True Witness Statements

(Keep in mind, these witnesses are old enough to be in high school. We are still trying to figure out what the complaint was and what crime was committed. Anyone?.... Anyone?...)

Witness #1

Witness #2

Taser Taser Taser

Taser Certification Day

Taser X26

... Yep, thats me!

Snow Parking

Our city has a snow parking regulation. Between November and March, no one is to park on the street so the plows can remove the snow. Flyers were sent out to every car parked on the roads before November, as well as a flyer mailed to every household accompanying the city utility bills. Needless to say, every resident was notified of the parking regulation.

Interestingly enough this has been a mild year. There wasn't enough snow fall to call out the plows. Just as a note, our city won't call out the plows if there isn't a single snow fall of at least 3 inches at one time. The city is pretty easy going and downs enforce the parking regulation if there isn't any snow on the ground. No snow, no plows. We did have two days where the plows were called out to clear the roads. The chief instructed me to find the owners of all the cars parked on the roads and have them move their vehicles. If the owners were not available, I was to write the car a parking ticket in violation of snow parking.

The plows would push the snow near the edge of the roads. If there was a parked car we couldn't get moved, the plow wasn't shy about plowing around them, so that it piled, around that vehicle. It was a little humorous to watch people dig their cars out... I tried to warn them.

At one point,  I saw a car parked on the side of the road, still running. I must have just arrived and would only be there for a moment. I looked down the road and realized that they didn't have a moment, the snow plow was cruising our direction, I wanted to give him a heads up. I saw the vehicle's driver was outside. I stopped near his car and motioned for him to speak with me. He lifted his index finger indicating he will be there in a minute. He didn't have a minute, not wanting to get plowed in, I left. After a few minutes of driving around I returned to the location of that vehicle and saw it's driver and passenger's trying to dig the car out. They didn't move in time and the plow put a foot of snow around their small car. I tried to warn them.

While covering the entire town searching for vehicle owners, I would make the occasional traffic stop when some one was squirreling around on the icy roads.

On one particular stop, I was a vehicle that decided it was fun to slide around corners and endanger other people on the road. I turned on my overhead lights and stopped the vehicle near the side of the road. After I collected the drivers information and returned to my car I saw the plow approaching... The plow wasn't slowing down and it was still pushing snow. Surely he sees my lights, will lift the plow blade, and go around me. I kept my eye on the plow, he did go around me, but he pushed a foot of snow up against my vehicle and up against the vehicle I stopped.

Here I am telling some one to drive better... now hopefully I don't need his help to get out. This is embarrassing. He has an all wheel drive vehicle. My car is a rear wheel drive, V8, with low profile rain tires.

I tromped through the foot of snow back to the vehicle I pulled over. I gave the driver his information back with a warning not to ding around on the roads. I returned to my vehicle and waited for him to leave... hoping I could use his tracks to drive in and get out without getting stuck. He pulled away and my plan worked.

I learned that our plow drivers have no mercy. If you're in their way, you're getting plowed in.

Valentines Day DUI

On this beautiful Valentines Day, my family and I took advantage of the weather to play outside. The boys and I kicked the ball around the yard and threw small rocks into a puddle. I noticed a white Ford truck with Wyoming plates pulled over against the side walk in front of our driveway. The female passenger signaled for me to talk with them. I walked over the truck and the older male driver asked the directions to the fairgrounds. As I gave the directions to the fairgrounds, I saw the driver put his arm on the center console covering what appeared to be an open beer can. 

After I explained how to get to the fairgrounds, I asked the driver if he has been drinking and driving. He asked what I meant. I pointed out that his arm is covering a beer can. He lifted his arm and revealing the open beer can. The driver said the can was his wife's beverage. I advised him that an open alcoholic container is illegal in the State of Idaho. I also, introduced myself as a police officer for my city. I instructed him not to leave until a uniformed officer arrived. At this point, the driver admitted to drinking a portion of the beer. I asked him to give me his drivers license. The driver turned off the truck and handed me his drivers license. I dialed 911, told them who I was, stated that I had a possible DUI, and that I needed an officer to my location ASAP. 

Two officers from my department arrived and investigated the matter further. They had the driver exit his vehicle and participate in the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) (roadside olympics). However, after the an officer checked the driver for the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, he did not find enough evidence to continue the SFSTs. The officer removed the open container then dumped it out on the road and destroyed the can (all of this is done in front of the patrol vehicle's video camera to document the proof). The officer had the driver return to this vehicle while a citation was filled out. 

The driver was charged with Open Container, a misdemeanor in Idaho. 

Happy Valentines Day.  

Vehicle Fire

I was driving down one of the main roads as I looked down a smaller back road and noticed a plume of smoke. Not thinking much of it I continued on down the road. Then it hit me, why is there a huge plume of smoke coming from the gas station? I turned around and drove down that back road toward the gas station. I saw a car in the gas station parking lot smoking form the engine compartment. There were a couple people standing close by watching the car smoke. I saw a fire extinguisher lying empty in the parking lot. None of the people standing there called 911 to report a potential car fire. Maybe they just wanted to watch it burn. I parked my car at an angle blocking the road way. I called my dispatcher on the radio and reported a car fire. I also advised that they needed to dispatch the fire department. My Chief arrived with his police truck. He attached a tow rope from his truck the the smoking car and pulled it away from the gas station building. As he did, the cars engine compartment burst in to flames. He towed the car to the middle of the road and retrieved his tow rope. It was still a few minutes before the fire department arrived. As we waited the flames grew bigger and bigger. It looked pretty cool.

I asked the owner of the vehicle what had happened. He stated that he didn't know. He works as a cashier at the gas station. A customer came in and said that there was a white car in the parking lot with ton of smoke coming from it. Knowing that there were electrical issues with his car, the gas station cashier walked out to find his car was engulfed in smoke.

The fire department arrived and extinguished the flames. Luckily no one was hurt. Thanks to the Chief, he saved the gas station from burning down by pulling the car away from the building. I found it odd that no one called 911. They all just stood to watch it. 

Introduction

These are true stories of the police. Rather, these are real situations I experience everyday as a police officer. I joined the police department as a patrol officer in November of 2014. I knew what I wanted to expect as a police officer, driving fast cars with lights and sirens, getting paid to shoot guns, and chasing after the bad guy. I quickly found out, those expectations are only a small portion of the reality of working in law enforcement. 

The worst term for a day in law enforcement is "Routine." As most cops know, it takes many hats to be a police officer. You can be a councelor, a nurse, a traffic cop, an office administrator, an accountant, and a racecar driver all within a single shift.

I joined this line of work for many reasons. One of those reasons is for the ever changing day. No two days are the same. In a single night I have gone from a domestic violence call, to a bank alarm, then to a shooting. On another shift, the night seemed calm until a kid knocked himself out playing hide and seek then to a report of a female who was being tied up and lit on fire. "Routine" is a terrible term.

Names are changed for the safety and privacy of those involved.

Please enjoy these True Stories of the Police

This a patrol car in our fleet. Its a pretty nice picture. This is not my car. My patrol vehicle has a slick top. A slick top does not have the lights on the top of the vehicle. The lights are installed behind the windshield, grill, and rear window. You may call it an undercover police car, although I have the same stickers on the side of my vehicle as the one in this photo.