THE NEW DIGS

Hey, it's the Enforcer Y'all. Come check me out OVER HERE.
Please pardon the move, but don't forget to bookmark the new site. This blog will self destruct in 10-09-08-07-06-05................

WHEN THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS

Last night I was thinking about the blog and how after my court rant post there didn't seem to be anything blogworthy to talk about today.

My night was more or less uneventful. I ended up getting called over the air to meet up with one of my coworkers who needed coverage for an overtime detail, the other cop is a guy I went through the academy with and we started talking about old times in our academy and the tv show the academy.

I then got a call for a domestic in progress. A male and a female fighting as they were walking across a bridge.It was called in via cell phone by a passerby. We were in the area and the other cop came with me as backup, we found and went off a couple fitting the description, they were arguing loudly but not actively fighting when we saw them.

We were soon joined by two sergeants and another officer as we arrived. We separated the two and interviewed them separately. They both had basically the same story. They had been celebrating the males birthday, at some point the male became a bit despondent and depressed. He took off walking, the female followed him and caught up to him at the bridge where she confronted him about her suspicions that he was intent on harming himself. He confirmed her suspicions and she  physically tried to drag him home. (which is what the passerby saw)

While we were interviewing the male, his demeanor was "off" he was verbally rambling, would escalate and de-escalate in somewhat strange behavior, at one point professing his undying love for the female and the very next moment calling her a bitch etc.

We placed the male in handcuffs for safety precautions. He was not under arrest but if we feel a situation is or could be unsafe (IE an EDP on a bridge, we can secure the person in handcuffs without actually arresting them)

Our initial assessment was that both parties had been consuming alcohol, that the female was acting in the best interest of the EDP male. So there was no domestic assault, that the female appeared to be alert, oriented and properly interacting with us during the interview. On the other hand the male needed immediate psychological intervention.

We called for an ambulance to our location for an evaluation of an EDP.

While we were continuing to assess the situation and awaiting the ambulance,and in a split second the female said something to the male in Spanish, he replied also in Spanish. They were told by an officer not to continue speaking to eachother.

Before the officer could finish admonishing them the female yelled at the male in English "why are you doing this to me"

She then turned from the cop who was interviewing her (the cop that just moments earlier I was shooting the shit with about good times gone by)   and launched herself onto the bridge rail in an attempt to catapult herself to the river below.

The cop caught her around the waist just as she went airborne and brought her to the "ground" which in all actuality was the floor of the bridge. Where she continued to fight him and try to break free of his grasp and attempt another jump.

One cop stayed with the male so he couldn't leap handcuffed into the river (that would be a bitch of a report to have to write) and the two sergeants and I assisted in securing and gaining control of the female. 

A second ambulance for a second EDP was requested and both the male and the female were sent to different hospitals for evaluations and treatment.

Things happen fast in this job, but I did end up finally getting something blogworthy to write about.   

COURT RANT

I had court yesterday, I hate court, the place sucks, it is filled with jaded people who have seen justice trampled upon time and time again. I come away from that place every time with the feeling that nobody cares and the world will never ever be a better place.

Being at court is part of my job. If I make an arrest I have to eventually be there and to give testimony when needed. However, working early nights and getting home at 1:00 am usually (but not always because when I have a late call, arrest or report due, I can be at work till all hours of the morning) compounded with job induced insomnia (partially from aggravation and partially from working many years on the overnight shift) does not bode well for being awake and at my best for court at 8:30 am (sometimes as many as 2-3 times a week, and it doesn't matter if it is on my scheduled days off or not, I am compelled to be there) I can be subpoenaed by the district attorneys office (which is usually the case) or the defense (as was the case yesterday)

Yesterday, I was compelled by the defense to be at court, I had absolutely no pertinent information to provide. I was on scene for a total of five minutes, just long enough to hear from the arresting officer that the victims identified the suspect, I watched as the suspect was handcuffed and I got an alarm call in my sector and had to clear the scene to take my call. That was the sum of my involvement with that call. With that in mind I can tell you that I was stuck there for the entire day and the defense attorney never called me to the stand.

I sat there in the waiting room until the last cop testified and came back to the waiting room to let me know that they were beginning closing arguments in the courtroom and it looked like I wasn't going to be testifying.

Yes, looking at the bright side, I got paid overtime to do absolutely nothing at all.

