Posted by: Blue
Of the toil of policing, JT quipped the other day: "It's like trying to empty the ocean with a soup can."
Showing posts with label Queue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Queue. Show all posts
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Murders
Posted by: Blue
There were two murders in the city last night. Two districts were tied-up. At one point, I counted 92 dispatchable calls pending in the queue (not including around 100 call for report cars for break and enters and property crimes.
JT and I bounced from call to call, trying to put out fires before they spread before we were chained down to a Mental Health Act (MHA) call that required a hospital wait. That carried us through the last half of the night.
There were two murders in the city last night. Two districts were tied-up. At one point, I counted 92 dispatchable calls pending in the queue (not including around 100 call for report cars for break and enters and property crimes.
JT and I bounced from call to call, trying to put out fires before they spread before we were chained down to a Mental Health Act (MHA) call that required a hospital wait. That carried us through the last half of the night.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Good Friday
Posted by: Blue
Last night was busy. Two arrests before lunch; I cut myself on a window while breaking into a house on a weapons call; seven other calls including a hospital wait and 3 or 4 traffic stops.
I like nights like that. It's the paperwork that I hate. I could arrest people all night long, go to domestics, B&E's, guns, drugs, gangs. I love the job. But that damn paperwork is a killer. Every so often, the powers that be attempt to "streamline" everything by adding some more paperwork. Usually a check-sheet or form. The hardest part of the job is trying to remember what damn forms you need and how to fill them out properly.
But I digress.
Last year, the day after Good Friday was dead. I'm hoping for the same this year to catch up on the unnecessary evil of the paperwork after all of the important things we've been doing.
Last night was busy. Two arrests before lunch; I cut myself on a window while breaking into a house on a weapons call; seven other calls including a hospital wait and 3 or 4 traffic stops.
I like nights like that. It's the paperwork that I hate. I could arrest people all night long, go to domestics, B&E's, guns, drugs, gangs. I love the job. But that damn paperwork is a killer. Every so often, the powers that be attempt to "streamline" everything by adding some more paperwork. Usually a check-sheet or form. The hardest part of the job is trying to remember what damn forms you need and how to fill them out properly.
But I digress.
Last year, the day after Good Friday was dead. I'm hoping for the same this year to catch up on the unnecessary evil of the paperwork after all of the important things we've been doing.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Quiet
Posted by: Blue
Last night was quiet.
Quiet is a bad word. It usually means the bad guys are regrouping and planning a sneak attack.
The longer the quiet time, the more violent the uprising.
But while it was quiet, JT and I were resting, completing paperwork, and shooting the shit with the SGT and the rest of the shift. It was a welcome change of pace for the night shift.
Last night was quiet.
Quiet is a bad word. It usually means the bad guys are regrouping and planning a sneak attack.
The longer the quiet time, the more violent the uprising.
But while it was quiet, JT and I were resting, completing paperwork, and shooting the shit with the SGT and the rest of the shift. It was a welcome change of pace for the night shift.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Answers II
Posted by: Blue
Courtesy of Raindog:
4) Have you been tasered or peppered sprayed in training?
5) What is the type of population that you serve?
6) What is the typical type of calls you field?
4) I was both Tasered and pepper sprayed in training. The Tasering however was only a drive-stun, not the full 5 seconds of riding the lightning with the probes. I hated the pepper spray way more than the Taser. The service would not permit us to be properly Tasered, however I am curious and if they ever start allowing it again, I will be headed back to the academy to volunteer. I really, really hate pepper spray.
5) The population of our city is somewhere close to 700,000. Our district has well over 100,000 people with a 3 car minimum (which is seldom supplemented). There is a 27 car minimum city-wide and 5 districts (soon to be 4), ours being one of the largest in area, and the smallest in cars.
6) We take every type of call imaginable. The highest percentage is definitely Domestics. My partner and I have a penchant for finding missing persons and also for any child-related calls, but we basically just try to take whatever comes our way in the district in an effort to keep ahead of the bad guys.
Courtesy of Raindog:
4) Have you been tasered or peppered sprayed in training?
5) What is the type of population that you serve?
6) What is the typical type of calls you field?
4) I was both Tasered and pepper sprayed in training. The Tasering however was only a drive-stun, not the full 5 seconds of riding the lightning with the probes. I hated the pepper spray way more than the Taser. The service would not permit us to be properly Tasered, however I am curious and if they ever start allowing it again, I will be headed back to the academy to volunteer. I really, really hate pepper spray.
5) The population of our city is somewhere close to 700,000. Our district has well over 100,000 people with a 3 car minimum (which is seldom supplemented). There is a 27 car minimum city-wide and 5 districts (soon to be 4), ours being one of the largest in area, and the smallest in cars.
6) We take every type of call imaginable. The highest percentage is definitely Domestics. My partner and I have a penchant for finding missing persons and also for any child-related calls, but we basically just try to take whatever comes our way in the district in an effort to keep ahead of the bad guys.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Fatigue
Posted by: Blue
Yesterday, I worked all day installing a kitchen and then worked all night in a cruiser.
