I trained four nights this week and we rode my regular patrol numbers. Then on Friday I was back in the helicopter taking more pictures.
After we signed on to our computer Monday night, the first thing that jumped out at me was the number of patrol units in my beat for the night. We had 7, which is amazing! It was a Monday night and we would have been fine with 3, but it was still nice to see. There are many nights when we have 7 total units in the district which includes 4 more beats. We volunteered for a burglary of a motor vehicle report in another beat. The owner of the vehicle had no idea how the suspect had entered his vehicle. All of the windows were still intact. He thought that he had locked the doors, but had just about talked himself into believing that he had left then unlocked by mistake. I let D look around a little to see if he could find how they entered. He had no idea as well. Then I showed them a little hole just under the passenger side door handle. The suspect took a screwdriver or something similar and punched a hole just beneath the door handle and this unlocked the vehicle. It is quick, quiet, and very effective. The vehicle was a Ford truck.
Our first call on Tuesday night was a loud noise at a small apartment complex. There were 8 units in the complex and the loud music was disturbing 7 of them. The music coming from the one unit was very loud. We knocked, and no one came to the door. A neighbor stepped out and said that they had seen the resident leaving earlier in the evening. So there was nothing that we could do. We can not kick in a door for loud music. We recommended that they call the landlord who could come and open the door and turn off the music. I looked at the power meters to see if I could tell which one serviced that apartment. Briefly shutting off power to the apartment would probably turn off the music, but unfortunately the meters were not labeled with apartment numbers.
A little later, we pulled over a Jeep that had a few Texans stickers on the back window, but nothing out of the ordinary. In the vehicle were two females. The driver was all done up and dressed head to toe in Texans gear. The passenger looked like she had just woken up and had not bothered to change clothes. D got her driver’s license and proof of insurance and we returned to the patrol vehicle. I asked D for the license, and the picture looked exactly like the passenger. I thought that was a little strange. We returned to the Jeep. Turns out that the females were identical twins. We did indeed have the driver’s real license. It just so happened that when she got her picture taken for her license, she was not looking her best. The driver was a Texans cheerleader on her way home from an appearance. She asked if we wanted posters, and I said that D would love a poster (D had been silent this entire time, he had no idea what to say). She signed a poster for D and then asked if I wanted one. I said that my son, A1, would like a poster. She signed one for A1 as well. Her sister said that she was hoping to make the squad next year so that she could cheer with her twin. Maybe they would inspire the Texans to a few more wins?
After the traffic stop, we checked by with units on an assault in progress at a nearby restaurant. Three males were eating together. One of them decided to shoot video of his buddy eating using his cell phone. The buddy asked him to stop and he refused. It escalated into a physical fight and a table was shoved tearing a hole in a wall. After the fight, the males left, but were stopped nearby by another unit based on the vehicle description in the call slip. The restaurant could not decide if they wanted to press charges for the damage. Eventually, information was exchanged and a report was generated by the primary unit. Hopefully, the guy with the video fetish will refrain from shooting video of his buddy while he is eating in the future.
Our last call of the night was a stolen vehicle recovery. When a vehicle that has been reported stolen is found, we have to do a supplemental report to the original report stating that the vehicle has been found and is no longer missing. When that report hits the system, it takes the stolen hit off of the license plate. Recovery calls are usually called in by wrecker drivers who find abandoned vehicles and call them into our call center. The call taker runs the plate and it comes back stolen and they dispatch us to do a recovery. This call was not like that. An owner had reported his vehicle stolen the day before and then miraculously found it the next day. He found the vehicle a few blocks away from where he reported it stolen. I think that he was intoxicated the night before, and could not find his vehicle after leaving a club. Either way, we still have to do a recovery.
