Day 3 - "Hands" - 6/21/09

Well, I am finally getting adjusted to the sleeping schedule. Each night I have been feeling less and less tired, and last night was no exception.

The night started off very simple, but at the same time I was a little wary. There were no calls for service, but my FTO was beginning to sniffle and cough a bit, which to me is a very bad sign. Whenever someone around me seems to get sick, I seem to not only get whatever they have, but get it much worse. As it so happened, I stopped into a service station and grabbed a bottle of orange juice for energy, and was very thankful to have some extra Vitamin C in my system. He said that we'd be heading out to one of the checkpoints and he would be showing me more of the forms he had on his laptop.

We spent roughly 3 hours at the checkpoint when the SGT told us we needed to be back at the station for something. My SGT handed my FTO some paperwork and told us there was a prisoner we needed to transport from our holding facility to the jail. The SGT spoke to me and said, "I am going to start letting you be more active and going more hands on. You'll start by transporting this prisoner." I nodded my head, double checked my duty belt for my handcuffs, and headed out with my FTO to our holding facility. On the way, my FTO stated the guy had been arrested for Domestic Battery, so I immediately got into the mindset that the guy may want to give me a hard time during the transfer of custody.

We arrived at the holding facility where I met my "menace to society".... a 70 year old guy who pushed his wife in the course of an argument. For those that don't know, Florida has a ZERO tolerance for domestic violence. If an officer arrives on scene and can determine a primary aggressor in a DV case, it is REQUIRED by Florida law an officer make an arrest, and if an officer can't determine a primary aggressor, then it must be thoroughly documented.

After some of the minor paperwork was done, it was time to transfer custody. I immediately was faced with my largest problem: Language. The gentleman didn't speak a single word of English, yet spoke Spanish and Chinese fluently, and he made sure all of us in the holding facility knew it. He wreaked of alcohol, but was fairly compliant when one of our Spanish-Speaking officers directed him to put his hands on the wall. I quickly got out my handcuffs and put the gentleman's right hand behind his back. I snapped the first handcuff on without a problem. The second one went on without a hitch. It felt just like training at the academy. I felt that although I did very well, I could have been a TAD more gentle. By no means did I injure him or cause him great discomfort, but I moved him like I would have moved someone half his age. My FTO said I did a good job, but to take more care with an elderly man as I could, if the time had come, have easily overpowered him. I took great heed to this advice. We then went out to the car, put him in, and then for the next 20 minutes, proceeded to hear him talking to himself in the back of the car on our way to the jail. We arrived without incident.

At the jail, I immediately remembered procedure. Alert our dispatcher of arrival, drive into the Sallyport, off-load all weapons, wait for the Sallyport door to close, then escort the prisoner out. There is a small "holding" area that you can place a subject while filling out the entry log, so I put him in there and said "Sientate". I was surprised I remembered ANY Spanish at all, but it was useful in aiding the man down on the bench. There was a lock on the holding facility, so I proceeded to lock it. Immediately after the lock closed, my FTO says, "Don't lock ---! Jailer, can I have the keys to open this please?" He understood why I locked it, but said, at least for this guy, it wasn't necessary. Even if he did run, the Sallyport was totally locked down. We then escorted him inside. Immediately, I felt embarassed.

Here I was, escorting what seemed to be a harmless old man into the jail. Police Officers, Corrections Officers, and even inmates were giving me the "WTF is he here for?" look. After a bit of paperwork and an hour of time, we were back on the streets. My FTO let me use the radio to update our status, and then headed back to our zone. From there, it was more studying, more paperwork, and the sunrise.

I think my FTO is beginning to feel very confident in me, and I couldn't be more pleased. Tactically, I felt sound, but, as one of my academy instructors used to say, you need to be a "KIND AND GENTLE MAN".... at least with some. I will be sure to remember that for next time.