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Man in Blue.

Started by Sergeant, December 28, 2015, 10:38:57 AM

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Sergeant

I was debating if I should tell this story to you guys, but I think it's a good example of why cops need nerves of steel.

I did another airport shift the other day, waking up at 2:50 to be at work at 4 and at the airport at 5. Me and my partner were put at the current exit. Our only job for that day was to make sure that nobody from the outside went in and nobody that left went back inside. This was CLEARLY explained on a bigger than life sign before people went outside in three languages; ATTENTION, ONE-WAY GATE, NO RETURN BEYOND THIS POINT.

I know, it sucks. When you're too busy worrying about getting that nicotine hit to actually read important signs that could prevent you from having to go through check-in and security control all over again. It sucks for us too because we get to hear you talk trash to us even though we're simply making sure protocol is respected after that silly little terrorist attack that killed around 30 people.

It was a long, looooooong shift and we were honestly trying to help people with as much kindness and understanding as possible, but one lady truly hit the spot.
She went oustide with two carts filled with suitcases and three kids. Even though he didn't have to (because THE SIGN), my colleague told her she couldn't go back inside once she stepped outside but she wasn't listening and did so anyway because she wanted to smoke.

After 5 minutes or so she came back, expecting to be able to go back inside. We said she couldn't. She started to get rather colorful with her words and talked over us, demanding to be let inside. Her daughter was sick and how dare we expect her to go back all the way when she had been checked in already! Another lady, who's flight had been canceled, backed her frustration up (because obviously the cancellation of flights is our fault as well) and said something about her handicapped kid (who wasn't even there) and that we're just making things harder and more unsafe than they already are.

Writing it down does not even come close to how heated it got, but I'm just going to end this with the last thing she said to us before packing up her stuff and going back to check-in;

"I hope you die."
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Sergeant

#26
And sometimes shit's just funny;

"310 for dispatch"
"Dispatch send your message for 310"
"310, I have a rather special intervention for you guys. We have a lady on the phone who does not know where she is, but got stuck with her car in the mud. The only thing she can tell us is that she's surrounded by fields, there's a creek up ahead, she can see trains passing and she remembers driving under a bridge before she got there. She doesn't have a smartphone*, and the closest we traced her call is from a radio mast a few miles from where she said she was driving."
"Well dispatch, that is indeed special and a first for us. Uhm, is there any way she can find a house and ask where she is?"
"Negative, she says the last house she passed was a while back." "
"All right, the information she gave you does not ring a bell whatsoever but we'll drive around and try and figure it out."
"Roger 310, good luck."
"Thanks, we'll need it."

After a good 10 minutes, I call the woman.

"Hello, this is the police. Can you perhaps gives us more details on where you are because we're not having any luck finding you."
"Oh hello! I have no idea where I am, only that I passed this and this sign last and drove under a bridge. I am stuck in the mud and can't get out. Don't you guys have some sort of program where you can pinpoint my location through my cell phone?"
"Yes, ma'am we do but it's not very specific, it has a large radius."
"Oh... Oh ok."
"Is there any way possible you can go back to the last house you saw and as where you are? Or maybe look for a street sign?"
"I can't possibly do that. The last house I saw was a 10 min drive** and I am wearing a dress and bad shoes. I just cannot."
"Well, it's very hard to figure out your location with the little detail you gave us ma'am so unless you get out the car and look for a house I think there's not a lot we can do..."
"No, I can't walk into this mud! It is dark and I am alone! I will just have to sleep in my car!"

At this point, my partner was getting agitated and was shouting this at me while I was on the phone with the woman. Lots of fun.

"I guess that is what you will have to do then."
"Yes, thank you! Bye!"

Partner continues to show his frustration with his strong vocal capacities, making me touch my nose to see if it's still there.
After a few more minutes we seem to have figured out which dirt road she might have been talking about, and lo and behold we see a car in the distance! We drive up to her and almost get stuck in the mud ourselves so we walk a little to get to the car- muddy shoes and pants galore!

"Oh thank goodness you found me! I just got off the phone with other cops and they said they couldn't find me."
"Yes ma'am, that was us. I called you."
"Oh, yes! They said they couldn't find me but you guys are here!"
".... Yes."

