Got Honda?

 

Ok, for all those people looking at getting a car, “Avoid Honda!”  And for those who own a Honda, “Sell it!” 

 

I’m a little jaded, because I’m sick and tired of taking stolen auto reports on the damn things.  We must have 20 Hondas stolen a day in Seattle.  I just love how they steal one Honda, and then park it right next to the next stolen Honda.  Sometimes they compound the fun, by switching license plates, so it’s one big cluster for the cops to sort out.

 

When a victim reports their Honda stolen I give very little sympathy.  I’m like, “Wow…That’s crazy.  A stolen Honda?!  Never would’ve seen that coming.”  I took a report yesterday, where a neighbor called in a “suspicious car” sitting in front of his house with the engine running.

 

I get there and see that the car has its lights on and the windshield wipers on fast speed.  Ok, it’s day time, there’s no rain, and the driver’s door is standing open.  It’s also parked right in the middle of the street!  The neighbor tells me that it’s been there for over 45 minutes, and he thinks it might be a stolen car.  “YA THINK?!”  <laughing> 

 

I was going to ask why he waited so long to call us, but he was too educated for his own good.  Too smart and too much money equals little common sense….In my opinion.  Any 14 year old street kid would look at that Honda and think, “Yup, that car been jacked!” 

 

Since I’m trying to steer people away from Honda I should probably offer up an alternative mode of transportation.  Anything European!  VW, Saab, Audi, BMW…Bad guys stay away from those ignitions.  Also, in closing, don’t believe the salespeople at Honda, when they tell you about the Theft Proof ignition.  That same 14 year old street kid can enter, and steal, that brand new Honda in about 20 seconds…

 

J

Happy Turkey Day!

 

Some suspect got a nice Thanksgiving Day gift today.  Two of my fellow officers, working a two man car, got into pursuit with a little red Honda.  After a high speed run the suspect parks, jumps out, and runs away.  They come driving up the street, passing the now parked unoccupied Honda, and see bad guy running away through the houses.  They drive to the next street, hoping to box him in, but bad guy sees them and turns around.

 

Sure enough he runs right back to the Honda, gets in, and hauls ass out of the area.  Our sergeant was arriving and had asked over the radio, “Is anyone with the Honda?”  That’s when the bad guy ran out and got back into the driver’s seat, so the sergeant followed up with, “Nevermind.  The dumb ass is back in the car and taking off.”  <GASP!>

 

Needless to say we are not suppose to cuss on the police radio, which gave the dispatcher some pause, “Ok…uhhh…The suspect is now driving in the Honda…”  I was just arriving and watched the Honda drive within 10’ of my front bumper.  I turned to follow and the sergeant said, “And we will not follow.”  I got on the radio and said, “Of course we wont.”  As I turned off onto the next street and let the suspect drive away.

 

There was a pedestrian yelling, “He went that way!”  and I drove up and said, “I know, but we don’t pursue in Seattle.”  So the bottom line is, if you don’t want to stop?  Don’t.  Drive fast and the police will leave you alone.  Now, that being said, I am for the “No Pursuit Policy” because the risk to life is too great. 

 

However, I think we should be allowed to ram the bad guy, under the right conditions…(Been there, done that!  And most of the risk, of injury, is to the occupants of the suspect vehicle.  Screw’em.)            

 

J                  

This is why I believe in the Iraq/Afghan wars. 

 

 

You can't fight the bad guys with the system that was in place.  Like I recently read in a book, "You can't fight terrorism playing Patty-Cake"  If we played by our old rules we would lose.  You'll notice that all the Muslim fighters are flocking to the Middle East and not into the USA.  Sure would be nice if we could apply these new rules (for fighting terrorism) to the crime wave here in the USA.  I'm so tired of seeing bad guys use the system to their benefit.  I talk to murders and rapists, who served less time in prison, then I did in the military.  <sigh>

The new rules, imprisonment of the enemy without a lawyer/trial, and some forms of what is referred to as "torture", are all positive steps in fighting terrorism.  We are at war.  Do you think the captured Germans and Japanese, of the previous world wars, ever saw a lawyer, or had a trial.  At the end there were war crime trials, but not during.  Most enemy combatants were released at the end.  Only the head honchos were tried in a court. 

 

This "torture" that we all hear about in the newspaper and in the media?  Please!  We aren't chopping off heads, or beating them.  The liberals idea of torture is what I would call extreme discomfort, or humiliation.  All of which have provided some very useful information.  If keeping an enemy combatant from sleeping for 4 days, by use of light and constant movement, is going to get us the names of a few more bad guys (possibly staging in the USA), then I am all for it!  When I was in the army I went several days without decent meals, or sleep.  Folks (liberals)?  It ain't torture.

 

My mother sent me an article, by the surviving Tillman brother, which was very anti-war/anti-government.  I can appreciate the anger of this man, and honestly understand how the friendly fire incident has changed his opinions.  I see it all the time.  Anyone see the young troubled man in San Francisco, who fought with the firefighter on a roof top?  The firefighter tried to save him, but the man fought, and then fell to his death.  The whole family blamed the fire department and the firefighter.  Now, I personally would never try to grab hold of a crazy guy, intent on suicide, but I do applaud the efforts of the firefighter.  The deceased guy's sister went on the news to say something similar to, "Now I can never trust another firefighter <SOB>!" 

