Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Law Lessons ~ Moving On

I’m sad I'm done with my Citizen’s Police Academy classes. Not only was it informative and fun, but it has so, so given me a deep respect for these men and women who keep our community safe. If you are a law enforcement officer and happen to stumble upon this post, thank you. I think that when we (the clueless citizens of the world) feel safe and can sleep well at night we kind of take for granted that someone is making that possible.

Since Memorial Day is coming, and since it’s fresh on my mind… here is my shout out to all military and service professionals and volunteers who clean up our lives, keep us safe, and provide a life that we Americans expect and demand. Thank you for the price you have been willing to pay. And forgive us for being ignorant and ridiculous and selfish. Because we are all of those things. I hope that I will be a lot less all of the above after sitting through this class.

Thank you for working while we sleep (literally) and while we are away from our homes and while we are on the roads. Thank you for being gutsy enough to take the crap that is dished out, and strong enough not to retaliate with the power you’ve been entrusted with. Thank you for silently watching wherever you go. Thank you for suffering in that silence when you observe and experience the seamy ugliness of the depraved and broken human soul. Thank you for being willing to do this day after day, not knowing what you will encounter.

Thank you for being the grown up, the adult, the voice of reason and actually caring about the outcome in so many “reality television show” type dramas. Thank you for stopping speeders and red light runners. Thank you for stopping drivers who weave around in traffic whether they are under the influence of texting or talking, alcohol or drugs, or even just stupidity. Thank you for attempting to teach and redirect those who don’t know how to parent or be in a relationship with someone else. Thank you for showing up and being men and women of honor and integrity. Thank you for taking a hit and standing back up again willing yourself to heal so you can reenter the game.

Thank you.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Law Lessons Unleashed...

Thursday evening, the last hands-on CPA (Citizen’s Police Academy) class, found us pulling up in front of a local Jr High school.

 

I was on high alert.

Our mission was to think like a law enforcement officer…to take what we’d learned and try it on for size in two different scenarios.

 

First, I must say the school parking lot was a bit scary. A cruiser, an officer in full gear, and dozens of concert goers who filed by as they worked their way to the other side of the school. Unbeknownst to them, they could’ve been in danger. But, we were on the scene instilling peace and a sense of calm.

Our tasks for the night. As teams we would take on an unknown number of assailants who had broken into the school and were possibly hiding in the darkened multi-room school wing. Our goal, to make it out alive, and apprehend the criminals. The second assignment, equally challenging, enter an unknown situation where there had been a report of an intense fight. Goal. Assess the scene and secure it (Make sure all weapons are out of the reach of out of control suspects.) Determine if an assault occurred, if it was between domestic partners and to apprehend the primary aggressor. Cake. Right? Ha. Ha. Not so much little Grasshopper.

My Domestic Violence scenario ended with me making a false arrest. The man was a complete jerk, controlling his wife, intimidating her, throwing out sickly sweet excuses, while she cowered in the corner. They were married. One of three criteria met, found out through questioning the suspects. My partner and I each took a party and questioned them. Then we switched. We were told to keep an eye on our partner and try to minimize eye contact between the parties (this is really important cuz controllers is going to control...and they use whatever means they have, and it's really difficult to pull off, too). This is where my partner and I started to slide south. The woman had a bruise on the side of her face. The story was that she slipped and fell hitting her face on the floor. When I got her turned so she faced me, not him, she told me she was afraid…that she’d never be able to get away from him. He acted super concerned and just wanted to take care of his sweet, clumsy wife. Based on the evidence we arrested him. And then the actors, who were cops, asked us why we made the decision to arrest.

Because he was a controlling, abusive, jerk I told the detective who had played the controlling, abusive jerk. (I may actually have said he was a jackass). It was a J-word. Wrong. She never once told either of us that he’d hit her. She told the same story about falling. Lie? Yes. Jerk? Yes. Danger? Yes. But, we had nothing to go on. Frustrating? Yes. Based on a real scenario? Yes. The comic relief scenario was the couple who were loudly celebrating their anniversary by playing quarters. She had dropped one and fell off the chair retrieving it. When the officers arrived she was a mess. But there was no abuse going on, just a “good” time. I’m guessing til the morning anyway.

