Ticket Blitz

The other day at work my partner had called in sick so I was in a patrol car. While driving around the boss came along side me and told me to pull over. He had told me that he wanted everyone to come in with a few "pinks" (cop talk for tickets) and that I should concentrate my efforts on being part of the team. As soon as he drove away I shook my head. This is what has really bothered me since becoming a police officer. Policing has gotten far away from what I thought was the ultimate goal which is helping people and turned into a mere numbers game. This is all because of Compstat which was developed in order to spot crime patterns in order to deploy your resources better and be a more effective police department. Bullshit!!! What they do instead is measure how many tickets were written during the same time period last year and demand that more be written so that the numbers will be down. I've been on the job for a little over 6 years and am way past the save the world mentality of a rookie. I believe that the true purpose of writing someone a ticket is to somehow try and change their behavior in order to prevent a future accident or correct an unsafe condition. Issuing 1 ticket for someone who blows a red light in the downtown area is more effective then writing 6 to a guy who rolls through a stop sign on a dead end street. Being that I was told to do something by my superior I decided I would only write one ticket that way I was still following his order but not going overboard. While driving one of my co-workers passed me going the opposite way and he was on his cell phone while driving. That is so unprofessional and perhaps my biggest pet peeve. He sees nothing wrong with pulling someone else over for talking on their phone but assumes its OK for him since he is a cop. Wrong again. When I was a rookie in the NYPD an old timer gave me some sound advice. He told me that while driving around in the patrol car you have 2 options. You could drive fast with no seat belt on and make turns without signalling and roll through red lights and disobey all traffic laws like a lot of cops or you could be the example of how to drive. I chose the latter and believe that it is the only option. Professionalism is my biggest attribute as a cop and I owe it all to the military. I always maintain my fitness, make sure that my cruiser is washed, uniform neat and pressed, shoes shined and have my hat on. As an officer your appearance dictates whether you seem to have your shit together or not. By doing these small things I believe that when I arrive on scene people see a professional and immediately have some respect. Now it is up to me to maintain their respect by how I talk to them and handle the situation. One time when I was younger I remember being in an accident and as the cop approached I noticed his car had bird shit all over it, he was extremely fat and his uniform was a wreck. My first thought was "Great, my first accident and they send this moron". I never want to be that guy. I don't mean to rant all day so I'll stop for now. Maybe I should start studying and become a boss.

Amazed by woman

Last night it seemed as if all the crazies were out in full force and my partner and I just happened to run into all of them. We were on our horses and a "normal" looking lady in her 40's approaches us and told us she had something important to tell us. Apparently yesterday morning while she was walking to her car she saw a black male jump off of the fire escape and then run away. Since she was in such a rush to go to work she didn't have time to report it to the police. Now, approximately 10 hours later she decides it is important enough to inform us about it since she is conveniently going away for the next few nights. The hell with everyone else but now it is affecting her and she wants some increased patrols in the area. Call me crazy if you want but if I saw someone jumping off the fire escape in the building in which I lived in I think I would call 911 right away. That's what is wrong with most people these days. As long as something doesn't interrupt their lives or affect their daily routine then it doesn't matter. About two hours later we were riding by the mall and a hysterical Hispanic woman approaches us and says that she was walking down the street and some strange white lady came up to her and pushed her into the wall for no apparent reason and threatened to hit her while she uttered "you people". We did what we could but weren't able to locate the attacker so we tried to console the woman as best we could. To cap the night off we were once again approached by a younger woman who said that there was a teenager who was extremely drunk in front of the mall. We took a ride over there and were given the pleasure of meeting Jeremy, an 18 year old white male who was an extremely gifted projectile vomiter. We called for an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital and then one of the patrol units had to attempt to investigate where he obtained the booze. After that we headed back to the barn and called it a night.

