I wish I could say this is a slow week. unfortunately there is a moderate uptake in domestic violence. Familes are together and drinking/ celebrating. However This thanksgiving was rather uneventful.
I started my shift early in the morning. No calls came in until lunch time. So I spent some of my time at my house prepairing our thanksgiving dinner.
Then we got a call about some demons and spirits harassing someone. Who is a regular 911 caller. This person is mentally handicapped and is a veterian himself so he's got my respect even If's hes missing reality. Calls often about spirits in his home, sometimes they are in his garbage, microwave or bathroom. They tell him things and ect. We do different things each time we get called there to calm him down. Sometimes we spray water in the air ( at his request ) to vanquish the spirits or pray over a door, Once I took out his garbage with the spirits inside. We just be creative until he's satisfied. This isnt a normal procedure in these kinds of calls but the alternative is costly to everyone both police and immediate family.
Some false alarm calls, and then time to go home. Easy Holiday.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Christianity and Police Officer
As a christian police officer. I started out with the concept that I would not write other christians tickets
Simple yet difficult thing to do. At first it was easy, See certain bumper stickers, maybe a bible laying around in the car. Easy to spot clues of faith. However after a few months on the road it became harder to just give free passes to the faithful. Even the Bible speaks of not showing favortisim to anyone. It came to ahead when one person was fleeing from the police in a pursuit, during the pursuit the suspect hit a child on the side walk. The child was seriously injured ( Not going into specifics ). When the suspect was caught it was learned that the suspect was on his way back home from church and he expressed carelessness over the fate of the child.
Thats when it hit home and I decided I needed to change my internal discretion process. I was more content to just let it go and be a fly by the pants officer. But I believe that If a cop doesnt have some sort of internal structure set in place. Such officer is more subseptable to being biased, manipulated, coerced. But also understanding every situation is different. So flexability is always nessessary. Still..
Applying the Bibles moderation generality to my way of patroling. I think made me a better cop. Now I show much less favortism. Excpet to other local cops. They still get free passes on tickets. Unless they cross the line as one cop did. Even he got a ticket. Ill go into why cops let cops go a lot in another blog. I even caught a officer DUI once. I was still new freash out of FTO phase. I saw a senior patrol officer DUI behind the wheel. At the time I wanted to fit in among the other cops so I played it cool and gave the officer a ride home and had family come get the car.
If done the same for other civilians occasionaly and actually a lot... Mostly because lawyers make it so hard to get a conviction in DUI cases. A DUI report is generally the largest report an officer will ever complete. The avg.decent DUI report is 5 pages in length sometimes longer. The avg murder or sex crime report would be two to three pages tops. One DUI arrest equils to about 12- to 20 hours of time that officer will spend on that one person. 2 hours to process the guy into holding cell and jail. 2 to 3 hours to complete a report. 1 to 2 hours on a deposition for the case. 2 hours on a DL hearing. 2 -3 hours to testify in court. Court can easily be longer and If one thing is out of line in the report say the officer forgot to ask If he had any medical conditions. The lawyer will get his client off with no consequences. SO 20 hours of work for nothing... Yeah... Better off just giving a ride sometimes.
My hats off to the officers who like duing DUI's. Most cases its a personal thing.
Hmm I went a bit off track.
After studying the Bible in great detail, going on pastoral retreats, perticipating in church politics and activities and ect. One come to learn that when speaking in generalities the Bible is about well... Redemption from sin first , then moderation. Moderation because wine isnt bad , unless your become a drunkard. Food isnt bad unless you become a glutton.
Writing tickets isnt bad or warnings arnt bad but be mindful about how and why your doing it, and pay attention to who your doing it to.
