Police Openness

I used to have trouble understanding why citizens thought police officers were too secretive and  felt they were doing things they shouldn't.  I understand now.

A few months ago I observed three local police cars respond to the apartment complex where I live. A supervisor also responded.  To me something big must be going on with that large a response.  The uniformed officers were standing on a sidewalk in front of two apartments. I walked up to one of the officers and asked him what was going on.  He told me he couldn't tell me and to move away. As both a citizen and ex police officer I was not pleased. My perception of the conversation was' You have no right to know and I'm not going to tell you and get the hell out of here" Not knowing I could have thought of all kinds of reasons s the officers were there and what they were doing. Additionally, I walked away with a "bad taste in my mouth" regarding our local police. Was that necessary? No it was not.  Yes, certain things connected to law enforcement  are a need to know, but there is a way to say things without disclosing important information.

The officer could have said something to the effect "We received a call about the resident of this apartment and when someone arrives with the key we need to do a welfare check." That would not be disclosing any private or HIPAA protected information  Check the welfare calls officers respond to often. Sometimes its nothing, somebody hasn't called a friend or family member  in a long time, or they haven't answered their phone, or they missed an appointment or meeting. Often the person is okay, they didn't want to talk with family, their phone wasn't working or they forgot to put a meeting on their calendar etc. And of course there are the times when the person is unconscious or dead.

When people's questions are not answered they tend to fill in the blanks which creates many stories that are not factual based and inaccurate.

How do you feel about police transparency? How are the police whee you live?

How Did We Get To This Place?

Remember the days when we could arrive at the airport only minutes before the plane took off?  We were able to have our friends and family meet us at the gate. And best of all, we were not made to remove our shoes. Remember when we could go to concerts and other events without being searched and  have our purses and jackets checked?  I remember oh so well! Most folks say it all started with September 11. Things must have been brewing before then. Radical behavior and actions such as the attacks that day don't evolve in just a day or two.  We see with much regularity that the behavior and actions still exist. There is talk that the US will be attacked again very soon. Do we know why much of the world starting hating us? Years back our country was admired and feared. What happened? When did it actually start?  I would love to see your comments.

I am back

I've exhausted most of my interesting law enforcement experiences and will start commenting on current situations. I have not been in law enforcement for many years, thus may not know the current laws and policies. Additionally I only know what the media tells us.

To Save or Not To Save

I can’t get the women who refused to do CPR at the California independent living center out of my mind. How can anyone standby and watch a person die without doing something? I can’t fathom it. We owe that to all humanity, plus I heard the news caster say she was a nurse.  Nurses have a creed and ethics, don’t they? Yes, I know CPR is not successful the majority of time it is used, but occasionally it does work.

As a police officer and thus a first responder we did CPR to give the family and the people in the area of the victim a ray of hope that they could be revived and saved, That we were there to help. It certainly made my fellow officers and me feel better to think we did all we could. It felt better to tell the victim’s family we did all we could.

Again, I heard on the news that the policy of the center was not to perform CPR or any lifesaving measures on persons in medical distress, but to standby and watch them until the paramedics arrived.  As a fellow human being that would be a hard policy for me follow.  I can’t help, but think if I were fired - I would have a good civil case against my termination.

I must not be the only one concerned because I heard about this incident for several days on various TV channels and shows.

What are your thoughts?

Until Later,

Sally S.

New Blog

I just created a new blog for my fiction writing projects. Please visit Gayle T. Reece on duty and give me feed back. I am a bit computer challenged at times. http://gayletreece.blogspot.com

Snowy Days, Snowy Nights Where Would I Be Without Some Help

This week we had the worst snow in this area I recall since I’ve lived in this area. And can you believe they are predicting more. When I was a police officer in the various jurisdictions around here I had problems adhering to department policies concerning officers not pushing vehicles out of the snow. I was told it was a liability issue. They didn’t want officers hurt. I usually followed policy to the letter, but this was an issue in which I was a rebel so to say.

It was too hard for me to call a wrecker for people who were stuck in snow when a little push from me would help them get out. They were so thankful and grateful when I saved them the long wait for a wrecker and the cost. I believe these actions fostered good feelings toward police by our residents.

I felt real attached to the Protect and Serve slogan on my patrol car. I believed that helping where I could was serving. I never got hurt. I knew my limitations. 

I hate to admit, there were a few times that I got my patrol car stuck in snow and folks stopped to help push me out. I was quite impressed by all the help that was offered.  Why shouldn’t I return the favor?

Not Barney Fifes

I feel the need to explain why I haven’t recently been posting many incidents in which I was involved. The fact is, I don’t have that many more to tell that you that you most likely wouldn’t find boring.  I’ll now write about current police issues, current societal issues, and my fiction writing.

The various jurisdictions in which I worked were small or relatively small and located in the Midwest. We didn’t have as many crimes or as exciting crimes as in the big cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago etc. like we see on TV and in movies.  We spent most our days and nights providing service to and protecting the residents and visitors in our communities. Much of that important work was very routine, and yes, at times boring. Occasionally we did get involved in dangerous or wild and crazy situations, as I have mentioned in many of my previous posts. Good investigative and good police work is necessary whether you do it several times a week or only once or twice a year. You train, you practice and you hope you do it right, that no one gets hurt, that you don’t get sued and you go home at the end of your shift. Please don’t get me wrong, I loved my work.

The novel I just completed and the next two I plan to write in this trilogy are about investigations concerning fictitious mysterious crimes that occur in a fictitious mid western city of about 25,000.  Hard working committed officers in these smaller jurisdictions haven’t received as much attention in our literary collections as the big city cops.

Sincerely,

Sally S