Burglary Detail

Last night was rainy so I fed my horse for the night and took out a car. I was assigned as a "burglary car" due to a string of burglaries which occurred in a specific area. My mission was to patrol the neighborhoods and surrounding areas and to stop and question any "suspicious vehicles or persons". As I drove through the area I tried to make a mental note of everything so that the next time I drove through I just might be able to notice something out of the ordinary. The only thing I noticed all night was the copious amounts of people walking their dogs in the neighborhoods. As I drove by some would wave while others would glance and nod their head. I got the feeling that they were happy to see a police officer patrolling their streets. It's a good feeling when the people you protect are happy to see you drive by as oppose to giving you an evil stare as you pass by. I did not observe anything suspicious but did have a few conversations with some of the passing residents in regards to some minor complaints in the area. Later that night while stopped at a red light I saw a lady on her cell phone making a left turn. She looked right at me and continued talking as she passed. I immediately made a u turn and decided it was hammer time! When I told her why I stopped her she said " Yeah I no but I didn't even see you, I have no idea where I'm going but I have to get home ". Its reassuring to know how aware people are of their surroundings while driving. So I gave her a ticket and then gave her directions to the highway and she said thanks and then went on her merry way. I love when I'm able to get someone to say thanks after giving them a ticket and feel as if they actually mean it and aren't being sarcastic. That is the ultimate compliment of professionalism!!

What the hell does a possum look like?

Today is my off day so it's time for a story from my past. Soon after leaving the NYPD and working upstate in the country I found myself becoming a different kind of cop. It was here in the country that I started to really become a community police officer and started to enjoy talking with the people in the town and really trying to help them. In such a rural town as Police we went on all types of calls that in NYC we would never respond to. At about 1 am I was sent to a local residence on a report of a possum inside of someones garage. As I was driving to the location I thought to myself "Do I even know what a Possum looks like and do they bite"? When I pulled up to the house I saw the all American family awaiting my arrival, the husband, wife, child and family dog. I exited the car and the man told me that there was a possum in the garage. I wondered why the hell he didn't get it out of there but why should he get hurt when the lonely old civil servant police officer can get bit instead. I told the family to stand back and I bravely entered the garage with no clue what the hell I was looking for or what I would do when I found it. I was armed with a long pole with a rope at the end which is suppose to be put around the animals head and tightened so you can drag him out. It would be my first time using this device. As I looked around the garage my heart was thumping as I looked under things and kicked things to make some noise. I heard something in the corner and walked towards it. I saw the ugly beast wedged against the underside of the stairwell. When I flashed my light on it it's little red eyes glowed like the devil. I made my first attempt with the pole and the possum lunged toward it and I jumped up on top of some box and hit my head on the ceiling! As I began to prod at it it seemed as if I only agitated the beast as it now was trying to bite the pole with what looked like razor sharp teeth which could slice through me like butter. I considered shooting the damn thing but it wasn't safe with my .40 caliber pistol at such close range. After about 15 minutes I was able to stun him with some mace and get the pole around his neck. I quickly tightened down the rope and dragged that god forsaken beast out of the garage. I could hear the family cheer as if I had just saved their life. They said thanks and I got back in my cruiser and left and cranked up the a/c to cool down. All in a days work I guess...

Trail Ride

Yesterday was a beautiful day to be a mounted officer. The weather was near perfect, sunny and in the low 80's with the slightest touch of humidity. We decided to take advantage of the day and go on a trail ride. Once a month part of our job is to ride the trails and the paths in the woods to check for homeless camps and any signs of kids partying in the woods. Without horses these things would probably never get checked because the average cop is lazy and would never get out of his air conditioned car and actually walk anywhere. It's nice to actually ride the horse in the woods in its "natural environment" as compared to the concrete jungle we normally patrol. We found a few spots of graffiti and had to make a report of it but other than that everything was a OK. After taking lunch we went back to the downtown area and were standing in front of the fountain when a few kids approached us and asked if they could touch the horse. As usual we said yes and they did. As the one kid was petting the horse he said" yo, this is dumb smooth". My partner and I looked at each other and shook our heads. The way these kids talk and abuse the English language is amazing. I could only imagine what today's classrooms must be like with this so called street language breaking through in everyday use. All I can say is if this is our future then we must step up our efforts to ensure that these kids are successful or our nation will pay the piper!