This week D and I were the print unit four nights and I got to take a ride on Friday.
Monday started off with some good news. B really wants to be a firearms instructor with our department. He has taken numerous steps to prepare himself for that role, including becoming a certified police instructor, and taking an armor’s class so that he can repair pistols. He is an excellent marksman with a good work ethic and an easy going manner. Recently, the indoor firearms range at the academy posted an opening. He interviewed and was awarded the spot. He will be an excellent instructor and an asset to the indoor range. I am very happy for him, while being bummed at the same time. We have become good friends and I will miss working with him. (Since he was told that he had the position, the Command staff have yet to approve his transfer. Hopefully, he will get to move soon.)
For our first call of the night, D and I checked by with B and his rookie on a burglary of a residence. A single man had purchased an older one story bungalow and then really fixed up the place. He left for work in the morning, and when he returned home discovered that his place had been burglarized. The suspect had thrown a small boulder through the smallest window in the house. That window happened to be in the master bathroom. When the boulder landed, it took a huge chunk out of the granite countertop. Then the suspect used his bare hands to remove the shards of glass from the window and he sat them in a neat pile it on the ground. He then climbed through the window and went through most of the drawers in the master bedroom and closet. An Apple laptop was the only item stolen. I examined the pieces of glass and found a few that had some good fingerprints on them. I took out my kit and was able to lift the prints from the broken glass. Hopefully, the prints will lead to a suspect.
During one of our traffic stops that night, as soon as D got to the driver’s side window, before he had a chance to say anything, the female driver asked for a warning. D had not experienced this tactic in the past and did not know how to respond. He recovered quickly enough, and told her why she was stopped and then asked for her driver’s license and proof of financial responsibility (insurance). She could not find her insurance card. She went on to say that she did not see the signs prohibiting the left hand turn at the intersection. She was trying to avoid a ticket, and who can blame her? D ended up giving her a warning, in the form of a citation for an illegal left turn and no proof of insurance.
Tuesday started off with a few uneventful and mundane traffic stops. D is getting the hang of how to make a safe traffic stop at night. Figuring out how and where to park, working the lights, radio, and computer is a little overwhelming in the beginning. And all of that is before even talking to the driver.
A few hours into the shift, my Sergeant asked us to check by with him and another unit on a domestic violence assault. The call was in the other district covered by my station, and D did a good job of finding the location. We arrived to find a female wearing a yellow jogging suit. At first glance, she appeared a little ‘fluffy’ around the middle. Turned out that she wasn’t fluffy, just in need of some support. After she told me her story, I understood why she was less than fully dressed. She said that her husband has been abusing her physically and psychologically throughout their entire marriage (5 years). He does not let her attain financial independence, going so far as to getting her fired from a few jobs. He wants her to have to depend upon him so that he can continue to abuse her. She had not reported anything in the past. This particular incident had been going on for two days. The only reason it stopped was because he literally threw her out of the house. She ran away to a local business and called the police. Since it had been going on for a couple of days, her bruises were severe. I took photos of all of the bruises that she felt comfortable showing. While I was dealing with her, other officers went to the house and took the husband into custody. Hopefully she will be able to make a clean break from him.
Wednesday night started out with the dog stuck in the fence that I previously wrote about. A short time later, we responded to an alarm at a local Christian school. We arrived to find the key holder on the scene. There was an open window in the little gym and an unlocked door in another building. We checked the building and did not find anyone inside. The key holder then walked through and did not notice anything missing. All of the computers and flat screen televisions were accounted for. He said that he had been having a problem with a homeless male that slept by the little gym. He did not mind him sleeping there, but he did mind him using that area as a restroom. D gathered all of his information and wrote the report.
In the middle of the shift we were asked to check by with a few units who responded to an assault in progress. The units were dispatched to the an intersection in the alternative lifestyle bar section of the district. They arrived to find four males, one of whom was bleeding, standing next to a car that had been absolutely mauled. Every window had been shattered and every panel had been dented with a tire iron. The suspects had even climbed onto the vehicle and jumped up and down on the hood and trunk. The owner of the vehicle had been hit in the face a few times by the suspects, luckily not with the tire iron. The owner of the vehicle told us that an argument had started between his group of friends and the suspects in a nearby bar. The owner of the car and his friends decided to leave that bar and walked to his car. Right when they arrived at the vehicle, the suspects pulled up in their vehicle, jumped out, and commenced the beat down. I took photos of the owner and his vehicle. Sometimes, seemingly minor arguments lead to major assaults and more.
D and I were the print unit again on Thursday. We checked by on a burglar alarm at a furniture store. The furniture store’s alarm provided real time audio to the alarm company and they could hear voices saying, “hurry up” and “grab that.” So, we knew someone was inside. Units were at the store within a minute of receiving the call. The front door had been shattered, but the suspects were gone. Later, the alarm company told us that voices of the suspects stopped about a minute before we arrived. Close, but not close enough. The suspects were after flat screen televisions. They tried to rip one off of the wall, and only succeeded in breaking it and leaving fingerprints all over it. I was able to lift some prints from the broken television. The suspects took one flatscreen off of an entertainment center. When they took off with it, the power cord stayed plugged into the wall, and came unplugged from the television. So, they have a television without a power cord.
This was Veteran’s Day, and our first traffic stop was, yup, a member of the military. She was an Army reservist and had recently gotten home from drill. She had made an illegal left turn, had an expired registration, and an expired inspection sticker. She was a easy ticket waiting for a writer. However, I could not bring myself to let D write her a ticket on Veteran’s Day. That did not stop me from harassing her about her driving and stickers, but in the end I thanked her for her service.
Friday night was a special treat. Earlier in the week, I had been approached by a Supervisor asking if I would take a few photographs for him. Our city is hosting a major sporting event in a few months and he had been tasked with developing a man power plan for our station for the event. So, he thought pictures of the area would be helpful. He wanted me and another officer to go up in our helicopters and take photos of the busy nightlife areas covered by our station. I did not have to be asked twice. I showed up at the Air Support hanger Friday night with my camera. I had to watch an introductory video and then sign a few forms. I was given ear plugs and a headset. A cold front was coming in that night, so they put the doors on the helicopter. They said that they usually fly without them. I climbed into the backseat and strapped in. There was not much room, and the seat was only about 12 inches off of the floor so my knees were in my chest. The pilot asked if I had flown in a helicopter before, and when I said, “no” told me where to find the barf bag, just in case.
They used a mobile generator to start the bird, and shortly thereafter we were in the air. Our first call was to assist officers responding to a burglary of a residence in progress. We were close and were soon doing tight circles over the area. The helicopter was circling to the right and I was sitting on that side. The helicopter was pitched quite a bit to that side I thought. Without the doors on, it would felt like I was suspended in mid air. The observer (passenger seat who runs the computer, light, and FLIR system) was using the “sun” (the large spot light on the helicopter) to light up the area around the house for the officers. After a few circles, the pilot asked me if I was alright. Thankfully, I was doing great. The circles did not bother me at all. Throughout the 105 minute flight, we checked by with other ground units. Unfortunately there were not any vehicle chases during the flight. When we were not checking by, they flew over the areas that I needed to photograph. I got some good photos of the area as well as some other great shots of the city at night. I went up in the next fight as well. It was a great experience.
That concludes another week on patrol.
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