Today is my Friday. My week started on Thursday, my first day back from vacation, and it was soooo s-l-o-w. We were dispatched to two calls, neither of which required a report. I did write a couple tickets, and take two to jail on traffic charges. But we thought the night would never end. We finished the week up with a bang, as things got increasingly busier throughout the "week".
Friday is the day my FTO says I tried to kill him. He says this with a laugh, and I'm sure that 10 years from now, he'll still remind me of it. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
On my way to work Friday, I decided to stop by the car wash. As I got to the traffic light just around the corner from the car wash, I realized that I had not turned on my car’s system. So I flipped the switch, not realizing that my light-bar switch had been flipped. I wondered why a truck let me out against the light, and then the Macaroni Grill van in front of me pulled into the car wash ahead of me, and pulled over to the side. I went on up to the pay station, and the attendant came out and carded me through. He didn’t act like anything was amiss. As I approached the entrance to the wash, I looked up into the mirror to adjust my wheels and realized that my strobes were on. I thought, “Okay, now I feel stupid.” I apologized to the Macaroni Grill lady at the vacuums, and decided to get on with my day. But it gets worse.
I got to headquarters and made my rounds, chatting with my co-workers there in the office. I got up to Records and Debbie looked at me and said, “Where’s your gun?” It was on top of the armoire in my bedroom, definitely not where it needed to be! So I had 20 minutes to get back home, get it, and make it back to roll call. I made it in 21. No one knows WHY I was late, but it sure was embarrassing to walk into the squad room at one minute after. But it gets even worse.
We were responding code one to a call, and I ran a red light, almost having a collision. Here is my version of the event: I had gone back to headquarters to use the restroom. This is my safety zone, since as a woman, I have to remove all of my gear when it’s Tinkle Time. I was just getting my stuff back on when they gave a lookout on a vehicle that was speeding through town. He was being followed by an unmarked unit, so we were going to back him up and make the stop. I didn’t have my stuff on all the way. I had my belt keepers in my hand, and had not yet scooted my ASP, handcuffs, and radio to their proper positions at my waist. Mike came into the building and said, “Let’s go!” So I ran out to the car, hopped in and we took off. My ASP was stabbing me in the back, and my water bottle fell out of its cup-holder into the floorboard under my feet. We got up and around the square, and as we were coming back down, Mike says, “Bust this light.” Or should I say, he yelled. Either way, I was still trying to get my stuff situated, and at this point, I did not have on all of my “emergency equipment”. That’s blue-lights and siren. I wasn’t paying attention when I entered the intersection. My blue-lights were on, but not the siren. So I was outside of policy and if I had been hit, it would have been my fault. Well, a car was coming through the intersection, and he missed me by mere inches. I was so flustered at this point, that I nearly ran the next red light. Poor Mike. Now every time we get to that intersection, he reaches up and grabs his seatbelt and makes the sign of the cross.
That was the worst of the week, but not the busiest.
On Saturday, we arrested a drunk for public indecency when we caught him peeing in the bushes behind his brother’s house in front of the neighbor’s kids. And we handled an “assault” call at Wal-Mart. My “victim” said that the cashier had assaulted her. She said he came around to help her in the self-checkout, and he bumped into her. I'm thinking, "Why are we here??? Can this call get any more bull-shittier?" Oh yes, it can. She says he did it because she was black. I immediately told her that we were not going to make this a race issue. And I explained to this idiot that just because someone touches you doesn’t make it an assault. If she had further problems with the cashier, it was a customer service issue, not a police matter. Good-bye.
My other fun call was the crack-head that Morning Watch arrested for Giving a False Name. As soon as he told her she was under arrest, she started throwing herself to the ground and wailing. As the only female officer present, I got the delightful duty of searching her. After we fought with her to get her cuffed, she fought with me to keep me from finding the marijuana she had stuffed in her front pocket. Then she had the nerve to tell me it was bay leaf. I know, I know. One never knows when one is going to have a cooking emergency and need a little bay leaf. Funny though, it sure smelled like marijuana. Gives new meaning to the dish "pot roast", huh?
And that brings me to today…
I had a pleasant Mother’s Day lunch with dear Cynthia. I believe I may have convinced her that the military might be a good thing for her. I will go with her on Tuesday to see the recruiter. Wish me luck!