My partner continues to talk to her while I give a SITREP to our dispatch.

"Dispatch for 310."
"310 come in."
"Yeah, I think you're going to be pretty proud of us- we found her. She's very much stuck in the mud however, I don't know if you have any suggestions as to how we might get her out?"
"If you have a shovel you can dig, hahaha (literally, he laughed for a second or two). But seriously, I imagine if she's stuck it will be pointless to call the tow company? Perhaps there is a farmer around that could help out, though at 2 am that might be difficult?"
"Yeah, we're telling her to leave her car here and we'll drive her home instead. Though she's asking a lot right now and can't seem to understand there's not much we can do."

I hear her ask my colleague if we can't tow her out with our own car, but that's not going to happen.

"She should be grateful you found her to begin with!"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking... I'll keep you updated."
"Roger."

We eventually persuade her to leave her car behind and drive her to her daughter's home 20 minutes from our precinct.

"Dispatch, we dropped her off safely. I put a card with her information behind the windshields in case there are problems. She will take the necessary steps to get her car in the morning."
"What service!"
"Right?!"



There are various types of people that take care of dispatching and radio, and after a while you figure out who enjoys a few jokes once in a while. There are also those that put no intonation in their voice and drive you as far as wanting to slit your own wrists. But luckily, those are few.





*When we dropped her off we saw what type of phone she had. You guessed it, a smartphone, though with the way she behaved I could understand that it would've been too difficult for her to figure out the GPS on it.
**She was really close to a house. Like, 2 min walk max.
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EverUndine

Hey! I find your blog very interesting. As a US citizen I have a very love/hate relationship with the police. There is a lot of turmoil going on here with racism and unfortunately we have seen lots of senseless killing committed by cops but also committed against cops. Being able to read your blog really humanizes the good cops out there and I want to thank you for that. Keep writing your blog! :)

Sergeant

Awesome! That was my whole point of this blog, to be able to show 'our' side too.

I was actually debating addressing what's going on in America right now, but am still trying to figure out how to go about it without really picking sides. If I do I will try my best and make it useful.
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The Dark Raven

I just want to give you virtual hugs right now.  I have blue friends and I am constantly worried about them.  Please please be safe.

Check my A/A | O/O | Patience is begged. Momma to Rainbow Babies and teetering toward the goal of published author. Tentatively taking new stories.

Sergeant

#30
As a cop that has never had to use pepper spray in an altercation with a suspect before, I can not speak for those that already have.
As a cop that has never had to draw his baton in an altercation with a suspect before, I can not speak those that already have.
As a cop that has never had to draw his gun in an altercation with a suspect before, I can not speak for those that already have.

As a cop that has, however, dealt with a lot of verbal abuse directed at his person before I can say that to mentally be strong is so much more important than having muscles or knowing how to fight with somebody.
I know I have repeated this a thousand times already, that dealing with people's (sometimes irrational) attitudes can be so very exhausting, but it truly is. Imagine something simple;

A car is standing still in front of a green light with several cars behind it, including us, all waiting for the first one to leave. One of the cars behind the first one honks to indicate that they can go on, but the car doesn't move. Right after the honk the light turns yellow, then red. A few seconds after it turns red, the first car finally drives passed the light. We turn on our lights and sound and go after the car.
The car stops and we tell the driver that she just drove passed the red light after standing in front of the green light for a couple of moments. We ask her if she had been occupied with her cell phone to which she sheepishly nods.
We pull her over to a safe parking lot and she steps out of the car (I don't understand people that do this, just stay put in your car?) going on that she admits to driving past the yellow light. We tell her that we had seen something so very different but she refuses to admit to standing still in front of the green light and only driving off after the light had turned red. We continue to discuss it a little to which she puts up her hands and says "well, it is my words against cops, so I am not even going to try and discuss it."
My partner tells her that even driving past a yellow light when you are able to stop (which she could, she was standing still in front of it) is also a violation. Finally, she seems to realize there is nothing she can say to help her defense. We ask her again about her using her cell phone, but now she switches her story and says she hadn't been using it.