I fell asleep at around 6:15 a.m. while typing a report. I ended up with two pages of:
"ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff"
I was meant to be on Annual Leave this week but something got messed-up on the schedule so I had to go in to work, but I didn't have another day for at least six weeks when I could put in the cabinets.
When the shift was ending, all 3 night crews in the district were in the station on arrests with 2 of the 3 evening cars held-over (also both grounded in the station), and the city was well-established into a raging inferno of criminal activity and looked to be burning to the ground, metaphorically speaking (literally in the case of a few arson calls). 143 calls in the queue with 9 priority 2's (immediate danger including active assaults in progress). The most I have seen thus far in my career have been 3 or 4 P2's. The dispatcher was calling the Sgt.'s and desperately searching for a crew that could respond. Everyone was tied down.
The Sgt. said we looked like zombies. I said: "Brrraaaaaaiiiiins!!!" and laughed like a hyena. Couldn't help it. It wasn't really funny, but I was giddy with exhaustion. He said he was thinking of sending us out to shag calls but after looking at us, he decided we were more of a liability than an asset out there.
I promised I would be better rested for tonight.
Yesterday, I worked all day installing a kitchen and then worked all night in a cruiser.
I fell asleep at around 6:15 a.m. while typing a report. I ended up with two pages of:
"ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff"
I was meant to be on Annual Leave this week but something got messed-up on the schedule so I had to go in to work, but I didn't have another day for at least six weeks when I could put in the cabinets.
When the shift was ending, all 3 night crews in the district were in the station on arrests with 2 of the 3 evening cars held-over (also both grounded in the station), and the city was well-established into a raging inferno of criminal activity and looked to be burning to the ground, metaphorically speaking (literally in the case of a few arson calls). 143 calls in the queue with 9 priority 2's (immediate danger including active assaults in progress). The most I have seen thus far in my career have been 3 or 4 P2's. The dispatcher was calling the Sgt.'s and desperately searching for a crew that could respond. Everyone was tied down.
The Sgt. said we looked like zombies. I said: "Brrraaaaaaiiiiins!!!" and laughed like a hyena. Couldn't help it. It wasn't really funny, but I was giddy with exhaustion. He said he was thinking of sending us out to shag calls but after looking at us, he decided we were more of a liability than an asset out there.
I promised I would be better rested for tonight.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
No Booze
Posted by: Blue
Today we haven't had a call for service all day. The city is eerily quiet.
Yesterday was Good Friday and no booze stores or bars were open.
The crime rate has dropped consistently in parallel with blood alcohol levels.
Today we haven't had a call for service all day. The city is eerily quiet.
Yesterday was Good Friday and no booze stores or bars were open.
The crime rate has dropped consistently in parallel with blood alcohol levels.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Day Shift: Tour # 2
Posted by: Blue
Today was traffic court. For my partner. He told me to find something better to do with my time than sit around waiting for him.
I took the car a few blocks over and met for breakfast with another half of a cruiser car, a school resource officer, and a guy out of a specialty unit in one of the districts to the South of us.
I like breakfast. It's my favourite meal to eat at a restaurant. But our household is on a tight budget with the new career and the new cut in pay that comes with it. I just had a water.
Now, just so you know I didn't do nothing all day, the rest of my day was filled with:
Tomorrow we will see how the weekend is going to start.
Today was traffic court. For my partner. He told me to find something better to do with my time than sit around waiting for him.
I took the car a few blocks over and met for breakfast with another half of a cruiser car, a school resource officer, and a guy out of a specialty unit in one of the districts to the South of us.
I like breakfast. It's my favourite meal to eat at a restaurant. But our household is on a tight budget with the new career and the new cut in pay that comes with it. I just had a water.
Now, just so you know I didn't do nothing all day, the rest of my day was filled with:
- Info on a Warrant: Probation Officer called it in. While enroute, the suspect left the dispatch location. Another unit picked him up. We showed up, with another unit and the supervisor. The unit who had found him had court in twenty minutes. I played "paper/rock/scissors" with the third unit to see who would process him on the warrant. They lost.
- Suicide Threat: Other end of the city. Mom called concerned about her daughter. Daughter was fine, just mad at mom because mom was threatening to stop paying her bills. We told her not to text her mom things like "maybe I'll just kill myself" just to get her mad. Then we called Child and Family Services from the car to notify them that this mother might just need a little bit of care as she seemed to be overwhelmed with her children as a single parent. When we returned to give her some resources and phone numbers, she slammed the door in our faces, telling us "not to bother her with that stuff".
- Wellbeing Check: Assigned as we were cruising by right after clearing the Suicide Threat. Suddenly cleared before arrival by dispatch, sent back across the city for a high priority Domestic Dispute. Cleared again by dispatch five minutes later and half-way there, put back on our Wellbeing Check. Arrived shortly thereafter, female complainant gone. Security guard on scene advised she had been "tripping out", running around naked. They kicked her out. She left on the bus. We checked all of her known hang-outs, no luck.
