Summary:
Think you know what its really like to be a police officer? The
Roll Call page (aka: Yesterday's Shift) lists past dailies
of day to day and minute to minute police calls.
Today I responded to a "police shooting" call. Dispatch
told us the caller "heard a shotgun blast," looked out
his window and only seen a van stopped in the middle of
the intersection. As a police officer, these calls
still perk your ears up. As I just happened to be around the
block I was forced to wait for my back up; however, I
could see the van motionless in the middle of the
intersection. As we approached with guns drawn I seen
all these people starring at us (felt like we were on
Cops). When I got to the driver's door, I saw a male
sitting there with his head crouched over, convinced he
had shot himself at that point. So I ordered him to put
his hands up just in case he was alive, and he opened
his eyes and put his hands up. As we checked him and a
female sleeping in the back of the van, no guns were
found. However, we did find a bag of individually
wrapped rocks (of crack cocaine) in his door while
checking for a gun. He also had over $500 dollars in
cash in his pocket. So turns out the police got a drug dealer
off the street over what was probably a backfire from
his van after he passed out. Once at the station I
checked his priors and he had several drug PWID arrests
(possession with intent to deliver cocaine) which means he
will be
going away for awhile.
Heard a
call go out today for a man with a gun. 911 Dispatch said the caller said there
was a man standing outside with a gun to his head. Again, as a police
officer, this is a safety concern. While en route to the
call, dispatch came back saying the caller just heard a gunshot and no
longer seen the man. When the officers arrived, the man had vanished and the
caller no longer wanted to talk. On another deal, I had to witness an
autopsy to determine the "cause of death" and to get a blood sample kit. The
man (in his mid 30's) was broadsided by another man who had run a red light.
The man that died did nothing wrong accept not wear his
seatbelt.
His vehicle rolled four times and I was told he died as a result of his body
and head exiting the vehicle while in motion and being crushed by the
vehicle. The wife (in the passenger's seat), who was wearing her seatbelt,
walked away from the crash with minor scratches and bruisers. Wear your
seatbelts!
While driving around in my police car, I heard a call go out that there
was a dog attacking a child today. I answered up and said I would
respond. Other police officers were also en route. Upon arrival, I observed two boys (13 and 16) on the ground
with a Pit-Bull (dog) wrestling with it. Both boys were covered in
blood and I could see the boys were extremely scared by the look in their
eyes. One of the boys' hands was mangled from being bit. They
were holding the dog so they wouldn't get bit again. Another officer
ended up shooting the dog once the boys broke free as the the dog started
to charge the boys again, once let go. Not a pretty scene, as I'm
dog lover; however, there was no option in the scenario. I was at
the station the rest of the shift typing reports on this incident.
Responded to a
car accident
last night where two people had both ran stop signs at a four-way
stop. As a police officer, your job is to investigate impartially. One was in a car and the other was on a bicycle, so you can
probably imagine. The guy ended up living to my surprise.
There was a ton of blood and you could actually see what appeared to be
brain matter embedded into the windshield along with his hair. Both
parties were put at fault.
While working alone last night, I was sent to check a "man
with a gun" with another police officer that was coming from a long
way off. When I arrived I couldn't see anyone, but figured
I'd hold back (around the corner) waiting for my back-up (In
Flint, a 'man with a gun call' is not much out of the
ordinary...normally I would drive through the area alone, to
at least start checking the area, simply because most of the
time the person is gone). But this time, my instincts told
me to just wait. So I did. Once she (my back-up arrived), we
both rounded the corner only to find about 20 guys sitting
in chairs in a very dark area. Of course we used our
spotlights, but the darkness didn't help. We ordered
everyone at gunpoint to put their hands on their heads.
While doing so (and as we lit 'em up with the spotlight), I
saw one particular male backing up slowly as if he was
getting ready to run. I told my backup to cover me as I
started checking the each subject,
when I
realized that this was insane, telling dispatch that we needed more cars.
While I'm checking them, my back-up notifies me she found a gun practically
at her feet in the front yard. We also find a large bag of drugs (all
individually wrapped...which means they were selling it). We tell them to
sit back down and began checking the area a little more (i.e. around their
chairs, yard, etc.). While they're sitting there, I see behind one of the
chairs (in arms reach of two of the guys) what appears to be a buck of a gun
(another gun!). I tell the guys as I reach for it not to even think about
moving, only to discover it's another gun. Of course, nobody knows anything
about the guns or the drugs and you can't really charge them with it...not
here anyway...you really need to be able to say we saw someone throw it,
or holding it or something. Anyway, the original caller wanted to make a
complaint, claiming the one of the men pointed a gun at him, so one of the
guys went to jail. We later found out that both guns were also stolen.
The police officers on the call did a good job.
Answered a ton
of police calls today, two of which were "Man with a gun" calls. Upon arrival on
each call, the man with the gun had already left the area. Police
officers searched the scene. On another call,
I responded to a man that was cut with a knife. When I arrived I learned
that the man that was cut had ran through the yards. When we found him a few
minutes later, he was a couple of blocks over laying in someone's front yard
screaming. He had taken an approximate 2" laceration to his upper left
chest. I went to the hospital to speak with him more and learned that he was
stabbed after he punched two women. Apparently one of the boyfriend's became
angry after he punched the girls and confronted the man and cut him. Other
witnesses said that the man only cut him because he pulled a gun on him when
he confronted him. The man lived.
Interesting shift. Was taking an accident and was trying to talk to a male
white involved. The mother (female black) of the other party involved got
right in my face. When I asked her what she needed she said "I'm standing
right here, because I want to know everything you guys are talking about,"
pretty much accusing me of taking his side, even though I put him at fault
and didn't arrest her daughter for driving on a suspended license.
Interesting.
One of our
calls was for a woman who tried to commit suicide. As we're pulling up, I
see her sitting on the curb. Her friend's holding a rag around one of her
wrists and I can see blood everywhere. I ask her what's going on, she looks
at me for a second, then looks away. It's apparent that she's drunk. The
paramedics arrive and tell me that they've dealt with her several times in
the past, that she "does this all the time." When I see her wrist, it's
about a 3" x 1/2" gouge on the bottom of her wrist (ouch, got to hurt).
She's taken to the hospital...she lives. Other calls were mostly domestics
and alarms. No tickets today.
Today started out with court for a police ticket that I issued. It was
for a red light
violation in front of a judge. I wrote the ticket about a month ago and the
guy totally blew the light. I mean, when it turned red, he was still about
two car lengths outside the intersection...and I gave him a break for
speeding. Anyway, his attorney is just going to town on specifics like, "how
long does the light stay yellow for eastbound traffic," and "exactly how
many feet were you from the light..." and "exactly how many feet is the
crosswalk to the curb of the roadway, in relation to, and about how much,
and...bla, bla, bla." Come on! He ran the light. Need I say more? Anyway, he
lost. At work, dealt with a guy who went to his ex-girlfriend's (AGAIN),
even though he's been served with a personal protection order. He gets
arrested. He doesn't tell us what happened to him at the scene. Turns out,
she whacked him a good one in the nose, breaking it, with a baseball
bat...AND he went to jail. I guess there is justice.
