What the f..k

Well it was an exciting night. Started off like a routine day on the road but then over the radio came the call of 2 suspects wanted in a homicide driving a burgundy pickup being chased by approximately 10 police cars from other agencies.......... and they were heading for our city! One minute you are looking at your watch to see how much time is left in your tour and then in a split second every hair on your neck stands up and the adrenaline starts flowing. Time to get off the bench and get your ass in the game. As we prepared to take up positions along the highway and help in the pursuit suddenly shots fired from the perps car at the cops. Now its definitely on. The perps then decided to make a u turn and get back on the highway. Many of our units were getting in the pursuit as well when all of a sudden we hear over our radio that the boss does not want any of our units to leave the city. Did I hear that right....what the fuck was he saying. Two scumbags are suspects in a homicide and are SHOOTING AT THE POLICE and he says do not leave the city. Whatever happened to brothers in blue? If I was being shot at and was driving through another town or city I would want every damn cop out there helping out. It doesn't reflect well on our agency in my opinion but I guess that's why I'm not a boss yet. Maybe it was the right decision but every cop I was working with that night didn't think so. Ten minutes later I was looking at my watch again to see how much longer was left. It happens that quick and you are never really expecting it but when it goes down you pray that you will do the right thing. Till the next time....

Court Time

Well today I had to go into work early because I had a felony DWI hearing. I was not looking forward to going because I dread..... no I should say I hate testifying! As I showed up and checked in I was informed by the ADA that I was the second case on the docket and that I should sit and wait. This entailed me reading 3 month old magazines about all the little drunk celebrities. Well before I could finish these literary masterpieces it was my time for the hearing. I felt confident in my testimony but was nervous when it was the defense attorney's turn to try and rip me apart. Try she did but how unsuccessful she was. Every futile attempt was met with an instantaneous response from me which only seemed to enhance my case. In the end that poor schlep would have been better representing himself. The judge said there was enough evidence and that the case will go the grand jury so that means more overtime!!! This high school graduate kicked the law school graduates ass!!!! Don't mess with a high school education and military training!!! Anyway once my scheduled tour began I was in a good mood and overall the night went well.

Gun Run

It was a crisp clear spring day in the Bronx. I was on patrol with my partner and both of us were fresh out of the academy. We were rookies and had the "save the world attitude". We actually still thought we could make a difference. Suddenly on the radio we heard "respond on a report of 3 Hispanic teens with a gun". Our conversation stopped as we responded, lights and sirens going and my partner driving like he suddenly was a Nascar driver on the last lap of the Indy 500. As we were pulling up I saw 3 Hispanic teens and one of them had a gun pointed towards the ground. We jumped out of the car guns drawn and I yelled "Put the gun on the ground and everyone get down". The one with the gun was trying to say something but I interrupted him and told him to put the gun down again and put his hands up. This time he listened. When the situation was over and I picked up the gun it turned out to be a cigarette lighter. The lighter was about as big as a 22 cal handgun and was black, very realistic. I almost shit my pants. If we would have arrived on scene and this poor schmuck with the lighter gun had turned towards us with the gun pointed at us we would have lit him up. Dead in the middle of the business district on our busiest street in broad daylight. The headlines in the paper would have read "2 White Cops Shoot Hispanic Teen holding Cigarette Lighter" and Al Sharpton would be marching in front of the precinct. We would have been justified if we had shot but we would have to live with that decision. This call proved to me what they had said in the academy. When cops are out on the street we only have a split second to make a decision which could end up completely changing our lives forever. When I go to work I have no idea what's in store over the course of my 8 hour tour. So the next time you see a cop reading the paper or in Dunkin Donuts or doing what you conceive to be nothing cut them some slack and think about this story. You have no idea what he just did or saw.

Narcotics Anonymous

While getting ready for patrol on last night I noticed my horse had a loose horseshoe so that would mean that I would have to ride a different horse. Wasn't really looking forward to it but what can you do shit happens. As soon as we get in the downtown area this nice looking girl comes over to us and tells us she is from out of town and is looking for a narcotics anonymous meeting and wanted to know if we knew where there was one. My partner looked stunned and didn't know what to say because it's not a common answer found in his "Rolodex" of everyday questions. For some strange reason I felt compelled to find an answer for her because she was very persistent. I pictured her in a few hours unable to find a meeting and then getting all cracked up somewhere so I searched high and low and came up with a phone number for her to call........what a relief. Later on that night a car drove by us while we were on our mounts on the side of the road and the driver gave us the bird as he drove by. My partner saw this and started to chase after the car which as fate would have it was stopped at a red light. A few seconds later I followed. After stopping a car you either write a ticket or say your two sense, you should never do both. My partner chose the latter and ripped him a new ass....professionally! He then gave him back his paperwork and told him to go on his way. Never intended on giving him a ticket but you have to stop people. You can't let them get away with things or the next cop they encounter they may try to get away with a little more. Sometimes people assume because we are on horse that we won't do anything but it's great to see the look on their face when we do!!

Friday Night

Well Friday night came and went. Very nice night weather wise probably low 70's and a cool breeze, almost perfect for being on the horse. As the night started out and we were heading uptown I was not in the best of moods, had lots on my mind but a run in with one of the regular homeless guys would change that. My partner and I were sitting on the horse on the side of the road when this homeless guy affectionately called 8.2 by the local kids comes over to us. ( This guy is a royal pain because he hangs out with all the teenagers and buys them smokes and beer but we haven't caught him in the act yet) 8.2 comes over drunk as usual and begins to ask us "is that horse a girl, I saw you guys in the paper." As he attempts to pet my horse I sternly told him don't touch my horse. He attempted to continue his story when I then turned and said "How many times are you going to tell us the same fucking story? Keep walking." He did and my partner turned to me and said I can't believe you just said that to him. That type of response is uncommon for me but hey I'm human and was having a bad day. That little incident broke the tension I had and the rest of the night went well. Another guy in his 30's walks over to us and says "I was just walking by the fountain and the wind was blowing and I got a little wet, is the city going to do something about it?" Can you believe that complaint? My partner told him to walk on the other side of the street if it bothers him that much. With everything going on in the world this is what is bothering this idiot. That's the thing in this job, you hear the strangest things and run into the weirdest people. After that it was the usual job of babysitting the hundreds of teens in the park and in front of the theatre as usual. Big crowds courtesy of Harry Potter. Well Saturday night looks like it will be a nice one also.

Slow Night

Tonight the weather was supposed to be bad so it would mean no horseback. Instead we had the very honorable responsibility of driving around in the pick up truck with the barracades in case of storm related emergencies. But of course once again the great weathermen were wrong and the rain didn't come so we just drove around all night and bullshitted with other cops. Nothing exciting in the city tonight. But stay tuned......you never what tomorrow brings.