I started evaluating another rookie tonight, C. His evening shift evaluator told me that C is a little high strung, a real go getter. I took that with a grain of salt because the evening shift evaluator takes a very relaxed approach to policing. A go getter, he is not, and neither am I for that matter. C is older than most probationary officers. He is married and has two kids. He grew up in New York and has lived all over the country. He is in the National Guard as a member of the Special Forces. He was on the first truck into New Orleans after Katrina and has been on other combat tours. I am sure we will have some interesting conversations in the coming days.
As soon as we signed on to the vehicle's computer, I noticed that a sexual assault report was holding. We do not get many sexual assault calls, so this was a good opportunity for the rookie. I read the call slip, cringed a little, and then volunteered for the call. We drove to the scene and were met on the street by the 21 year old aunt. She gave us a brief rundown of what was going on and then led us into the house. We walked into the house and there had to be at least 20 people in the living room. C immediately took control of the situation and instructed all but 2 people to leave the room. That was amazing for a probationary officer. Most would have been intimidated by the number of people and would have tried to figure out what was going on in the middle of everyone. Probationary officers have to learn quickly that once the police arrive, we own the scene. Everyone has to listen to our instructions. C understood that and took control of the room.
The two people left in the room were a mom and dad of a 7 year old girl. The girl lives with mom (24 years old with 3 kids) and her husband during the week and with dad on the weekends. While the girl was at dad's house, mom decided to read the girl's diary. In the girl's diary, the mom found a page that referenced having sex with dad. Then at the bottom of the page, the girl wrote the nickname for the mom's husband. The girl was talking about her step-dad. The mom immediately called the dad. She explained what she had found to him and then asked him to talk to the little girl. He talked to the girl and then called us.
After interviewing the mom, dad, and an aunt, at the recommendation of a juvenile division sergeant, C interviewed the little girl. She is a very articulate and polite young lady. She is in the second grade. She said that last week she was awakened in the middle of the night. She said that her step-dad was in bed with her and was touching her down there. After she woke up, he threatened to hurt her or her mom if she told anyone. She also told us that this had happened one other time in the past. At that point, the parent inside of me had a lot of respect for the dad that after hearing this from his daughter, decided to call the police and to not take care of things himself. I can not imagine hearing something like that come out of my child's mouth. And I know how I think that I would react, and it would not be with a call to 911. The dad did the right thing. He gave us the opportunity to use the justice system.
That brings me to Courtney. She is a juvenile sex crimes investigator. I could not do your job. I realize that not all of your cases involve these types of situations. But enough of them do. I am glad that we have smart, thorough, articulate, resilient, and dedicated investigators, like yourself, to hunt down and lock up these animals.
As soon as we signed on to the vehicle's computer, I noticed that a sexual assault report was holding. We do not get many sexual assault calls, so this was a good opportunity for the rookie. I read the call slip, cringed a little, and then volunteered for the call. We drove to the scene and were met on the street by the 21 year old aunt. She gave us a brief rundown of what was going on and then led us into the house. We walked into the house and there had to be at least 20 people in the living room. C immediately took control of the situation and instructed all but 2 people to leave the room. That was amazing for a probationary officer. Most would have been intimidated by the number of people and would have tried to figure out what was going on in the middle of everyone. Probationary officers have to learn quickly that once the police arrive, we own the scene. Everyone has to listen to our instructions. C understood that and took control of the room.
The two people left in the room were a mom and dad of a 7 year old girl. The girl lives with mom (24 years old with 3 kids) and her husband during the week and with dad on the weekends. While the girl was at dad's house, mom decided to read the girl's diary. In the girl's diary, the mom found a page that referenced having sex with dad. Then at the bottom of the page, the girl wrote the nickname for the mom's husband. The girl was talking about her step-dad. The mom immediately called the dad. She explained what she had found to him and then asked him to talk to the little girl. He talked to the girl and then called us.
After interviewing the mom, dad, and an aunt, at the recommendation of a juvenile division sergeant, C interviewed the little girl. She is a very articulate and polite young lady. She is in the second grade. She said that last week she was awakened in the middle of the night. She said that her step-dad was in bed with her and was touching her down there. After she woke up, he threatened to hurt her or her mom if she told anyone. She also told us that this had happened one other time in the past. At that point, the parent inside of me had a lot of respect for the dad that after hearing this from his daughter, decided to call the police and to not take care of things himself. I can not imagine hearing something like that come out of my child's mouth. And I know how I think that I would react, and it would not be with a call to 911. The dad did the right thing. He gave us the opportunity to use the justice system.
That brings me to Courtney. She is a juvenile sex crimes investigator. I could not do your job. I realize that not all of your cases involve these types of situations. But enough of them do. I am glad that we have smart, thorough, articulate, resilient, and dedicated investigators, like yourself, to hunt down and lock up these animals.
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