The Badge Family

Well who are you going to call?

2011-04-11T11:24:00.000-04:00

http://www.wlwt.com/r-video/27319161/detail.html

Restaurant owner asks cops not to eat at his diner. Blaming one incident where he was "falsely arrested" a few years ago. I put that in quotes because that is his statement, not proven fact.

What a moron, first of all. From a purely business standpoint, you don't single out a large group of potential customers to exclude. It's just stupid marketing. You're effectively hitting a larger market of people to NOT visit your restaurant and thusly line your pockets, because not only are cops going to avoid you like the plague, but so are their family and friends.

Watching the video, the guy makes himself look worse. Like that adage, which I'm sure I'm about to butcher, but basically, "better to keep your mouth shut and have people suspect you're an idiot, than to open your mouth and prove them right."

Running on about 5 hours of interrupted sleep last night, so I'm quite certain my grammar could use a little polishing in this post.

a proud wife

2011-02-08T16:35:00.000-05:00

The author of this blog is now the mommy of two little ones. The big one is known to this blog as Bub, and the new little one, who shall be referred to as Pooka, 'the girl', or X23, was born in September. Yet another reason for me to take a hiatus from the blog. She is now four months old. Bub is quite a loving and proud big brother.

I mention my children now because J responded to a call a few weeks ago, which came out to him as a two year old child, not breathing. He was closest to the address, and upoon entering the living room discovered that the child was not two years old, but two MONTHS old. Had turned blue, was not breathing, and his little heart had stopped. J immediately began CPR, later telling me that the first thought that ran through his head was "That's my daughter laying there."

The little boy started gasping, then breathing and crying. 30 seconds later the medics arrived and promptly whisked him off to the hospital. He is still alive, thanks to my husband.

This past Saturday, J was commended by the Sheriff, and will receive a ribbon to wear on his uniform. I haven't been this proud of him since he graduated from the academy!

Hello there blogger community...

2011-01-14T11:26:00.000-05:00

Well, J and I brought another little being into the world. Our little Pooka came in September, and if any of you have multiple children you will no doubt understand the time constraint and sheer mind-wipe that having two kids creates. I can only imagine it goes up at an alarming rate with the addition of each new child.

But we're a happy family of four. Six if you count the two pooches. Girl dog has resumed her nursemaid duties to the new baby, albeit on a smaller scale than she did with Bub. When he was born, girl dog made it her mission to be near him at all times, and I have many photos of the two of them. In hindsight I wonder if she thought she had a new friend, wanted to mother him, or just thought he was a perpetual source of food. This being the dog that has eaten soap and drywall, among other things, I'm sure spit-up, cheerios and pureed green beans were a gourmet buffet.

J's work schedule has been in conflict with my own for a year now, and we're facing at least another 9 months of this schedule. Granted, it means his off-days overlap my weekend, but the flip side of that is that we spend most of the week seeing each other in half-hour increments. Mornings while I rush around getting ready for work, lunches when I come home from work, and the occasional dinner with daddy if he isn't busy on the road.

On the plus, it means our children spend most of their time at home with one of us, both saving money and protecting their health, particularly in the midst of flu season. But we've both reached a point where we just miss each other. I know that in comparison to the military wives who are lucky if they get to TALK to their husbands each day they are deployed, I've got it good. At least I get to sleep next to my husband each night. But it still sucks. I don't dwell on it too much, because when you focus on the negative, it sucks you down into the void. Just like any danger zone, you have to be aware of it to avoid it.

2010-12-28T18:20:00.004-05:00

Went to a hockey game tonight, leaving Bub and Pooka with a babysitter. Got a text from the sitter that said, "Bub just jumped off the couch and yelled, 'BLONDES AWAY'!"

Spammers

2010-08-10T09:02:00.002-04:00

Somehow, making a comment about the asshole spammers prompted even more of them to start commenting on my blog. I'm sorry I had to limit commenting so much for real people, but DAMN THAT SHIT IS ANNOYING. What I want to know is how the spambots are getting past the word verification?

Grand Jury

2010-07-15T10:22:00.000-04:00

So I've been absent a while again. This time I have a great, blog-related excuse though. I was on jury duty for two weeks of that time! I wish I could talk more about it, but it was grand jury. It was genuinely fascinating. I was bitter about being summoned at first, but once it started I appreciated being able to see that part of J's job. For those of you not familiar, grand jury is basically the presentation of felony cases by the prosecution. Typically the arresting officer, investigator, or a case presenter present most of the case to a jury, and the prosecutor asks relevant questions. It's fairly informal, and the jury is allowed to ask relevant questions as well. There are no defense lawyers or defendants. Well, typically, anyway. We actually had one case where the defendant personally called the prosecutor and asked to come testify. That was pretty strange actually.

On an unrelated note, is mine the only blog getting spam comments from Asia? Ugh. I hate having to turn on complete comment moderation but this is getting irritating!

Another candidate for the Darwin awards

2010-06-03T13:00:00.002-04:00

http://www.wlwt.com/news/23766921/detail.html

Really folks...just...really?

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do

2010-05-06T09:07:00.000-04:00

Last week J and I were talking shortly before I went to bed. As we got off the phone, he mentioned that he had to go back up another deputy on a DUI accident.

A few hours later when he got home, I woke up enough for him to tell me that the accident had been caused by friend of J's family. Someone he'd grown up across the street from. Someone whose parents still had dinner with J's parents from time to time. He was fine, no injuries, and his car was the only one involved. But by the time J arrived at the scene, the friend was refusing to do any tests, including the breathalyzer. In Ohio, that's an automatic suspension of your driver's license.

Not only does J have no recourse because he wasn't the responding officer, but he wouldn't have had a choice anyway. There is damaged property, and the friend is refusing to comply with the other deputy. At this point he will be arrested. When J shows up, the friend naturally sees an old familiar face, and feels safer, thinking he won't be in as much trouble now. Even asks for J once he's in the back of the cruiser, cuffed.

Obviously J has an internal conflict about this situation. It's only natural to want to help a friend out, but the damage is done and the consequences need to be paid.

We chat about it for a few minutes in the dark of our bedroom. I reach out my hand to him, to let him know I sympathize. The tone of his voice is heavy with a unique mix of emotions, some sympathy for and disappointment in his friend's actions, his duty and obligation as a LEO. We drift off to sleep.

Two days later we happen to be having dinner with J's parents and sisters. The family of the arrested friend just so happens to come up in conversation, and without even thinking, I start to mention that J has a story about him. J immediately interrupts with, "No I don't."

This isn't the first time he's arrested or been aware of the arrest of someone that his family knew. And in those situations, he's never shared gossip either. I don't know if my brain just forgot that fact, or what. I may have mentioned before, that the neighborhood J and his family grew up in was somewhat Norman Rockwell. The parents of several of the families were all friends, the daughters grew up going to prom together and participating in each other's weddings, the sons raced their bikes up and down the streets and played hide and seek games spread over several back yards. It seems only natural to me that they would be interested in the arrest, even from a sympathetic point of view.

J was quick to shut down the conversation and make it known that he wasn't going to be sharing any sort of information, but obviously there's already some damage done. Later I apologize for the gaff and he forgives me, but it's been weighing on my mind over the last week or so. I betrayed a spousal confidence.

S.W.A.T.

2010-04-15T15:29:00.000-04:00

Special Weapons and Tactics. Technically J's team has another acronym they go by, but it's the same thing. They are specifically trained for the types of cases that aren't routine police work. Too often that means they train for any and all situations in preparation for all the unknown factors.

For example, they can't possibly be prepared for the layout of every building floorplan in existence. Or for the great unknown of people in those aforementioned buildings. Where could they be, are they armed, are they dangerous, are they innocent, etc.

My brother is on the SWAT team for his county too, so sometimes it's interesting for the two to compare the differences in their training approach.

A particular situation that comes to mind is when they serve a warrant on a meth lab. The sheer volatility of these labs is such that the team is forced to rethink their approach, and severely reduces or eliminates a number of the tools they typically rely on. No flash-bangs, no tasers, even their gas masks can be rendered obsolete.

Meth labs are scary shit in their own right... it makes me nervous when I hear about those warrants.

DUI arrest - Man blows .373

2010-04-15T15:17:00.000-04:00

WOW. Here's the news story. .373 is four times the legal limit here in Ohio! The journalist found court records indicating a similar charge in 1990 for this man...I want to know how he went twenty years without getting caught again.

Only with this type of job...

2010-04-14T16:21:00.000-04:00

It's funny when you talk to some one who said their engineer husband was too busy to talk while at work. The other day I called J, who picked up the phone and immediately said "I'll call you back," sirens blaring in the background. My response has become a quick "loveyoubye" in those cases.

An interesting night

2010-04-07T09:05:00.001-04:00

So Monday night, J and some other deputies respond to a call about a bar fight. They arrive to find the instigator of the fight, bloodied and bruised. Apparently he lost. HA! The other fighter is not around, so technically there's no victim. They have the paramedics check this guy out, whereupon they tell him he will need several stitches. Guy refuses to go to the hospital, so they bandage him up and go on their way. At this point the deputies don't want to fully arrest him and take him to jail, so they issue a citation.

Now, a logical person would at this point realize he's just gotten off easy and go home. Not Senor Froggy though. He starts getting belligerent with the deputies, threatening to call his lawyer-cousin, telling J he remembers him from an arrest in Hamilton (a place J has never worked), on and on. The deputies continue trying to get rid of him. Froggy throws his citation on the ground and refuses to go to his rent-a-home (the motel).

Finally the deputies decide to go ahead and haul him off to jail. They not only will have to book him into the jail but because of the paramedic visit, they will need to take him to the hospital too. Once Froggy realizes he's about to be handcuffed, he bolts. Except in his fully drunken state he isn't getting very far. When J tackles him, his wounds re-open. Suddenly Froggy wants to be very cooperative, tells them he will go straight to his room, won't give them any trouble, etc.

As soon as he is in the back of a cruiser, J realizes his tie is covered in blood. He throws it away. Later, while writing up his report, he discovers his shirt is bloody too. (Ohio deputies wear black shirts so you can imagine that at night you wouldn't see it)
This shirt now goes in the trash, too. On the plus side, I don't need to figure out how to sanitize a black shirt without bleach!

Back to the story...the deputies head up to the jail, only to be told there's no room at the inn. Supervisor calls in, is told the same thing. No space in the jail. After all this trouble, they're going to be forced to set Froggy on his way with the citation. Except suddenly someone realizes this man doesn't even have a green card...

Morton's Salt joins the thin blue line

2010-04-05T14:10:00.000-04:00

This weekend was fabulous. J and I and the boy all had 72 hours together, CONSECUTIVELY. He had a vacation day on his "Friday" due to a health insurance incentive (let us find out exactly how much of a burden you are on the insurance system and we'll give you a day off!), and I was off Friday thanks to the union at my work selecting Catholic holidays for a lot of our paid vacation days.

Unfortunately (depending on your outlook), due to it being a holiday weekend, we were busy the entire time.

Wednesday night, though, J had gotten a DUI arrest. Last night he discovered it would possibly go to pre-trial tomorrow. Tonight he has a regular shift, then an extra detail. It just seems to always work out this way. The detail he's working after shift tonight is a nice extra paycheck, but it always causes a backlog in our daily routine. Add court time to that and it just goes completely haywire.

It is what it is, we're not really complaining. Just seems like all the 'extras' pile up together.

Fleeing suspect does work for cops

2010-03-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

Man fleeing Ohio police jumps fence — into prison

That's just funny.

Hey, other cop wives - A question

2010-03-18T09:43:00.000-04:00

Do you guys ever listen to your hubbies' stories from shift and just get horribly depressed about human nature?

It's that, combined with what I read in the local news that just has me in a funk. A murder trial just wrapped up this week in Cincinnati, ending in the jury recommending the death penalty. I'll spare you details (as I have spared myself most of them too) but the jury foreman said the man on trial was worse than a monster.

I know that by the very nature of his job, J is going to run into the seedy side of society. That's no surprise. And if you're only seeing the trash dump out your window, you're likely to think the landscape is crap everywhere. I know this, inherently. But sometimes even the mere existence of the scum and the heinous things they can do just... really hit me hard.

I've got such a bleeding heart ;)

Zipped lips

2010-03-10T20:06:00.000-05:00

Argh! Multiple cases going on that I want to talk about, and I CAN'T! One that I'd love more opinions on, but alas, is still in investigation.

And the other is going on right.this.very moment as I blog. The most frustrating thing is not being able to find anything on the news. Not that I have a scanner anyway, but even if I did I'm not sure we live close enough for me to pick up on the bands.

So instead I will tell you this much. Today I spent more than a few minutes drooling over some of the recent recipes on the Pioneer Woman's website. Monkey bread muffins and funnel cakes, to name a few specifics. In fact I am pretty sure I tried to take a bite out of my monitor while reading the Monkey Bread recipe.