Then we were taken to the hallway where, two by two we entered a dark bank of offices. While waiting we heard a lot of screaming from classmates who were trying out their investigative knowledge. A lot of screaming. We were the third group in. When we entered we had to choose left or right. As we did so, way back in the dark, dark hallway a man screamed. “Come on! Come and get me!” He threw a knife at us and disappeared into the darkest room I’ve ever seen. While we decided whether to move forward to capture him, or back to look for other bad guys another man jumped us from behind and stabbed us. Apparently we did some screaming, or so the officer who was our tour guide hooted, several times.

Since we’d barely gotten through the door, the overseeing police officer, after laughing hysterically for several moments, resurrected us so we could apprehend ourselves a crazy bad guy. Yeah. Thanks, Officer Ron. So we stealthily checked each room. High and low. In and under. Finally. No one else jumped out at us, and faced the last room. The darkest room had to be the place the crazy guy hid. We opened cupboards, looked under the table, crept around the outside parameter. Finally, we faced the midnight black double door closet. One door yawned open spilling the inky darkness that nibbled up all the light from our feeble flashlights. I looked carefully over my shoulder and gripped my rubber gun a bit tighter. A clang rang out from the silence followed immediately by a couple of blood curdling screams and snickers. Glad someone was having fun. I took charge and motioned my partner right and I went left and tried to jerk the door open. Locked. She screamed, “Come out with your hands up!” More clanging and the closet spilled the knife throwing monster. “Get down! Down on the floor!” Thankfully, he complied. I shrieked “Is that a knife hanging out of his pants?!?” The helpful Officer Ron, AKA Officer Giggle, said, "Secure the suspect, search him for weapons!"

Poor & started patting him down. After removing the obvious large knife in his jeans she found a switchblade. Finally, when the suspect groaned. “I’m not a bongo.” she stopped. Success…except for the unfortunate knifing early in the incident…and the screaming like little girls...at least I didn’t wet my pants. I can hold my head up.

So, citizen’s of my city and the surrounding ones. Be very grateful that I am not one of the city’s finest, and be grateful for the ones you have.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Law Lessons ~ Go Ahead Make My Day, Punk

I'm just going to put this out there. Suffer the consequences, take responsibility for my actions. 

Unload my soul.

Thursday, I killed a man.

It wasn't pretty. It was a slow, likely painful death. First shot right in the chest...but as I aimed and kept shooting the gun dropped on each following shot. After the chest shot he was still standing and he still had his gun pointed right at me. So I shot him through one of his wife-beater encased love handles then smack dab in the middle of his thigh. He must have been on meth because he kept staring unbelievingly at me, and aiming his blasted gun at my face. Like he was shocked I could actually do it. Finally, I hit him with a few gut shots. 

It was him or me. 

When it was all over my hands shook a bit as I handed in the Glock. I hurried back to safety so quickly I forgot some important paperwork. On the other hand, & was fist-bumped into the good ole boys club. She nailed every shot in a nice tight, controlled manner. Her guy didn't linger. Oh, no. Of course, she would've been in big trouble for the nice shooting had he really been flesh and blood since she stopped him in his tracks with one well-aimed squeeze of the trigger. Her trainer said she was the best shot of the night (well, at the time she was and there were only a few after her, had to throw in that disclaimer). She even went back for a few more rounds with the police assault rifle. Nailed it. AGAIN.

This coming week we get to put into play some of the sweet information we received during the past ten weeks of Citizen's Police Academy. We will get a call into a tense and unknown situation and will get to involve ourselves in a domestic disturbance reenactment. Information of great importance as stressed last week. Secure the location, assess the need for medical assistance and make that call, and separate domestic partners from each other. 

