TMI on a traffic stop

Z and I were doing traffic in my normal location. A Saturn made the illegal left turn and we pulled it over. Z walked up to the driver's door and started talking with the driver, J. Z asked J if he knew why we stopped him. J said that he had no idea. Z informed him that he had made an illegal left turn. J said that he was not from this part of town and did not know that he could not turn left at that intersection.

Z then asked for J's drivers license and proof of insurance. J supplied the items. Then Z asked J where he was going when we stopped him. Z always asks this question on traffic stops. This is where the conversation got interesting. J stated that he was looking for a club. Z asked if he was looking for a particular club. J hemmed and hawed and stammered. He was clearly nervous. J said he was not going to any particular club. Z then asked if J was meeting his friends somewhere. J stated that he was not meeting any friends. Then J just blurted out, "I am bi-curious and this is
my first night out." Really? We did not need all of that. Z was speechless. He just turned and started walking back to our police car.

Z wrote the ticket and we returned to J's vehicle. J signed the ticket. Z asked him if he needed directions to anywhere. J said that he was just going to go home TO HIS WIFE AND KIDS after the traffic stop. Unbelieveable.

DISCLAIMER: I am not judging J.

But, how do you get to the point where you decide to go looking for a gay bar when you have a wife and children at home? If you are not happy with your marriage, go to counselling. At the very least, have enough respect for your wife and kids to stay out of the "gay-borhood" until you get divorced. Every night is a new adventure.

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Zero tolerance night

At work we have been told that due to budgetary constraints, there will not be as much city overtime this year. Luckily for my station, we serve a very politically active, generous, and involved portion of the city's population. We have groups that donate money to the city for the express purpose of funding police overtime for their particular areas of the city.

Currently, there are three groups that have donated money to be used in my area. The groups want the money to be used to add more units for patrol. Since we have more patrol units via the overtime, on night shift we have a zero tolerance unit. It started 6 weeks ago. Zero tolerance refers to arresting anyone for any violation. The thinking is the people that are doing these minor violations might be wanted for other violations or they might be about to committ major violations. Especially if the zero tolerance is conducted in known drug areas or high property crime areas. The zero tolerance unit is always a two person unit. The unit is not in the calls for service loop, meaning they will not get dispatched to calls. There is not a quota, but two people in jail each night is reccommended.

That is not my style of policing. When I was a rookie, the officers that I rode with were into that style. I learned a lot about policing through them, but I also learned that was not what I wanted to do every night. I would rather train and run calls for service and stop traffic.

Tonight at the end of roll call, the desk sergeant asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to be the zero tolerance unit. Most of the sergeants know that zero tolerance is not my style of policing and have not assigned me to the unit. It also helps that I train most of the time.

Last night was Z's last night of third phase. He has expressed an interest in the zero tolerance unit. So, after roll call I volunteered to do the zero tolerance unit for the night since we were done training. We loaded up and went in search of 2 people to throw in jail. We started off running a lot of plates via the MDT looking for warrants. Then we trolled around the ward looking for pedistrians or bicycles. Bicycles because they are required to have a headlight and tail reflector at night. Most if not all of the bicycles in the ward do not meet that criteria and bicycles are commonly used to transport dope around the ward. Pedestrians because they tend to walk in the street where a sidewalk is provided or they trespass in known drug locations.

It was raining and there was very little traffic of any kind. We ended up getting lucky and finding a guy walking down the middle of the street. He was not wanted for anything else but he did just get out of jail 3 days ago. We took him back to jail for walking in the street where a sidewalk was provided. After dropping him off, we were looking for lucky number 2.

We were patrolling in the Montrose area around all of clubs at closing time. We watched a male stumble across the street. He was obviously intoxicated. He walked up to a car and began yelling and beating on the window. We drove up and Z jumped out. He quickly cuffed him and searched him. Z then ran him via the MDT. I was outside watching the male and Z gave me a thumbs up. The guy had an open felony drug warrant and 4 city warrants. Cool. I confirmed the warrants and we had our 2 arrests for the night. Overall, it was a good experience. Z learned quite a bit and we got a wanted felon off the street. Not bad for a night's work.