And then, I was slammed with calls until about 9pm. We had some severe thunderstorms in metro Atlanta last night, and that was followed by increasingly high winds all day today. They were about 15-20mph at 3pm, when I started my shift, and have picked up since. We’ve been having gusts up to 35mph. It is really a bad-hair-day!
Well, all this wind sets off burglar alarms. I’m not sure in total how many we handled, but I would say more than seven. Of those, we found open doors at two of them. Normally, you might find an open door at one in 20 alarm calls. So we had a pretty good ratio going there. It was fortunate that we are a two-man unit. There were only three cars on the road tonight, and a supervisor. But Mike and I being a two-man unit means that we neither one have to wait for back up. I checked with Dispatch later, and in total, Mike and I handled 22 calls for service on our shift today. That’s more than we normally handle in a week! (Not counting officer-initiated activity.)
But my favorite call is the one I’m going to get complained on for. We responded with another officer to a domestic dispute. Domestics are notoriously famous for their danger to officer safety. We stood there and listened as this couple complained about each other and argued. Let’s just say that if I could make referrals, Pam could make a fortune off of this couple alone. We finally got them to agree to play nice and we went to hump a few more calls before we finally got a break when Morning Watch came on, and we were able to go to dinner.
After we got done eating, they gave Mike and I the call to return out there. They were at it again. She wanted him to leave; he wanted her to leave. He finally said he would leave, and when he asked her for the car keys, she didn’t want him to have that either. When we entered the residence so he could get his stuff, she was unloading the dishwasher, which included several butcher knives. I politely asked her to do me a favor and set the knife down. She took great offense at this. Started telling Mike and I that we have no clue what she’s going through (her words - not knowing that between the two of us, we have 4 ½ divorces) and how she’s had such a stressful day dealing with all this, and that we are shouting at her. And how dare we ask her to put the knife down when we “know” she’s not going to do anything?? I was ready to break out my pen and paper and give her my Lieutenant’s direct line so she could make the complaint. Instead, I told her that I think they just need to go ahead and get divorced, and we went 10-8. Then, we humped a few more calls, before calling it a night.
I did score a point or two with the knife issue on my DOR tonight. Mike said I did exactly the right thing.
I repeat, “Thank God, it’s Friday!”
Friday is the day my FTO says I tried to kill him. He says this with a laugh, and I'm sure that 10 years from now, he'll still remind me of it. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
On my way to work Friday, I decided to stop by the car wash. As I got to the traffic light just around the corner from the car wash, I realized that I had not turned on my car’s system. So I flipped the switch, not realizing that my light-bar switch had been flipped. I wondered why a truck let me out against the light, and then the Macaroni Grill van in front of me pulled into the car wash ahead of me, and pulled over to the side. I went on up to the pay station, and the attendant came out and carded me through. He didn’t act like anything was amiss. As I approached the entrance to the wash, I looked up into the mirror to adjust my wheels and realized that my strobes were on. I thought, “Okay, now I feel stupid.” I apologized to the Macaroni Grill lady at the vacuums, and decided to get on with my day. But it gets worse.
I got to headquarters and made my rounds, chatting with my co-workers there in the office. I got up to Records and Debbie looked at me and said, “Where’s your gun?” It was on top of the armoire in my bedroom, definitely not where it needed to be! So I had 20 minutes to get back home, get it, and make it back to roll call. I made it in 21. No one knows WHY I was late, but it sure was embarrassing to walk into the squad room at one minute after. But it gets even worse.
We were responding code one to a call, and I ran a red light, almost having a collision. Here is my version of the event: I had gone back to headquarters to use the restroom. This is my safety zone, since as a woman, I have to remove all of my gear when it’s Tinkle Time. I was just getting my stuff back on when they gave a lookout on a vehicle that was speeding through town. He was being followed by an unmarked unit, so we were going to back him up and make the stop. I didn’t have my stuff on all the way. I had my belt keepers in my hand, and had not yet scooted my ASP, handcuffs, and radio to their proper positions at my waist. Mike came into the building and said, “Let’s go!” So I ran out to the car, hopped in and we took off. My ASP was stabbing me in the back, and my water bottle fell out of its cup-holder into the floorboard under my feet. We got up and around the square, and as we were coming back down, Mike says, “Bust this light.” Or should I say, he yelled. Either way, I was still trying to get my stuff situated, and at this point, I did not have on all of my “emergency equipment”. That’s blue-lights and siren. I wasn’t paying attention when I entered the intersection. My blue-lights were on, but not the siren. So I was outside of policy and if I had been hit, it would have been my fault. Well, a car was coming through the intersection, and he missed me by mere inches. I was so flustered at this point, that I nearly ran the next red light. Poor Mike. Now every time we get to that intersection, he reaches up and grabs his seatbelt and makes the sign of the cross.