Ohio cop saves teen's life

2010-03-03T14:40:00.000-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/35685484#35685484

It's a video clip that will give you chills. Traffic stops are dangerous enough in good, sunny weather. This cop stopped to assist a stranded motorist, and while helping him, another car slides out of control, straight into them. The video is caught on his dash-cam. I'll warn you that they replay the clip at least four or five times to show you how close the car comes.

The story also says the officer is still in the hospital and faces up to a year of rehabilitation from his injuries.

I still have goosebumps as I'm typing this. I believe they said this is in Ohio, but this is the first I've heard of it.

Study on snacking gets it wrong

2010-03-03T09:15:00.000-05:00

I am non-police blogging today. It's a subject I'm passionate about, though.

Read about a new study via Reuters today. I'm so angry about the obesity epidemic and the misplaced blame. Did you know we're headed toward 75% of the nation being overweight or obese? The article and study blames daily snacking as explaining the rise in childhood obesity.

WRONG.

It's not the extra snacking that's doing it. It's the items kids are given to snack on that is doing it. It's the increase in indoor activities, and decrease in outdoor activities doing it. Here's a tip: eating every 3 hours increases metabolism. A higher metabolism means you are burning more calories. You're actually keeping your body digesting more often, and even the act of digestion burns calories.

But when the snacking options are crap, crap and more crap, naturally the caloric intake outweighs the increase in metabolism. Here's another tip: eating crap foods is like putting regular gasoline in a lawnmower that requires an oil-fuel mix. It makes the process break down. Salt, fat, sugar, sure all these are OK and even helpful to your body IN MODERATION. When that is all that a snack consists of, the body starts reacting poorly. I don't have the time or patience today to really break it all down, but it's true, if you care to do the research on your own. Eat a sugary snack, for example, and your body ramps up insulin production. Once the speed rush of this little process slows down, your blood sugar plummets, energy goes down, and you feel hungry. You're not really hungry so much as needing energy, but it doesn't matter. You eat another sugary snack to counter the effects. Meanwhile your body starts flipping out from the excess and other healthier processes slow down.

I'm getting away from myself. If kids want to snack and they're eating healthy, natural foods, they're not going to get fat. If your kid wants a snack between lunch and dinner and you give him an apple with peanut butter, that is AWESOME. If you give him a bag of Doritos, well, of course he's going to end up fat.

I'd be willing to bet that the kids who eat the awful snacks between meals are also being fed awful meals, thus lending to the epidemic.

One last note: children's bodies are designed to grow. As a result, they also create fat cells much faster than adults. When a child starts out on the wrong path, being fed crap and being overweight so early, they are being set up for a lifetime of failure. It is that much harder to lose fat when you start creating the fat cells so early.

I could ramble on and on about this. I'm going to try not to. It's just an issue that really gets under my skin.

I'm reposting!!

2010-03-01T18:01:00.000-05:00

Wives Behind The Badge: Are you a Real Police Wife?

Love it

LEO wife blogs

2010-03-01T15:49:00.001-05:00

I've finally had a chance to start surfing around the link-lists of the other LEO wife blogs I've started visiting. A few of them are readers who must've found me a while ago, while I was in hiatus. I am surprised and pleased, though, to see how many blogs there are now!! When I first started this blog, there really weren't a lot of other cop-wife blogs out there.

If Blogger will start cooperating with me this afternoon, I will hopefully get some more links added to my sidebar!

More cops being shot at.

2010-02-25T15:52:00.001-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35587861/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Really not thrilled about this breaking story. So far the news is that the three officers who have been hit are in the hospital, two in critical.

For those of you not in the LEO circles, this kind of thing sends ripples through the community. It is heartbreaking to hear of. Yet there is a side to it that is heartwarming, and that is precisely the ripples that stretch across this nation, in the LEO community. Officers across the nation will be talking about this tonight, with their coworkers, their families, their friends. Many of them will be extra vigilant tonight, extra cautious of approaching houses, hyper aware of every movement of the people they come in contact with. They grit their teeth when they hear the news of these events, flex their arms, and start itching to take vengeance on the people who would dare do such a thing.

Police-Wives.org

2010-02-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

Went ahead and joined the site today. Will probably lurk a lot til I get familiar enough to make a decision about really diving into the community.

Any recommendations for/against the forums?

The idiots are on a ROLL lately!

2010-02-24T09:02:00.000-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35559056/ns/us_news/

Two Florida teens were overheard on an open 911 call, discussing what they should take from a car they were CURRENTLY breaking into. The kicker? The 911 call was made by a cell phone belonging to one of the teens. Setting aside the tiny possibility that just MAYBE the phone belonged to the younger teen who was trying to back out...that's just karma.

Reminder: don't report when your ILLEGAL items are stolen

2010-02-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

http://www.wlwt.com/news/22645390/detail.html

Man tells Police his bag of pot was stolen.

You just cannot make that up, folks. It's not even an isolated incident. J has taken these sort of reports himself. Someone wanted to report check fraud, then conveniently 'forgot' what the bad check was given to her for. After the tiniest bit of prodding, she admitted it was for drugs. But she insisted she didn't DO drugs anymore. She quit doing them and selling them, right after she received that bad check! Honest!

We can't be right all the time

2010-02-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

Last week J goes to search for a 17 year old male who told his mother he was going to kill himself. When she wouldn't leave him alone, he took off into the woods near their house. After talking to the mother, he says "ma'am, I literally do not think he's going to walk out of the woods right here." He was interviewing her at the spot that the son ran into the woods. The mother responds, "Oh there he is."

The boy is walking right back out of the woods at the exact same spot he entered them.

I meant to ask him if the egg does anything for your pores.

Big, fat, WAH.

2010-02-11T20:50:00.000-05:00

Man begs judge to change sentence.

Gee...guess he should have thought of that before driving drunk multiple times, and buying the coke!

I don't know about you guys, but I was raised that consequences were consequences. You broke the rules, you paid the price. Maybe I'm just a hard-ass.

Today will be Technology Tuesday

2010-02-02T15:28:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I want that to be every week, mind you. But for today, it fits.

"Gang Members moving to Twitter, Facebook"

My first reaction to reading that headline is, "oh great. Now the idiot thugs are moving into the 'intelligent' world. There goes the neighborhood."

Then I read the article. And I can't help but spew a hearty BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Dumbasses. Thoughts?

Mental Monday, 1st of February

2010-02-01T15:28:00.026-05:00

J gets a call several weeks ago, about telephone harassment. Goes to complainant's house. Describes her as dressed nicely, well spoken, clean and organized house. She begins to describe the telephone calls she's been receiving. The phone will ring, she answers it, and nobody is there. She says this happens quite often. J tells her what their protocol is, which is to place a trap on her line, more or less, and each time she calls in to report that she's just received a harassing phone call, they make a note of the number. After a few weeks, a report is given to the officer.

While they are discussing this, she says there might be a problem, due to another issue that she can't talk about here (in her home). She mentions this concern that she can't elaborate on several times. J gets a hypothesis forming in his mind, as to what she might be referring to. Eventually she ends up telling him that the CIA is monitoring her, everywhere she moves she gets these harassing calls, and they pay off all her neighbors to help spy on her.

I have a great emoticon I'd love to insert here but I just can't, since it's buried within an IM program. I'll leave you to your imagination.

Since the initial call, J has dutifully followed up on the harassment report. The complainant then tells him that the CIA probably heard her ask for the wire trap, and therefore the phone calls will stop. She does notify of two calls during the monitoring period, which J determines to be from a credit card company. He receives multiple update calls from her, though, during the course of the monitoring period. More calls than she received and noted as harassing.

By the by, because it was only two calls, albeit both from the same company, it's not considered harassment. To indicate a pattern of harassment, a minimum of 3 instances are required.

I think what's interesting to me is how normal he described her (By normal I mean having the appearance of mental health). Each time she called him to check on the progress of the investigation, he patiently but painstakingly explained to her that there is a very limited amount that he can do, that the phone calls aren't considered harassment, that the car driving by at the same time every day is the newspaper delivery guy, etc.

In a way it's funny, to discover that conspiracy theorists really do exist. My little right-shoulder angel, of course, pipes up to remind me that this woman is elderly and sadly is probably suffering from some form of dementia. J and I mused about the potential of him calling a family member. Is that beyond the call of duty? Or appropriate? Or necessary?

Theme posts?

2010-01-28T18:01:00.003-05:00

So I've been trying to brainstorm over the last week about this blog...maybe come up with a daily 'theme' to keep me motivated on writing it. Hell I can't even remember if I mentioned the theme idea in my last post. In the past I'd just waited for stories to come to me to share here.

But "Mental" Monday is one idea that I keep coming back to. No, not to make fun of people with mental issues. But sadly it is the police who deal with people with mental issues far more often than they should. In a suburban bubble world, one would think that people with mental health problems are dealt with at home, and then with therapists and counselors and qualified professional medical help.

Unfortunately that's just not the case.

Today J and other deputies had to escort a combative person down four flights of hotel stairs. Screaming and ranting the entire way, in anger at them and at her family. As it turns out, she had already done this on a flight earlier today. Her anger this time: at losing a compact disc that was of high value to her. Naturally, a healthy person writes off the loss of a CD and buys a new one. With any luck it's available for free Super Saver Shipping on Amazon, and it's on your doorstep a week later. Or you go down to Best Buy and pick it up. Maybe you pout about the loss of the CD; maybe you can't get that cover art anymore or your copy was autographed.

This person resorted to screaming obscenities at her family. For hours at a time. J and the other deputy he was with at the time knew already that this woman was suffering from some mental health disorder, and because they are decent human beings, tried diligently to speak to her in civil, calming tones. Finally they put her in handcuffs and took her straight to the clinic that she is in Ohio to get help at.

This was actually a fairly tame example of typical, similar calls. Often they are called to help find missing persons. Technically their job is Law Enforcement, and being schizophrenic or bipolar isn't illegal. But so often the police are called because they are more easily available and more readily equipped to deal with combative, angry, irrational people.

It does end up that all too often, the people who commit crimes are mentally ill. A disturbing portion of people sitting on death row are mentally retarded, or borderline.

It occurred to me while listening to J recount today's story that in general, the police are trained to deal with fighters. They're trained to deal with drunks, druggies, belligerent assholes, angry people, psychopaths, etc. But there really aren't a lot of in-services or external courses offered to teach them to deal with a SIGNIFICANT portion of the people they deal with on a daily basis. Sad.

I'm back!

2010-01-22T09:51:00.002-05:00

Maybe. Tentatively. Probably.

I'm mulling over a rebirth of this blog. I still periodically think of things from J's job that I want to post, but other things as well. For a while I wanted this blog to just be about his job...but I can't come up with a daily post about his job. Sometimes there are things I want to share that I just can't. And it is the Badge Family now; why should that stop me from posting other tidbits about our life? So hopefully you'll bear with me through the makeover. Hell, if you're stopping by after such a long inactivity, what's a little 'dust'?

Generosity of strangers

2009-01-26T15:40:00.003-05:00

So Saturday, little Bub and I went to meet J for lunch. We had some errands to run in the area, stopped and got some Skyline. For those of you located nowhere near Ohio, Skyline is Cincinnati style chili. It's cheap. It's very good. It's quick. And it's readily available in the southwest quadrant of the state.

Anyway, we are used to having meals discounted if J is in uniform (which he was). We don't expect it, we CERTAINLY don't demand it, but we appreciate it and accept it when offered. J tells me typically this Skyline gives them 50% off when they are in uniform. I think Moe's does the same thing. It's a nice perk.

J gets up to pay, I am getting the boy's coat on (no small feat with a wiggly 21 month old), and I overhear some conversation along the lines of "Are you sure?" at the register. I am not really paying attention, but J comes over and says that our bill has been taken care of. I said "the whole thing? That's odd." He says "some guy came in to get carry-out and asked them if we'd paid, then paid it for us. When I got up to pay, the cashier threw the bill away." Since my back was to the door, I didn't even see the guy come in or leave.

I was pretty speechless. I know that sort of thing happens for military and firemen occasionally, but in general cops don't get that kind of appreciation. I don't want it to sound like it is a HUGE deal, because it was probably a twelve dollar meal. It's the gesture.

And it meant a lot.

Cops finally get their 'own' cars

2009-01-17T10:01:00.002-05:00

Finally. Purpose-built vehicles for law enforcement. Kind of makes you wonder why someone hasn't come up with one before? All this time, they've been driving regular passenger vehicles retrofitted to meet their needs. These cars are engineered specifically for cops.

Carbon Motors. Check them out. Pretty damn cool.

