Crazy!

There was a call of a “Suicidal man barricaded in his house” and three police units were sent to deal with it.  They arrived and spoke to the guy through the bathroom door.  After some time they realized that they were going to have to force entry, so they requested a Taser officer.  I had to drive some distance, about 7 miles lights and siren, but it is pretty damn fun!

I arrived, just as they kicked the door.  Thanks for waiting guys!  There’s the subject, sitting on the toilet, holding a knife to his temple, and a pair of scissors under his chin.  There was a shoe lace tied between both weapons.  I guess he was thinking that if we got one, the other would do the job? 

One officer is pointing a gun at him, and I am too far away to be of any use.  The senior officer tells the junior officer to put the gun away.  That cop backs out of the hall, where I am, and we both watch the most amazing police work ever!  <Heavy on sarcasm>  The senior cop stands 3 feet away from this crazy nut job, who is holding two very sharp weapons. 

Granted the threat is to kill himself, but you never know.  He could just as easily lunge at the senior officer.  If nut job made it past him, he’d be in for a world of hurt, because I’d be tasing him, while my partner was shooting him. 

The suspect finally puts the scissors down, but paces the little 5’ room slashing the knife about.  The senior cop is still within a few feet, and trying to talk him down.  After 5 minutes of this the senior cop backs away and the nut job follows him into the living room.  I stay in the kitchen, hoping to prevent crazy from making his way towards more knives, and the junior officer, with gun, moves to the only exit door. 

We watch as the crazy puts his knife down and bounces from wall to wall.  At some point he picks up a pen and I say, “Uhh…He’s got a pen in his left hand.”  The junior officer grabs the pen and throws it to the ground.  The senior officer looks at us like we’re crazy to fear a pen.  You ever get stabbed with a pen?  If it hits something vital you can die just as easy.

In the end we got crazy strapped to a gurney and transported to a hospital.  I’m just thankful to have survived another incident, and to be going home at the end of a shift.  Sometimes, I wonder who is the bigger threat.  The suspects, or some of the cops I work with?  I hear of cops dying every day, across America, who practice the “Old School Policing”   To steal a quote, from the IRA, “You have to be lucky all the time.  We only have to be lucky once.”  That’s how I look at suspects.  They only need one second to ruin your whole day…

J

Killing with kindness?

So I had just gotten into my cop car, when a call comes out, “Homeowners detaining burglar…”  These calls freak me out, because I’ve seen some seriously bad things happen to good people, when they “detain” bad people.  I fly out of the precinct and arrive within 2 minutes. 

We’re suppose to wait for backup, but out of concern for the homeowners I run into the house.  I find one homeowner, who tells me that the suspect is upstairs in the bathroom with the other homeowner.  I run upstairs and find the homeowner, and bad guy, both standing next to each other leaning over the sink. 

Apparently, the bad guy cut his finger, and one of the homeowners is a registered nurse, so he’s administering first aid!  HUH?!  Me?  Nad guy breaks in to my house?  I’d let him bleed out!  So I order the bad guy, “Sit down.”  I don’t shout, or swear.  I just simply order the bad guy to sit on the ground, so that I can keep him under control until my backup arrives.

The homeowner says, “Officer can you please de-escalate the situation.  Keep it calm.”  HUH!? 

“You want to handle this?  Or do you want me to handle it?”

The homeowner backs away and I shake down the bad guy, who turns out to be armed with a knife.  Later I learn that the bad guy has numerous assault, burglary, and weapons charges.  All I can say is that the homeowner is very lucky that the suspect didn’t knife him.  The suspect was in a “nice” mood up until he saw the cops.  I guess he didn’t expect us to show up.

Could you imagine what he would’ve done if he assumed the cops were coming? 

I also found $595 cash in the suspect’s pockets, which he stole from one homeowner’s wallet.  The homeowner’s car/house keys, and it turns out the suspect also ripped out the car stereo from the BMW.  The greedy suspect also placed the plasma TV, a $3,000 vase, and a $1,200 candle stick on the couch.  Did I mention the 12 year old son sleeping in the bedroom the suspect walked past?

Let’s just say that if it was my house the bad guy would be leaving horizontally.

J

Always winter, never Christmas…

Seattle has had some serious cold weather the past few weeks.  All the ice on the roads has created some serious down time at work.  We drive very slowly to some parking lot, in our beat, and then park.  No sense driving around, when you run the risk of crashing.  Very hard to stay awake, while sitting in a parking lot!

The call load has dropped some too.  Not as many crimes happening, because it’s too cold outside.  Although auto theft is on the rise, but I attribute that to drugheads stealing the cars for heat.  Run the engine all night and leave the heat on.  Not too mention it’s easy to find a victim.

Everyone is starting their cars, and then going back inside the house to let them warm up.  Bad guys walk the street, see a plume of exhaust, and there’s their free car/hear.  I took a report of a theft of a nice Audi A6, and when I came outside there was an unattended Mercedes.  The owner came out and I explained that lots of cars are getting stolen, because of people warming them up.