Dear other officer in my agency who has no discretion yeah Im looking at you right now as I write this , you *^& *#&$. That girl your wrote three tickets to a few minutes ago. She was a recent widow with three children and no family.. Whats wrong with you she was a stay at home mom.. She has no job !!! She cant pay for groceries let alone your $733 worth of tickets you just gave her.. Maybe thats why there was a lapse in her insurance ! Id like to taser you right now and write you some tickets myself after I slap you in your face. Granted she was doing 16 over the speed limit. But lets put it into perspective.
Simple yet difficult thing to do. At first it was easy, See certain bumper stickers, maybe a bible laying around in the car. Easy to spot clues of faith. However after a few months on the road it became harder to just give free passes to the faithful. Even the Bible speaks of not showing favortisim to anyone. It came to ahead when one person was fleeing from the police in a pursuit, during the pursuit the suspect hit a child on the side walk. The child was seriously injured ( Not going into specifics ). When the suspect was caught it was learned that the suspect was on his way back home from church and he expressed carelessness over the fate of the child.
Thats when it hit home and I decided I needed to change my internal discretion process. I was more content to just let it go and be a fly by the pants officer. But I believe that If a cop doesnt have some sort of internal structure set in place. Such officer is more subseptable to being biased, manipulated, coerced. But also understanding every situation is different. So flexability is always nessessary. Still..
Applying the Bibles moderation generality to my way of patroling. I think made me a better cop. Now I show much less favortism. Excpet to other local cops. They still get free passes on tickets. Unless they cross the line as one cop did. Even he got a ticket. Ill go into why cops let cops go a lot in another blog. I even caught a officer DUI once. I was still new freash out of FTO phase. I saw a senior patrol officer DUI behind the wheel. At the time I wanted to fit in among the other cops so I played it cool and gave the officer a ride home and had family come get the car.
If done the same for other civilians occasionaly and actually a lot... Mostly because lawyers make it so hard to get a conviction in DUI cases. A DUI report is generally the largest report an officer will ever complete. The avg.decent DUI report is 5 pages in length sometimes longer. The avg murder or sex crime report would be two to three pages tops. One DUI arrest equils to about 12- to 20 hours of time that officer will spend on that one person. 2 hours to process the guy into holding cell and jail. 2 to 3 hours to complete a report. 1 to 2 hours on a deposition for the case. 2 hours on a DL hearing. 2 -3 hours to testify in court. Court can easily be longer and If one thing is out of line in the report say the officer forgot to ask If he had any medical conditions. The lawyer will get his client off with no consequences. SO 20 hours of work for nothing... Yeah... Better off just giving a ride sometimes.
My hats off to the officers who like duing DUI's. Most cases its a personal thing.
Hmm I went a bit off track.
After studying the Bible in great detail, going on pastoral retreats, perticipating in church politics and activities and ect. One come to learn that when speaking in generalities the Bible is about well... Redemption from sin first , then moderation. Moderation because wine isnt bad , unless your become a drunkard. Food isnt bad unless you become a glutton.
Writing tickets isnt bad or warnings arnt bad but be mindful about how and why your doing it, and pay attention to who your doing it to.
Dear other officer in my agency who has no discretion yeah Im looking at you right now as I write this , you *^& *#&$. That girl your wrote three tickets to a few minutes ago. She was a recent widow with three children and no family.. Whats wrong with you she was a stay at home mom.. She has no job !!! She cant pay for groceries let alone your $733 worth of tickets you just gave her.. Maybe thats why there was a lapse in her insurance ! Id like to taser you right now and write you some tickets myself after I slap you in your face. Granted she was doing 16 over the speed limit. But lets put it into perspective.
Call of the Week - Burglary
Got a call about a burglary that happened while homeowner was away. Went to the victims house. Two gaming consoles and a laptop was taken. The victim suspected two neighbors but had no evidence.