Look at some of the specs: (some of my favorites in bold)

Meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements
Designed to 250,000 mile durability specification
Turn-key built-to-direct-order - 24/7/365 call center support
Turn-key end-of-vehicle-life process
Comprehensive warranty
Aluminum spaceframe body structure
75 mph rear impact crash capability
Cockpit with fully-integrated factory fitted law enforcement equipment
Integrated emergency lights, spot lights, take down lights, and directional stick
Segment exclusive coach rear doors for safer suspect ingress and egress
Vehicle dynamic control
Anti-lock brakes
Optimized approach / departure angles and ground clearance
NIJ Level III-A (or better) ballistic protection (front doors and dash panel)
Purpose-designed seat for use with on-body equipment - Heated and ventilated seats
Heads up display
Reverse backup camera
Remote start capability
Driver specific intelligent key
360 degree exterior surveillance capability
Automatic license plate recognition system
Video and audio surveillance of rear passenger compartment
130hz - 350hz bass siren
Nightvision compliant interior illumination
Integrated forward looking infrared system (FLIR)
Integrated shotgun mounts
Optimized storage capability (compartment and cargo)
Integrated front and rear passenger compartment partition
Hoseable rear passenger compartment
Integrated push bumpers and PIT capability

Gun-toting Soccer Mom is wrong.

2008-11-25T10:01:00.003-05:00

I've linked to a story on msnbc.com today. I'm pissed off. While I may be far more liberal than most of the LEO spouses I know, I am very pro-2nd amendment.

But I've got to side with the sheriff in this instance. Basically, if you don't feel like following the link, this woman got her license to carry, then wore the gun to a soccer match. For five year olds.

Don't get me wrong, I am not arguing her right to wear it, but I am arguing her right to a brain. What moron wears a weapon in plain view at a soccer match? I'll take a moment here to mention that I am assuming the article correctly reports that she wore it openly at the match.

Perhaps the sheriff shouldn't have completely revoked her license, but perhaps the details of the license requires you carry using COMMON SENSE? The Sheriff does mention the state law prohibiting licensure of "questionable characters." (My own wording)

Furthermore, the details of the litigation are just preposterous. She's suing the sheriff for revoking her license on the grounds that her babysitting service has suffered, and her husband joins the suit because he has lost his wife's "companionship, consortium, society and services."

You're fucking kidding me, right? If the parents she babysat for didn't know she was a gun advocate, perhaps she wasn't being honest with them. Not the sheriff's fault. If she has become uncompanionable and antisocial because she temporarily lost her license to carry a gun, again, not the sheriff's fault.

Feel free to let the debating begin. Being licensed to carry a gun and being wise enough to know when to advertise it are not mutual. Perhaps they should be.

Yes we are, no we aren't. yes, no, yes, no...

2008-11-20T15:56:00.003-05:00

Well the SWAT team is finally building themselves quite a caseload lately. Aside from the standard hostage/barricaded subject situations, they are being utilized for more events. A few months ago there was a biker gathering at a local Harley store, and the biker gangs in attendance began systematically and methodically attacking a man from a rival gang. From what I understand, one person would emerge from the crowd, assault him, and then fade into the crowd. Another person would do the same thing, so on and so forth. I'm sure there's some crazy name among the gangs for what this activity is called.

The regular deputies on the detail made a point of breaking up the fights as best they could. Apparently one of the deputies kicked out the girlfriend of one of the gang leaders. *GASP* How dare they, right? Said gang leader begins making threats against the sheriff's office. There continues to be scuttlebutt that these gangs are going to 'throw down' at the next biker gathering. So the SWAT team was called in for extra presence. They ended up not using any special tactics because nothing happened. Most of the gangs didn't even show up.

But the drug task force has also been using the team to help with raids and warrants and such. One of the situations that they have been helping with lately is of a rather touchy subject matter, one which I was not given a lot of details, and which I will be sharing even less than I know with this blog. I'm sure you understand. In fact the particular nature of this situation is such that the newer team members weren't permitted to join the team. I'm sure down the road when they have had more training and the team leaders have a better grasp on their skillsets, that will change.

But I bring it up because it is one of those "let's get ready and wait" situations. The nature of having a part-time team is that its members are spread out over the entire county. As of the time and day I am writing this post, the team has been notified four times to be ready and to meet at X time. And all four times the callout has been cancelled. The first and third times it was cancelled when J was fully or mostly geared up but hadn't left the house. The second time they rallied, ran some practice drills and were all together ready to go and just waiting impatiently to go. The fourth time happened to occur while the team had already gathered for routine (unrelated) training.

Unfortunately for J during that 4th time, he was at a separate deputy training, and didn't even get a page.

And boy was he ticked. He's been irritated each time the callout got cancelled. This goes back to that sheepdog mentality, they *want* to jump into the fray. I think he was particularly upset that not only had it been cancelled on him three times, but that the likelihood it would actually go down while he was at the training was increasing.

On the other hand it's something I guess we just have to get used to, particularly if the team is going to be used a lot more.

life.

2008-11-12T14:22:00.004-05:00

Well life tends to have its way with you sometimes. This will kind of be a rambly post.

I'm sure all of you know how tough the economy is right now. For those of us who don't work in a field that will always be necessary to society, our jobs are sometimes a bit tenuous. A third of my department got laid off last month. Fortunately I was safe, but I ended up doing the job of two people. It's been a stressful time. As if I didn't have enough time before...hooo boy.

As a result of being overworked and underpaid (i know, join the club, right?), I ended up getting sick. I have been laid up on my couch for the last three days. It doesn't help that I couldn't exactly figure out what was wrong with me. I felt like I'd been beat up, horrendous headache, nausea, lightheaded...it sucked.

However, I did have the pleasure of attending a party for the USMC birthday on Saturday, shortly before feeling as though I ran into a brick wall. Got to see a few more of the SWAT team, get to know them a little better. And yes, the newest members were there. I can tell you that she is the type of personality that fits in well with cops. I'll leave it at that for now.

One thing that I took out of that party is how easy it is to forget your 'manners' when you get back to normal society. At a cop party, there are pretty much no taboo subjects, no holds barred. You are expected to bust chops, crack jokes, and hear much more about these people that you do about your average Joe. I heard quite a few stories about one guy's wife, although generally the stories were about him and er...his shooting ability, let's say. Very, very amusing. You really have to be able to laugh at yourself, and dish it out as ruthlessly as you can.

I then get back to my mommy-group and crack jokes, later remembering that I have to watch myself and make sure they aren't misinterpreting what I've written! Fortunately I don't have a problem remembering what's taboo while I'm at work.

I'd love to hear some of my LEO family readers post their own cop-party stories though, if you're willing :)

SWAT team to get new members

2008-10-10T08:35:00.002-04:00

I can't remember offhand how many members are on J's tactical response team. I want to say something in the ballpark of 20? They are still recruiting though, and I believe just added two or three more people.

I think that's great, for the most part. Except for one. One of the people who applied has a lot of baggage. A broken off engagement to another person who is already on the team. A history of inviting and fostering sexual relationships with married people. A tendency to be involved in department drama.

Yes, it's a female officer. Before you go thinking I am just jealous, hear me out. I do not doubt my husband's integrity. We have a terribly strong relationship, and I know he won't stray, so that's not my concern. I won't lie, I don't like the thought that she apparently has no qualms about inviting the attention of married men. But my prime concern is what her presence can do to the integrity of the team.

Currently the team is all men. I do not believe that adding a woman to the team is a problem, particularly if she has the skillset to round out the team. I do, however, believe that this particular woman is not a good fit. The team members, all of them as far as I know, have a type of humor that keeps them in good spirits, keeps them connected to each other on a brotherly level. Given some of the baggage that accompanies this newest recruit, that humor will probably be kept on a short leash.

I am sure I do not even need to focus on the fact that this officer's former fiance is on the team. That should speak volumes about the potential discomfort that can complicate matters on so many levels.

The team has its hands tied as far as this being a valid reason to veto this applicant. It seems obvious to me, the potential for problems is far greater than the need to fill a quota, but I'm not the brass.

All I know is that she had better respect every team member, and every single relationship represented on that team. It does help that the rest of the team, even ones from the other departments, are aware of the situation. I know at least some of the other wives and one girlfriend are aware, as well. If she can prove herself truly dedicated to the TEAM, and manage to keep her, shall we say, personal demons to herself, she just may fit in after all.

Totally had me rolling today

2008-09-19T09:46:00.001-04:00

BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com

The Great Blackout

2008-09-18T13:15:00.002-04:00

Well Ike sent a little 'gift' toward Ohio. We got walloped with a windstorm on Sunday. Subsequently knocked out power to most of the tri-state area. J and the deputies were forced onto 12 hour shifts and a 'gas emergency' for a few shifts, meaning they had to park somewhere and not drive til they got a call.

I appreciate conserving the gas, but really...in a blackout situation, don't you anticipate lootings? What better way to catch people in the act than by driving around?

Fortunately that didn't last long. The power was out at our house for three whole days. We are lucky that we live near his parents and could stay there.

In other news, I'm slowly but surely coming to the conclusion that our only true friends are cops or military families. Even *I* am starting to just mistrust people who aren't. Doesn't make much sense to me.

Gone, but not forgotten.

2008-09-11T00:01:00.001-04:00

Clive Ian Thompson.

Bored

2008-09-08T15:19:00.004-04:00

J and the team haven't had a SWAT callout in 11 weeks. They're getting antsy. You know it's bad when they are counting how long it's been.

That's often the difference between the 'sheepdog' and the rest of us sheep...they're the ones running toward the fights, hoping that car chase they hear on the radio is headed their way, and getting bored because there isn't enough action.

It's hard to explain sometimes, certain people just don't get it. They don't really wish for bad things to happen...but they do wish it.

Despite this week being hell on J in terms of sleep and different shifts, he is optimistic about it. Tomorrow the SWAT team has counter-sniper duty for a McCain visit. Problem is, it falls during a time J would normally be sleeping. I think he's just excited he gets to go do something.

Inmate too fat for execution?

2008-08-05T08:41:00.002-04:00

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

This inmate here in Ohio, given the death penalty for the rape and murder of two women over 20 years ago, has twice avoided execution. The first time (five years ago) because they would have difficulty finding his veins. A problem which has been made worse by the weight he has gained since then.

And I quote, "All of the experts agree if the first drug doesn't work, the execution is going to be excruciating,"

Um...so? I say GOOD. Call me a heartless bitch, but let him fucking die in agony.

A funny

2008-07-25T13:11:00.001-04:00

In June, Reno, Nev., homicide detective David Jenkins was sitting in his unmarked car (but one with emergency lights on the dash and a police radio blaring away) when Mercedes Green, 19, hopped in and, yelling to be heard over the radio, propositioned him for sex. "You're not the police, are you?" she asked. "What do you think," he said. "I didn't think so," the streetwise woman replied. After her arrest, Green explained: "You wear glasses, and I didn't think police could wear them."

[Reno Gazette Journal, 06-26-08]

2008-07-17T08:11:00.002-04:00

Well, I haven't titled this post yet because I'm not sure how to.

Last week J happened to DVR some SWAT show, can't remember the name of it now, but it's new. The episode centered around a standoff in a metro area, man holding woman at gunpoint, and he spoke no English. Eventually the son showed up, things went haywire, and one of the eyes in the sky took down the man. The end of the episode focused on how the sniper was dealing with what he'd just done. As he walked to join the team, I thought it was well shot to show how he perceived everybody looking at him accusatorily. (I think I just made a word up!)

He went on to tell the psychiatrist he didn't need therapy. When he got home, his wife and son were waiting for him. J mentions that Col. Grossman writes and teaches about this, how people deal with killing someone as part of their job. Self-doubt, nightmares, etc.

While I realize most police officers never fire their weapons, I also realize that more often they do need to. I don't have statistics off hand, but I would be willing to wager it happens more now than it used to. And I sat there thinking, if that day comes, I wouldn't know how to help J cope with it. But because I know the potential is there, if I am smart I will prepare anyway. I want to be able to be his pillar in the days and weeks that would follow such an event.

Is it just the monster under the bed? Do I need to gird myself to help him through an event that may never happen? Should I attend a Killology class? Or do I just pray and have faith that J is never put through that trial?

Or do I need to stop taking network television so seriously?

Cops aren't parents

2008-07-09T09:46:00.002-04:00

But why do people think they are?

The other day J gets a call dispatched while we are on the phone. I hear part of it, and he has to clarify it for me. Someone has called in because their five year old is hitting his mother.

Honestly?

Unless the mother is a midget or an invalid, and the child is a giant, what on earth would possess someone to ask for police assistance?

It brings to mind the times he was called because someone's child wouldn't go to school. He told them to be a parent and stop calling the cops.

Parent your own fucking children, and let the cops protect the public from the nuisances you let them become when they grow up.

Priceless

2008-07-01T11:00:00.003-04:00

J just called me to tell me he served a warrant on a guy, and while documenting the contents of his briefcase, discovered a few "rubber rings."

You know, the type used in the bedroom?

He knew full well what they were, but acted ignorant and asked the guy what they were anyway.

2008-06-09T10:22:00.003-04:00

Badge Baby and Daddy at the first annual Tactical picnic, last Saturday. All the guys had done 16 hours of training on Friday, then 6 more hours on Saturday morning. Almost all of the team made it to the picnic, and their half units and children did too. It was nice, meeting a bunch of them and having a few faces to go with the names. Can't say as I remember very many of the names now, but hopefully I will eventually.