It's of those interventions that isn't worth mentioned, but for some reason, this one got to me. Compared to the hundred people I have pulled over before this one, where I was emotionally detached and no amount of bullshit could get to me, this woman's inability to admit her fault just pissed.me.the.fuck.off. 
It was apparent in the words me and my partner threw at her, it was apparent in our body language.
Do I think it wasn't worth getting 'upset' for? Hell yeah. Could I have changed my demeanor in that moment? No. It's what I felt at that time and I am a human that runs into his own limits/borders once in a while.



Now. Do I think cops in America have it way, WAY harder than cops in Europe? Fucking hell yeah. Just the gun law alone would put me on high alert 24/7.
I am not saying European gun laws are better, it's not what I want to discuss here, but it does make it easier to be a little more lenient on the streets when you know the possibility of one carrying a gun is about 0.2%.

Do I think the cop that shot Philando Castile was feeling an immense amount of pressure? Yes. I do. Does it excuse what he did? It's.. too delicate a situation to say.
If I understand correctly Castile was reaching for his permit in his back pocket after he had told the officer he was carrying or had his gun nearby.
Why... Would you inform an officer you are carrying as you reach for your wallet. Just thinking about that situation makes my heart beat rise.

Would I shoot at the man, with his wife next to him and a baby in the back seat, in that moment? I HOPE not. Right now, I imagine myself perhaps pulling my gun and retreating back to my car until I assess that the situation is safe.


Look. Guys. I wish these situations were black and white. Truth is they're so gray that in those moments all other colors seem to evaporate.
I am not talking about those moments where 5 cops are running after one guy and shoot him in his back. NOTHING can excuse those actions. *Whenever we do shoot in Belgium, you can bet your ass we're charged until proven innocent. Our uniform is stripped off, they put us in a room away from our colleagues and 'keep us inside' until the situation has been scrutinized endlessly.



I want to talk about an intervention I had two weeks ago, which, I am not going to lie, was one of the most impressive ones I've had in my 3 years of being a cop. Though I am sure this does not even compare to some of the situations American cops go through on a daily basis.

Our dispatcher asks us to go help out another precinct that are dealing with a small riot of about 50 people. They had come together to watch soccer and were now being obnoxiously loud and fighting with each other.

Right after we get there another fight breaks out. I see my partner, and the other cops, run to try and calm them down so I follow. Let me just say, I am a big mother, ok lol. People either talk tough to me and puff their chest or they cower away. In that moment it was as if everybody wanted to pick on the big guy. Lucky me. There was no fist fighting, but during the tumult, I did feel hands on my belt trying to unlock it and hands on my baton. Then, I get slapped on the back of my head.

Did I feel, at any point in time, that I wanted to reach for my gun? No. Even tho my belt is sacred and nobody but me may touch whatever is hanging on it, I did not feel the situation called for arms. Of course, this is easy for me to say. I'm pretty strong, a lot will need to happen for me to use my weapons. But, out of the 7 of us there were two female officers that were in the fight as well.
They were about 5ft6 and getting pushed and pulled around, getting verbally abused and even kicked whilst being surrounded by 50 men bigger than them. Did they feel, at any point in time, that they wanted to reach for their gun? No. Did they maybe consider using pepper spray? Yes. But she told me she eventually didn't because she saw flashes of other uniforms and it would have been too risky using it.


I am not comparing anybody to anybody. But if they can keep their head cool in a potentially lethal situation and DEBATE internally if the use of a specific weapon is called for whilst getting pushed and pulled around.... I mean. Nothing but respect and acknowledgment that mentally they are fucking winning.




Now, I will end with this:

Do I think racial profiling is real in America? Yes. Do I think racial profiling happens in every country, city or town? Yes. It's sad, but it's the truth.
Do I think it's easy to point fingers when you haven't dealt with a situation even remotely close to what some cops deal with every minute? It's the easiest thing in the world.

I just hope next time, when you talk about how you would've maybe handled things differently, you calculate in all the factors; emotions, fear for your own life, etc.
Gray. The world is gray.
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Sergeant

@The Dark Raven; I am very happy with your kind wishes Raven. I try and do my best every single day.
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Sergeant

#32
I am thinking I didn't make myself popular with my last post, but alas, such is the life story of a cop.