But as a taxpayer, I find this to be an abhorrent misuse of taxpayer funds perpetrated by the defense attorney, as a cop, I find it to be annoying, and as a person I find it to be just plain bad manners (if you are going to make me be there, at least call me to the stand and let me say hi to the jury, Ok?)

Oh yeah, before I forget, the case that was being heard yesterday was a post operative transvestite hooker who allegedly pointed a handgun at a carload of teenagers who were harassing her . She was ultimately found not guilty and will probably be back out working the streets before this post hits the Internet.

And as always, have a nice day....

REALITY TV FLASHBACKS

I was channel surfing with the Enforcerwife late last week and I came across this show on Fox Reality Tv. If you are a reality show junkie, or just want to understand the psyche of the local cops then I highly recommend this show. I can't believe that I missed season 1.

After recovering from the PTSD from hearing the SI's "instructing" the recruits, I was hooked. This show is damned close to what I went through back in the day.

There are a few new twists (we never had a recruit accidentally bring a cell phone to class) And I'd like to think that we were not as uncoordinated as LASD Class 368 (but I know we were, and maybe even a little worse for wear at times)  But we did have recruits caught going out to bars when they should have been home studying, we had surprise inspections (both of our appearance and of our lunchbox's) We had recruits separated from the class at all points throughout the academy, we had Black Monday (the day a recruit would seriously question what they got themselves into) We had front lean and rest, squats,and being "called out" in front of the class .

We had Class B uniforms, Pt and Dt uniforms (and they had better be ready to go at a moments notice) We got gigged for repelling ropes (threads hanging from our class B uniforms) We were advised that we "looked like a soup sandwich" or "Joe / Joan Bagadonuts"

Most people watching the show as well as the recruits would think that these SI's are the most sadistic bunch of barbarians around, but speaking from experience, the things that the recruits don't even know they are learning right now are the things that are going to keep them safe and alive during their career in law enforcement. After their time in the academy they may never see many of these people again, but the lessons learned and the experience will hopefully stay with them forever.

Watching the show, I could somewhat predict what the reaction from the SI's would be to each action or misstep that the recruits made. I watched the show with a mix of nostalgia, remembering my days in the academy (and very much like people remember high school, it is a much sweeter memory than it was as an experience) voyeuristic pleasure (seeing what their consequences would be for similar mistakes we made) and kind of an awe that someone came up with the idea of showcasing the trials and tribulations of academy life.  Fox Reality did a good job with this one.

BOOKING ROOM HIJYNX

I have a valid reason for not posting this last week. The Enforcer got a boo-boo and my thumb is in a splint. So read this entry slowly because that's how it was written. And yes this is a shameless search for the sympathy so lacking around here. Sheesh. (My Sergeant is a reader of this blog and if I get alot of sympathy I'm sure he will stop teasing me about being a wimp LOL)

The night started off well and then it started sliding. I should have known it wasn't gonna end up good when I figured out that day shift had locked up every whiny criminal they could find. I think a few of them were wondering why there wasn't a mint on a pillow for them.

Then two of the detectives brought in a suspect and, well you know how they never really show the booking process on all those cop shows you watch? thats because there is about 25-40 or so really stupid questions we have to ask prisoners before they go "inside" One of them being "do you have any disabilities" and there is a drop down menu on the computer with such gems as: prosthetic limbs, eye defects and the best "Plate in Head" Well no one ever answers yes to the plate in head, until this night. Yup you guessed it, when I asked about disabilities he said "huh" I ran through them all in a monotone drawl, him answering no to each one right up to the plate in head question to which he said yes, I must have had an incredulous look on my face, because he then told me that "it was more like a metal mesh screen" he had gotten due to a bad motorcycle accident. I just looked at the detectives with the what the hell are you doing to me look on my face.

Then it happened........I

Ok so I know you are all wondering, Enforcer, was it a badguy with a knife? gun? possibly a tree stump?

No it was a great big 40 pound jail cell door.....

Yes you read it right, I slammed a door on my hand while trying to stuff an unruly prisoner inside said cell. While stuffing him in I inadvertently slammed the door on my poor lil thumbkin and made a big boo-boo. I split my knuckle open and bruised / sprained my thumb. And it hurt like hell. Its been swollen purple and sore all week, it's starting to feel a bit better now so I thought I'd let you all know about it.