The greater good

2008-06-01T14:20:00.003-04:00

Today is the first callout that I am actually not really worried for my husband's safety. In this instance, I'm going to be sad if they don't get the guy and bring him justice.

Police stopped a man, and upon running his license discovered there was a warrant out for him from Michigan, on kidnapping charges. There are two children in the car. Arrest attempted, man drives away. Chase ensues, I believe, and man ditches car near woods, flees on foot with children. Dogs, SWAT, and chopper have all been called out. I am praying they catch him.

update: The man was caught. Children returned safely to their mother. Turns out it was a custody issue, which most kidnappings are.

Suck it up, Bunny.

2008-05-30T14:10:00.001-04:00

So Thursday night was the season finale of Lost. We love this show. It was a two-hour finale. We DVR almost everything that we watch on a consistent basis, and even when we're home and awake to watch a show, we usually wait a length of time, 15 minutes for a one hour show, 20-25 for a two hour show, to start watching. This way we can fast-forward through all the commercials. Sorry Hollywood, it is what it is. We don't like your damn commercials.

Anyway, it's about 10 o'clock, which means although the show is half over, we've only gotten about 35 minutes into it. I am anticipating we're both going to pass out at the end of this episode. The SWAT pager goes off.

Shit.

He checks it, it says all teams call team A leader. J calls number, gets busy signal. Naturally, because a home phone line cannot handle multiple phone calls coming in at the same time. Waits a few minutes, calls again.

Team leader says, "hey, what are you and the half unit (that's me, dear reader) bringing to the picnic?"

Next weekend the entire tactical unit has an overnight training exercise, and the following day, all the families and some 'honored guests' are having a big picnic. Team commander told team A leader to contact all the team. Leader figures easiest method of contacting all is by pager.

J thinks this is hysterical. I was a bit irked. Seriously? at ten o'clock at night, most of your team members have families young children, and you page them?

*sigh*

A swelling of pride

2008-05-09T15:15:00.002-04:00

I don't know what is going on, what has changed, or what house the moon is in. But a few weeks ago, we were at lunch, J in uniform, me and little LT sitting with him. Two kids are getting their sodas, dad is grabbing napkins. Dad makes both kids say "thank you" to J, and then when he walks up he says a quick word of gratitude, shakes J's hand.

About a week after that, we're at a tattoo parlor, picking out the final design for J's ink. St Michael slaying the dragon. There's another guy shopping for inspiration, and Roy is finishing up on a client. Turns out the other guy shopping is also a LEO, and J went to the academy with another guy from his department. So naturally they strike up a conversation. Roy, the tattoo guy, happens to be a cop fan and is chatting them up as well. The guy who is just getting his tattoo aftercare instructions comes up and shakes both their hands, says thanks for all they do.

This type of thing has happened several times recently, and it catches me by surprise every single time. Being a cop family isn't like being a firefighter's family. I don't know if it's very common for other LEO families, but we don't advertise, especially living as close to the ghetto as we do. No FOP stickers on our plates. J doesn't mention it at movie theaters in the hopes of getting us a discount. We don't like the risk of inviting hatred. When he graduated from the academy, all the boys went out for wings and beer, and to the girly show. A waitress or hostess asked what they were celebrating, and they looked at each other and told her the fire academy.

At the time I thought he should be proud of who he was. Perhaps down the line he'll get a dose of fuckitall and won't care who knows. But for now we expect the "hairy eyeball" from John Q Public, so it's always really nice when someone goes out of their way to express appreciation. It's a bit corny, but it makes me so proud of him and all the boys in blue.

Life as we know it

2008-04-23T07:44:00.003-04:00

It's been a hectic time in my house this last week. J has had 3 SWAT callouts. We've had two showings. A few appointments that had to be rescheduled or cancelled. Family visiting. Selling the old car. Purchasing a new car.

It's pretty unnerving when you're already feeling kind of frenetic, and the pager goes off. It's loud and persistent. It's not like a cell phone with a silly ring tone that you might not hear given the proper ambient noise. And the adrenaline level in the house goes up several levels. J, in classic sheepdog mode, gets antsy at the thought of doing what he loves best about his job. Me, in classic neurotic wife mode, worrying because I will not know what's going on, nor will we have contact until the situation is resolved.

People have asked, "aren't you worried?" when they learn he is on SWAT. And my response to them is typically along the lines of, "No, I know they're more prepared for the situations, the most dangerous situation a cop can get into is a traffic stop or a domestic, I know they're well trained" yadda yadda.

But every time the pager goes off, I get on edge. And yes, the what-if thoughts run through my mind. I finally succumb to curiosity and troll the local news sites for the latest updates. Often there are no stories until the situation is over and he's home, so it's a fruitless endeavor but almost every time I have done it anyway.

To add to it, the last two calls have been back to back, and both the night before we had showings scheduled during a time we were both out of the house. Which in theory would be fine, except we have two dogs. Now, neither of them has ever even bared their teeth at a human, let alone snapped or bit. They're labs. They love everybody. But one dog is part rottweiler, and he is territorial. What I'm getting at is the fact that when we have a showing during the work day, I have to run home to get the dogs. Just one more stress factor. If you've ever sold a home you were currently living in, you probably know how strenuous it is to keep your house CONSTANTLY in tip-top shape. Throw an almost-toddler and two large dogs into the mix, and it's an effort every night.

Now imagine trying to get ready for a showing, trying to get the baby down to bed, vacuuming the hair tumbleweeds, and mud that the dogs drag in because it's now springtime, do some more laundry, fit dinner in there somewhere, and ***BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP***.

Oy.

Public attention

2008-04-22T08:01:00.002-04:00

There have been a couple stories I have wanted to share here, but haven't been able to because they have made it into the local news. And in the interest of protecting my family's privacy, I decided not to discuss them in the event some kook decided to go hunting and figure out who we are. It's not that we are completely anonymous. If you know us, and find this blog, chances are you can figure out pretty easily it's us. But I am always worried about the evil you don't know. And the internet facilitates that all too easily. I do know the articles are archived now.

But it was some really cool shit.

The first, and in my eyes bigger, story occurred last summer. Some of the details are a bit fuzzy but essentially a felon with six months left on probation escaped the halfway house he was at, broke into a home and tied up the occupants, stole a gun and their car (and asked them for DIRECTIONS), and left. An off-duty officer on her way home happened to see the vehicle, remembering the description from the end of her shift, followed him while calling it in. The deputies were able to catch up and a chase ensued. J used his stopsticks, successfully blowing out the tires, but the chase continued several more miles on the freeway. The traffic cameras on the interstate happened to catch one of the most exciting parts of the chase, and the operator must have known it was coming because the normally static camera follows as the chase passes the station. This part of the chase is very Hollywood style, as the guy is running into cars and causing multiple accidents.

Let me pause here and stop you if you're about to debate the pros and cons of a police chase. The suspect was recklessly driving before the deputies were on his tail. Had at least one weapon in the car. And I'm fairly certain that once stopsticks are used, they can't just let the person drive off. But I digress.

The suspect finally stops when the hood of the car flies up, blocking his view. Someone was looking down and stepped in, because he was exiting the freeway into a very busy area of town. Who knows how much worse it could have gotten then. The traffic camera also catches all the deputies go flying out of their cars, guns drawn, and the subsequent arrest. It was pretty cool to actually see J in action.

Turns out officers get a little uniform decoration when they use the stopsticks, too.

The second story is less severe in nature but equally dramatic and perhaps more debateable.

J is driving around on patrol one warm summer day, and is flagged down by a woman in a Lowe's parking lot. She tells him there are two children locked in this car, and she doesn't know how long they've been in there, at least a few minutes. No parent anywhere in sight. He looks in the windows to see two girls, 2 and 4 years old, unconscious in their seats. He immediately begins trying to unlock the car and wake the girls. The 4 year old finally wakes up, but can't get out of her seat or open the door. I perhaps should mention at this point it is a sports car, so not a large vehicle. Attempts to jimmy the lock are unsuccessful, and still no parent is around. If you are a reader of this blog you might recall our son was born last May, and so J is at this point a proud new father. And naturally even more worried about the safety of a child than he might have been before. He tells the little girl to cover her face, and breaks the window with his baton.

Naturally the father finally comes out of the store right about now, and begins his story about how he only ran in for a minute, they were fine, the car was cool, it was locked, they were asleep and he didn't want to wake them, etc. It wasn't the hottest day, probably about 75 or 80 degrees that afternoon, but any expert will tell you (and any person with half a brain will agree) that the inside of a car climbs in temperature rather rapidly in the sun on a summer afternoon, to easily 20 or 30 degrees warmer. And starts going on and on about how this is going to ruin his career. In the retelling I stopped J at this point to ask if he was even worried about his children. J says no, the guy is just worried about his career.

Ready for the kicker? He's a pediatric specialist.

So even if you buy that the car was cooled when he left, and that he really was only in there for a 'few minutes' (at least 5 had transpired after J got there), there's still a matter of leaving a two year old and a four year old unattended. Which is really the law he was breaking here. Technically there isn't a law about leaving your kids in a heated vehicle (although there ought to be, I know it's just Ohio but it gets hot and humid here too), I suppose if you were sitting *in* the car with your kids there wouldn't be much they could do. But it doesn't take a cop with a baton to break a window and take two kids out of a car. It's not unthinkable that one of them could pop the parking brake, put something in their mouth, hurt each other, etc. If you think it's improbable then you've clearly never been around a toddler. They do these sort of things in the blink of an eye when you're THERE.

I found some livid debate at the time about it, and really it should be a moot point. There should have been no question about an officer's actions in this situation. But there's always a question. Always. It still irritates me that John Q Public thinks they know how to do a cop's job better.

But it is what it is.

The Criminally Stupid

2008-03-26T09:18:00.002-04:00

Really, sometimes it is criminal how stupid people can be. But it's funny how stupid criminals can be.

J gets a call to the Days Inn yesterday. Seems a guest had rockstar-style trashed the room. Light bulbs in the toilet. Furniture destroyed, up-ended, you name it. So J looks at the registration papers. Guy paid with cash, but left a valid phone number and they had copied his driver's license.

J calls the phone number.

"Uh....hello?"
"is this Robert Smith?"
"uh...no."
"Is he available?"
"Not right now."
"Do you know when he will be available?"
"Uh....who's this?"
"Deputy J*** ****, I need to speak with Robert Smith."
"uh....why?"

(at this point in the re-telling I am cracking up. It sounds to me like he's having a conversation with Bill & Ted, or Beavis)

"Is this Robert?"
"uh...no."
"What's your name?"
"Um. Rob?"
"Robert Smith?"
"yeah...."
"Why did you lie to me?"
"um...I was trying to figure out who you were."
"I told you who I was before you lied to me."
"Oh."
"Did you stay at Days Inn last night?"
"No?"
"You know they copied your drivers license when you checked in, right?"
"Shit."
"They want you to pay for all the damage you did to the room."
"I didn't do all that!"

Keep in mind that Robert is not looking at the room during this conversation, and has only his memory to remind him of what the damage is.

As I type this all out I realize it may not be nearly as funny written as it was in the telling. I assure you I was thoroughly amused, though. It helps if you hear the voice of this guy as Keanu Reeves in Bill & Ted.

Deputy injured in accident

2008-03-07T09:46:00.002-05:00

This shit really pisses me off. Are people so blind that they can't see the vehicles on the side of the road? ESPECIALLY a vehicle with bright flashing lights?

I know a license is required to drive a vehicle, but seriously...maybe the requirements should be a little higher...

Here's your sign

2007-12-19T13:58:00.001-05:00

Two idiot stories today...

Last week J is at SWAT training. They are at a police station that is going to be demolished and rebuilt anew, so they get to train in it and break whatever the hell they want. All driveways to the parking lot are blocked off. All the doorways to the building have giant signs on them that say 'SWAT TRAINING IN PROGRESS'. It is, from J's description, evident that the building is OBVIOUSLY not in use by the police department. Yet some bozo walks up to one of the team members who is standing guard at one of the doors. Team member turns around and aims semi-automatic rifle at his chest, yelling "CAN I HELP YOU?" Bozo responds, with arms in air, "I just wanted to pay a ticket!"

Sometimes the team leaders throw in a plant or something, to keep them on their toes. Not knowing whether or not this guy was truly a bozo or part of the scenario, of course they respond that way. I laughed thinking about this guy, trying not to pee his pants.

other story:

Part of J's jurisdiction is in one of those areas of town that I'm sure everybody is familiar with. You know, where all the best stores are, and the traffic patterns are just screwy enough to make it impossible to get a mile in less than 20 minutes. Everybody knows traffic there sucks, but nobody can resist going there. Well yesterday he is in that area, wondering why it's taken four cycles of the light to get through the intersection. He finally gets close enough to see that an elderly woman is in the left turn lane, with her car halfway in the intersection. But she is not in her car. She is out of her car, asking the man behind her for directions.

