Day 23: "Prisoner" - 8/18/09-8/28/09

Hello everyone. I'd first like to apologize for not staying on top of my blog as I should be. However, I have purchased a wireless internet card so I can update on the go. My first week solo was a bit hectic, but I am continuing to learn a lot. In fact, I learned a very valuable lesson not 3 hours into my time away from an FTO. The lesson? HAVE SPARE KEYS!

I was doing an extra watch of a property that had been vandalized recently, so I got out of my patrol vehicle and locked the doors, not knowing that my keys had fallen off of my belt keeper and onto the seat. After completing the check, I go to open my doors. They're locked. No big deal. I reach down for my keys, which of course are not there. My face turned pale. Oh shit. I didn't want to use my radio and let the whole shift know I just locked myself out of my car, so I called the station and asked for someone to bring me the lock-out kit, and who else to bring it to me but my old FTO! Fantastic! Not only did he take a picture of me using the lock out kit on my patrol car, but posted the picture in the station for everyone to see. Super.

On the positive side, I have been getting so much more done without my immediate supervisor breathing down my neck. Don't get me wrong, I really learned a lot on FTO. However, not having that added pressure of your superior there ALL THE TIME made life a lot easier. I could patrol where I wanted, write as many tickets as I wanted, contact whoever I wanted, and make the community safer by using my own style. I had no idea, but over the course of one week I had generated 26 traffic tickets, which if you do the math is about 4 tickets a day. However, on each day I lost roughly 1-2 hours worth of work for special details I had to do, like being assigned to the local school or patrol an area which can be better referred to as "The Boonies", and is a good 25 miles from any real landmark, but is a part of our jurisdiction for a certain reason.

Not all of my time spent this past week has been just patrolling; of course there would be calls for service. I only had three, which is surprisingly low. The first was to assist the Florida Highway Patrol in reference to a vehicle crash. The call came out as a "car rapidly taking on water", so of course I respond with lights and siren in the pouring down rain. When I arrived I came upon a pickup truck that was in 10" of water.... barely enough to cover HALF of the tires. The guy climbed out of the truck, and with the help of fire rescue made it to dry land. I directed traffic and waited for FHP to do their investigation, and as soon as they were done I took off my rain coat, got in my patrol car, and kept being productive. I then got another call for service in reference to counterfeit currency.

It's amazing how much of this stuff is floating around in our system. It seems every other day our agency seems to be getting a call about this. The interesting thing is that all of these counterfeit bills seem perfectly legit when compared side by side to a similar note of equal value. The gentleman who tried to pass the bill was oblivious as well, and unfortunately was out the $10 he tried to use to pay for a pack of cigarettes. I seized the currency, generated a property receipt, and filled out a short form report.

Finally, 10 minutes before the end of my shift, I received a call reference a woman who was trying to find her vehicle. The only problem was that she was very readily described as "drunk" by the reporting person. After making contact with the individual, I noticed she was so intoxicated that she could barely stand on her own, perform the most menial of tasks, and had urinated all over herself. This is the kind of person who thinks they can drive and gets someone killed. I told her she was in no condition to drive, and that she needed to give me her keys. It took a bit of convincing, but her combative nature gave way for only a moment for me to grab her keys and license. I ran her information, only to have it come back to a prior arrest for, guess what, disorderly intoxication. Those that do not learn from history are destined to repeat it.

Anyway, I asked her if she had any money for a cab, a hotel room, or any resource to come and pick her up. All replies led to "NO" and "I know my rights". Since there no place for her to stay and she was combative, I arrested her for disorderly intoxication. This is when all hell broke loose. She tensed up on me, so I bent her wrist back and induced slight pain for compliance. After that handcuff was on, it was time for the second. She tried to get away from me, so I again applied a wrist-lock transporter to her other hand. Now that both cuffs were on, it was time to go to the patrol car. She, of course, didn't want to go, and literally went in kicking and screaming. After loading her torso into the car, all that was left was her legs. I tried pushing them in, but she decided to kick me with both feet. Both of her feet landed just above both of my kneecaps. The pain was slight, but fortunately 4 other officers who were at the end of their shifts saw the whole thing. I threw her legs back and closed the door. Next time, it will be easier. If people actively resist, they're either getting a knee-strike or pepper spray. End of story. The only reason I didn't was because it was in a public place and she was a female. Next time it will be different. This time, however, she was charged not only with disorderly intoxication, but battery on law enforcement officer, resisting with violence, and was trespassed from the establishment.

I love my career and I love going to work every day.