Other helpful information. Never become a close talker even if someone is whispering their little heart out. Close talkers can lose their gun and their life. Never let someone sit where they may have stashed something that could be used as a weapon. And always make sure your back is not exposed to someone who may have access to a baseball bat.

I'm sure I'll do just great. What could go wrong? Besides, I've got a sharp-shooter as a partner.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Lessons from the Law ~ Woof, Doggie ~Dog

Drug dogs are a fascinating topic.

Our little guy, I’ll call him Buddy, to protect the innocent, :  ) came strolling into class Thursday night looking nothing like a vicious dog. He basically fixated on his toy during the officer’s Q and A with the class. And often jumped up for some quality time with his policeman. 

Buddy is trained in three areas. Two of those include biting. Shudder. Let’s just say, whatever you are packing, whether it’s a pocket full of dog treats or 3 grams of cocaine, the last thing you want to do is run. Not only is Buddy fast, he’s smart. 

The officer pointed out something else I had never considered. Buddy’s jaw is uber powerful. Police dogs work out their jaw muscles, and Buddy’s are ripped, or will rip a few pounds of flesh if you get on his wrong side.

Buddy didn’t just stare and army crawl creep toward his toy, he shed. A lot. The officer’s right side was covered in dog hair, as was the floor where Buddy hung out.

A dog’s sense of smell is crazy good. Buddy can smell the tiniest residue of drugs and is rewarded for finds with play time. Buddy is also multilingual. His commands are in a couple different languages. Makes sense. One of my classmates is a lawyer who thought she’d stump our dog-management officer with some recent legal issues that popped up for a dog handler in another state. She ended up asking a condescending question and then blushed when the officer not only answered her question, he did so in her legal language and subtly put her in her place. Ha. Ha.

The second speaker of the night was “the” traffic cop. Close to retiring, this was his last class, and he reminded me of the movie/television stereotype of the wiry, rugged cop with the glint in his eye and the generous sense of humor. He walked us through a drunk driving arrest. And the tests. Magic drunk goggles (not to be confused with beer goggles) were produced which a few crazy individuals donned while attempting to complete the physical tests With the simulated legal limit and double legal limit goggles, there were some hilarious results. Of course, the reality of someone driving under the same conditions is horrifying. The highest blood alcohol he has personally seen is 4.8. Only a true alcoholic could boast that number, it's a deadly blood alcohol cocktail.

I also was reminded that traffic stops can be one of the most tense and deadly type of police work. An officer never knows what he/she will find when dealing with a stop. If you are pulled over, one of the more threatening things you can do is go for your glove compartment. They prefer that you keep your hands on the wheel at 10 and 2 and wait to be instructed to hand over your license and registration. Tinted windows are an unknown and dangerous thing that puts a police officer on high alert. If they can't see what's going on in the car they have to be prepared to react to the worst case scenario.

Give police officers a break, if they seem stressed or a bit intense when they pull you over, be kind and respectful, their jobs are stressful and intense, even over something as minor as catching you doing something stupid.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Law Lessons ~ Murder, Mess and Crime Scene Investigations

What we learned at Citizen's Police Academy...well, two pages of notes later, writing as fast as I could, I say quite a bit.

I asked & and she said she learned that what you see on television is not necessarily true. And she's bummed. I think she's kidding. However, there is some truth in her statement.

We had the detective division and Crime scene investigation question and answer session last night.

In a word, fascinating. But, maybe not so fascinating that it can turn into a hit television series.

The detectives are called in when there is a reason that the uniform division can't clear up a case or situation. An obvious example would be a corpse and no clear reason to assume natural death, or the evidence of a violent death. The detective stated that when they are called in, they assume guilt and that a crime has been committed until evidence shows otherwise.