In other news;

Two female police officers have been attacked in Belgium by a man wielding a machete and shouting “Allahu Akhbar”.
Police in the city of Charleroi said the officers were “not in danger” after the attack outside the local police headquarters.

The suspect was shot by a third officer and has died from his wounds, police confirmed.
Local media reported that a female police officer was taken to hospital with injuries to her face, while her colleague was not seriously wounded.




As for my response to such a lowly, disgusting attack (which was in a precinct not too terribly far from mine) --> Mother**** kjdlkqjd j hzd q dqlhgf h what the ***kj h he kahj khr.


Much love,
Pocketwatch.
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Gypsy

Thank you for all that you do to help others.  Stay safe, and God bless.
<a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=286451.0"></a>      <a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=244545.0"></a>      <a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=279617.0"></a>      <a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=245953.0"></a>     

🌹🔥🌹   on 'no writing' hiatus    🌹🔥🌹    not available    🌹🔥🌹    formerly 'Briar Rose' & 'GypsyRose'    🌹🔥🌹

Sergeant

@GypsyRose: Thank you for your kind words. Doing all I can.


This was a few weeks ago, but since I've been pretty much working non-stop up until my vacation next week I haven't got the time to write it up.

We get dispatched on a woman who stood at the register of a store but ran out with an unpaid item after 5 seconds.
Once we get to the store the store owner shows us the footage. You can see the woman walk up to the register at the same time the cashier is walking towards the back (it's clear the cashier didn't notice her standing there). The lady takes out her wallet, looks around a little bit to look where the employees are before picking up the item and walking out the door.

The owner of the store noticed she did this and jotted down her license plate as she drove off.
We have her license plate which means we also can find out her home address. As we drive to her home we are crossing our fingers and hoping she is back in her house already.
Lucky us, she is! She opens the door after a good amount of knocking and ringing her bell on our side, and has absolutely no clue as to why we are there.

"Did you got to that store today?"
"I did."
"Did you walk out of the store without paying for an item?"
"I did. The cashier just walked straight past me, I waited five minutes before I was sick of waiting and decided to take the item and leave."
"So you're saying it's ok to walk out without paying for something because you had to wait? You waited a few seconds, by the way, not five minutes. We have seen the video."
"Yes! The lady obviously blatantly ignored me and wouldn't let me pay for my item-"
"You could have called out to her or somebody else so you could pay."
"That is not my job! I did nothing wrong."
"Ma'am. You went outside without paying, that's stealing."
"I wasn't stealing! I just was sick of waiting, it's completely normal to take the item and go outside when it's obviously nobody wanted to help me ring it up."

At this point me and my colleague are absolutely fuming. Not only is she admitting the theft, but she is calling it the most normal thing in the world. Nothing we say gets her to realize she was wrong so we say "Either you're coming with us to the precinct, or you're coming with us back to the store so you can pay for it and apologize."

She is pissed the fuck off, is yelling FINE and getting her bag before getting into her car and drive behind us.

The issue we were facing is that the item was only worth 4 euro. Under an amount of 20 euro we can't start the normal procedure that we do which includes a bigger payment no matter what the actual bill was. I know, it's frustrating but that's the law in the towns I work for. So the best solution was getting her back to the store and having her pay for it, something the owner had asked us anyway. That and he wanted to give her a piece of his mind.

We arrive back at the store and the cashier, the owner and two more employees are standing near the register. The store has also a few more customers walking around.
The lady starts grabing her wallet to pay but the owner adresses her.

"Don't you have any sense of respect or moral? You just stole from my store and deem it normal?"
"Your cashier just walked straight past me!"
"I didn't even notice you standing here! Why didn't you call out to me so you could pay?"
"I shouldn't have to do your job for you!"
"It is called common decency."
"I did nothing wrong!
"LADY YOU STOLE FROM ME."
"It was only 4 euro!"
"Then what is your limit when you won't steal anymore? 5 euro??!"

Lots of back and forth shouting, normally we'd intervene but this lady is pissing us all off and we don't think anything would teach her a lesson more than pure humiliation. My partner adds a little info "Either you pay now, apologize or you're in front of a judge in less than two hours from now."