I called a partner to arrive and we questioned the suspects. They swore up and down they had no idea what we were taking about. But through instinct I knew something was amiss from their story. I hatched a plan to put both persons in the back of my patrol vehicle in handcuffs under the cause of detention for investigation as they ( In my mind were reasonable suspicion suspects ) tell them I had them on video from the victims house and let them stirr about the possibility while the recording device was on inside my patrol vehicle. However my on duty Sgt arrived and upon hearing my plan, was angry with me and lectured me about violating peoples rights, no cause for dention, the appearance of an arrest made an ect. After some tense moments I asked can they go willingly into my car. Sgt replied yes If they want to.
So I walked over to both men asked If theyd be WILLING to sit in my patrol vehcile unsearched and uncuffed. They agreed willingly, and the rest of the plan was set into motion. They confessed to themselves and I was able to recover the stolen items and make two arrests.
How are they gonna break into their neighbors house. Note to criminals - Dont do crime in your neighborhood.
Well dont do crime at all but your criminals so...
I called a partner to arrive and we questioned the suspects. They swore up and down they had no idea what we were taking about. But through instinct I knew something was amiss from their story. I hatched a plan to put both persons in the back of my patrol vehicle in handcuffs under the cause of detention for investigation as they ( In my mind were reasonable suspicion suspects ) tell them I had them on video from the victims house and let them stirr about the possibility while the recording device was on inside my patrol vehicle. However my on duty Sgt arrived and upon hearing my plan, was angry with me and lectured me about violating peoples rights, no cause for dention, the appearance of an arrest made an ect. After some tense moments I asked can they go willingly into my car. Sgt replied yes If they want to.
So I walked over to both men asked If theyd be WILLING to sit in my patrol vehcile unsearched and uncuffed. They agreed willingly, and the rest of the plan was set into motion. They confessed to themselves and I was able to recover the stolen items and make two arrests.
How are they gonna break into their neighbors house. Note to criminals - Dont do crime in your neighborhood.
Well dont do crime at all but your criminals so...
Tickets - And how to get out of them
Most often then not I'm asked. How do I get out of tickets? Seeing as how Im sure you'd also like to know I wanna just get that out of the way now and make room for the good posts.
First there are two things they play into your ticket without you knowing.
1st- If the cop that pulls you over is a traffic only cop - Then the likely hood of you getting a ticket went from coin toss to high 90%.
2nd If there is a program being done by the state for grant money and the grant money depends on certain number of tickets and specific types. Such as seat belts. And youve been caught not wearing one. The likely hood is again high 90%.
So If you were to fall into one of those two conditions then may the force be with you.
However most traffic stops dont go into those categories.
Depending on the seriousness of your infraction theres a good chance you can talk your way out.
1st - Be honest - The officer knows why he pulled you over and wants to know If you were paying attention to what you were doing to understand why you got pulled over. Saying I dont know means you arn't paying attention ( Stop sign, speed limit ) and are therefor guilty of driving like you shouldn't have.
2nd- Be respectful - No need to over do it tho sometimes the YES SIR NO SIR is taken as being disrespectful depending on how you say it. Just be polite. Expressing your emotions whether anger or sadness can work against you.
Example- For me when I see a person crying ( Inside my head Im rolling my eyes ) I do this everyday I work. I meet hundreds of people every year. I often see people cry because they lost a family member or their child is lost or were a victim of a horrible crime. So for you to cry because I pulled you over says to me ( Your so sheltered that you have no grasp of reality and need a dose of it, your trying to manipulate me ) Crying adds points against you. However all cops are different , I know some softies that give in to crying every time.
Dont talk your way into a ticket. If I pull you over because you stopped after the white bar at the stop sign. ( very petty reason ) and try to argue to me for whatever reason. Theres a chance Im gonna give you a ticket beacuse of your attitude when I initially had no intentions of giving you a ticket. Maybe I legally stopped you because I wanted to look for drugs.
If a cop asks to search your car. Sighs- If you have drugs say no... If you dont have drugs say yes. Cooperation likely gets you out of any would be traffic infractions. Say no because drug charges are far worse then any traffic ticket.