Wednesday night started with a few regular traffic stops. Then we checked by with another unit who had a possible unlawful carrying of a weapon case. A man left his business and was driving home in his Lexus. He had a blow out on the freeway and pulled over onto the shoulder. In the city, there is a program where certified wreckers will get a stalled vehicle off of the freeway at no cost to the vehicle owner. It is called the Safe Clear program, and it is not optional to the vehicle owner. If the vehicle breaks down on the freeway, whether in a moving lane or not, certified wreckers can pick up the vehicle and get it safely off of the freeway. Back to our Lexus with the blow out, a wrecker pulled in front of the Lexus to pick it up. The driver got out and said that he would prefer a flat bed wrecker. The wrecker driver called for one and he arrived a short time later and pulled up behind the Lexus. The Lexus driver exited his vehicle again, but this time he had a pistol in his hand which was down at his side. He did not threaten anyone or point it at anyone. The wrecker drivers saw the pistol and retreated to their trucks and called for the police. Officers arrived and the Lexus driver was taken into custody without incident.
The Lexus driver told D and I that he was a business owner and that he carried large amounts of cash and vehicle titles with him on a usual basis. That is why he carried a pistol. He did not have a concealed handgun license. It is legal in the state to carry a firearm concealed in your vehicle. It gets into a gray area when you exit the vehicle with the pistol in your hand. I called the district attorney’s office. They were reluctant to take charges because the pistol was legally in the vehicle and the vehicle was about to be towed, and you can not expect the man to leave the pistol in the vehicle when it is about to be towed. I countered with he did not have to have it in his hand down by his leg. I think that he was trying to intimidate the wrecker drivers so that he could use his preferred tow truck company. The DA did not see it that way. The Lexus driver was released and his pistol was returned to him (we locked it in his trunk) and then D wrote a detailed report. Sometimes when charges seem certain, the DA disagrees.
Later, we checked by with B and his rookie who had been dispatched to a major accident. A car being driven by a federal agent had pulled out into the path of a motorcycle. The motorcycle rider was wearing a helmet and was transported to the hospital by ambulance with minor injuries. The agent said that he had looked in the direction that the motorcycle had come from and had not seen anything. The area is very well lit and traffic was very light at the time of the accident. The agent said he was coming from a nearby gas station where he had just picked up a “friend.” I think that the agent was in a hurry to get some privacy and had been distracted while driving by his “friend.” Texting is not the only distracting activity in a vehicle.
We started Thursday night with a few traffic stops. On our second stop, the driver was intoxicated. He had two prior DWI arrests on his record. A DWI task force unit made the scene. D watched and listened as the task force officer interviewed the driver and then conducted the standardized field sobriety tests. The driver was arrested and transported to the station for processing buy the task force unit. While the tests were being conducted on the scene, a man approached and said that he was a friend of the driver. Apparently, the driver had called him and asked him to come pick him up after we stopped him. I told him that he was a good friend, but his buddy was going to jail.
Our last call of the night was a minor accident on the roof of an apartment complex’s parking garage. Two females came to the complex to attend a small party in an apartment. When they came back to their vehicle (Mercury Grand Marquis), they discovered that it had been hit by another vehicle. It had been struck hard enough to move it 5 feet and it would not start. They were pretty upset that it would not start since it looked like the vehicle was driveable otherwise. I noticed the kind of car it was and told the driver to pop open the trunk. In the trunk I found the fuel shut off valve and reset it. I told her to try to start the vehicle and it started. A Mercury Grand Marquis is just fancier version of the Crown Victoria police crusier that we drive. At the academy during the driver’s training, they told us about the fuel shut off valve since there was a chance we would spin out and the car would die and not restart. They were very happy that the vehicle was now operational, but also upset that someone would hit their vehicle and then drive off without leaving any information. Whoever hit them was probably drunk, and drunk people do not make sound decisions.
Friday night I was back at the helicopter hanger. I went on two flights and took more pictures of the city and the busy club areas. I had another great time up in the bird and got some good pictures at the same time.
That concludes another week on patrol.
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