Your continuous generosity continues to amaze me.

This month marks 17 years on the job for me. I'm lucky enough to finally be where I always wanted to be- Midnight shift Patrol Sergeant. We've had quite a shift in our department, with more than half having been hired in the last 4 years. There is only six of us with more than 15 on. It is quite refreshing to see these youngin's out there beating the bushes, stopping cars, and competing with each other for who has the most arrests.

As I sit here thinking about a story to tell, sadly most of the tragedy we deal with comes to mind.

But, I do have a good short one. One summer, about 2004 when I was brand new on my own, we had a 18 wheeler overturn on the Interstate. It was a refrigerated box trailer. There, across both lanes, were strewn what had to be several hundred boxes of various ice cream novelties. Fudgsicles, popsicles, and the like. The driver was a little banged up from the crash, with the worst part being he split his big toe down to the bone (which was visible). I never determined how. But we had about three tow services out there trying to clean up the mess. The driver said to take whatever we could. So, I filled the back of my Interceptor with several dozen boxes of novelties, and made deliveries to kids in my neighborhood. Felt a little like Christmas in July.

Most of those kids are in college now.......

Obviously not in either, but you continue to show you are an exemplary member of this community. Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by rangemaster:
Most of those kids are in college now.......

I feel that.

I was a school resource officer in a junior high for several years in the late 2000s.

Now I'm running into my former junior high students at bars.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by rangemaster:
Most of those kids are in college now.......

I feel that.

I was a school resource officer in a junior high for several years in the late 2000s.

Now I'm running into my former junior high students at bars.

Dude- You still got the energy to go to bars????

Please add me to your generous karma! I absolutely love the P228!

This month I will hit my 18 year mark.

A quick history on me: I worked the road on patrol for 13 years, six of which I was a field training officer. I was promoted six years ago to sergeant. I also served 14 years as a firearms instructor.

A quick story: A few years back I was working at a local church off-duty with one of my lieutenants. I was in a mentally low point in my career and was doing good to just make it through the day back then. I was walking around the large church and a woman approached me. She saw my last name on my uniform and gasped. She said, "I have someone who would like to speak with you." I wasn't very thrilled as my name is B. Justice. I hear many jokes a day in regard to Smokey and the Bandit.

A few minutes later she brings a man up to me and he stood there for a few seconds just staring at me. His eyes filled with tears and he reached out his hand to shake mine. He told me how he had attempted suicide a few years ago by starting his truck in his closed garage. He said that the last thing he remembered was a policeman with the name Justice on his uniform pull him from his garage and drag him outside. He stated that he was addicted to meth and decided to end his life that day. After the suicide attempted he spent some time in the hospital. He had turned his life around and had spoken in that church of his story and the policeman named Justice who had saved him. The woman, was his fiancé. To this day, he is married and doing just fine.

I had felt as if I had never made a difference and felt sorry for myself. Then, that happened. I had forgotten about that dispatched run to a suicidal subject. They all run together in my mind. I had to go back and look it up. I had completely placed it out of my mind. It was a nice reminder that what we all do out here is for the greater good and we do make a difference even if we don't see it.

I have several stories, like many in the same profession. Shootings, stabbings, fatal accidents, pursuits and countless other things both exciting and boring. Being a sheriff's deputy I have been in several operating rooms with prisoners having surgery. I have seen heart stents put in, bullet wounds, teeth extracted, etc.

I used to drink a lot and I mean A LOT. I stopped in April of 2019. One time I was sitting at my dining room table with my wife, brother and sister in law. After becoming drunk I remembered a fatal accident I had worked with small children. As I sat there and everyone was laughing and having a good time, I just completely broke down. I had never dealt with that and tucked it away. It came out that night and I was so embarrassed. But, my family who were present helped me through it and all was well.

Well, now that I have ranted on I will say thank again for your generosity and the chance to win such a nice pistol.

Wow! That is awesome! Thanks!! Please count me in.

Started my career in the Army MP Corps and bought my first gun, a Sig P220 9mm with heel mag release at the PX.

33 years later, retired from the Army and the State Police, I'm still working for the local District Attorney as a detective, carrying my latest Sig, a P365.

Please count me in and thanks so much for the generous karma!!! We've all got stories about stuff that happened during our careers (some good and some not so much), but since we're talking about karma, I'll provide a couple quick ones that seemed to show it DOES exist.