Why didn't she pull over and ask for directions? Why was the INTERSECTION the best place to ask? Because she needed to know how to get to the building, and dammit, NOW's as good a time as any.

If my eyes could roll any harder, they would fall out of my head.

SWAT story #1

2007-12-04T19:18:00.000-05:00

So today J goes on his first SWAT call out. They're serving a warrant. He tells me they threw a flash bang in the door. It was so loud, it literally scared the shit out of the dogs. Dogs were dashing up the stairs, tails tucked between their legs, and pooping as they ran.

Yes, Virginia

2007-11-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

Cop's wives DO get tickets.

*grumble*

In other news: J got on the SWAT team in his county. He couldn't be happier. His mother is still going on about how dangerous it is and how she doesn't want him to do it. I have given up trying to explain that the SWAT team is better equipped to deal with the situation because they know what they're going into most times. He's had the pager for about a week now, and keeps staring at it and asking me why it hasn't gone off yet. I don't know, darling, but I don't think they forgot you!

Badge Baby is doing well. He has had an ear infection for about a month now, so at the ripe old age of 7 mo we are discussing tubes already. Not entirely thrilled with the idea of anesthetizing my little boy, but I do like the idea of kicking the e/i in the ass!

In case you are one of my readers who has been faithful and checks in from time to time to see if I've updated any in the last 3 months, and in case you are one of those readers who doesn't have children...let me just say this. Sleep deprivation is used as torture for a very good reason.

One last thing that I think is a little odd...J tells me they are now getting fitted for hazmat suits to carry in their trunks. In addition to regular gear, riot gear, and his SWAT gear. I'm all for being prepared (yay boy scouts) but at what point do they start issuing grocery getters as standard vehicles?

Where the lines of justice are drawn

2007-08-30T08:54:00.000-04:00

So about a week ago, J gets a theft report from a woman who says five sets of her Bengals tickets were stolen. He asks if she knows who could have taken them. Her daughter's ex-boyfriend was recently at the house, and he seems a likely candidate. So J calls this kid, asks if he's got the tickets. Naturally the kid says no. J asks if the kid knows what will happen to the people found in those seats. Between you and me, J working in a different county than Paul Brown Stadium, this is kind of an empty threat, but it scares the kid a bit. Unfortunately there's not much to go on suspecting the kid other than the woman's guess.

A few days later J gets a call from the woman. She says her daughter knows the night manager at the Frisch's where this kid works, and the night manager says the kid has been trying to hawk Bengals tickets. If J gets a statement from the manager, this could be enough for the prosecutor. Since 5 sets of Bengals tickets are worth more than $500, this is a felony theft charge.

Another few days go by, and J gets another call from the woman. She says she got an envelope in the mail with three sets of the tickets, and $300, along with a letter from the kid. He apologizes for taking the tickets, says he can't 'find' the other two sets (must have successfully sold them) but here's money to make up for it. Please don't report him to the cops, he doesn't want to go to jail. This is admission of guilt, and plenty of evidence to support charges. The woman wants to know what she's supposed to do with the money.

Simply enough, she didn't misrepresent herself to the kid by telling him to pay for the tickets. She just wanted her tickets back. By filing the theft report, the Bengals reissued her tickets, so she's not out any money. The kid didn't get away with it, and attempted to make it right.

Here's the question: The daughter's ex-boyfriend obviously made restitution for his crime. Do charges still need to be pressed against him? J tells the woman that technically, being felony theft, the responsibility falls on HIM to file the charges. However, if she wants, she can sign a drop-investigation form and it will all go away. He gives her a few days to think about it.

In my mind, why bog down the system with this case? The kid paid his debt, she got her tickets back, all's righted. J responds that the kid committed a crime and needs to pay. I respond that he did pay. He says, "but only because he thought he was going to jail, and not because he had a change of heart." So what? People don't have a change of heart by going to jail, either. In discussing it with others, I hear "Well maybe he'll think he can get away with it next time." Right, and people who go to jail never repeat their crimes either.

Did he pay his debt? Was justice served? Should he still go to jail? If so, why do we impose fines for lesser crimes too?

new vocab word

2007-07-20T14:17:00.000-04:00

Felony forest: (n) a grouping of air freshener pine trees hanging from the rear view mirror in a car. Used to mask the odor of narcotic substances.

Kids

2007-06-21T08:22:00.000-04:00

*Sigh* both of us are back at work now. I like having a normal schedule again but I miss my kid! Little LT is a heck of a cuddle-bug, and so am I. We're a good match that way, except when I want to actually get some chores done and try to set him down.

What is it about having a kid and being a cop? Seems like all of a sudden J is getting a lot of calls involving very young children, in situations that make normal parents VERY angry.

It's been hot lately. Really hot, unseasonably. And we've had very little rain in the Ohio valley. So over the weekend he's driving around on patrol and gets flagged down by a woman in a Lowe's parking lot. She tells him there are two children in a locked car, windows up. So he goes to investigate, discovering the children are young (2 and 4), and neither of them respond when he knocks on the window. It's about 85 degrees at this time of day, and so he returns to his car to get the tools necessary to unlock the car. If you've ever done this or had someone trying to jimmy the lock, you know it's not the easiest thing in the world, and pretty time consuming if you want to avoid damaging the car. After several unsuccessful attempts, he radios his lieutenant to get the OK to break the window. The 4 year old wakes up but can't unlock the door, so he tells her to cover her face and he breaks the window. As he's clearing the glass to reach in, the father comes running out of the store.

Now, in the time J has been there, it's been at least 5 minutes. Father swears he was only in the store for 30 seconds and the car was cool. You and I both know that a trip into Lowe's is never a 30 second adventure. We're not talking about running in to pay for gas. Then dad, a doctor, starts talking about how this is going to ruin his career. HELLO, how about ruining your children?? On a 75 degree, sunny day, the inside of a car can heat up to 125 degrees in less than 10 minutes. If you wouldn't sit in your car with the windows up and no A/C on a hot day, why would you do it to your child?

We find out later from the newspaper that this guy is not only a doctor, but a pediatrics specialist, no less. He is charged with two counts of child endangering, which is a misdemeanor and can carry up to six months in jail.

The very next day, J gets a call to a Kroger's (a grocery store). A mother was unloading her cart to pay, when her not-quite-3 year old wanders into the next aisle. She returns a few minutes later with her pants around her knees. Mother thinks child was playing around and asks her why she did that. Child replies that she didn't, the man did, and he touched her bottom. Now, even thinking about being in this woman's shoes makes me so angry I want to break something. This sort of thing bothered me even before I ever wanted a child of my own. Now I can 100% understand why someone would take matters into their own hands and pursue the pervert.

When J and other officers try to interview the girl, she doesn't speak to them. Eventually they did get some of a description from her, and the store surveillance tapes were being reviewed to see if he was on tape. It's really frightening to think this occurred in broad daylight, in a public location. Just unreal.

Normally J doesn't share cases with me if there is a sex crime or disturbing details. I'm a little too sensitive about those issues. But this was in the news, as was the incident with the kids being left in the car, so it was hard for him to hide.

The babe

2007-06-11T13:24:00.000-04:00

As I'm sure you've probably figured out, the badge baby finally arrived. Our little lieutenant (hereafter known as LT) was born on May 2. I like to think it was the full moon, the barometer, spicy food, etc. And the fact that he was due on the 4th. Since it's been almost six weeks and I've forgotten how it really felt, I'll take this moment to brag...it was entirely natural. No drugs, no epidural.
LT weighed in at 8lb, 2.4oz. He was 21 inches long. We're doing really well! J has been off the entire time with me. He goes back to work this week, which I'm not thrilled about. The independently wealthy really have it made. I go back to work next week. Even less thrilled about that. I'd love to stay home and just be with my little cuddle monster full time. Ah well...such is life. Hope you've all been doing well!

Hubby's job

2007-04-30T13:00:00.001-04:00

J is FINALLY back on the road again. And he's beside himself. I know I've said it before, but I was spoiled by him being off most evenings and weekends. And the OT money was awesome! But he's going to days, and with all the OT he's already accrued for the year he won't get forced on any more until it gets reset.

We're in the very last days of my pregnancy, hence the lack of updates. Also, we moved so it's been a little hectic. Everything's settled in the new house, and we're as ready as we can be for the baby. Obviously once he arrives (did I mention it's a boy?) I won't be updating much except an announcement. J is taking off a good chunk of time, so we're both looking forward to that. Still, it's exciting but nerve-wracking. I just hope we're mentally ready, as well.

Remember this story from several months back? Ironically that post got the most debate of any of my posts. Well finally the grievance was reviewed and it was getting almost to arbitration, but Ryan Saylor got his job back. Good. At least there was some justice in the situation.

Neo Nazi group's planned march - update

2007-04-12T09:37:00.000-04:00

Cincinnati City Council passes ordinance in effort to affect march.

Well that was quick! Part of the article says that groups that use 'fighting words' (that's kind of generalized) will have to pay for their own protection. I wonder how this will fly with state and national supreme courts? I am glad to hear that this group can't expect to spread hateful propaganda on taxpayer dollars, but I do wonder how they are protected by the first amendment? It's also stunning to me that a city council was able to band together so well and get an ordinance passed so quickly.
I do know my husband would not be happy at all to be assigned to protect a hate group. Especially given Cincinnati's past racial tension, I can't imagine that this march will end very well. Naturally, that's the reaction the group is looking for.

Thoughts?

Cincinnati racial problems

2007-04-05T13:52:00.000-04:00

Neo Nazi group says it will march in OTR

*sigh*...OTR is Over The Rhine, a section of neighborhood in downtown Cincinnati that is notorious for high crime and high racial issues. It was the main site of the riots in 2001. Also, if you've ever been to Ellis Island, there's an old picture of a neighborhood that filled with German immigrants 100 years ago. That's Over The Rhine. Needless to say, there are no German immigrants or descendants living there now.

This Neo-Nazi group, already responsible for being the direct cause of riots in Toledo, is planning on marching through the neighborhood on April 20. They're demanding that police make the area safe for white people to demonstrate. They want to draw attention to the 'need' for black people to be 'exported' out of the country. Right. Geniuses. Like we need MORE racial problems in that area. If you ask me, the only thing they'll be demonstrating is the need for bigots to be weeded out of the gene pool.

Prison Comforts. There's no place like home?

2007-04-05T13:35:00.000-04:00

So the other day we're sitting around with some friends, grilling out food. One friend is with Hamilton County S.O. but works at the jail. And J is still in court services, so naturally the conversation turns to prisoner transports and such. As it turns out, some of the inmates have figured out which correctional facilities they'd rather be at, based on the amenities. Some of the prisons have cable, and TVs in most of the cells. Other facilities have CD players in each cell. My argument is that they broke the law, why do they get extra comforts paid for by our tax dollars? This pisses me off, actually! I'm pretty liberal, especially for being a LEO wife, but hell no! They do not deserve comforts!
Our friend working at the jail didn't exactly argue that they deserved them, but he did bring up a good point. They are low-cost means of keeping prisoners subdued. I can see the point, but really, are prisoners more likely to riot or cause trouble if they don't have high-tech entertainment?
Thoughts?

SWAT standoff ends peacefully

2007-03-28T11:14:00.001-04:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17829238/from/RS.4/ Well a SWAT standoff fairly close to my house ended peacefully yesterday. The suspect was firing rounds off into the air before charging into a house. When the standoff ended, it was discovered he was sleeping. Apparently holding your ground is exhausting!

No charges against officer

2007-03-07T13:20:00.000-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17500631/ The officer who accidentally struck and killed a pedestrian while on his way to a call will not face charges. I am pretty relieved by that result in this particular situation.

In other news, blogger forced me to change to beta. It better be good.

J is still in court services, but has an end in sight. Just before the baby is due, he should be back out on the road. Then he gets paternity leave, so we'll be settling into our new, bigger 'shoes' as parents. He's also put in to join the SWAT team for the county. They are, I believe, in the process of revamping the applications, requiring applicants to be physically fit by Ohio Police Officer Training standards. Which gives him a fair bit of a lead over some of the other applicants. He's excited. Hopefully he'll get to join, since I know that's been one of his career goals since before he even graduated the Academy.

Cruiser Dash Cam video

2007-02-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

http://wcpo.com/news/2007/local/02/14/cruiser_cam.html I wish I could directly link to the video or upload it to this post but I'm not that savvy. Miraculously everybody involved in this accident was unharmed. Cincinnati got walloped by the storm that was wiping out half of the midwest, and it was pretty damn icy here.

Cops arrest woman having miscarriage

2007-02-01T16:01:00.000-05:00

This came up on the baby forums I frequent these days, and naturally a bunch of mothers are outraged. But for the wrong reasons.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/16584384.htm
A woman was spotted putting fake temp tags in her car, and when officers pulled her over she told them she was bleeding or miscarrying, after they questioned her about the tags. She repeatedly tells them she's bleeding. Officers discover she has no ID, suspended license, multiple warrants, and arrest her. The following morning she is taken to the hospital, where she "delivers" a baby (at 3 or 4 months gestation) that dies.
I feel it necessary to point out here that she did not deliver a pre-term baby, by medical terminology. This is a miscarriage, plain and simple. Yes, it's tragic. But probably wasn't preventable. Nobody can say for sure.