Fight it in court every time ! You never know when the cop my have vacation, or have an impromptu emergency, or he may be working and is stuck on a call he cant get away from. In all the above cases you win automatically. If the cop shows up just ask the judge to remove the points from your ticket. Most times the judge is all to happy, depending on your driving history. In both of those situations you win.
Unless something very weird happens in your traffic stop thats not normal, IE cop does something unlawful-- Getting a traffic lawyer is a waste of money. Total waste. Unless you value your time more then you do the cost of the lawyer. Because thats the only benefit you get from having one. Otherwise just show up yourself and ask for the points reduces yourself suddenly you saved yourself the cost of a traffic lawyer and now have experience to become one.
Cops are people too- We love to laugh, If you can get the cop to like you in the albeit awkward initial setting you stand a good chance of getting out of it.
Do not say your thinking about going to the academy, any conversation that seriously prolongs the time a cop has to stand on the side of the road ( dangerous ) is more time he has to consider just write the ticket because your costing him.
If your a Leo professional - Working for another police agency. DO NOT FLIP OUT THE BADGE- I hate that and have written the ticket anyway out of spite. We are both cops we know what we deal with everyday. I all ready like you. Be a bit more diplomatic about it. For example If I got pulled over by another cop I say.. Signal -- I am Signal -- ( Each number means different things to different agency's so it doesnt matter what number you use ) Translated it would mean for your information i have a weapon in the car. Even If you dont-- The other cop knows now you work for another agency most times the badge isnt even needed.
If your a working professional - Doctor, nurse, ect.. having your ID laying in the seat next to you or hanging from your mirror is good enough. However depending on your infraction you may get a ticket anyway.
Saying I know Lt , Sgt. or officer so and so doesnt mean anything to us. Now If you say Im so and so's best friend or wife.. then we'll take the time to think about it. Maybe make a phone to to verify. God help you If your caught lying like what happened to one man. His one ticket turned into 3. All legal and justifiable tickets. The guy said he was the boyfriend to a certain female Lt.
The cop isnt going to lie about your infraction... Now Im sure its happened before ...somewhere. Or still happens sometimes. But for all the other 99% of good cops.. We dont care enough to lie about your infraction. If I saw you run the stop sign its because I did and that means you committed the infraction. Its not worth our jobs to lie about any one persons ticket.
Playing the raciest card... - If you play that card you just dramatically increased the chance of you getting a ticket. Because If you claim favoritism / racism whatever the cop will give you a ticket to prove he not playing favorites. If you wanna play that card you have to do a public records search on all his tickets. Take account your local demographics and then one can possibly say something like that to a judge. On the side of the road however nope, wont work every time.
Do not bribe an officer...Sometime cops are tested by our I\internal affairs department and accepting a bribe is a one time mistake to being fired.
So recap
Be honest
Be polite
Be funny
Fight the ticket.
All these things increase your chances of escaping the whole ticket or at least some points.
In all other situations lets face it your most likely guilty of the offense and should be fined anyway.
First there are two things they play into your ticket without you knowing.
1st- If the cop that pulls you over is a traffic only cop - Then the likely hood of you getting a ticket went from coin toss to high 90%.
2nd If there is a program being done by the state for grant money and the grant money depends on certain number of tickets and specific types. Such as seat belts. And youve been caught not wearing one. The likely hood is again high 90%.
So If you were to fall into one of those two conditions then may the force be with you.
However most traffic stops dont go into those categories.
Depending on the seriousness of your infraction theres a good chance you can talk your way out.
1st - Be honest - The officer knows why he pulled you over and wants to know If you were paying attention to what you were doing to understand why you got pulled over. Saying I dont know means you arn't paying attention ( Stop sign, speed limit ) and are therefor guilty of driving like you shouldn't have.
2nd- Be respectful - No need to over do it tho sometimes the YES SIR NO SIR is taken as being disrespectful depending on how you say it. Just be polite. Expressing your emotions whether anger or sadness can work against you.