One night while working uniformed patrol, I received a call of a drunk guy that was threatening people with a knife in one of our local parks, known for having a large population of transients (aka: "Homeless"). As I entered the location, I saw a guy that matched the description and detained him. I don't recall if we found the victim or whether he/she wanted to prosecute, but as I questioned this guy he repeatedly denied having a knife or having threatened anyone with such a weapon. After a few minutes of this, he swore to God he was telling the truth (a good sign of lying in and of itself), when literally out of the sky, a knife fell to the ground between us!

Apparently, as I'd entered the park, he'd thrown the knife up into the fronds of a palm tree he was standing next to. As I questioned him, the knife slowly slipped out of the tree and fell to the point between us. I tried (successfully, I think) to be cool and just picked the thing up and looked at him. The expression on his face could only be described as incredulous.

Story #2: I was assigned to a multiagency taskforce that dealt with professional car thieves. One time, I served a search warrant on a residence occupied by some middle eastern folks that served as a "chop shop." Apparently my suspects liked to gamble, as I'd seen some cards and dice in a garage I was searching in the presence of one of my suspects. While he complained about his arrest, I asked if he felt "lucky" and told him that maybe a roll of the dice would suggest whether he'd ultimately prevail in court or we ("The People") would. I picked up the dice and said if I rolled "Snake-eyes", he was in deep shit. I tossed the dice in front of him and sure enough, two ones were the result. He started crying. I thought it was pretty cool though.

I'll hit 32-years in April. I appreciate the thanks and the opportunity to enter.

I too, am not eligible, but I wanted to express my appreciation to all the LEO members! The running store where I work from time to time offers a discount to first responders in appreciation for their bravery and sacrifice.

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
The running store where I work from time to time offers a discount to first responders in appreciation for their bravery and sacrifice.

Thank you for doing that. The local mom-and-pop running store around here was a major factor in me making it through the academy.

I've always had really wide and flat feet (like paddles, which is why I'm a significantly better swimmer than a runner). Custom orthotics from a podiatrist helped a lot, primarily with walking and standing, but there were still issues with pain during/after running for long distances.

Going to a local running store for advice led to them hooking me up with expensive (but totally worth it) pronation-control running shoes, which made all the difference during the significant amount of running training before and during the academy.

I've been retired for some 14 years, although it doesn't seem that long when I think about it.

This isn't a duty involved story and I'm not much on story telling, but when I was sent to the police academy I was assigned my dorm room and met my roommate. He was a nice enough guy but that night I was to find out he was a snorer from hell. He literally shook the walls with his snoring. After a week of this torture I had had enough. I went to our dorm supervisor and asked him if I could get another room because my roommate snored something awful. I felt bad about doing this but my sanity depended on it. He told me not to worry because just about every other person on that dorm wing had already complained to him about my roommates snoring.

The poor guy was relegated to some obscure part of the dorm for the duration. He was good about it because he was aware of his thunderous snoring.

Thank you for your generous Karma.

I did 34 years . Two agencies, so I'll offer two stories.
My partner, Pat, and I got an unknown trouble call. Nobody likes those. I called the box, and was told no info, just that there was a lot of hollering, and something about a bat. We got there, figuring it was a domestic. Pat hammered on the door, i yelled POLICE. Guy opens the door, armed with a tennis racket. Whole family armed with badminton rackets, little brown bat swooping around, trying not to get smacked. I walk over, open a window, and within 20 secs, perp bat flees the scene. Guy is mortified that he didn't think of that. Pat says, with a straight face, "That's okay, sir. We're trained professionals." I just made it back to the cruiser without cracking up.

I was in court once on a vice arrest for procuring. Pimp was a real Mac Daddy, dressed and stylin'. Judge fines him $500.00. Pimp says "Sheeeitt, Judge, I got that much in my pocket!!". Judge says, "Then reach down in your other pocket and give me 90 days in County".

I'd love to be entered in this Karma. Thank you.

Thanks for the chance.
I was a boarding officer in the Coast Guard and was on one ship when we seized 5,460lbs of cocaine...was the middle of the night and we got called out for an intermittent contact. We gear up and drop over the side in the small boat and the coxn proceeds to get us all soaking wet( they always do it even if it was flat ass calm). Anyway, the radio is directing us toward this contact and we literally run into the drug smugglers. I roll out of the small boat onto the top of the drug boat and starskey and hutch myself into standing and start yelling hands up in Spanish. So we seize the stuff and take it into Puerto Rico and I get to ride the drug boat.

