The Chase is ON

So, I recently had an opportunity to call out a "failure to yield". It was another agency's pursuit (though that word is TABOO, I will use it for simplistic purposes). Since we needed updates on our radio channel I was the second car and was calling out what was going on. I have been in many a pursuit, but this one was fun. Not that the others were not, but this one was different. First off I tried cutting the individual off, but to no avail. Then we follow him for like 4 miles. We finally get him boxed in and he stops. I am making this very simplistic, if you want to hear the whole story call me. Eventually we get him out a gunpoint and he tries to tussle a little bit, which is completely assanine since there is like 12 police there. Finally he is handcuffed and put in the back of a car.

It was exhilirating and fun. To top it off I got some compliments on my pursuit presentation on the radio. Most officers get excited when some type of excitement occurs and you cannot understand what they are saying on the radio. Everybody stated I was calm, low pitched, and audible on the radio as if I had done a million of these. So that was a pretty good compliment from veteran officers. All in all that is what we live for as police. A little bit of excitement and bragging rights. It is too bad no one was riding along with me at the time. All the good stuff seems to happen when I am alone.

Voicing my sister's comments....

I too was caught by the stomach bug that attacked my whole immediate family. I must say I have not been sick like that since early high school. It was crazy...I ended up sleeping in my closet to be closer to the bathroom. But enough of that crap.

I also want to wish my Buckeyes luck tomorrow. I will be faithfully watching. I am disappointed I did not get to go, but that is the way it is. I forgot to check my other frequent flier mileage airline.

For those of you who read my blog, stay away from the stomach flu and O.H.......

Smokey Goes Down

So one of the most embarrassing events that can happen to an officer is an accident. Not only do you have to have people look at you on the side of the road, but then your so called "friends" on the force make fun of you for a long time. Here is my most recent wreck.

It was a rainy, sleety, snowy night. I had just got a run on a fire in a house. I got in my car and turned on my lights. As I came to an overpass I thought "It is slick better go pretty slow". My speed for once was way below the speed limit. I was going 35 in a 55 due to the weather. Halfway into the turn on the overpass my ass end swings out from behind me. My training kicked in and I turned the wheels, let off of the gas, and did not hit the brake. The car continued to turn until I was going backwards down the ramp. At one point I thought I had saved it, then the tires hit another patch of ice and I made one more 90 degree turn. This last turn forced the rear end of my car into a guard rail. After hitting the guardrail the car stopped against the guardrail with my door against it. I could not get out. I assumed that the whole rear end of my car was destroyed. It turns out that it was not, just the left side of the bumper and my tail light. As I am sitting there waiting for a tow truck, 6 cars spin out right where I spun out and they almost clobbered me.

What is weird is that this is the second accident that I have been in this year. The first was not my fault at all, a crazy Mexican lady with no license decided to disregard other cars and drive around them. This almost resulted in a T Bone of our cars. She did succeed in killing my car though. In both that accident and this latest one, I could see the whole incident occurring. And before each impact I distinctly remembering "I got it, I avoided it." Then BOOOOOOMMMM!!!!! And I think to myself "SHIT!" It is just funny what you remember and what one thinks about when they have no control over a machine. Another point to this is that police cars are tanks. I have not been injured in either of the accidents, amazingly.

To end this story it was my Dad's 55th birthday. So happy birthday DAD!

Wintermeiser

As I sit here in my police car blogging I am reminded by how much I hate the cold weather. Looking out my windows and seeing sleet and snow and realizing that I am one ignorant dumb ass driver away from standing outside away depresses me. Well that might be a little over the top, but it still sucks, BAD!!!! The problem with cold weather for a cop is that we have to be prepared to stand outside for long periods of time. Then on top of that we have to be comfortable enough to sit in a heated car, move around (so we can access all our equipment), and not restricted in movement in case we have to take physical action or chase someone. This makes for quite a conundrum. So I say "screw you winter"!!!!!

Eye Gazing....In a Way

So I am not sure what to title this blog entry. But it amazes me at how people change their reaction to you when they realize that one is a police officer. I have noticed that people awkwardly stare at me, mainly due to my height. This is happened for as long as I can remember. I am quite accustomed to it, though I do not like it. I always think of some great one liners to throw at them, but I choose to refrain myself. However, a completely different stare occurred today.

I was playing basketball with guys at church. We normally play twice a week and have some big names, from the area, show up to play with us. Today I was wearing my Police jersey from our annual butt whooping we give to the hose draggers. Obviously it says Police on it. Well a kid playing with us asks if I am a cop. I state that I am. He then goes on to give me the "eye f**king" stare. This is the stare that people who have dealt with police before give to size up the cop. It is basically to inquire into if they feel they can whoop my ass. This stare occurred for the whole game. He did not think I saw him, though I doubt he would have looked away if I had looked at him. (Quick Tips to "eye f**ckers": Most cops are aware of everything going on around them at all times whether you realize it or not. Whether or not we act on what we see depends on different criteria, but we are trained to think about events and individuals that surround us. Take this as a fair warning. Though I hope no one that reads my blog qualifies.)

This leads me to the question of "What in the hell makes people look at someone, especially cops, and think about whether they can whoop somebody else's ass?" It makes no sense to me, and yet I see it daily. This leads me to another blog entry on the audacity of people to argue or buck up.

Like Fine Wine....So I've Been Told

So yeah, my sister at our family gathering of Thanksgiving, decided to throw me under the bus. She states something along the line of: "Since you only blog ONCE a MONTH!!!!" So to all of you who appreciate this blog I am going to try and blog twice a week. I had always tried to come up with the best blog entries for your entertainment. Making them like fine pieces of art. Well to please my audience of 3, I will now write down stories in a black book while I work and try and report them quicker. It might take a few weeks to get it going, but I will try.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying the Christmas season....I know I am.

"Knee"d to Post

So I am off of my sabbatical, aka knee surgery. It was nice to have about a month off, however now I am ready to get back to it. Laugh if you will, but I miss driving my car.

So I had a conversation with my sister while I was injured. We got to do a lot of stuff together, well more than we have in the past and I really enjoyed it. She brought up an issue that I feel that most people are a little confused on. She stated, in way or another, that "it must be nice to have a get out of ticket free card." This was in response to my driving. I was going MAYBE 5 mph over the speed limit. (If you know me I would never speed, ; ) I feel that most people think that cops will not a get a ticket if they are caught speeding. Let me assure you this is not the case. There are many officers out there that actually enjoy giving other officers tickets. It is not like being an officer of the past. More often than not officers will write anybody a ticket now adays, regardless of your occupation.

That is it. I just wanted to clear the air. I am sure none of you believe me, but when I get a ticket I will put a picture of it on here.