 

In my opinion they should look at the mind set of both people.  The answers are there, they just don't want to see them.  In the Tillman friendly fire tragedy I don't have all the facts, but I can say that looking at it objectively I can understand why the US government didn't want to broadcast it as a friendly fire death.  Fact is friendly fire incidents will happen.  Those who error, cause a friendly fire incident, should be looked at and dealt with accordingly.  If it was gross negligence, then maybe some punishment, but otherwise a transfer to a position where there's less stress and no opportunity to make a decision, which could risk life.

 

Now, coming out and saying you just killed a man, with friendly fire, would have a huge impact on moral.  The soldiers at the front would be less effective in fighting.  The mindset of the soldiers at the front need to be focused on the fight.  Any hesitation can cause terrible consequences.  I speak first hand about the hazards involved.  I can tell you that many police officers are hurt, sometimes killed, because of too much thinking about the consequences.  You swore to do a job.  You understand the hazards.  You place yourself in harms way.

 

I saw a bumper sticker that read, "I'm already against the next war!"  Huh?  Hey whack job?  How about you just roll over and give me everything you have and let me rape and kill your family?  Hate to bring it to your attention, but there are evil people in the world, who prey on people like you.  If only we had applied the preventitive war effort against Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler.  How many lives would have been spared?  Be thankful that there are people in the world willing to fight for your rights and the safety of your family.  You should support them and praise their efforts!

 

J

Playing it safe.

 

One thing that always amuses me is when I pull in behind a motorist and they quickly take the next turn, another turn, and then park.  I’ll just park right behind them and sit it out.  Eventually they’ll walk away, or start driving again.  When they walk I drive around the block and find them driving again.  <laughing> 

 

Normal citizens might get nervous about a marked police car behind them, but they don’t go to such an extreme keep a cop from following.  This much effort only makes me want to make an introduction.

 

Yesterday, I pulled in behind a 1970’s sedan, rust and dents, and the guy makes two turns and parks.  I park behind him, and then discover that his vehicle license expired last month.  Ok, now I have legal grounds for introducing myself. 

 

I walk up and can see that he’s trying to stare through the spot light, which is directed at his mirrors, to see where I am.  This makes me nervous.  Most people won’t stare into a blinding light.  I put my hand on my gun, and contact the guy.  He ask, “Why do you have your hand on your gun?!”

 

I answer, “Because I am a cop.  Let me see your license please.”  He wants to talk more about my decision to rest my hand on my gun, but I just leave him sitting, while I return to my car.  I run the guy and find he is a convicted felon, and that at one point he had a CCW (now revoked because of felon status).  He also had previously owned a .44 magnum.

 

I walk back up and tell the guy about his life story.  I also mention the fact that he was staring into his mirror, into the light, to see my position.  In the end I ask, “So if you were a cop, would you take the precaution of being ready for the worst?  Knowing that several cop fatalities occur on traffic stops.  Would you not want to go home at the end of every shift?”

 

In the end the guy didn’t understand, but I guess that’s why he’s the felon and I’m the cop.

 

J

Stupid People in Cars

 

Ok, is there something that steals IQ points, from motorists, when it rains?  Is there some kind of lunar pull, shift in the oceans, the stars aligned differently?  How can a normal person, educated adult, toss common sense and basic knowledge out the window, when it rains?

 

I was driving to my 4^th accident call yesterday, pouring down rain with plenty of standing water on the roads, when I got into a race with a $80,000 BMW.  I was stopped at the light, when a police call, “Hit and Run vehicle accident with witness chasing suspect…” came out over the radio. 

 

The light turned green, and I quickly accelerated.  So did the BMW next to me!  Next thing I know he pulls in front of me and punches it to 60mph in a 30mph zone.  POURING RAIN, WITH SUCK VISIBILITY, AND STANDING WATER (6” DEEP PUDDLES ALONG THE GUTTER)!  NOT TOO MENTION THE FULLY MARKED POLICE CAR ALGONSIDE HIM!

 

I activate light and siren and the yuppie pulls into the next lot.  Normally, I would’ve written the guy a nice fat juicy ticket, but I am more interested in the safety of Joe Citizen chasing a bad guy, so Beamer Idiot gets a verbal warning, “Hey!  Pull your head out your ass!  You’re doing 60 in a 30 on a suck day!  Not the kind of day to be driving without a brain!”

 

He looks to be about mid-30’s, nicely dressed in a suit, and even has the Blue Tooth cell phone stuck in his ear.  I’m guessing he’s probably got degrees from MIT and Harvard, and is employed as a CEO of some Fortune 500 company making a million dollars a year.  All those brains and nothing shouting at him, “SLOW DOWN!”  Tsk! Tsk!  I sure hope my retirement portfolio isn’t vested in his company!

 

So, I haul bootie to the accident call and receive an update that the victim has chased the suspect, two blocks from the scene of the accident, and is standing by for police.  I’m flying to get there, because bad things happen when bad guys get caught/cornered.  I arrive and there’s this guy, later determined to be the victim, standing in the middle of the intersection.

 

I confirm he’s the victim and ask, “Where’s the bad guy?”  He proceeds to tell me, “I chased him on foot and confronted him and he said he’d drive back to the scene of the accident.  I was staying here waiting for you.”  HUH?  He just won the gold medal in the stupid Olympics.  I’m like, “Serious..?”  and then have a good laugh as I update police radio.  Sure enough I drive two blocks, finding the victims car in the road, but no bad guy.

 

Wow….That’s weird.  Wonder if he got lost?  <laughing>

 

<sigh>

 

J