The majority of the detective's time is spent in interviewing and questioning. The detective spends a whole lot of time on this for some cases. Our local team of detectives is broken into divisions, and they each juggle twenty-five cases (give or take) a month, and each case may take a few to several months to dot all the i's and cross all the t's. Oh, and the average case may contain something alone the lines of 3000 pieces of paper. (Reports, findings, documentation.) He said when things get really crazy he'll have to ask return phone calls which case they are involved with. 

We went through the details of a solved murder case. From the two 9-1-1 calls, to the crime scene photographs, to some important clues, we saw the overview of the process the detectives went through. The lecturer was kind enough to remove the slides that showed the eviscerated gut of the victim. We all learned a very special lesson about Miranda laws, too. However, the killer had loose lips with more than just the arresting officer, and his confession was admissible in the court of law...since he'd told several people about his conquest, walked around in public with blood on his clothes, and a knife hanging out of his waistband.

The next topic of the evening was crime scene investigation. Once again, not real glamorous. The majority of her job is photographing, photographing, photographing. She told us that shows like CSI are entertaining. Really entertaining. But they often depict one person doing the job of ten different people. And shows like that help the public to expect miracles. Crime scene handling has more down and gritty leg work than miracles. And fingerprinting...well, it's great if they can get em and there are lots of variables and science involved in getting one. 

One of her more surprising comments was that she thought she could handle anything without getting rocked when she was going through her master's level courses. Iron gut, a fascination with science and detail, she thought she could be detached and professional. Even though she said she's never had a work related nightmare, she finds that she gets more bothered the more time she's exposed to the harshness of life and death.

Both the Ident-tech (evidence gatherer CSI person) and the detectives mentioned that one never gets used to the smell of a decomposing body. One classmate asked about the Vick's under the nose trick. One of the detectives said that Vick's opens up your sinuses letting more of the stench permeate and that he was told to get a hospital style face mask and put a drop of essential oil inside of it. But, he also said he'd not tried either. On a side note, all the slides of murder scenes showed some pretty pathetic housekeeping issues. One place had tires stacked in the living room. One of our classmates leaned over..."I think your odds of being murdered go way down if you clean your house." So let's all take that to heart.

As for me, I'm pretty sure I'll be content with what I saw tonight. I don't need to see it up close and personal. I'd probably toss some lunch at my first exposure to a bloody tube sock. I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't want to work in the evidence department.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Law Lessons - Tunneling and Dead Ends ~

A few more thoughts on my Citizen Police Academy time. 

There is so much information and most of it is fascinating. 

One day's coverage was not enough for last week's class. 

I'll have more facts and stories tonight. I believe we are going to pick the brains of CSI. (sorry for the really icky pun...but now that I've made it, I must share.) 

But....here's what else I picked up last week.... Can someone die of extreme shock, a broken heart, surges of adrenaline? I learned about a couple of infrequent but “they happen” scenarios via my Citizen’s Police Academy class. 

Our officers are given tools to help them do their jobs. One of those tools is reading people, situations, body language and other signs. Some examples of this training -- our police officers are required to get blasted with pepper spray so they can develop the ability to work through the pain. Often pepper spray, when aimed at a perpetrator, is going to blow right back into the officer’s face. They need to be able to deal with those sensations and not lose their heads. A police officer is very aware that if they lose their heads lives could be at stake. 

In their preparation they are are also trained to recognize things about themselves and others. Tunnel vision is something real and they are given skills to keep ahead of the mind altering results. In the midst of extreme noise, activity and uber sensory overload the mind will funnel information and block some out. One officer told of a moment of tunnel vision that ended up giving him nightmares. It was a dark night, a tense negation with an armed man. A cruiser shone a spotlight on the suspect's face and the suspect took it up a notch to horror level extremes. The policeman who told the story said that his mind literally closed off all sound and any peripheral vision and he was riveted to the visual spotlight in front of him. When the shot was fired, the officer saw the effects, heard nothing and didn’t know where the shot had come from. He even wondered if he’d shot the man, not understanding until several minutes later that he'd witnessed a suicide. 