That was the worst of the week, but not the busiest.
On Saturday, we arrested a drunk for public indecency when we caught him peeing in the bushes behind his brother’s house in front of the neighbor’s kids. And we handled an “assault” call at Wal-Mart. My “victim” said that the cashier had assaulted her. She said he came around to help her in the self-checkout, and he bumped into her. I'm thinking, "Why are we here??? Can this call get any more bull-shittier?" Oh yes, it can. She says he did it because she was black. I immediately told her that we were not going to make this a race issue. And I explained to this idiot that just because someone touches you doesn’t make it an assault. If she had further problems with the cashier, it was a customer service issue, not a police matter. Good-bye.
My other fun call was the crack-head that Morning Watch arrested for Giving a False Name. As soon as he told her she was under arrest, she started throwing herself to the ground and wailing. As the only female officer present, I got the delightful duty of searching her. After we fought with her to get her cuffed, she fought with me to keep me from finding the marijuana she had stuffed in her front pocket. Then she had the nerve to tell me it was bay leaf. I know, I know. One never knows when one is going to have a cooking emergency and need a little bay leaf. Funny though, it sure smelled like marijuana. Gives new meaning to the dish "pot roast", huh?
And that brings me to today…
I had a pleasant Mother’s Day lunch with dear Cynthia. I believe I may have convinced her that the military might be a good thing for her. I will go with her on Tuesday to see the recruiter. Wish me luck!
And then, I was slammed with calls until about 9pm. We had some severe thunderstorms in metro Atlanta last night, and that was followed by increasingly high winds all day today. They were about 15-20mph at 3pm, when I started my shift, and have picked up since. We’ve been having gusts up to 35mph. It is really a bad-hair-day!
Well, all this wind sets off burglar alarms. I’m not sure in total how many we handled, but I would say more than seven. Of those, we found open doors at two of them. Normally, you might find an open door at one in 20 alarm calls. So we had a pretty good ratio going there. It was fortunate that we are a two-man unit. There were only three cars on the road tonight, and a supervisor. But Mike and I being a two-man unit means that we neither one have to wait for back up. I checked with Dispatch later, and in total, Mike and I handled 22 calls for service on our shift today. That’s more than we normally handle in a week! (Not counting officer-initiated activity.)
But my favorite call is the one I’m going to get complained on for. We responded with another officer to a domestic dispute. Domestics are notoriously famous for their danger to officer safety. We stood there and listened as this couple complained about each other and argued. Let’s just say that if I could make referrals, Pam could make a fortune off of this couple alone. We finally got them to agree to play nice and we went to hump a few more calls before we finally got a break when Morning Watch came on, and we were able to go to dinner.
After we got done eating, they gave Mike and I the call to return out there. They were at it again. She wanted him to leave; he wanted her to leave. He finally said he would leave, and when he asked her for the car keys, she didn’t want him to have that either. When we entered the residence so he could get his stuff, she was unloading the dishwasher, which included several butcher knives. I politely asked her to do me a favor and set the knife down. She took great offense at this. Started telling Mike and I that we have no clue what she’s going through (her words - not knowing that between the two of us, we have 4 ½ divorces) and how she’s had such a stressful day dealing with all this, and that we are shouting at her. And how dare we ask her to put the knife down when we “know” she’s not going to do anything?? I was ready to break out my pen and paper and give her my Lieutenant’s direct line so she could make the complaint. Instead, I told her that I think they just need to go ahead and get divorced, and we went 10-8. Then, we humped a few more calls, before calling it a night.
I did score a point or two with the knife issue on my DOR tonight. Mike said I did exactly the right thing.
I repeat, “Thank God, it’s Friday!”
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3 comments:
Wow, Darya! You certainly have an interesting new career! I have never known a police officer before so it's a whole new world to read about your adventures! Thanks for sharing! And I wish you and Cynthia the best!
hugs,
jackie
Very fun Darya. I so enjoy reading about your adventures!
It sure is different than making art, isn't it? You tell good stories, Darya, I enjoy reading your job adventures.
Joanne
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