Subscribers.......

To the few of you that have subscribed.....

First, Thank you.  I think it's cool that you want to read this stuff.

Second, I don't know why it's not working yet.  I subscribed to my own blog (LAME!!!), and I don't get the emails either.  I have the settings to deliver between 1P-3P EST.

So, keep checking back, I'll keep writing.  If it doesn't work in a week or so, I'm going to disable it, then re-install it.  I'll let you know, because I'm sure you'll have to resubscribe.

Thanks,

Shamus

Officer Down!!!

 

Today was one hell of a day.  I am working 3p-11p this week, and I woke up this morning to hear on the news that one of the officers in my department had been shot over night.  Of course, the cop in me wants to get dressed, rush out the house, and join the manhunt.  But that is not how it works in real life.

I don't know how much people really know about police culture, so I will explain it like this; we are all like siblings.  Jealous, childish siblings.  We hate when each other get the better toys, and fight over stupid shit.  BUT, if you hurt one of us, we will defend and back each other up until the end.

Being off duty when a big incident like this sucks.  You only know what the media puts out there, you don't get any real info until you get back to work.  The news just said an officer was shot in the upper body, not in the vest.  Officer was in critical condition.  Suspect at large.

I get to work, I finally find out who the officer is.  I work in a big department, so I don't really KNOW him, I know OF him.  He is a good guy.  Has a wife and kids.  Good officer.  I also find out that he was shot in the neck.  He has been in and out of surgery, and consciousness all day.  

All this before we have to go out and do our jobs. On a busy Friday night.  I have had this incident in the back of my mind all night.

I have also had another incident in the back of my mind all night.  Last week, while I was on vacation, there was a police involved shooting on my shift, in the post next to mine.  My side-partner, and one of my supervisors were involved. They are still out on administrative leave while this is being investigated.  It's a clean shoot, so career wise, they will be good to go.  But, that's only one part of the equation.  They still have to deal with the mental anguish of being involved in this incident.  The public scrutiny, in a time where the cops are wrong, and the suspects are right.  They also have to deal with the "what if"s.. Damn those "what if"s.

I know the public sees us as a necessary evil, but the officers I work with are good, hardworking guys and girls.  We generally care, and try to do a good job.  We took a job that we know may hurt us, or may even KILL us.  We know that some people feel it's all "part of the job".  

I leave with this thought.  We are all humans.  We are all trying to make the community we live and work in a better place to live.

Keep my co-workers in your thoughts.  Pray for my injured officer, as he fights to recover.

Stay safe out there.

Shamus

It's the little things.

I'm not much for "chasing ribbons" or going on high profile calls, just to show up and be seen, in order to get an accommodation. I also don't seek accolades for what I do from day to day. So, imagine my surprise when I was told by my Lieutenant that I was being put in for officer of the month for my district.

Now, let me start this off by saying, I've been involved in some sort of emergency services since 1995, when I signed up to volunteer at a volunteer fired department, about a year out of high school. I was trained as an EMT, and a Fire Fighter. I loved it. Riding the Ambo, and the engine, going on calls, doing the work. I was not one of the "cool kids" or the ones that had to be on the nozzle, I just wanted to do the work, and as cheesy as it seemed, I wanted to make a difference. And help people. 

You see, ol' Shamus was just a normal kid, a Boy Scout, taught to do my best, and serve. I really had a passion for service when I started out. 

Fast forward about 19 years, and here I am. A Police Corporal, assigned to patrol in the busiest district in the county. If you haven't read the earlier stuff on here, take a chance to read up. It tells a little of the struggle I've had. Long story short, I had been jaded for a while. I was starting to feel like I was just spinning wheels. 

Well, I was on an upswing on a personal level and my moral was improving during the summer of 2014. I was back after an injury (another story for another day) and was actually having some fun on the job again. 

August rolls around, and I was a "floater" car. We have more cops on the shift than posts. If someone who has a post takes off, a floater fills the spot. If there are extra cars (it's rare, but it happens) they work as umbrella cars, and pick up calls. 