Another bizarre condition is called excited delirium. This doesn’t affect the officers, other than complicate their lives. Middle aged men, who have an addiction to alcohol or drugs, who have a big beer belly and the perfect storm of stress, have been known to literally drop dead. When a police officer encounters a man who fits that profile, they are very aware of this type of possible sudden death. Imagine the paper work scenario involved in a death during an arrest. A piece of brain tissue has to be sent out to a specific lab to confirm this diagnosis. It’s real enough that they are schooled about the possibility bizarre as it sounds. 

Our police are also trained extensively on the use of handcuffs. Apparently this is extremely important. I'm so naive. Less so now. Kinda

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Law Lesson...Glad I Passed...

Friday the 13th is an appropriate time to post these pictures. 

Last night's Citizen Police Academy topic was tasing. Two volunteers jumped at the chance and did not chicken out...even though they had to sit through explanations and videos and loads of stories. I'm thinking the horrific picture quality adds a splash of surreality to the whole thing, don't you?


& is out of town so I went alone to class. Part of me is secretly glad for this fact. Because had she been there, we might have talked each other into a mother daughter tasing moment. Well, maybe. I actually got a little queasy when I saw the tasing ends that they actually use on criminals. They look a lot like fish hooks.

Seriously, fish hooks. 


The volunteers got the testing ends that don't hook, they just leave little burn marks. Oh. Well, in that case, sign me up.


Why tasing? The instructor explained how effective it really is. The alternatives to using it all have the potential for greater consequences. Is it better to risk breaking someone's arm because they are fighting? Risking an officer's injury and recovery process, the safety of bystanders, greater risk of damage to property, and in really ugly situations death? With a taser, vicious or panicked animals can be subdued, imminent suicides can be prevented, lives saved and it's almost as simple as five seconds of pain and paralysis with no after effects. Makes sense. He shared some stories where lives were saved because the more debilitating control measures did not have to be taken. And had those measures been used, the costs would've skyrocketed. 


Interesting little tool I don't want to meet up and personal, ya know?

Scribbles and Scrambles Citizen's Police Academy ~ EST

Our SWAT team doesn’t arrive in a big black ATV that belches stealthy, studly killers like we see on movies. Our SWAT team members each have a day job. Whether it’s being a detective plodding through the required paperwork that makes up the majority of his job. Or as a sergeant who gets to review all the red-light runners video footage, these guys put in their time. But when THE phone call comes they spring into action.

Action might mean, as it did a couple weeks ago, standing in place for nine hours, watching a garage door. Not exactly what you see on television. Okay, he was given hourly five-ten minute pee breaks. Oh, while watching the garage door for any sign that the armed man inside might be making a deadly move, said officer was holding a body shield. This weighed about twenty pounds, if I remember my number correctly, and had to be held at an awkward angle to protect himself from any stray or intended bullets. Oh, and he also wore a sixty pound vest. The vest was passed around the room, and though I consider myself to be a pretty strong female, it was a challenge to lift it. He wore it for nine hours...plus he also had weapons…and let’s not forget the shield. Then when the situation was safely neutralized he then got to jump into the required paperwork.

Our SWAT team is called EST (Emergency Services Team). They are summoned for high-risk situations, depending on when they occur. Three a.m. or 3:00 p.m. makes no difference. They are also scheduled for high-risk search warrants. The team is made up of team players, no lone wolf gun men are “hired” because without trust in each other the team is handicapped. Rigorous training and testing is required to make the team. These officers are no doughnut eating stereotype. They are fully loaded professionals who carry their weight, the weight of others and sometimes the weight of the world. And lest you think the game is all physical think again, it’s mental, too. The commander has to assess situations, make decisions and has to consider the full consequence of their choices, and that the actions of their team may land them in hot water and in front of a grand jury. And they need to know that an order will be followed without question by the officer who receives it. For example, a flash bomb or distraction device is generally a non-lethal, lots of noise, shock and awe tool. But to deploy one requires answers and those answers better be acceptable to the powers that be.