So my repeat readers will know, feisty little Bunny has to jump in and point out the fallacies of the cop-hater logic (illogic), and point out the obvious sensationalism of the story 'spin'. Thought you guys would like to read the story as well. Debate away, and I will probably respond to your arguments on this one.

Update

2007-01-25T15:19:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in almost two weeks. Why? There is absolutely nothing to talk about.

J is still at court services, and still hating it. He's recently been trained and authorized to fly armed, in order to do prisoner transports. Which means beaucoup overtime! I've gotten absolutely spoiled rotten by having him home evenings, weekends AND holidays. He anticipates going back out on the road shortly before the baby gets here, but is also going to take paternity leave for several weeks. So I will probably have a complete breakdown when we both go back to work and I am back to being a single-married wife. But them's the breaks, eh?

I haven't forgotten anybody, or forgotten about the blog. I just haven't had anything interesting to share with you from the cop world.

I did however, stumble across this story today about the controversy surrounding the proposed 9/11 memorial. I wasn't aware that there was a controversy, but I can definitely see both sides of the debate. The designer originally proposed a completely random scattering of all the victims' names on the memorial, and not having any other details (building/plane/first responder, age, etc) On the one hand I do feel like they should be sorted out, and I'm a little biased about first responders, since they had a choice about being there. But on the other hand I would hate for that to demean the senseless deaths of anybody else on 9/11. I don't really know where I stand on this one. Thoughts?

Cop profiling never ends...

2007-01-04T10:41:00.000-05:00

Oy. The Rand Corp. was contracted by the city of Cincinnati to assemble police reports and study them for evidence of racial profiling. The report has now been released. It is RIFE with opportunity for misinterpretation. Great.

shock and awe

2007-01-02T20:23:00.000-05:00

I was checking my recent visitors log, courtesy of Statcounter, and much to my surprise (and horror) I found I was being linked to from a site called Saddam Hussein's blog (at blogspot, no less). Naturally I recognized it to be a spoof by its address alone. I'd even seen it referenced today on another website, but was at work and didn't want to check it out. Since I was at home when I saw it I decided to risk it and check it out, especially since I'd had two different visitors link to me from it.

Imagine my surprise to open the blog and see it is laid out exactly like our very own Lugosi's website. D'oh! hahahaha, I got quite the giggle out of that.

Dominant personalities

2007-01-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

So I've taken to watching The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel. You've probably heard of Cesar Millan before. He's actually pretty fascinating. Dogs are a big part of my life, and always will be. And it pains me to see a family with a dog (or multiple dogs) that has behavioral issues that could be easily solved with proper training. If you haven't had the opportunity to experience his show, each episode has a few different dogs with behavioral problems, often neurotic attitudes, and usually aggressive problems. Some dogs have separation anxiety; some attack other dogs. Today the episode I was watching featured a husband and wife, and their almost-adult son. They had two yorkies that yapped nonstop, pottied in the house at will, and attacked shrubberies. They don't usually get into the occupations of the owners unless it applies. Today it did.

The husband was revealed to be a police officer. This was used to emphasize the point that this man should know how to discipline his dogs, but didn't. Cesar put it pretty appropriately when he said "Tom comes home and he punches out." And boy is it true! There are some cops I've known to have the same personality on duty and off. But most of them have a 'switch' when they're on duty. It's difficult to explain if you haven't witnessed it for yourself, but it's a subtle difference in personality and attitude. I've heard of some officers who have to turn it on a while before shift. With my husband, I don't notice it unless I happen to see him on duty. And even then, he's pretty good at turning it on and off. If he's getting some food or he's in the car and we talk on the phone, he's himself. Normal, jovial, good humored.

Because I don't see him that often on duty, it's a rare opportunity that I experience the cop persona in him. He's more focused on the job, much more serious, not nearly as easy to crack a joke. Don't get me wrong, J has an insane sense of humor and almost always finds a laugh out of a given situation. It sounds weird as I type it out, as though this personality change should be obvious to the average joe citizen. To your common criminal, they probably assume cops are that hard personality 24 hours a day. To family members, it's a bit difficult to see their loved one with that mental 'helmet' on.

The cop/dog owner, Tom, also said himself that he had a soft spot for children and animals, those who can't defend themselves. I like to think that's true of most cops; at least the ones we know. Most of them do have dogs, and are good around kids. Even one cop we know at J's old post who is quite the asshole, has rescued a Katrina dog. He pretends he doesn't have a soft spot, but I've seen it; lurking around the edges. He's the gruff old uncle type. But Tom, on the Dog Whisperer, couldn't bring himself to discipline his dogs because they were small, and they were animals. Ultimately Cesar showed him how to become the 'leader', or as other trainers put it, the alpha. I didn't doubt for a second that Tom could do it, but he comes home and wants to be the family guy. Cops don't come home and keep that badge on with their family.

My blog

2006-12-31T22:28:00.000-05:00

I've had a little disclaimer on the sidebar of this blog since I started it. You're welcome to comment, to disagree, whatever. I have never invited anyone to my blog directly, nor have I requested or demanded (yes, you, anne elizabeth, I know you still visit. Anonymous isn't very anonymous when you're stupid.) to be linked to. I think it's cool if you visit, even more cool if you return to read, and pretty damn flattering if you link to me.

If you don't like something I write, please feel free to disagree. In fact, I pretty much expect it. I don't write things like "Today the sky was blue." I know what I'm writing about is often controversial and I am fully aware of the fact that I believe things differently than your average, white bread, Republican policeman. (And I can say that because my husband is a shining example of "The Man".) But that little disclaimer on my sidebar has said, from the beginning, "I like comments. But I like real comments, not people being assholes. If you have something constructive to add, by all means please speak up. If you just like to lurk, please lurk. I don't take flaming lightly. I will erase those comments."

I love a good debate. Bring it on. But do it logically. Use reason, research, fact, even your own opinion. But don't attack me. I do not attack people that I disagree with, and that's my one request of you; respect that and return it. Calling me hormonal just because you're having a shitty day (and happen to know I'm pregnant) is being an asshole. Or showing up anonymously and berating me cause you can't use intelligence to argue your point, well, that just gets your comment deleted. You'll notice, if you go through past posts, I never deleted any comments where people disagree with me. Nor have I been nasty in response. However, if you're nasty to me, yep, I reserve the right to be a bitch back. Today was the first time I deleted a comment. The person didn't have anything constructive to add, and basically felt like blaming me for something that happened to her at some point in the past (that coincidentally wasn't me, although I'd like to have taken credit for it).

I realize I have different viewpoints. Sometimes they may not make sense to some people, especially cops. It's funny that I know enough cops and since I'm married to one (and have them in the family as well) that I'm expected to bow down and have the exact same opinion as cops? Nope. Not gonna happen. Sure there's a lot of things I do agree with, but I'm not a sheep.

Anyway, by all means, disagree with me. Tell me so. But expect a good debate, if I want to debate about it. (If I don't want to debate about it, I'll just let it go) And don't read into my tone. It's the damn internet, there is no tone except the one you're making up in your head. If you can't handle a debate, well...you know what they say about the heat.

Ex-cop teaches you how to hide drugs

2006-12-22T08:03:00.000-05:00

An ex-Narcotics Officer is creating a video to teach people how to "Never Get Busted Again." His former employers remember him as being one of the best narcotics officers they've ever seen. In the article it mentions that he is in favor of marijuana legalization, believing the War on Drugs to be a waste of resources, filling the jails with harmless criminals.
I actually happen to agree with him about pot. I've never heard a cop story involving a violent stoner. I've never met anyone who did anything more than just sit and be stupid while smoking marijuana. The worst I've heard personally was the local kid, Alex Manocchio, getting stoned and driving his car into an 8-months-pregnant woman, killing her and her unborn baby. If it was legal, there could be laws passed preventing 'stoning and driving', just like alcohol. But that's a long battle and debate that frankly I don't want to get into. To me, I don't see the difference between pot and booze.
The problem is that his video, if I'm understanding the story correctly, is how to hide your narcotics. Is pot a narcotic? I was under the impression there were far more serious drugs out there than pot. I also believe resources would be better used pursuing the drug trade for those drugs that cause violent behavior, serious bodily harm, and addiction. I mean let's be honest...someone gets stiffed over a joint, do they go on a violent spree? Do kids become hookers for pot money?

That said, I think it's pretty sad that he used to spend his life upholding the law, and is now making a trade teaching people to evade the law. Unfortunately being a cop doesn't give you any room to disagree with the law. You uphold it, regardless of your personal beliefs, or you lose your job. Obviously this officer wasn't OK with that.

But he only had a knife!!

2006-12-12T16:48:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: PLEASE SEE COMMENTS FOR THIS POST. The description of the photos is inaccurate per Snopes.com and another officer who also received the email.

This email has been circulating in the cop community, and I thought it important enough to post. Please note: I am uploading the pictures but you must click on them to see them. THEY ARE GRAPHIC IMAGES. That's your warning. If you click and are sickened, not my fault.

I'm reposting the email as it arrived in our inbox. I don't think that I'd have worded it the same, but here it is:

The photos are of an officer trained in hand-to-hand combat.
The officer thought, due to his size and fighting skills, he could disarm a knife wielding aggressor.

Here is why I am forwarding these on.

To all the idiots out there who always say, "Why did the cops have to shoot him?
He only had a (insert your choice of weapons here, i.e. knife, bat, club. whatever).?
He didn't have to be shot.

To that, I respond, "tough crap ... shoot'em".

If an officer tells you to drop your weapon, just drop it.
If you're a retard, stupid, on crack, mental or just "scared" ... too bad.?

No one deserves what this cop got for just doing his job.?
If you've got a knife, then you should die ... period.

This is vivid proof of how deadly people who are "only" armed with a knife can be.

Some of the public think that officers should try to disarm someone armed with a knife but anyone who has had training in knife fighting will tell you - even if you win you are going to get cut. Keep this in the back of your mind when confronting someone armed with an edged weapon.
Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

A better driver?

2006-12-07T17:55:00.000-05:00

Wellll...in my post about the kid who smoked pot and caused a major accident, I mentioned that I had a lot of practice before actually getting my license. I said I thought it made me a better driver.

This morning a freak snowstorm hit Cincinnati. The high today was somewhere in the mid 20s, with wind chill around zero. While going a max of 25-30 mph over a bridge, I hit a huge patch of ice, and started to fishtail. I was able to regain control of my Jeep for all of .25 seconds, and spun out in a wide arc. Miraculously I was able to avoid being hit by the monster salt truck in the next lane, but I hit the cement guard rail. Scraped up the front left corner enough to make it rub on the tire when I hard turn, and knocked off the back left quarter panel. Scared the CRAP out of me. I got out to assess damage, and another car had stopped to check on me. It was two young guys, and one of them even picked up the pieces of the quarter panel. I thought that was a very endearing gesture, although I can't imagine he actually thought they would put it back on, LOL! My car was fully driveable and I was less than a mile from work so I thanked them and got back in the car. Once I started driving, I got the adrenaline dump that I'm sure some of you are all too familiar with. Was shaking so bad I wouldn't have been able to dial a phone.

Someone asked if I called the cops. No, I didn't. I was the only car involved, the car was driveable and I wasn't injured. Plus due to the snow, there were accidents piling up all across the city, involving injuries and multiple cars. I let them deal with the more important issues.

That was my first accident ever. The worst part was the awful realization that it was inevitable. All I could do was wait, at that point, to hit the wall. And be thankful that there were no other cars near me. But it was a humbling experience. Yes, it was my fault. I was accelerating with disregard to the weather. Mother nature demands more respect than I offered this morning.

Yes, the baby is fine. I'm fine. We went to the doc anyway, and listened to the heartbeat, and laughed as the doc chased the baby around my belly. She/he is very active in the late afternoons!

How do Tasers work?

2006-12-05T13:48:00.000-05:00

Found an article on Slate about how Tasers work. It's from a few weeks ago but it's a concise explanation. Also mentions that Taser International is suing some Ohio & Indiana coroners for implicating Taser in the cause of death. Yay Taser! The article ends by comparing the difference between a Taser shock and being hit by lightning. I wish I knew where to find independent studies on the effects of Tasers and stun guns, but today I'm a little too lazy to look them up.

Boredom Meme

2006-12-05T11:04:00.000-05:00

Stole this from Katey and wanted to do it. You're supposed to bold the ones you've done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I Love You" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Built your own PC from parts
11. Hit a home run
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Visited Paris
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gotten married
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gone scuba diving
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" (an expert at being a cop's wife, LOL)
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror (ok at, not in)
96. Raised child(ren)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking (um, every day)
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Had a snake as a pet
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Broken a bone
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper (had a whole article just about me)
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one 'important' author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Bungee jumped
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Never a shortage of them...

