My First Call..................

I was SO pumped and excited when I hopped in my patrol car for the first shift by myself. I had just completed four months of Field Training; which is where you ride with a senior officer and they criticize and critique your every move. This was one of the most stressful times in my whole life, but that is a story for a different time.

We cleared roll call and I got into my shiny police car (which is old and falling apart but I'm still proud of it.) I started cruising around the city actively looking for violations and I was coming up pretty empty. Just then the radio crackled......10-50 PI Motorcycle versus car. In civilian language, that means traffic accident with injuries. I was not dispatched but I realized that I was only one block away from the scene of the crash. I turned on my lights and siren and floored it.

In the short time that it took for me to arrive, thoughts were rushing through my head from what I would do to all the things I was told in Field Training.

When I arrived on scene, no other cop was there I was totally alone on this one. I immediately heard screams as I approached the victim. He was laying in the grass (having been ejected from the motorcycle) and his sister was lying on top of him screaming. I attempted to get his sister off so I could advise EMS of his condition. When the sister eventually moved I realized that there would no saving this one. The victims face was smashed into the size and shape of a pancake and his upper torso was facing toward the sky while his lower body was snapped completely 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

Finally, several senior officers arrived and we went about securing the scene and doing our business.

I think that the sight of a horrible crash and mangled victim never leave you, no matter how hard you try to put it out of your head. That crash happened on Mother's Day, I could not help but think of the victims mother.

The things that we see in this job can be pretty difficult and you mature quickly. It is not everyday that regular people get to see the result of a motorcycle hitting a brick wall at 120 mph (which is exactly what happened in this wreck.)

Rookie (10-41)

The word rookie means different things to different people; to senior officers it most closely means dipshit. I was told by one officer in roll call recently that I was technically not even deserving of the title, Rookie, until I had at least five years on the job. I have noticed that street people LOVE seeing a "rookie" cop. Most often smartasses will say, "You must be a rookie, cause you ain't got know stripes on yo sleeve."

I do no think that being a rookie is a bad thing because it gives me an excuse to ask dumb questions. The senior cops can laugh and say "he is such a sweet kid" and "what can you expect he is just a rookie."

I realize that there is a strong pecking order in law enforcement and I know where I fall in that. I definitely have a great deal of respect for the old-timers because experience means a whole lot in this career.

One day, I will have stripes on my sleeves and will be able to laugh myself at the new guys. But I am in no hurry because I know there is a lot to learn.