She says, “Really?  Not around here.” 

“Uhhh…Lady.  I just took a theft of an Audi from your neighbor.”

“But I locked the door officer.”

Good thing bad guys respect property enough not to shatter a window, while stealing a $50,000 car.  I call this potential victim, “Ivy League Stupid”.  Too smart to be in touch with reality.

J

One cup of Meth please.

So I was being all curious, when I saw these two suspects leaning into the back seat of a parked Acura, and they tell me that they spilled some water in the back seat.  Ok.  The one suspect tells me it’s his car, so I enter the vehicle license plate into my computer, and drive off.  The license plate has an associated warrant, for the owner, so I conduct a traffic stop on the car after it’s driven out of the parking lot.

I arrest the driver, and while I am searching him down, after cuffing him!  I recover 2.1 grams of meth and a meth pipe.  I tell my backing officer to pull out the passenger, who drops a Rubbermaid container of meth onto the ground.  Oops!  <laughing>  It ended up weighing in at 47.4 grams!  I can just imagine the Tupperware parties these two attend.  “And this one is great for keeping your meth fresh!”

I look into the back seat of the Acura and come to learn that they didn’t spill “water” but they spilled a container of meth!  <laughing>  There was still plenty of meth all over the rear seat floorboards.  Idiots!  I seized the vehicle and $410 in cash.  The two suspects were schooled and both lawyer’d up right, so I can’t get any info from them.  SUCKS!

I’m sure I could’ve climbed up the ladder a bit and gotten bigger fish, because neither of these two have ever done jail time.  This is their first arrest.  Always easy to glean information from fresh meat.  You tell them about the horrors of incarceration and they wont shut up.  “Yup, you’re going to be sold for a carton of smokes for sure!  Hope you like rough sex!”  They’ll sell out their mom to avoid jail!

Nice little pinch.

J

Gone Fishin’

I always try to treat the people I deal with, the way I would expect to be dealt with, in a given situation.  Even when I am arresting someone I try and explain what it is that is happening, and why it is that we (police) can do what we’re doing.  Sometimes it is a waste of air, because they (bad guys) just don’t get it.

I was cruising down the residential streets, at 3:30 in the morning, when I see two guys standing next to a parked car.  One at the driver’s door, and the other at the front right passenger door.  I circle back, with my head lights off, and sure enough, when I round the corner, the guy on the passenger side bolts. 

He runs like he’s really late for an appointment, or something, but the remaining suspect is now sitting in the driver’s seat.  One in the hand is better than two in the bush, so I contact the “driver”.  He tells me the car is a friends car, but he can’t name the registered owner, and he has no idea why the other guy ran. 

He also doesn’t know the guy’s name, but says that they’re friends too.  I notice that the passenger side window is pried from the door frame, which is usually consisted with forced entry.  Hmmm…Stolen car?  Car Prowl?  Although the car is clear stolen, and I am unable to contact the owner, I still have grounds to ID the “driver”.  I ask for ID and he becomes arguementative.

I explain to him the lawful purpose, in obtaining ID, and he doesn’t buy it.  Good thing I don’t have to sell it.  After he gives me ID I bend into the vehicle, to check the ignition switch, and he shouts, “I’m not giving you permission to look into the car!”  I try and explain that it isn’t a “search” and that I am trying to determine if the car is stolen (not yet reported). 

There’s no damage to the ignition and the VIN plates match the license plates and the car.  I run a check of the “driver” and determine that he’s a registered sex offender, with violent felony crimes (assault, robbery).  Wow…You’d never think it looking at him!  <laughing>  I’m telling the other officer what a WINNER this suspect is, and he starts yelling, “Why you cops always looking for trouble?!  You’re always fishing to find someone doing wrong!”

Uhhhh…Ya think?  HELLO!  Anybody home?  WE’RE COPS!  WE’RE SUPPOSE TO FIND “TROUBLE”!   WE GET PAID TO FIND SOMEONE “DOING SOMETHING WRONG”! 

I try to see if I can reason with this guy, other cop rolling his eyes at me, and explain it this way, “Ok.  Let’s say you’re the police officer.  If you drive past, see two guys standing at a car at 3:30am, and circle back because you’re paid to be curious, one guy runs, and the other guy is now inside the vehicle.  What would you do?” 

Suspect response, “Nothing!  They didn’t do anything wrong!”

“True, but you don’t know that till you check the vehicle and try and talk to both subjects right?”  The guy starts shouting about how he knows the law, and about how over-zealous I am, so I switch gears.  “Ok.  How about you own a car, and there’s two guys loitering beside it, then one gets into the car.  Wouldn’t you want a cop to contact them?  Stop your car from being stolen, or broken in to?”

Suspect response, “IT’S MY FRIEND’S CAR!  I WASN’T BREAKING INTO IT, OR STEALING IT!” 

HAHAHAHAHAHAH!  Some people are alive simply because it’s illegal to shoot them.

J