When you realize
When you realize de-funding the police was a mistake I live and work in a city that just defunded their police. I won’t mention the name because it will result in my immediate termination. See, we are not allowed to comment on our “transition to a non-violent police force.” This “transition” was what everyone said it would be. The city officials behind the move thought they could cut our budget, cancel academy classes and hire civilians to come in and do police work. Well it didn’t quite work out that way. When the announcement was made, 152 officers submitted their paperwork and took early retirement. Another hundred or so started burning overtime and accumulated vacation time. I work evenings and, in my district, we normally have 45 officers on duty at any given time. Today, at roll call, there were 10 of us. I thought I made a mistake when I walked in. Like a lot of departments, we don’t have roll call every day. So, did I miss the notice today was one of those days? The Sgt. walked in and looked like he just lost his best friend. Rather than stand behind his podium he just grabbed a chair, turned it around and sat next to me. “Guys I don’t know what to say. This is all we have to work with tonight. Everyone is riding one man units and we all need to back each other up. Priority calls only, we’re leaving the reports for tomorrow’s day shift.” Sarge, are you saying that the ten of us are going to cover the entire district? With protesters in the streets? “Unfortunately, that’s exactly what I’m saying. The good news is that the State has sent troopers in to cover the protesters, hell call it what it is, RIOTS. So at least we don’t have to go downtown. Besides I hear city council is making some kind of appearance down there and I don’t need you guys mouthing off to them. We all know they are assholes, but I can’t afford to lose any more people due to mandatory days off for cussing out council members.” Yes, our city council is comprised of a bunch of left wing radical morons who have no idea what they’ve done. Bunch of rich assholes living uptown in their big ass mansions with private security guards and K9’s. Nothing bad ever happens to them, and they figure they don’t need us when they have their own private army protecting their stupid butts. I just shook my head, fist bumped the sarge and got the hell out of there. This was going to one bullshit night; I just knew it. I loaded all my stuff into a spare Shop, as my regular ride has been in the shop waiting on parts for over a week. Hmmm. New explorer and it actually still had that new car smell. I’m pretty sure I’m not going like this over my Charger, but it’s better than one of the 200,000+ mile Crown Vics out back. I logged in, told the dispatcher I was in service, and asked what she was holding. Obviously the Sarge had already called 911 to advise them we weren’t taking any report calls, cause she started rattling off all the alarms calls that had gone unanswered from day shift. So, for the next couple of hours, I ran call after call clearing most unfounded or GOA as they had been holding for hours. Only 15 people had showed up for day shift. I kept monitoring the states channel and District 1’s traffic to see how bad it was downtown. It was almost nonstop with one incident after another. There were times I almost wanted to say fuck it and go help them. But I couldn’t leave 9 guys to fend for themselves. I do remember around 2200hrs hearing the van carrying the city council members had departed downtown and was headed north. Nothing like having a limo service to take you home after your protest appearance. At 2245, dispatch put out a major accident up on the interstate that involved a head-on collision and one vehicle off the bridge with entrapment. Well what the hell. I made a U-turn and headed that way, hoping to God that Fire & Rescue beat me there. Less than five minutes later, I pulled up to pure carnage in the middle of the highway and not a single rescue truck in sight. I could not even identify what type of car this was. I was met by a young woman dressed in scrubs and obviously a doctor or nurse. She said “the driver was DOA when I got here, there was nothing I could do. I think the other vehicle ran off the highway and down the embankment,” pointing to the broken guardrail. I advised dispatch I needed the ME and began looking for the second vehicle. As the two of us looked over what was left of the guardrail, I saw the second vehicle, upside down at the bottom of the hill, and on fire. As I ran back to my unit to grab a fire extinguisher, I yelled for the nurse to send the Fire Dept. down to me as soon as they arrived. I could hear sirens and fire trucks in the distance, and I hoped they were seconds, not minutes away. As I ran down the hill screaming at the dispatcher to get me help. I had what looked like a transport van with multiple victims inside. The first person I came upon was covered in blood and gabbed my arm and said, “officer there are six more in the van, please get them out.” When he looked up at me, I was shocked to see it was the Mayor. Continued on Next Page 34 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 35
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