While I love my job and the opportunities, there are occasional days when I miss the fun of being just a "regular cop." I read the posts by Momma Fargo and some of the others and am reminded of the joy in playing the game on traffic stops or pedestrian approaches, finding people who need to go to jail and all the other joys of field work.
So - today I was on my way out to help with teaching a class at the range when a car comes screaming by me doing triple digits on the interstate. After a brief pause to make sure I'm not insane, that I am still driving a big truck with POLICE on it in rather obvious letters, I move in behind them as they continue to speed down the road. A short traffic stop later & we are of course playing the "I don't have a license" game, along with the two occupants having completely different stories about destinations, routes and all such things. Add a bit of alcohol to the mix and things are just tons of fun.
Even though I'm not in the same practice as a few years ago I still remember how to play this whole game well enough. Big surprise when I find the crack and weed in the car (especially when she swore up and down that there was nothing to be found, honest officer!) - then it's the "That's not my purse, well I share it with other people." etc. etc. etc.
It still amazes me how people will try this stuff, even when caught red handed.
What caught me even more was when the lady in question then tried to pass the drugs off on her son who was with her - yes, she was willing to throw her son under the bus for several felony charges, just to get out of her own trouble.
W. T. F. ??????????
Our society has reached that point? I'm not overly naive about this stuff after the years, but it still amazes me the influence that drugs will have on people and the depths to which they will sink. It makes me glad I do my bits here and there to clean some of it up.
Plus, it was nice to know that my skills aren't completely shot.
ADDENDUM:
Was just recalling as well the other bit of interest to me. One of our relatively newer guys showed up at the jail the same time as I was, and of course we were comparing "Why are you here?" tales. His response to my tale being "Why can't I get that lucky?" I really couldn't answer beyond just saying it was a "right place at the right time" kind of thing.
It just seems interesting to me how some newer guys don't realize how this all works. Over the years I've encountered literally thousands of people, either on traffic stops or service calls. Some of them I've had the opportunity to simply talk with, some got tickets, some got arrested. Sure, I've found drugs, illegal guns, murderers and a host of other things. But I've also encountered far more people who were simply normal citizens going about their lives, people who I never had any further interest in or need to arrest. It's a numbers game - you take the time to run into people, particularly in the high crime areas, and you're bound to found more who need to be arrested. It doesn't fall into your lap, it's not some magic trick, or some secret gift. You have to make the effort to get the results - which is the hardest thing to teach some of the new guys. Just food for thought in police work, or life in general.
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