2006-12-04T12:50:00.000-05:00

For my more frequent readers, you might be intrigued to hear there is a bit of a debate going on in the comments section of a thread from a MONTH ago. I had posted right after elections about one unhappy local businessman's reaction to the public smoking ban here in Ohio. Some anonymous visitor has taken on himself (herself?) to use it as an opportunity to let me know what, in his opinion, is wrong with the voting system today. At first it started out that since 20% of Ohioans smoke (not entirely sure where they got that figure but I've heard similar estimates) that therefore, 20% of public places should allow smoking. As you can see, there isn't a lot of logic to this person's arguments, but for some silly reason I let myself get sucked in. After I got another comment today, I realized this person isn't mad at me, they're mad at the world, and mad at the way democracy works. Check it out, you might get a kick out of it. I closed the commenting because A.) if you're going to go on a rant, at least have the balls to put your name on it, and B.) my blog isn't about the failures and successes of the system.

On another note about the smoking ban, it starts to take effect on Dec. 7. That's a mere three days away, and to be perfectly honest, I'm tickled pink. I've had my own little countdown going til the day when I don't have to ask to be seated in non-smoking! And to be perfectly honest, I don't know how the law works as far as bars go, but since I won't be going in any bars til at least next May, it won't affect me anyway. My hunch is, though, due to the rather stringent language of the bill, bars probably won't be allowing smokers either.

On a *third* note about smoking, we recently discovered that Scott's, a major lawn-care company located in Marysville, Ohio actually successfully enforced a company policy requiring their employees to quit smoking completely. If your brain is working today, you'll realize when I say enforced, that means they fired an employee who they caught smoking off-hours. Now, I'm all for people taking charge of their own health, and not doing things that are proven detrimental to your health, like smoking, binge drinking, overeating, drugs, etc. But there's got to be a line somewhere in how involved a company can get in the employee's personal life. I could understand if Scott's decided to not pay for the health insurance of smoking employees. Let them pay for their own health insurance, if they're going to willingly partake in a known health hazard. But firing them? I can't say as I agree with that! What's next? I have heard some other arguments, like "if they can fire you for doing drugs, why not smoking?" Well, smoking cigarettes isn't illegal, yet. I don't know exactly where the line should be drawn, but I certainly don't think someone should be fired for doing something entirely legal on their own personal time, no matter how stupid. The fired employee, Scott Rodriguez, is apparently suing the company for violating a state privacy law. Given that the company enacted the policy a while ago, I find it curious that their lawyers found nothing wrong with the policy at the time. So I wonder how successful Mr. Rodriguez will be in suing?

Flirt much?

2006-12-04T12:11:00.000-05:00

So last week J was escorting a female prisoner to court, and apparently she was trying to strike up a conversation or something. She looks at him and says "Why do you look so mean? Are you having a bad day?" Which doesn't surprise him or me, because he's always got that look on his face. If you don't know him, you'd think he was pissed off if he's not smiling. So he replies "No, not a bad day." Usually he looks the most mad if he's lost in thought and possibly doing something he isn't 100% fond of (like court services). So this prisoner, apparently either thinking she'd done something wrong OR trying to get on his good side, replies "Oh. Well you have really pretty eyes." He and I both laugh at this because he's already described this prisoner as having seen better days, most likely due to meth. She's missing half her front teeth. Lovely!

Teen kills woman in crash

2006-11-30T15:28:00.000-05:00

I've been keeping up with this story for a while now for various reasons. Over the summer a teenager who had just gotten his license the day before decided to smoke pot and go for a drive. He wrecked into oncoming traffic, killing the 8months-pregnant driver of the car he hit and her unborn child. What an idiot. This is one of those classic "don't do drugs" commercials that I usually don't buy into. Ohio has changed the driving laws since I was a teenager, making it harder for 16 year olds to get a license without proper practice and training. But hundreds of them still get their licenses every week still. I personally did not get my license until I was in college, but had a ton of practice before I did officially get licensed. I think that made me a better driver.

But today the kid, Alex Manocchio, was not sentenced to jail for his actions. Instead he'll be attending an unlocked treatment center in Hamilton County. Why? I can only guess the judge took pity on him and hoped he'd turn around. But he took two lives due to reckless action. Shouldn't that hold stronger consequences? He will undoubtedly be haunted for a long time by the memory of it, if he actually has a memory of that day. She was only 22, barely six years older than he was. The whole situation makes me terribly sad.

Baby brain

2006-11-27T22:22:00.000-05:00

So another one of the reasons I've been absent for awhile from this blog is that I've found a new community online. Not a replacement for this blog, mind you, but a baby website. There's a forum filled with other mothers expecting their wee one sometime next May. It's been really nice to sit and gab with all these ladies who are going through the exact same experiences that I am, at the same time as I am. It also means I won't be unloading my pregnancy woes onto you readers, who are undoubtedly here for some police related reason. Squirt is doing wonderfully. I'm feeling nice and fat these days, although the best is yet to come. We heard the heartbeat again last week, and we get the big ultrasound later in December. Yes, we'll try to peek to see if it's a boy or girl. But I won't be updating on Squirt much here, because I'm doing it nonstop at the baby bulletin boards.

One of the topics recently discussed on the forum was started by a woman who, over the long weekend, was witness to two separate incidents of children being left in the car unattended. One incident was an infant strapped in a seat; the other incident was a 2 and 4 year old. If I recall correctly, it seemed to her that both times the mother had ducked into a store for what could only be a quick reason, like a convenience store or something. The poster was pretty upset about it and wanted to know what other people's responses would have been. Now, none of these other women know my husband is a cop. I bring this up because up until now, it wasn't relative to the conversations. After all, hubby's occupation doesn't really affect round ligament pain, or how big our bellies are measuring this week. Well, I suppose if your husband was a chef it might...

Anyway, a few women replied that they would call the cops if they witnessed this occur. Several women had replied that circumstances were everything, they pointed out it *isn't* sweltering summer weather, they've done it before, they'll never do it, etc etc. But naturally I had to respond to those women who wanted to call the cops. I need to repeat here that we were all assuming these were short incidents, where a mother had gone in to pay for gas or get one item in a small convenience store. I simply replied that there's nothing illegal about it, and that a cop was likely not going to show up unless the child was in danger, i.e. hot summer weather, a long time since any attending adult was seen, or the car was not easily accessible by a parent. J said unless a child was left in the car for an hour or more, all he would do is talk to the parent about the risks. I can say I don't agree with leaving an infant in the car unattended. What if someone stole your car, or crashed into it, or who knows? I'm too paranoid, since I hear horror stories all the time. I don't know as there's anything wrong with leaving a sleeping three year old in the car, turned off and locked, while you run in the house to grab an extra sweater. But there were women who said they didn't care if it was only a minute, they'd call the cops immediately. I replied again that unless they were sitting in front of a police station, nobody would even be able to show up before the mother left! Naturally the response from one woman was that she'd report their license plate.
You have got to love the high expectations that cops are given sometimes. My favorite is when J used to get calls at his old job by parents who couldn't even be bothered to parent their children, and expected the police to make the kid go to school, or do his homework, or clean her room. I believe my last response on the forum was "They aren't going to do anything with a license plate number. I'm sorry if you don't agree with the law, but it's not illegal to leave your child in the car for a few minutes unattended. There are always laws people don't agree with." and left it at that.

NYPD shoot unarmed men

2006-11-27T15:14:00.000-05:00

Uh oh. NYPD officers shoot at and kill some men outside a strip club. Not a lot of details are out, but what is in the media indicates that after the shooting was over, it was discovered that the men were unarmed. There's going to be a HUGE ruckus over this, I guarantee it.

Blogging update

2006-11-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

Boy blogger is really pushing beta now, aren't they? If you have a blogger account, you'll know what I mean; once you log on they are almost not letting you go into your blog to post without being hounded about beta.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was good. We traveled, which is why I haven't updated a lot. Ours was another family holiday, but could have been much worse. Amazingly my entire family was able to peacefully coexist for a day and eat some awesome food. My great uncle did drop the n-bomb four or five times, to which I wasn't really sure how to respond. How *do* you respond to an old bigot, particularly when you aren't used to hearing those words in civilized conversation, nor are you comfortable with that? In college I had all sorts of training on that, but it's slipped out of my noggin. I do know it's not right to sit there and let it happen; the best thing you can do is let it be known you aren't comfortable with it and try to foster a more open attitude from people. But that's all I did. So did J, my little sister, and my mom, who were also visibly disturbed by his comments.

I came down with a horrific cold, and due to this little creature in my belly, I am not allowed to take anything but Tylenol and half doses of Sudafed. What you may not know is that Sudafed is one of the key ingredients for the manufacture of methamphetamine. Here in Ohio, Sudafed is quickly becoming a controlled substance, almost to the point of needing a prescription. Some stores put it behind the pharmacy counter. You aren't allowed to buy more than one or two packs. When J went to buy it for me, he had to show his license and everything. How ironic that it's one of the very few approved drugs for pregnancy? Meanwhile this cold has been running the FULL course on me, and I've been miserable. If the rhinovirus comes a knockin, TAKE YOUR DAMN DAYQUIL. And I don't want to hear any whining about it, because I'm now on day 5 of the cold, and I just have to keep coughing and wheezing.

While in Columbus we happened to be driving behind a car with the license plate "JK 007". Naturally we got to theorizing what it stood for. My guess was James Kahn or something very similar to Bond. J pointed out it was a woman driving the car, so I guessed Jamie. He then said if he was in a cruiser, he'd pull it up to see. Which begged the question of the frequency of such occurrences. He confessed it is pretty common to run personalized plates just for the heck of it, see what comes up. It made me remember that my mom's ex-husband, during his mid-life crisis, got SUPERMAN plates, and suddenly was getting pulled over ALL the time. So getting those fun plates to distinguish you from the crowd ALSO distinguishes you to the cops, so you'd better not be pulling anything stupid, cause you WILL get caught. Naturally my mom's ex had a number of tickets, and several times had his license suspended for various reasons, so his record wasn't exactly perfect.

Actually that just reminded me of the other day while driving to lunch, J and I were cut off by a guy with plates that were easy to remember, and we watched as the guy spun his tires and left marks all over the road, before pulling a donut in the intersection and almost hitting us for the second time. It was a matter of seconds for me to call the local PD and rattle off his plate. On the way home from lunch, we drove by his car again, parked in front of a ratty apartment building. Shocking.

Anyway, hope everyone else's extended weekend was awesome. Mine has been pretty good, because since the courts are closed, my hubby's home. As much as he bitches about court, I know he enjoys this silver lining. Hopefully he'll be at court for another month or two so we'll get Christmas and New Year's together, on EXTENDED weekends!! That'll be a first in who knows HOW long, because before he was a cop, he worked at Home Depot, and you don't get a lot of time off around the holidays in retail!
Today the weather is unseasonably warm in the Queen City, and provided I can breathe halfway normally, we'll be putting up our Christmas decorations. My cutoff for the holidays is Thanksgiving, and since it's passed, all hell breaks loose. J laughs at me because I am a Christmas fiend.

Bennie Hall wrap up

2006-11-17T13:13:00.000-05:00

Bennie Hall will not face charges for shooting the person stealing his car.

For more details on this case, see this post and this post.

Witnesses AND forensic evidence indicate he was being driven toward, and had the right to defend himself. This was just released at 11:00 am EST today, so I've yet to see what the reactions are going to be. Either you won't hear a PEEP from the wailers, or the next thing they'll be claiming is that the witnesses lied and the forensic evidence was falsified. Heaven forbid you just accept it!

Bible botherers bother me

2006-11-17T10:31:00.000-05:00

Another study in homosexuality seems to disprove yet another bogus argument from the right wing, church crowd. One of the more prevalent arguments against gay marriage and civil rights is that it's "Not natural." or "Against God's plan." Well, it certainly is natural. And if you think it's against God's plan, that's a pretty rude comment against God, who created many, many species of the animal kingdom that exhibit homosexual behavior. It's not an exclusively human behavior, yet they'll argue that only humans have the free will to do what God didn't want them to do.
This Live Science article is exclusively about different species exhibiting gay behavior. What's interesting is that several of these animals also exhibit other 'perversions' such as oral or manual stimulation, as well as gay couples raising the young!! Guess when the gay people and gay supporters go to hell, we'll be joined by Noah's ark, too.

My visitors

2006-11-16T17:24:00.000-05:00

Ooh, I just checked my statcounter and saw some REALLY interesting locations that I'm being visited from...one repeat visitor (or visitors) from J's previous township station before he landed in court services. One visitor from a tiny town in Arizona that my dearest friend lived in, although now she's living in Maine. A visitor from the Bayern region of Germany, which is neat to me because large numbers of my ancestors are from that region.
The greatest part is I haven't even UPDATED in a number of days, and I'm still getting way more traffic than I expected! How strange.

