OUTRAGE IN MASSACHUSETTS

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) -- A Level 3 sex offender arrested for allegedly peeping at a woman under a ladies' bathroom stall had been freed by the same judge who released a suspect in a New Bedford rape case.
David Flavell had been released from a treatment center in February 2006 after Superior Court Judge Richard Moses found he was not sexually dangerous.
Moses reached a similar conclusion in the case of Corey Saunders, who is accused of raping a 6-year-old boy in a New Bedford library last month.
Flavell allegedly startled a 36-year-old woman in a Braintree bookstore bathroom on Jan. 29.
Police say the 38-year-old Flavell was carrying a backpack containing a ski mask and duct tape. He was ordered held on $10,000 bail at his arraignment on Wednesday.

 

Lets see, this nitwit judge sets one predator free and he rapes a little boy. The judge, not learning from that incident goes ahead and sets another one free saying that this guy is not a danger to society even though the jackass was peeping under a bathroom stall at an unsuspecting woman AND  had in his possession at the time all kinds of creepy rapist kidnapper shit.

COPS, (WARRIOR / WORRIER )THE YIN AND YANG

We were discussing this the other night at meal break. I was joking around with the guys because the seat I chose had me with my back to the front door of the restaurant, but I was facing a full length wall mirror which afforded me a great view of everything behind me. This got me thinking about an idea for this post.

When you see a cop working, hopefully you see (outwardly) a calm cool collected sumbitch. We are trained to keep our composure when everyone around us are losing theirs. Instinctively we run towards the trouble when everyone else is running away from it and we are trained to take control of the situation by any means necessary and available. This is the warrior in us.

The flip side of this is that we always have a worst case scenario situation for every minute of every day playing in the back of our minds. We play the grown up version of the "what if" game we all played as children (the grown up cop game is a darker and more pragmatic version) This is the worrier part of us.

As in:

• What if the guy in the next car at the red light is a maniac with a weapon?
• What if I walk into the local 7-11 to get a gatorade while its being held up?
• What if the alarm call I'm being sent to is legitimate instead of another false alarm?
• What if the unknown or 911 hangup I'm being sent to is some home invasion, murder or equally hideous situation?
• What if the guy I just pulled over for a traffic infraction has a warrant, drugs and or a weapon in the car?
• What if the woman who just called 911 because her boyfriend just hit her goes bezerk when I put the handcuffs on him (because she only called to scare him away from her)?

We don't play this game in our heads for the woe is me value, we play it so we already have some sort of game plan to fall back on if the shit hits the fan and call goes to crap quickly. And it happens more times than you would think.

This mentality bleeds through to regular life as well as when I'm working.

• I very rarely leave the house without at least two sometimes three personal protection products on my person. Even if I'm just going to the corner store for a gallon of milk.
• I'm usually in a bladed off stance with nothing in my hands even when talking to my closest friends
• No one ever gets to stand behind me if I have anything to say about it.
• I'm always checking around to make sure everything is "as it should be"

Being a cop, for me is and will continue to be one of the best things that has ever happened to me. But there was  a trade off that I made when I became a cop. I got my shiny new badge, but in return I gave away my innocence, naivete and the ability to just be in the moment. At the moment it is still a good trade.

911, THIS IS ENFORCER, HOW MAY I HELP YOU?

I went to 911 school the last couple of days. It was overtime so during the day I was in school and at night I was working the shift. I actually got certafied for 911 about 8 years ago, but technology has sprinted along since then and there is now Enhanced 911.
Which to sum up in a phrase equals "Dayum Enforcer you sure are getting old"

• When I first got on there was not enough cell phones out there to really take them into consideration. and the ones out there didn't have GPS capabilities.
• Our 911 workstations were a big clunky boxy type space 1999 computers that had one font one size and the old greenish background.
• Mapping wasn't even given a thought
• Doccumentation was printed onto a long roll of cpu paper and stored in a box in dispatch.
• You had to physically pick a phone up off a cradle to answer the calls
• You could transfer calls to our ambulance and the fire dispatchers but beyond that you had to take down the info and call other police departments and fire on the house line and pass on the info to them.

Going through this class was kinda amazing to see the level of technology we have reached, it also was eye opening as to just how much big brother could watch if he wanted to.