- Traffic Stop: On the way back to the station to type all of our paper. The driver passed a bus in the oncoming lane while it was picking up passengers, narrowly missing an SUV directly in front of our cruiser. I was going to tag her fiercely, but my partner convinced me to give her a warning because of her sterling driving record. I conceded, and just wagged my finger for a while before telling her to thank my partner for the break. She did. Sincerely.
- Report Writing: By the end of the day we both had a few reports to write, including a couple from yesterday. I finished 12 minutes after quitting time.
Tomorrow we will see how the weekend is going to start.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Manipulating the System
Posted by: Blue
Two nights ago, I arrested a gentleman who was on charge for beating up his girlfriend. The girlfriend had returned to stay with him after his release from custody, along with her two young children.
The only way he was released from custody prior to the trial was to agree in front of a judge that he would live at a specific address (with his foster parents), not have any communication whatsoever with the victim, and if he did move, he was to notify the courts of his change of address prior to moving.
The 911 call came in as 2 young girls who were hiding at the neighbours house after their mother's boyfriend had smashed a door in the apartment.
The mother had left the girls in the boyfriend's care. He was gone when we arrived, with only his roommate left in the house.
The girls were frightened and didn't know where their mother was or how to find her. After searching for other family members that they could stay with to no avail, we dropped the 8 year old and 12 year old off at Child and Family Services.
Mom phoned 911 drunk and hysterical, suddenly worried about her children's safety (though she didn't seem concerned about them being in the care of the man who had beat her only a month before). I told her she could attend to the CFS location to speak with them about her children's well-being.
We swung back to the house and found that our suspect had returned. He was arrested for Breaching x 2.
He tried every trick in the book to avoid going back to jail. Yelling, screaming, begging, pleading, arguing, reasoning, faking illness, counter-accusing his "ex" girlfriend, threatening our jobs, telling us his mother had died and that that was why he was doing all these bad things.
He was locked-up to await a hearing scheduled for today. Maybe the Judge will buy his stories.
Last night, the queue was quiet. A low-priority domestic was sitting waiting in the line-up. I clicked on it on the laptop. The address jumped out at me. It was originating at the jailhouse.
Our accused was now calling his foster father and telling him how police had attended and not allowed him to get a jacket when he was arrested, dragging him out of his dwelling and leaving the door open for anyone to walk in and steal. Apparently his "ex" girlfriend had taken his cell phone and jacket.
My partner called the foster father and explained the real reason his son was locked-up and the fact that his son was in fact arrested outside his residence, his apartment was left in the care of his esteemed roommate who was told not to let the "ex" girlfriend back into the house, and that when I noticed our accused had no shoes on, I made an extra effort to retrieve the specific shoes that he requested from the front entrance of his home. There was no request for a jacket and no reason for one as it was easily room temperature outside.
There were a lot of questions, but in the end, the foster father sighed, and thanked us for our time.
I think I have a new pet project. I wonder what angle he will try to work tonight.
Two nights ago, I arrested a gentleman who was on charge for beating up his girlfriend. The girlfriend had returned to stay with him after his release from custody, along with her two young children.
The only way he was released from custody prior to the trial was to agree in front of a judge that he would live at a specific address (with his foster parents), not have any communication whatsoever with the victim, and if he did move, he was to notify the courts of his change of address prior to moving.
The 911 call came in as 2 young girls who were hiding at the neighbours house after their mother's boyfriend had smashed a door in the apartment.
The mother had left the girls in the boyfriend's care. He was gone when we arrived, with only his roommate left in the house.
The girls were frightened and didn't know where their mother was or how to find her. After searching for other family members that they could stay with to no avail, we dropped the 8 year old and 12 year old off at Child and Family Services.
Mom phoned 911 drunk and hysterical, suddenly worried about her children's safety (though she didn't seem concerned about them being in the care of the man who had beat her only a month before). I told her she could attend to the CFS location to speak with them about her children's well-being.
We swung back to the house and found that our suspect had returned. He was arrested for Breaching x 2.
He tried every trick in the book to avoid going back to jail. Yelling, screaming, begging, pleading, arguing, reasoning, faking illness, counter-accusing his "ex" girlfriend, threatening our jobs, telling us his mother had died and that that was why he was doing all these bad things.
He was locked-up to await a hearing scheduled for today. Maybe the Judge will buy his stories.
Last night, the queue was quiet. A low-priority domestic was sitting waiting in the line-up. I clicked on it on the laptop. The address jumped out at me. It was originating at the jailhouse.
Our accused was now calling his foster father and telling him how police had attended and not allowed him to get a jacket when he was arrested, dragging him out of his dwelling and leaving the door open for anyone to walk in and steal. Apparently his "ex" girlfriend had taken his cell phone and jacket.
My partner called the foster father and explained the real reason his son was locked-up and the fact that his son was in fact arrested outside his residence, his apartment was left in the care of his esteemed roommate who was told not to let the "ex" girlfriend back into the house, and that when I noticed our accused had no shoes on, I made an extra effort to retrieve the specific shoes that he requested from the front entrance of his home. There was no request for a jacket and no reason for one as it was easily room temperature outside.
There were a lot of questions, but in the end, the foster father sighed, and thanked us for our time.
I think I have a new pet project. I wonder what angle he will try to work tonight.
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