Politicians and their bull****

2006-11-16T17:11:00.000-05:00

So the last week has been a little busy in this city I live in. In my previous post I discussed this a little, about the mayor and his lackeys, along with several idiotic members of our city council pulling their crap with the budget of the city, and not hiring more cops/firemen, and not bothering to rehire the cops/firemen that they laid off when they claimed to not have any money. Now they've got a boatload of extra money, and the forecast is looking quite green.
Today I got a call from one of the other wives whose husband got laid off, wanting to know if I had copies of the letters they received when they were first notified "officially" of their layoffs. One of the few councilmen with half a brain (ha ha, it's a councilwoman no less. No wonder she's got a brain) is looking for this letter. The mayor is holding his ground that he didn't layoff the three cops, that they resigned of their own free will. This is complete and utter bullshit, and makes me very angry. I want to know what he thought those letters were? Why on earth did he have to send them letters if they were going to be able to keep their jobs? What his sorry ass would have done in their shoes? Wait for the layoffs to get new jobs? You've got to be kidding me. Unfortunately I do not have the letters any longer. We threw them away when we washed our hands of this damn city. I wish we'd moved then, but we're kind of lazy and anxious about the whole house-selling process.
I think the councilwoman is going to call the mayor out, although I'm not sure what good it's going to do. I'm probably going to go down to the meeting, which isn't the best idea. Why? Because I'm going to get pretty pissed off and stand up, putting my face on camera and in the public eye, and let loose on them. It's never good for my blood pressure or stress level when I do that, and I've got a wee one to think about now, since those vital signs directly affect her (or him).
J will never want this job back, nor will the other two officers who left and found BETTER jobs. But it's the principle of the matter. And the fact that the city is sitting on its ass, waiting for new police applicants to come to it. I can't say as I'd want to get a job here, with the asinine way they run things. I'm not sure what's in their budget, the police department OR the fire department. I don't hear the scuttle from the civil service commission, as to what tests they're running. Maybe I'll know more after tonight. Stay tuned.

Why we need cops

2006-11-14T08:45:00.000-05:00

This is yet another 'incident' that happened far too close to my house. This has been happening quite a lot this year; people getting attacked, beaten, shot, you name it. The area is just far enough away that I wouldn't have walked the dogs to it, but I could. Man was beaten and shot, and the suspect was trying to force him into the trunk of the car.

One of the council representatives keeps a number of citizens in the loop for council meetings by emailing the minutes and heated discussions. I receive her emails weekly, and appreciate them. It's really helpful when you don't have the opportunity to go to the meetings. One of the more recent meetings involved a budget surplus, and a number of citizens got upset because we recently passed an emergency tax levy to save three police officers, four firemen, and one service garage person. Granted, the tax levy wasn't specifically dedicated for those purposes, but the town understood that those 8 jobs were going to be eliminated because the city had been spending its surpluses every year without a long term plan. That's what happens when you elect your neighbors, uncles, or buddies to council and as mayor without them having any real qualifications. My husband was one of those whose job was on the line. Despite passing the levy, and despite having greater than expected income every year, the city still got rid of those 8 jobs. Fortunately, the three policemen all found other jobs before losing their positions here. Anyway, citizens are upset because the city now has been receiving plenty of income and has yet to recreate those positions.
But they will sit on their fat asses and whine and complain when there's a shoot-out at the gas station, or people are shot literally on the city's front door. They have cut the police department down to 12 men, plus the chief. With three shifts, seven days a week. I think you can do the math, but just in case: that's four men per shift. The off/on days at that department are 6 on, 2 off. That means if EVERYBODY is at work, that is two people on duty, three if they're lucky. That's not accounting for sick days, vacation, comp time, etc. Yet council wants to cut the departments down to bare bones, and then expects one of those cops to sit on the main street, writing tickets all day long.
WTF?

Cop Killer

2006-11-14T08:41:00.000-05:00

Percy Wilson killed Cincinnati Police Officer Melvin Henze in 1979. He was found guilty, and sentenced to 22 - life. He's trying to get out on parole. Bastard. He was denied parole in 2002. State parole board again said no this week. There's that, at least. Let him rot in prison!

Veteran's day

2006-11-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

So Sunday we went to the Bengals game. In honor of Veteran's day, Paul Brown Stadium hosted several firemen from 'Fort Pitt', FDNY's Ladder 18. They also had several men from each branch of the armed services, and they rolled out a monstrously huge flag, probably 100 x 50 feet. A woman sang the National Anthem, and two F-18s from Virginia Beach flew overhead at the end of the song. I cried.

Paul Brown Stadium holds over 65,900 seated fans. It was amazingly silent.

Thank you to every man or woman who puts themselves on the line to protect me and my country, domestically or internationally. We wouldn't be here without you.

The bean

2006-11-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

I think I'm going to repost it once a week or once every two weeks or something, since it only changes on Fridays. One of the preggo forums I visit has all these snarky women who refer to girls as 'cheeseburger crotch" because of this 'tracker'...anyway, there you go :)

More voting results

2006-11-09T14:24:00.001-05:00

Just as I think it's ridiculous to blame the entire Republican party on the misguided ways of some of its members (ahem TomFoley ahem), I also think it's patently ridiculous to be wailing and crying that the Democratic party is sending the country straight to hell, especially since they now have a slightly larger control of our government's legislature. For over 200 years this country has been operating on a largely bipartisan basis, and the control has always swung back and forth between parties. I was not at a voting age when the Republicans took control of Congress, and I can't say as I had a huge interest in it at the time, but was there this much crying and teeth-gnashing then? Get over it! Start whining when the country is run by people with pitchforks and horns. In the meantime, let's hope something good will come of this regime change!

In the meantime, I forgot to mention that there was a measure on our ballot to pass a sales tax increase of a quarter of a percent, in order to build the funds necessary to build a new jail. I've probably blogged in the past about the horrendous overcrowding of jailspace here, not just in Hamilton County. Prisoners are let go in order to make space for other prisoners. J makes routine prisoner transports to other counties because there just isn't enough space. So they have to send prisoners to other jails, sometimes 5 and 6 counties away, where there is space. Doesn't anybody realize we're paying for that? That we're paying more in the long run than we would to build the new jails necessary? The greatly ironic thing is that it was a REPUBLICAN who proposed this tax increase. Ha! So poo on all you who swear that Republicans cut taxes, and all Democrats do is raise taxes!
Unfortunately, the measure failed. Also, the Republican candidate strongly supporting it, Phil Heimlich, was running for re-election and lost. The guy that beat him, David Pepper, previously ran for mayor of Cincinnati. I guess he's so anxious to make a change in the city that he doesn't care what position he's running for. I am told David Pepper also supported the tax increase, but Phil Heimlich has a record of supporting LEOs and the system. Hopefully they will continue to work on new ways of supporting the construction of another jail. I'm really not comfortable with the idea of someone being convicted of a class 1 felony and being let go, simply because there's too many class 5 felons crowding up the jail.
(Note: currently I don't believe they will let felonies go, only misdemeanors. I'm being a little exaggerative here)

I see you...

2006-11-09T11:28:00.000-05:00

So I love statcounter. It's awesome. I sort of feel like I'm spying on visitors, but then I realize it's not entirely accurate as far as where people linked to my site from, how long they visited, or where they're located. Heck, when I visit from work, it shows my location as four states away from where I actually am.

Noticed a visitor from Gainesville, at U of F who stumbled upon my blog after doing a google search to ask if cops shoot laser from behind.

The answer is no. They don't shoot laser from in front of you either.
They just psychically know when you are speeding. The laser is just the proof they need to show you when you ask to see it.

**UPDATE**
Speaking of statcounter, one of the neatest tools is the ability to see on a map where people are visiting from. As I said above, it's not the most accurate thing in the world. But today I saw a visitor from Pompano Beach. As you can see on this map, it's right near Weston. I got a little sad because a former friend of mine lives (lived?) in Weston.

***end update***

The vest

2006-11-09T11:01:00.000-05:00

I've blogged before about the necessity for cops to wear the vests they are given (most places) along with their uniform. I still strongly believe they should be mandatory. I know lots of departments don't require it, it's just strongly suggested you wear it. Right. It won't save you any more than a seatbelt. (Please recognize the HEAVY sarcasm here)

Yesterday J was scarfing his lunch, and threw the last bite of coney down in an effort to attend to someone who'd just walked in the courthouse. He either didn't chew enough, or it went down the wrong way, or something. He started choking. Lt happened to be nearby, attempted to do the heimlich. In case you don't know how to do the heimlich, you have to perform sharp, upward thrusts immediately below the sternum. Tactical vests cover this very area, as it's where most of your vital organs are located. J said he ended up getting one or two blows to his stomach, but it may have been enough to help him cough out the stuck item.

Although I'm very concerned that we may have to teach J how to chew his food all over again, it kind of made me wonder if that old joke about the hillbillies performing that "there 'hind lick' maneuver" didn't have some merit.

Ohio Smoking Ban

2006-11-08T20:28:00.000-05:00

Pub owner whines that business may be lost due to smoking ban.

Um, people aren't going to just *stop* going out because they can't smoke in most public places anymore. Otherwise business would have been lost by all those non-smokers *NOT* going out! Plus it's not like those smokers have anywhere else to go to spend their money so they can smoke. Do you think they're all going to be crowding tobacco stores??

Quit yer whining. The article also says the pub owner is saying goodbye to employee health benefits. Wait, wait. Your insurance company is willing to cover you when you allow your employees to work in an unhealthy environment, but now it won't when you are allowing them to BREATHE? That makes NO sense.

I'm personally tickled pink that I can go out now to restaurants and pubs and not come home smelling like an ashtray.

The vote was rocked

2006-11-08T07:33:00.000-05:00

Well it looks like the Democrats successfully overturned the power ratio in the House, and possibly in the Senate. It's still a little early so I'm not sure if that's 100% yet. So the people wanted a change, and the people got a change. Now we'll see if the change is for the better. Only time will tell.

In other election news, I'm super happy to report that issue 4, the Ohio Constitutional amendment to force-allow smoking in many public places has FAILED, and issue 5, the law proposed to ban smoking in most public places has PASSED!!! WOO HOO!!! You can find more about it here: SmokeFreeOhio. One of my favorite 'dissenting arguments' against issue 5 was that gov't shouldn't control people's behavior. First of all, issue 5 wasn't banning smoking entirely. You still have your car, your house, and certain outdoor locations. Most enclosed, public spaces will now be smoke free. Second of all, the government does control other behaviors that are considered dangerous to other people, not just the person partaking in the activity. Speeding, anyone? Driving drunk? Shooting a gun off in a public place? If you want to get into the debate, those DO control your behavior. It just so happens that all those other behaviors have a DIRECT effect on the health and well-being of anybody you're around. Since the general public tends to be too stupid to protect themselves, it falls to the government to protect them. Understand that I don't believe this argument to extremes. I wish people were smart enough to not smoke, or not drive drunk. But they do, despite knowing the dangers.

Anyway, now we won't have to say "party of 3, non-smoking" anymore! Woo!

I voted...did you?

2006-11-07T14:56:00.000-05:00

OK I am officially a democracy geek. I got the warm fuzzies walking out of my voting location, knowing I'd done my part.

WWII

2006-11-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

***Note*** for some reason Blogger will not show the 'scaled' version of the photo, but if you click on the link you can see the photo. Oh wait, that's cause Blogger sucks 50% of the time.
How cool is this picture? When my husband's grandmother died, we all gathered at her house and started sorting through old photographs and such. It was very cathartic for everybody, since Grampa had died five years earlier. We came across this photo, and it was decided it would go to J. His grandfather is the man on the far left, with the pipe and no shirt. The bottom right symbol, in case you can't read it, says Signal Corps, U.S. Army. 'Bud' was a cook. He was a neat man. He was always so very nice to me, even when Jim and I first started dating. We don't know any of the other men in the picture.

Rock the Vote!

2006-11-07T07:31:00.000-05:00

Voter apathy has really been getting on my nerves lately. If you really don't care about the issues, and you don't like any candidate for a position, you'd best shut the hell up when your taxes go up, or the hospital gets shut down. I don't want to hear it when you want to know why we're sending prisoners all over the state due to jail overcrowding. You whine about policies set in place that DIRECTLY affect you by the legislators, but you can't be bothered to take five minutes out of your day to go vote? Look, it didn't take me that long to get onto the League of Women Voters website, find the issues and candidates in my state and on my local ballot, and get informed. LWV does a great job of giving the arguments for and against, and summing up each candidate and each issue.

GO VOTE. And I definitely don't want to hear that crap about "My vote doesn't count." It definitely does. Remember the last two presidential elections? So narrow you could have huffed and puffed and blown it one way or the other? I've worked on pushing an issue or two in my little town here, and literally seen how heavy you can sway the vote if you get to talk to enough people. Which we did. We got the property tax levy increase to be passed by a 50% margin, because the town didn't want their police and firemen being laid off. We also had a petition signed by 50% of the people who were going to vote that would have voted for a higher levy. That doesn't happen all the time. I've seen my vote count in more ways than one.

Go VOTE!