Day Shift!

I was told that I had until the middle of summer before I went back to patrol.  I stopped by the PD to see a Lt. that I respect.  Chief walks in and tells Lt.  that I will be starting his shift on February 26.  I went from having six months to wrap up my investigations to six weeks!  When I talked to Chief four days before it was still June.  The man can't make up his mind, but I don't care.  At least I'm not going to midnights.

Three Down, a Million More to Go!

I got called out today on a lab.  I tried to ignore the call since I wasn't on-call, but apparently they can't function on a lab scene without me.  They sent a patrolman to beat on my door.  What a wonderful way for my wife to wake up on her birthday!  I have decided that it is impossible to ignore a cop knock at six am.  I went to the scene and boy am I glad I did.  My replacement told me that he could handle it but he needed some vials for samples so I took him some.  When I got there he wasn't wearing PPE and was going to sample the lab without it.  He determined it was safe because they hadn't added lithium to the lab yet.  Two things:

1.  Still not safe.

2.  They had added lithium.

It took me fifteen minutes to sample the lab.  I could have saved five minutes by not suiting up, but I believe five minutes of prep is worth not dying of cancer.  What are these guys going to do when I am gone?  I am the only one that insists on safety, and often get made fun of for it.  Safety will go by the wayside once I go back to patrol. On the bright side, maybe I will get to knock on their doors at six am on their wife's birthday soon! At any rate, three more tweakers bagged and tagged.  Go team!

Ugh...

In the infinite wisdom of the jackass I call chief, one must not work in a narcotics unit too long or you will forget how to write wreck reports and harass soccer moms.  The old bastard hasn't hit the streets in twenty years, yet he knows what's best?  There are a few of us in the task force from my department.  He is pulling all of us out.  I really don't understand his reasoning.  We all love what we are doing and are very good at it.  The task force administration has invested thousands of dollars training us and among us we have about thirty years experience, most of which is in narcotics work. Now we will be wasting our talent, training and experience directing school traffic and shaking doors.  Apparently the chief wants to give other guys a shot at the training and experience.  Yeah, right.  Chief, we have friends in your administration.  Guys with whom we have shed blood, sweat and tears.  Did you really think they wouldn't tell us the truth.  We know that you have a couple of "chief's boys" lined up to take our spot.  Hurry up and retire, asshole, or die.  I don't really care which.

New Year, Old Me

I've had a really great time during the holidays this year.  I've spent some good quality time with family and friends, and I have been able to work on some things too.  Now that the holidays are over, it's back to business.  Starting today I am going back to the guy I used to be.  I'm not really making a New Year's resolution.  Nobody ever sticks to those.  They are just public proclamations to make you feel better about yourself.  I am talking about wholesale lifestyle changes.  Here's the plan:

1.       Get back in shape. 

2.       Grow my business.

3.       Stop dressing like a bum.

4.       Worry about myself more.

5.       Hunt tweakers with a vengeance.

Sounds simple enough.  Time to get to work!

Rant on a Pet-Peeve

Why is it that people who argue ignorant points of view in a forum thread insist on ending their argument with the statement "nuff said"?  For one, "nuff" is not a word, or even part of a word.  Using it makes you seem even more ignorant than the ludicrous point you are trying to drive home.  Even properly saying "enough said"  is stupid.  Just because you think your point is the end all, be all of an argument doesn't make it so.  What if another poster has information that you don't, and if you had said information, you would change your point of view?  What if someone agrees with you and could make an intelligent, well written post in support of your claims?  Well now they can't, because you already said "Nuff."  How about instead, you formulate your opinion and place it in coherent sentences, and invite someone to have an intelligent discussion or debate about a topic?   Don't take it personally when someone disagrees with you.  The world would be boring if we all thought the same way.  You may learn something and you may not, but at least you have had a conversation with a stranger and not come off as a douche bag.  And, for gods sakes, if you can't spell or use proper grammar, write your post in Microsoft Word, utilize the spelling and grammar tools and cut and paste it where you want to post it!

I Need a Shower

Four tweakers bagged and tagged today.  Three men and one woman living in a one bedroom, one bathroom shack.  There was only one bed.  I didn't ask, because I don't want to know.  The truth is, though, I already know.  My years in law enforcement have taught me many things, one of which is that if four tweaker dudes live with one tweaker chick, they are all banging her.  Such a sad, sad life for both the woman and the men.  She is someone's daughter and probably a mother a few times over herself.  She has been reduced to whoring herself out to be tossed a few crumbs of dope every now and then.  For what?  She was at a party and a "friend" guaranteed her the time of her life if she would just take a hit?

The men remind me of a Jamey Johnson song, in which he sings, "I had a job and a piece of land / And my sweet wife was my best friend / But I traded that for cocaine and a whore."  They are even worse.  They traded it all for even less.  What do they have?  A one-bed shack that is less than a hotel room?  A whore to pass among themselves?  Friends that rat on them so they can stay out and stay high?  This poison is wrecking our communities. 

I know that the drug war is a war we will never win.  There are too many constraints and too many sympathetic ears.  I am an intelligent guy and the writing is on the wall.  Meth is something else entirely, though.  We don't stand a chance.    The addiction is too strong, the likelihood of addiction is too high. 

Who can really abandon empathy for these people?  I can't.  I've surely tried.  My colleagues all think that I have a "book 'em all and let God sort 'em out" approach to meth labs.  The truth is, I know that they are more likely to get help while staring down the barrel of a fifteen-split-three, than with a few months in drug court or a slap on the wrist possession charge.  I take that approach for their own benefit, whether they know it (or believe it) or not.  Let me make this clear, I don't trump up charges, but if I have probable cause, they take the ride. 

*this was actually posted on 12/11/2010, but I wrote it earlier.

Officer Down

An officer I met died one year ago today. 
    
     Officer, I met you once or twice, but I didn't know you.  Strangely, I shed more tears at your funeral than those of people I knew and loved.  I have always seen tears as a sign of weakness, yet I cried openly, surrounded by my brothers in blue, at your wake.  It was a strange feeling for me.  It almost felt wrong to be so upset over a stranger.  I really wondered why and it was months of self-reflection before I figured it out.  Your death brought reality home.  You were the first cop I ever met that was killed in the line of duty.  Your wife's tears showed me the tears my Angel would cry for me. It forced me to confront my complacent attitude, and modify it.  I had gotten too comfortable and sure of myself.  Your sacrifice has made me more careful.  For that, I am very thankful.  I know that experience has been repeated a hundred times over across the region.  You did not die in vain.  Rest in peace, brother.