When a 911 call comes in it gets routed to one of several different columns

• one is the "hard line" (regular calls from someones house wired line) it shows where the address of the caller is calling from and their phone number
• the next is the cell 1 column (cell phones with limited gps capabilities) it gives the phone number, the cell phone provider number and the closest cell phone tower
• The other is the cell 2 column which gives the callers actual location within 200 yards one way or another.
• We can transfer calls that were misdirected to us to whichever police department that they were intended with a quick click from a drop down number
• And there still is a cloud 9 button, a preprogramed message for those people who call 911 to find out if school is canceled, what time is it, or if we'd like to buy a magazine subscription.

Every call is mapped so you can see the general vicinity of where the call is originating and you can enter notes like "guns recovered from this house or whatever the case may be so that these facts will pop up if there are calls from the same location in the future.

The TTY System (911 for the deaf) has been upgraded and it is a ton easier to take these calls now.

The class was really interesting but I'm so glad its over and done with.

A GOOD IDEA

ICE campaign - "In Case of Emergency"

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family

or friends. If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this "ICE" (In Case of Emergency)

Campaign.

The concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" (In Case Of Emergency). The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as "ICE".

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3, etc. Be sure it's in your kid's cell phones also. A great idea that will make a difference!

It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest. Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!

COP HISTORY LESSON

I'll bet a few of you had wondered about this picture that used to be in my sidebar, No I'm not an anarchist (although some have commented that it is bizarre that I am a cop that has authority issues), no it is not a call for police departments to strike. What it is, is a reminder to me that there was a time in history when good,faithful, and loyal police officers were forced to choose between their collective well being and the well being of an entire city.
This picture of the front page of the now defunct Boston Post is from a book I read that was called "City in Terror" It was about the Boston Police Strike of 1919. I am a huge history buff and love all kinds of historical stuff, but especially things that pertain to this part of the country.

These cops of the time in question were subjected to the worst conditions and were propped up by a mill workers strike in the city that I live in, they were promised the world by the union bosses who wanted to count police officers among their ranks, but when the shit hit the fan everyone walked away from them. They were cut loose because the plan was not well thought out and when criminals realized that there were very few cops (many who were old and did not strike because they were too close to their paultry retirement to chance it) the criminals ran wild. This strike made Woodrow Wilson President (eventually, for his handling and breaking of the strike and his technique was used by Ron Reagan in the 80s during the air traffic controllers strike) But aside from Wilson, everyone involved lost out. Bigtime. Especially the rank and file cops who were trying to make a better living for themselves and their families. But also the city of Boston which was subjected to days of "wild west lawlessness" for a short period of time.

I often hear cops around me (I am a huge offender as well) bitch about something that is patently unfair and end the complaint with the phrase but what can you do about it? It does suck that we have no real recourse for unfair treatment like the rest of society. But we are (wether we or certain segments of society want to admit it or not) a necessary evil. Some may say more evil than necessary but that is debatable (and I love me a good debate)

When I feel bad about stupid stuff that goes on at work I think back to the "good ole days" (term used loosely) that these poor bastards lived through. Six day work weeks, a need to inform the administration of plans to travel outside the city on your ONE day off, horrible station conditions, and very little guidance or input, inept or corrupt management, and a society who were apathetic to their plight. We deal with some bad stuff as cops but put into perspective, it is nothing near as bad as what these guys faced.

If you are a crime or history buff, that book is a great read and I highly reccomend it.

A REMINDER FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

A police officer with at least 10 years of service was working an off duty assignment.
At the same time, a Father was bringing his son to the mental health center of UMASS Hospital.
The son was in the passenger side to the vehicle. As they approach the officer doing his job with the road crew, this individual decided to get out and attack the officer.

At one point the individual was able to GRAB the officers service weapon. (I don't think he was able to get it out of his holster). At some point the crew and passing EMS. along with the officer were able to restrain this person.

From what I understand the officer received scratches and bruises. It appeared to be that this person wanted to be killed by a cop.

One of the persons rendering aid was a person who was 250lbs 6"5" person who had 136 entries on his criminal record. His last 5 appearances were as a result of arrests made by the officer’s department, It seems that when the guy was arrested, those officers arresting him treated him decently.

Moral to the story. You never know what will happen, You never know how your actions will affect others. And you never know when where or how assistance will be provided.
So please be safe out there, show compassion when you can while making arrests,and always be alert..