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5 reports, glad I am the trainer and not the trainee

Today was day number 15 for me and Z. His last day of third phase. He will start evaluation in about a week. He will do fine. After three weeks with me, he can certainly write reports and do a safe traffic stop. Tonight we had 4 traffic stops and 2 reports. That is a pretty standard weekday night. During the winter, we have to jump on reports early in the shift because after about 1 AM, everything gets real quiet. There is very little foot traffic and very little vehicular traffic. The calls stop dropping as well.

Last Friday, we jumped on a couple of reports early. Then we did our traffic stops and were about to settle in and write our reports at 3 AM. The dispatcher had other ideas for us. A two district unit had been dispatched to an accident in 2 district. They could not find the accident in 2 district and kept driving south. Just after crossing into 1 district, they found the accident. So, they got on the air and asked the dispatcher to send a 1 district unit out to handle the accident. Ok, seems kind of lame to call for another unit if you are dispatched to it. Especially if you find the accident in your station's area which they did, but that is their choice. We were not available, we were out report writing. There were other 1 district units available, but the dispatcher called our numbers. She said that she would have to preempt us from report writing and send us to check by with the 2 district unit. We said clear, but were not real excited about it. We arrived and found a one vehicle accident and a 2 district unit and a DWI unit with a suspect int he back seat of the DWI unit's vehicle. The first thing the 2 district unit said to us was, "I do not want to dump this on you guys". Well, then don't. But that is just what you have done.

Apparently the vehicle was southbound on Montrose and tried to turn westbound onto Allen Parkway. They did not even come close to making the turn and they slammed into the retaining wall. Then the driver got out and took off. The suspect in the back of DWI units vehicle was probably the driver, but we had no way of knowing. He was not the registered owner and said he had not been driving. We did not have nay witnesses to the accident. The DWI unit found the male coming out of the bayou that runs between Allen Parkway and Memorial. The DWI officer asked the suspect why he was in the bayou, and he said that he was just swimming. He was drunk which means he was most likely our driver. The suspect was arrested for public intoxication.

Since we had no driver for our accident, that meant that we (and by "we" I mean Z) had to do two reports. One accident report and one offense report for FSGI, fail to stop and give information. At least it was a one vehicle accident and since the driver left, we had very little information for the accident report. But, we went from 3 reports to 5 reports in a matter of minutes and Z had some work to do. He did a great job on the reports and we still went home on time. At least Z knows that he can complete 5 reports in a timely manner. Every night is different.

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A major accomplishment for A

A few weeks ago I wrote about our frustrations with third grade. We were having to do a lot of teaching after school, mainly material that A should have learned in second grade. In second grade, A made straight A's all year and started expecting to make straight A's. We thought that everything was great on the academic front. However, third grade brought new challenges and A was not as ready for third grade as we had thought. On his first report card, he brought home all A's and one B. He was crushed. He expected all A's and thought that he was a failure for making a B. Sounds like his mother. We used the opportunity to explain that a B is great as long as you are doing your best.
Last Friday he brought home his report card from the last grading period. Drum roll, he made straight A's again! We are so proud of him. Not because of the A's, but because he really buckled down and tried harder. He wanted to make the A's and he did. He had such a huge smile on his face when we told him that he made straight A's. He took pride in his school work and it paid off with his grades. He has done a good job with his homework and daily gets it done right after he gets home from school. I hope that he stays focused and keeps trying his best. If he does, everything else will fall into place.

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Is the friendship beyond repair?

A curious thing happened to Jennifer and I recently, we were defriended on Facebook. Facebook does not let you know when someone has stopped being your friend. You have to figure it out for yourself. For some reason, Jen decided to check her list of friends and this person, Z, was no longer on the list. So, Jen checked my list of friends, and Z had vanished from my list as well. A month ago we had found it odd that we did not receive a Christmas card from Z. We know now that omission was on purpose and not an oversight. Now for a little history.

We met Z and her husband at our church approximately 6 years ago. They joined our Sunday school class. Then their family suffered a horrible tragedy. Our class stepped up and helped them through the tough time. During that time, our relationship with them strengthened. Shortly thereafter, I was injured at work. Due to my injury, I could not work and went to physical therapy for 9 months. This left Jen and I with our nights and weekends free. We took advantage of that. During that 9 months, we spent a great deal of time with Z and her husband. We probably saw them an average of 3 or 4 times a week. We spent weekends together and vacationed together. The four of us became very close friends. I guess we had nowhere to go but down at that point.