The lady's face drops and whimpers something like "for 4 euro?!" and eventually gives an amazingly heartfelt apologize** and pays for her item before storming off.

The owner shouts "THIEF!" at her as she walks away, and we can't help but laugh.




Some would say this is not the right way to deal with this situation, but when you're bound by the law you're sometimes forced to do things a little bit differently and hope you get the message across that stealing is not ok to somebody that thinks it is.
I have no idea if she was being serious about truly believing she did nothing wrong. I think it was more of a defense mechanism because she didn't expect the cops to figure out her address and come get her? Whatever the case, this lady is far beyond any help and I hope next time I'm there to catch her when she steals something expensive.




** do note the sarcasm
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Sergeant

#35
Going to use this one to post;

Funny Dispatch Quotes

1. "There is somebody calling in two dogs running free on the streets. Supposedly they already ate a rabbit... If you don't hurry Easter might not happen this year." "That would be horrible, we're going straight away!"

2. "Hey guys,got an interesting one for you. We received a call about a neighbor complaining that the person living downstairs is yelling 'JESUS, JESUS, LORD OUR SAVIOR' non-stop throughout the day and wants you to come listen and maybe get them to stop." "We're on it." Once we got there the yelling (miraculously) had stopped so we couldn't really do anything but tell the downstairs neighbor to stop it. "Dispatch we didn't get to hear them yell Jesus ourselves so we just told them to stop because there were complaints." "Roger. Too bad, we were all really interested if it was true." "Yeah, we're both pretty disappointed too." "Lololol"
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Sergeant

We got dispatched to help our first team with traffic control while they were helping the fire department out with a chimney fire, all their trucks were blocking the road so we had to guide people into using a smaller road to the left (on my side) and to the right (on my partner's side).

It just never ceases to surprise me how people seem to forget all they were taught concerning driving and are so selfish when it comes to not being able to take the road they want to take.

"Sir, I live right on the other side."
"Well ma'am, as you can see the road is blocked, so please take the smaller road on your left." (I stood there indicating the road by flailing my right arm as clearly as I could)
"Yes... but... I live there."
"Yes. But you can't pass at this moment so go to your right and take a detour."
".... Fine."

"I need to get to the other side."
"Unless you can fly over the fire trucks you'll have to take the detour."
"...."

"Sir, I need to get to the other side."
"Yes sir, please follow the smaller road, it will take you to the other side."
"Well, I'm not sure, I just want to go through."
"... .... Sir. Take the road on your right. Now."
"Geez, all right."

I'm standing there blocking the road they're on to go straight, now flailing my arm so much that I feel like it's about to fall off and a car indicated to go right but then tries to pass me so I need to step in front of it. TO YOUR RIGHT. THE ROAD IS BLOCKED. Don't ignore me and just drive around me. WHAT THE HELL.

*car parks on the sidewalk, right where I am standing, blocking all other cars behind him*
*I walk up to him* "Sir, can you please move your car-"
"Yes, I am just changing the road on my GPS."
"Change your settings after driving either into the smaller road or turning around, you're blocking the 15 other cars behind you."
*unphased* "Oh. Well. All right."

If I am not waving my arm but holding my palm out to you. IT MEANS STOP. Not drive over me, take whatever turn you feel like taking or just ignore me. IT MEANS STOP.

(one of my partners anecdotes, as he was having to deal with the same bullshit, an hour into it)
"Sir, I live there-"
"And I live in Monaco, SO?"
"..."
"The road is blocked, you can't pass, take the detour." *yelling*


I ended up using my whistle. Let's just say I hardly ever use my whistle. When the whistle is used, shit's going down.

One time we had a motorcycle accident. The driver bashed his head onto the road and the blood and.... remains were being protected by us standing in front of it as we redirected traffic AND with bright orange cones. We had several cars just driving over the blood, using the moments when we were walking back and forth since it was a big intersection. You know. Cause it wasn't clear enough that you weren't allowed to drive straight. FOR FUCK'S SAKE.











I love my job. I love my job. Save the people.
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Sergeant

After 10 car accidents and 4 fallen trees on the road because of the crazy snowfall... A snowball fight in full uniform.



Just thought you guys might appreciate/enjoy that image.
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