If you ever have wondered why, in hind sight and with the limited facts given to we civilians, a better decision was not made, the above paragraph is your answer.

The EST members told a story of a stand off that ended with the perpetrator’s death. The guy had been slippery for months, hiding in special places that were booby trapped and loaded with  days worth of supplies, food and drugs. He’d set up a compound that was going to be one of those the media talks about for days, weeks, months if it was not neutralized. The team was called in and they used the stealthy approach of over land and through a creek bed. When there was a clear shot and the perpetrator was heading for a room full of fire power he was taken down. And the department was raked over the legal coals. The "victim" had not been actively shooting at the moment, just headed for the literal big gun.

Bottom line. This job is one that requires a grown-up with guts.

And for those of you who wondered about the nasty looking flesh-eating hook. It’s a break and rake. The point breaks windows, the hook rips out mini-blinds and curtains etc. so the guys can do their work. I know. I thought it was something really scary.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Monday Thoughts...

I can't do a write-up of the Citizen's Police Academy quite yet. It's been a crazy few days. And I definitely don't want to do a too quick overview of a fascinating night. Here are some pictures. Expect a few stories tomorrow. 

Michelle expects my male character building skills will grow after this Citizen's Police Academy. I think she might be right. After all, my level of respect and admiration have grown considerably. The men we've encountered are polite, friendly and take their jobs and the safety of the citizens in our city very seriously.

 

Gotta fly...

And, can anyone guess what the wicked looking hook is used for?  

Scraps and Snippets ~ Kickin Cauliflower and The Art of Hostage Negotiations...

Kickin Cauliflower

I head of cauliflower

1/3 cup peanut or almond butter

1/3 cup hot sauce (I used TJ's)

1/3 cup Tamari (soy sauce)

Mix all three liquids together in a small to medium crock pot. Break the cauliflower up into small pieces and toss them into the sauce and stir until all are coated. Cook on low for 3 hours or so. This is SPICY. 

I was inspired by Peas and Thank You's cauliflower recipe. But lazy...and wanted to use my crockpot. This is so spicy. If you like hot, give it a shot. 

Thursday Citizen's Police Academy...

Hostage negotiation and becoming a police officer.

Our fourth night learning all about law enforcement in our fair city was as fascinating as the rest of them have been. The Lt of the hostage negotiating team explained how to talk people down from some pretty horrifying thought processes. 

There are apparently two major schools of thought on negotiating. The NY style (as in New York) is the talk until the situation is resolved style. Talk. Talk. Talk. The LA style (bet you can figure that one out) is shock and awe. He mentioned a large SWAT truck with a smiley face on the front driving through walls and taking care of the problem. Our city prefers the NY gentle version of handling conflict. I’m thinking talking to a crazed person might be as scary as a monster truck making a drive thru window out of a wall. The LA style might be cheaper, though,  some talk-a-thons take HOURS. Sometimes there are fails, no matter how they try. They lost a negotiating phone to gunshot wound when the would-be suicide decided to go ahead and follow through. The truck route wouldn’t have likely stopped that outcome, either.

Becoming a police officer. Starts out pretty benign. A physical test that borders on ridiculously simple. Our instructor assured every one in the room, including the sixty-year-olds, would be able to pass it. 

The written test with it’s thirteen pages certainly separates the men from the boys and the girls from the women. Pass that and the wannabe gets to run the city’s pet and ramped up version of the physical test. 

Pass that and it’s on to the oral interview. Survive? Moving into the psych evaluation and the lie detector test. When that’s all said and done and the wannabe is still one of the few standing, they get a conditional “offer” then a physical. 

After 14 weeks at the Iowa law enforcement academy they return to do two more weeks of intensive training to be one of our city’s finest. Finally a cop? Sure, after 17 more weeks of Field Training…and a year of probation. No wonder a hundred applications nets two to three keepers.

I’m thinking if most law enforcement agencies require half of what ours does, our police officers really want to make a difference and are well equipped to make our streets safe.