one was wearing a seat belt. Making things even more of a pain in the butt, they were all Mexican and none of them spoke English. One of them had a right arm arterial bleed and massive blood loss. There were several paramedics there so no need to get bloody. I finally felt productive again and respected. We really only provided traffic control for the Highway Patrol but man did it feel good! We left that and handled a few more calls ending the day with me actually handling another crash but this time the at fault driver had a suspended license and a warrant. Jackpot! I get to put an ass in jail again! Man that was fantastic!!!

I was welcomed with opened arms by everyone. I was respected by command staff as well simply because they know that I have 28 years of experience. I was treated like a man again and not like somebody that just can't do any better or make it on the street. I know with time and learning their system I am gonna love it! The best part is I get to share it with my girl who is the love of my old ass life. I know I have a lot more days behind me than I do ahead of me but I sure am excited about sharing it with her and all of you again! I'm Out And We'll Talk Later!