Example- For me when I see a person crying ( Inside my head Im rolling my eyes ) I do this everyday I work. I meet hundreds of people every year. I often see people cry because they lost a family member or their child is lost or were a victim of a horrible crime. So for you to cry because I pulled you over says to me ( Your so sheltered that you have no grasp of reality and need a dose of it, your trying to manipulate me ) Crying adds points against you. However all cops are different , I know some softies that give in to crying every time.
Dont talk your way into a ticket. If I pull you over because you stopped after the white bar at the stop sign. ( very petty reason ) and try to argue to me for whatever reason. Theres a chance Im gonna give you a ticket beacuse of your attitude when I initially had no intentions of giving you a ticket. Maybe I legally stopped you because I wanted to look for drugs.
If a cop asks to search your car. Sighs- If you have drugs say no... If you dont have drugs say yes. Cooperation likely gets you out of any would be traffic infractions. Say no because drug charges are far worse then any traffic ticket.
Fight it in court every time ! You never know when the cop my have vacation, or have an impromptu emergency, or he may be working and is stuck on a call he cant get away from. In all the above cases you win automatically. If the cop shows up just ask the judge to remove the points from your ticket. Most times the judge is all to happy, depending on your driving history. In both of those situations you win.
Unless something very weird happens in your traffic stop thats not normal, IE cop does something unlawful-- Getting a traffic lawyer is a waste of money. Total waste. Unless you value your time more then you do the cost of the lawyer. Because thats the only benefit you get from having one. Otherwise just show up yourself and ask for the points reduces yourself suddenly you saved yourself the cost of a traffic lawyer and now have experience to become one.
Cops are people too- We love to laugh, If you can get the cop to like you in the albeit awkward initial setting you stand a good chance of getting out of it.
Do not say your thinking about going to the academy, any conversation that seriously prolongs the time a cop has to stand on the side of the road ( dangerous ) is more time he has to consider just write the ticket because your costing him.
If your a Leo professional - Working for another police agency. DO NOT FLIP OUT THE BADGE- I hate that and have written the ticket anyway out of spite. We are both cops we know what we deal with everyday. I all ready like you. Be a bit more diplomatic about it. For example If I got pulled over by another cop I say.. Signal -- I am Signal -- ( Each number means different things to different agency's so it doesnt matter what number you use ) Translated it would mean for your information i have a weapon in the car. Even If you dont-- The other cop knows now you work for another agency most times the badge isnt even needed.
If your a working professional - Doctor, nurse, ect.. having your ID laying in the seat next to you or hanging from your mirror is good enough. However depending on your infraction you may get a ticket anyway.
Saying I know Lt , Sgt. or officer so and so doesnt mean anything to us. Now If you say Im so and so's best friend or wife.. then we'll take the time to think about it. Maybe make a phone to to verify. God help you If your caught lying like what happened to one man. His one ticket turned into 3. All legal and justifiable tickets. The guy said he was the boyfriend to a certain female Lt.
The cop isnt going to lie about your infraction... Now Im sure its happened before ...somewhere. Or still happens sometimes. But for all the other 99% of good cops.. We dont care enough to lie about your infraction. If I saw you run the stop sign its because I did and that means you committed the infraction. Its not worth our jobs to lie about any one persons ticket.
Playing the raciest card... - If you play that card you just dramatically increased the chance of you getting a ticket. Because If you claim favoritism / racism whatever the cop will give you a ticket to prove he not playing favorites. If you wanna play that card you have to do a public records search on all his tickets. Take account your local demographics and then one can possibly say something like that to a judge. On the side of the road however nope, wont work every time.
Do not bribe an officer...Sometime cops are tested by our I\internal affairs department and accepting a bribe is a one time mistake to being fired.
So recap
Be honest
Be polite
Be funny
Fight the ticket.
All these things increase your chances of escaping the whole ticket or at least some points.
In all other situations lets face it your most likely guilty of the offense and should be fined anyway.
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