The first day as a Field Training Officer I had a new recruit where this was his first day of training. We were working the afternoon/evening shift and we had a fairly busy day, which was good for him to experience. At the end of the shift, we arrested an intoxicated subject in public and it was close to 1 am when we were leaving the jail heading toward the precinct so we could pick up our vehicles and secure for the evening.
We heard two officers marking out at a house where there was a report of a domestic disturbance. After a few minutes we heard one of the officers scream into his mike, “SHOTS FIRED!! SHOTS FIRED!!” I immediately activated our emergency equipment and told my rookie to call his wife because he was not going home tonight.
The residence in question was an upstairs unit of a duplex. If you looked at the home, it had two front doors–one in the middle and the one on the right. The one in the middle belonged to the downstairs unit and the one on the right opened up to a staircase that led to the upstairs unit. The duplex was also on the corner. So as I announced that our unit was en-route, the officer there asked me to drive past the house on the right and take the rear perimeter. As you are looking at the duplex, the two officers were positioned behind their vehicle down the street to the right. I quickly passed the house and turned my wheel sharply to the left to give us cover. We positioned ourselves behind the right side of our cruiser and observed the rear windows of the upstairs residence.
So, as I understood it, they heard arguing and throwing things in the unit upstairs. When officers originally arrived, they went to the staircase on the right. When they were about a third of the way up, the man suddenly opened the door and shot a shotgun over their heads. He then immediately went inside and slammed the door. The officers went running out and that is what we knew at the time. After our negotiator began to talk to the suspect with the shotgun on the phone, it was clear that the woman with him (supposedly his girlfriend) was not free to leave and was, therefore, a hostage.
As time was going on, my recruit and I were getting more and more fatigued. Since it wasn’t mandated back then to wear them, SWAT came around about 3 am and smacked us on the back to make sure we had body armor on. If they discovered we didn’t have them on, they would have moved us to a secondary perimeter position. As we were waiting, the hostage negotiator at that time was trying to get the subject to speak to him further, without much success. About 3:45 am, a couple of members of SWAT came up and told us that they knew we were about half way through the second part of the double shift we were working and asked us if we wanted a break. We said yes, please, so they took our place while we went around the block behind the duplex to get to the command post where they had fresh coffee (yeeessss!!).
The command post was to the left of the house about a block. We had about a 15 minute break when the Captain came up to us and asked, “Can you guys hang a little longer with us?” We said yes, and then he pointed to a small compact car parked on the other side of the street in front of the duplex. He asked, “Do you see where all of the SWAT members with their protective gear, helmets and shields are squatting behind that Neon? That’s where I want you two to be.” So the SWAT members came over to the command post and created a moving shield for us to get over to the vehicle.
It was about 4:30 am when I noticed some movement at one of the top windows. I got on the radio and started reporting what I was observing. I saw the blinds being pulled back by a female. She then opened the window and stepped out of the way. Inside the room was pitch black. All of a sudden there was a blast of light and what sounded to be an explosion. We hit the ground as we heard the shot hit the cinder block building behind us. We were being shot at! Since it was dark, we did not have a clear shot to amply reply in kind. We couldn’t shoot up into the darkness for fear we would hit the hostage. Once I heard the window shut, I peeked over the top of the trunk. The blinds had also been shut. I told my rookie that we were definitely not staying here. I told him that I would cover him and for him to run to the rear of the cinder block building, and when he was there to cover me while I did the same. To make sure no one got injured after the shotgun blast, the Captain ordered a radio roll call where the units would have to give their sign numbers and inform him they were 10-4. When it got to our turn, I told them we were 10-4. The Captain then asked, “Where are you guys? I can’t see anymore.” I replied, “Sir, we discovered we have just as good a view of the front of the residence from the back of the cinder block building. There was a pause, and then when he keyed up the mike we first heard a chuckle and, “That’s a pretty good idea.”
We didn’t get relieved until 8:00 am in the morning and I told my recruit not to come back in the afternoon because he would be too tired to train. He was to report the next afternoon. When I came into roll call then, I walked up to him, shook his hand and told him “Congratulations!” He asked, “For what?” I told him, “You came back.” He replied, ” Yeah, about that. Does this happen every day, where we get shot at?” I chuckled and said, “No, as a matter of fact I had been doing this for years and this is the first time it has happened to me.” So, he decided to stay, and if I’m not mistaken, retired as a Major in our department. Oh, and as far as the hostage, she was able to escape once the guy fell asleep and the SWAT team ended up lofting a smoke grenade inside where the trigger happy subject exited the apartment and was swiftly taken into custody. I’m sure my rookie still remembers his first day on the streets as a police officer. I know I won’t forget it. Time to crank up the washing machine.