Eventually, I fully recovered from my injury and returned to work. That meant that I no longer had nights and weekends free to socialize. We still spent time together, but not as much time. Awhile later they stopped attending our Sunday school class. Their decision disappointed us, but we supported what was best for their family. We still got together on weekends and enjoyed their company. Eventually, we started seeing less and less of them. Instead of once a week, it became once every two weeks or once a month. This became once every three months. Our time together became catching up with what had been happening in each other's lives. Every time we got together it felt like a mini-reunion. The friendship was deteriorating. This did not mean that we were no longer friends, we were just not as close as we once were.

Apparently we are now to the point where we are no longer friends. On the one hand, my pride tells me to forget about them. I have some great friends that I enjoy spending time with and the relationship is reciprocal. Since Z took the step to defriend us, why worry about it? However, on the other hand, we were close friends for some time. What happened? How did we get to here? I want to reach out and try to begin the process of mending fences. If they do not want that, I at least want to know what happened. Jen and I have no idea. My hope is to salvage the friendship. I am not sure this is possible, but I am at least going to find out.

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Lions and tigers and bears and thousands of people, oh my

A few weeks ago I wrote about our experience at the Children's Museum during the Christmas holidays. We were all on vacation, and wanted to get out of the house. It seemed like a good idea and we made the best of it, but it was a little busy.

This past Monday was the MLK holiday. We were all off again, so we were looking for another family activity. Last fall, Jen thought that it would be a good idea to become members of the Houston Zoo. A2 absolutely loves animals and joining the zoo would give us the opportunity to take her frequently. So, we joined and have been to the zoo a few times. The weather on Monday was supposed to be very nice as well, so it seemed like a good day to enjoy the outdoors at the zoo.

Monday morning arrived and once again we were off like a herd of turtles. For some reason (kids) it can be difficult and time consuming to leave the house. On the way to the zoo, the freeway traffic was very light. We exited and tried to take our familiar route to the parking area. First, we encountered a road closed for construction. Then another road was closed by the police. This closure left us in a one lane line that stretched all of the way around Hermann park to the zoo entrance. Maybe this was not the best day to go to the zoo. As we inched our way closer to the zoo, we noticed lots of families crossing the road in front of us walking in the direction of the zoo. This should have served as a clue that the regular parking area was full. We finally made it into the vast zoo parking lot, and yup, it was completely full. I decided to drop off Jen and the kids at the entrance and then I went in search of parking.

There were a few people already leaving the zoo and heading to their cars. They all were being stalked by numerous cars trying to get in position to get their vacated parking space. I did not try the stalking method. I left the zoo parking area and went to other nearby parking lots. After circling in two other lots with no luck, I thought that Jen and the kids were going to enjoy the zoo without me. As I was pulling out in search of another parking lot, I noticed a couple of HPD officers directing traffic by the Natural Science Museum. I pulled up to them and showed them my ID. I asked them if they had any idea where I could find a parking space. They said sure, pull straight ahead to those cones behind those cars, and then just move the cones to behind your car. They also wanted me to put some kind of police ID on the dashboard. I pulled up and parked, and I got a few strange looks from nearby citizens as I moved the cones. I thanked the officers and began the trek to the zoo.

As I was walking, Jen sent me a text message saying that the zoo was not charging an entrance fee today. That at least partially explained the extremely high number of people at the zoo. I knew Courtney was off, so I called her to vent about the traffic and parking nightmare that I had just experienced. Shortly after our conversation, she sent me a text message that made me laugh out loud. It read: Apparently MLK had a dream...and that dream was that the Houston Zoo would be free on his day. That was funny.
Once inside, I found Jen and the kids. We quickly decided that we would not be spending all day with the thousands of people at the zoo. I decided to ask A and A2 which one type of animal they really wanted to see today. A quickly decided on the reptiles and A2 on the elephants. So, we set out in search of those particular animals. We wound our way past the giraffes, elephants, big cats, primates, and finally the reptiles. Along the way, there was only one really bizarre incident. We were all standing by the leopard exhibit. There was one leopard way up high on the rocks, awake but just hanging out. There was another one, a black panther, asleep on top of a small platform. All of the sudden, a middle aged man carrying a small girl, decided to throw something at the panther. Within seconds, there was a zoo employee confronting the man. The zoo employee was very polite, but he firmly asked the man to refrain from throwing things at the animals. The man's response was, "It is a lazy cat, it needs to get up and do something." The zoo employee did not have a response for that.