One 3-11 shift, I am filling in a post I don't work often, and enjoying the change of scenery. The end of shift rolls around, and we get a call for shots fired. This type of call is not uncommon, and is usually someone playing with fireworks, or if it's in season, it's hunters in the area. Well, another officer and I go rolling towards this call, like its a routine shots fired, and then we get updated that a dude was just shot in the face, and a description was broadcast of the shooter. For reasons I'm sure you can figure out, I'm not going to go into too much detail here. But needless to say this call turns into a soup sandwich pretty quick. We get there, it's a hectic scene, it's me, one other patrol guy, and a plain clothes officer. Dude is in a bad way, we have family screaming for help, I glove up, find no pulse, and start chest compressions until the Ambo gets there.  We had a dozen witnesses, I'm calling for the chopper, crime lab, k-9, basically the world, and giving direction as to where the bad guy had run off to. Well based on info I gathered, and put on the air, we got the guy. Good ending. My supervisors were happy, I felt proud I did a good job.  We go home. 

Fast forward about three weeks. 

It's now September. A permanent post opens up, and I take it for some stability. I go back and forth. Sometimes I like to float, sometimes I like a perm post. 

This time I'm working 7-3 shift. It's about 1000 hrs and we get some cluster of a call where the caller doesn't know what's going on, but all we know is there is a dude hurtin pretty bad, and he somehow got himself stabbed. I'm the first car there, lady comes running out, screaming, and leads me into this small kitchen where a dude is laying on the floor, covered in blood. The whole scene is a mess, blood everywhere. I glove up, feel for a pulse, find a faint, thready pulse. I start chest compressions until the Ambo gets there. While doing compressions, I manage to get some info on the bad guy and the situation.  I turn the dude over to the medics, and start doing cop work. Long story short (again), I get the bad guy identified, get BOLOs out and we get him, and those involved. My supervisors are happy, I feel proud of a good job. We go home. 

Both these scenes were extremely chaotic, fast paced, and fluid. A lot of things going on all at once. I'm not saying that I'm perfect, and did everything right, but in both cases I was able to revert to my training and experience to get the job done, with somewhat happy results. Now, unfortunately, both victims died. There wasn't anything that would have changed that. But my platoon worked together as a team, and I had the support from my sergeant to do my job. 

Sometimes you get these calls that are pure shit. Absolute chaos. It's when the officer can rise above all that and do their job in spite of all that's going on, that makes them stand out. Well, apparently, I stood out, and I was awarded Officer of the Month for October 2014 for my district. 

I'm very proud of that accomplishment. It is the little things like that ribbon that reminds me that we are appreciated for the hard work we do out here. 

Now, I don't need a ribbon to feel good. Sometimes it's something small like seeing a kid smile when he walks over to you while you are eating dinner, and you give him a few minutes of your time. 

It's the little things. 

Be safe out there, and find the little things to keep you going. 

Officer of the Month ribbon.

What I've been up to.

As time goes by...where the hell have YOU been?!?


Well, it's been over a year and a half since I've written, so let me catch y'all up to speed.

I originally stopped writing because I was deep in study for taking the sergeant exams. Well......... I passed.  Since then there have been a couple rounds of promotions, and I am sitting about #12 on the list.

One of the cool things about taking the exam, and qualifying for promotion was that this time, I was invited to sit in the first line supervisors training class. I learned a lot, and was really impressed in the training.

A few other things I have done lately was attend Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training. This training helps teach officers how to deal with people who are in emotional, or mental crisis. This was an excellent course, and if anyone ever gets the chance to attend this type of training, I HIGHLY recommend you go. The course dealt with brain injuries, mental disorders, substance abuse, dual diagnosis, PTSD, and homelessness.

I was also selected to go to Field Training Officer (FTO) school. After completion, I am now a certified FTO. Which means I will be training the "Rookies" when they graduate the Police Academy, but before they get "cut loose" to ride on their own. My department runs single officer patrol cars, which puts one cop in each beat, or post. So, we need to get these  "kids" ready to respond solo to calls for service before they are cleared as officers.

So, what does this mean to you, the reader?  Well, there are going to be opportunities to share some new stories. So, keep checking back.

Well, other than a few other events, this brings y'all up to speed on what ol' Shamus has been up to. Keep comin' back and checking in, I'll try to write more often.


Oh, before I sign off...... I was selected as Officer of the month in my district for October 2014. I guess I impressed some folks with my work, and I was truly honored to be chosen. I'll tell that story at another time. It will be a main post, not in the stories section. I may work on that over the next few days, and post it up next....

Well, 'till next time, Shamus, signing off.