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I was dispatched to a domestic assault of an adult brother against his minor sister. Dispatch had warned me that there were no units available to assist. When I arrived I was informed that the adult brother was still living with his parents and siblings. I noticed a slap mark across the sister’s face, and the brother told me he did it because she had said something extremely disrespectful to their mother. I explained to him that it still considered domestic assault and I would have to place him under arrest. He told me he understood. I asked him to then stand up from the couch, turn around and place his hands behind his back. He told me that he was not going to stand. Then immediately, he showed me he was lying by standing up, and then started walking to his room. I told him not to go into the room or I will have to shoot him.
You see, we do not have to KNOW that there are weapons in his room, for, once we do find out, it may be too late for us. He told me, “Well, you’re just going to have to shoot me.” By that time I had alerted dispatch that I needed another unit there urgently. His mother started running to him to get him to comply, but I ordered her away. This was it, I thought. I am actually going to have to shoot this kid. He stopped, looked at me with some determination in his eyes, and then suddenly said, “You know what officer? I think this is the best thing right now because then we can tell the judge how evil and disrespectful my sister is.” And with that, he turned around and placed his hands behind his back. Whew!! He complied the rest of the time and apologized for his behavior. I was so thankful that he did not go into his room that I just charged him with the assault and gave him a break on the obstruction charge.
Contrary to what some people believe about police officers, most do not want to hurt anyone, and it is the nightmare of most to live with the knowledge they had to take someone’s life. However, each law enforcement officer knows in the back of their minds that this is a real possibility.
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I was dispatched one Saturday morning to a home burglary alarm to a residence in the country part of the city. Another officer was heading my way, but it would take him a few. I arrived and went up a long driveway to a large, beautiful, brand new Victorian home. I went to the front door and checked it. I was going around the garage side and rounding the corner to the back yard when I heard a very loud SNORT. I instinctively went for my side arm when I found out that this family has a huge pot belly pig as a pet. I heard the other officer pull up into the gravel driveway and I told him to come around the other side. When he cleared the corner, the pig snorted again and I had to yell, don’t shoot!! Both of us potentially had to go home for some fresh shorts after that.
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This one definitely ranks up in the top three of the shorts stories. I was on patrol, and as was my routine, I went to check on the cashiers of a 24 hour convenience store. This would have been around 1 am on a Friday or Saturday night because I do remember having to shut down a party that night due to the excessive noise. So, I parked on the side of the convenience store, and that was for a reason, which if there are police officers reading this, they understand or should. If, as a police officer, you pull up in front of the store and an armed robbery was taking place, you made it very easy for the armed gunman to shoot you even before you exit the vehicle. The windshield pretty much frames your face and they just have to point the firearm to their right of the windshield. Plus, if something is going on inside, you won’t warn the perpetrators prematurely and allow them to escape or act against you.
So, I was walking around the corner, first observing a vehicle backing up from the far side of the front parking spots where the driver turned the wheel to the left and stopped, where I assumed that he was shifting the gear into drive. I then took my eyes off of the vehicle to start glancing in the window. It was at that time…let me just show you what happened. I apologize for the video quality and that I was actually recording it onto my phone, so it is not completely still, but you will definitely see why I should have needed to go home and change my shorts:
So, the driver was drunk. He backed up properly, but he thought he put it in drive (he didn’t) and he thought he was mashing the brake, but it was the accelerator. I can only say that God was looking out for me that night.
I first made sure all of the occupants were okay. I then checked on the cashiers inside, for the impact was right at the counter where they were standing. Fright turned into anger and I called another officer to come and stay with the occupants still in the vehicle while I sat in my cruiser and calmed down. When the adrenaline subsided and I prayed for patience and forgiveness, I took over the investigation and found the driver to be intoxicated. I then arrested him and placed him in the back of my cruiser.
The defendant asked me while in the back seat how I got there so quickly. I told him that he almost plowed into me. He became upset, crying, because he almost killed a cop. He was a supporter of our department and he was devastated that he could have ended my life. After his court trial, he came up to me and told me that he never forgot the kindness I showed him in spite of the danger he put me in. He informed me that since that night he had not taken another drop of alcohol and is now enrolled in AA. You know, it was a frightening experience, but if it changed the life of this young man, I believe it was worth it.
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