After seeing the elephants and reptiles as promised, we decided that we would prefer to eat a nice lunch away from the zoo. We walked back to the car and I moved the cones from behind the car. As we were loading up the kids, I noticed a truck pull in behind us waiting for the parking space. I did not want their vehicle to get towed and I did not want any problems for the officers that let me park there. So, I went up the truck and said, "Sorry, but this is police parking only." They did not look very happy, and I could not blame them. Sometimes, it helps to be the Po-Po.

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Why would someone choose to run a marathon?

Running sucks.

Throw a ball out there to chase, and I will run. I have never been a big fan of running just to run. During the police academy, I grew to tolerate running. That is after I lost a little weight from "snack cake Rusty" and it no longer felt like I was causing aftershocks every time I took a step. In the academy they divided our class into four running groups based upon ability. Group 1 were the gazelles. They could run forever and never tire. At the other end of the spectrum was group 4, they could hardly walk and got tired getting out of bed. I was placed into group 2. I have never been mistaken for a gazelle, but I can get out of bed without breaking a sweat. While in the academy we ran approximately three times a week and the furthest my group ever ran was 5 miles. 5 miles also being the furthest distance that I have ever run in my life. I hope to keep it that way.

Since the academy, I have exacerbated my lower back injury twice. Once while wake boarding and once by falling down a flight of stairs. My orthopedic surgeon recommends that I run as little as possible. Hallelujah. The pounding does not help my back. So, I follow his advise. Luckily, I normally have a rookie with me that I can kick out of the car to chase someone if necessary.

This past Sunday was the Chevron Houston Marathon. I have had friends complete the marathon in years past. This year, I had some friends running in it as well. They are in my Sunday school class and as a class, we decided to support them by cheering them on during the race. While I was on Christmas vacation, the department asked for volunteers from my station to work the race. They did not get enough volunteers, so they ordered those low in seniority to work the race. I have not worked the race since I was a rookie. This year, I volunteered to take the place of one of the rookies. I got to cheer on my boys and get paid at the same time. It was a win-win situation.

I reported for the marathon roll call in the gym at 5 AM and I was given my assignment. I was assigned to the Fairview and Grant intersection. I was to keep traffic from moving west on Fairview past Grant. Easy enough to accomplish with a police car and lights. We were instructed to be on our post at 6:15 AM and to close the route to all traffic at 6:30 AM. I was finally instructed to open up my route to traffic at 11 AM after all of the runners were safely past my location. I made a few observations during the four and half hours that I was posted at mile marker number 8.

It is amazing how many people come out and support the runners. In my area the route was lined with people and they were all shouting encouragement to the runners. I watched numerous individuals come out of the neighborhoods, sit down in a lawn chair and cheer. Lots of people were pulling wagons containing their little children making the event a family affair. They brought cow bells and lots of enthusiasm to motivate the runners.
The wheelchairs are the first to begin the race. They are amazing to see. The lead wheelchair finished the race in about an hour and 45 minutes, for an average speed of almost 15 miles per hour. Wow. A wheelchair under human power averaging 15 miles per hour over 26 miles. Unbelieveable.

I saw two people pushing other people in wheelchairs. I do not know their stories, but it was very inspiring to see.

The sheer number of runners is impressive. Once the main body of runners reached my location, they did not stop coming for two hours. Just a mass of humanity running mile after mile.

For the most part, the drivers in the area understood the traffic snarl created by the race. Once the runners reach a place, traffic can't cross the route in that place until all of the runners are past. However, one driver in particular did not understand. He came flying up to my police car and started yelling at me. "How do I get home? Why can't I cross? Where can I cross the route? This is ridiculous." He tested my patience. Severely. I had been awake since 1:30 PM the day before. I was not in the mood. The marathon had been in the news for a week. There were signs for the race everywhere. Rude man knew the race was coming. He had the chance to be where he needed to be before the race started. He did not like my answers to his questions and after some drama, sped away from my intersection.

Overall, the race was a cool spectacle to see again in person. The triumph of the human spirit to overcome and run that distance is very impressive. A quick shout out to my boys that completed the race, great job fellas. Wear your "finisher" shirts with pride.

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