Full Moon Nothing

The full moon has risen, and begun to wane. And July continues to creep along. The humidity is so thick you can cut the air with a knife. Last night, every time I got out of my car, my glasses fogged up and I couldn't see squat. This has it's own set of potential dangers. Fortunately, we have not been terribly busy this month. There have been quite a few routine calls, but nothing drastic. At least, not on my shift.

On Thursday night, the day before the full moon, we were dead. Mike did manage to chase and catch one, but I was on the other side of town. And a couple of the guys said the jail was really hopping. One of them was up there when the County brought in a naked guy covered in feces. But I only had one report call, a Theft by Taking. I kept telling dispatch to "bring it on" and give me that "big" call they were holding for me. They said, "Next shooting? It's yours." Needless to say, they never gave me one. I clocked out and went home for the night.

I generally don't turn my radio off until I get home. I pulled into my driveway and was shutting the car off when Dispatch gave out a Signal 50. A shooting. My BIG call, and they waited until I had gone home!

It wasn't a big deal, really. Fourteen year old girl shot in the foot. She wouldn't say who did it, and said it was an accident. Here's the kicker: It was 1am. The girl had been dropped off, by her mother earlier in the evening, dressed like a hoochie-mama. They transported her to the Emergency Room, and the mother refused to come up there. Unbelievable!!

On Friday, we had just finished roll call, when our K9 unit, who was assisting the county, put in a call for a Code 7 (Back up). We weren't 100% sure where he was, but the goal was to get to that side of town and get the info on the way. So we go screaming out of the parking lot of Headquarters. Somehow, I ended up in the lead. We all finally get there, my entire shift, and set up a perimeter for the dog. About that time, I realize my car is over-heating, and once I turned off the siren, could hear that it was making funny noises. Funnier than usual, I guess I should say. It is kinda old for a patrol car and creaks and groans at every opportunity.

They call a wrecker to have it towed back to the City Shop. They put 4 quarts of oil in it and the guys in the shop say: "It needed oil and hasn't been changed since February." BULL-#$%^! I put it in to be serviced in June, at which point I had only had it a month! So it must have a leak. Anyway, they gave me a spare, for what could be a week. Probably more like a month or two, but at least I still have a car. So I got all my stuff moved into #16. I've had a good time giving the guy that used to drive it regularly a hard time about it being a pig-sty. He is also the male half of the drama with my successor, so that was just fuel for the fire.

Anyway, I ended up Friday with no reports for the entire shift, and no paperwork. On a full-moon!

Saturday, we were steady, but nothing major. Mike found a naked guy behind a dumpster, having a party with himself. That was good for some laughs. A few routine calls and we called it a night.

Today, I worked Dispatch from 11am to 3pm. After we hit the street, we managed to stay busy. Yesterday the Lieutenant handed out a bunch of Bench Warrants for us to serve. These are issued when someone fails to show up for their court date after receiving a citation. I was given one for a Theft by Shoplifting and an Expired Tag. You would think that with four patrol cars pulling up, we were serving Felony warrants. But we were just bored. We didn't find any of my warrants. We went to an address to try to serve one of Aaron's. and when we pulled up, two guys ran out the back door. We ended up arresting them for outstanding warrants through the Sheriff's Department. Inside, we found another guy that was wanted by them also. But we didn't find our Bench Warrant.

A little later, I did get an arrest for traffic charges including Suspended License and Suspended Registration. A good stat, and a report required. But all-in-all, minor stuff.

And since today is my Friday, I decided to leave my loaner car to be serviced. It also needs a new switch on the siren and light-bar power box. According to the sticker, it is about 2500 miles over for an oil change. Yikes!