It was like someone bought a cigar boat (like in Miami Vice) and painted it blue to match the ocean. Super stoked about our bust, grins, photos , the works. Some civilian guy walks up and flips out his creds, and he’s from DEA and we interrupted his controlled delivery. Completely ruined a year of his work! Hahahaha we didn’t care we were standing on five pallets of pure cocaine. Good times.

Years later when I was a city cop, I was sitting around roll call and someone was bragging bout his bust from the last night and how he had the biggest arrest on the team, etc just annoying everyone...sarge says quietly to me, Mike, what’s your biggest bust? I just grinned, while popping this guys bubble.

I had 18 years as a city cop until I had to medically retire. Its only been three years since then, but I miss the work. Good times.

Thank you for the awesome karma! Please count me in. I'll have 10 years on in December, if you count a few as a reserve.

My favorite story involves some cop humor, so fair warning, stop reading now if you don't appreciate scatalogical humor, or dead animals.

We got a call one night about a guy doing CPR on a cat in the middle of the main road through town. It was a slow night, and of course we all wanted to see what stupidity was in progress, so three of us went. I got there first and encountered a young pothead, obviously somewhat stoned, with a big marijuana leaf design on his shirt. The dude was choked up and had obviously been crying, so I asked him what happened. He told me he'd been walking down the street and found a cat lying in the road. He said he'd tried to save it, but it wouldn't wake up.

While I was talking to him, the other two units rolled up. They found the cat about half a block down, in the road, stone dead and stiff (the Lt. later told me the only reason he didn't go to the call was that he'd seen the cat dead there the day before, knew it was old, and wanted nothing to do with it!). The kid had indeed attempted CPR...we could tell because he'd pushed so hard that there was a big puddle of piss and a cat turd on the ground that he'd squeezed out of it.

I managed to convince the doper that there was nothing he could have done, and sent him on home. And then we laughed and laughed. I still wish I'd thought at the time to tell him that CPR only works on cats if you do mouth-to-mouth .

I am not eligible. I've been an armed security guard working on Gov't contracts for over 10 years!

The LEOs here really deserve the chance to win this. They confront all kinds of uncertain individuals in their daily activities.

However, I have one interesting experience. One day, a person approaches me at work. I need to screen everyone before I provide them access to the office and hearing rooms. We get a few homeless people on occasion.

As I was inspecting this person's backpack, I noticed a cardboard box with a broken seal. I removed the box and opened it. Inside the box was another sealed box. The seal wasn't broken.

I asked the person "what is in this box?". He replied "I'm homeless and on the street. My Mom passed away recently and these are her ashes. I carry them around with me till I find the right area to bury her."

Please place me in this thoughtful Karma....



18Z50

I too appreciate the opportunity for this outstanding karma.

I retired Sept. 1, 2018 and this story took place in Dec. 2017.

My wife runs our local contract post office and a 14-mile rural mail route. Often times I'd help her on a Saturday during the Christmas season due to the high volume of mail and packages. On this Saturday we had taken my red Ford Ranger to the county seat where she picks up her mail, got it sorted and were headed back to our small mountain town. I had my portable radio with me and heard a nearby local PD call out that he was starting a pursuit when a white ASUV refused to stop and took off.

Soon a deputy chimed in that the SUV was ripping through the countyseat at aound 85 in a 25 mph zone. He couldn't catch up due to traffic volume and asked dispatch to call for Command 4 (me) to get ready to set out stopsticks at my residence if he turned north when he hit the highway (this was a regular call when off-duty as we live on the main road and runners all came by us at all hours).

I responded that I was northbound in my POV on Red Hill Pass, and "be advised, your suspect just went by me at 100". There were no reds-and-blues anywhere behind us so I called that I'd try to keep him in sight until they caught up.

Even with nobody in active pursuit the SUV kept up speeds over 100 and I called "I'm at the 187 and he just went around the curve at the 190" Due to terrain I could keep him more or less in view as I rolled along with the wife and the load of mail in the back. Mrs john1 got a litttle bit exicted and said "You son of a bitch, you're doing 100 (an exaggeration), smoking a cigar and talking on the fucking radio-you're taking me to dinner!" All I could say was "Yes I am" (And later that night I did, too).

By and by, like around 16 miles later, a deputy finally caught up and I backed off, but we continued on for a bit. Eventually the runner was stopsticked but then turned up a dirt road and bailed. When the foot seach got close to the brush pile he was hiding under he took off again like a striped-ass ape and was doing good until he hit the barbed wire fence.

He had warrants out of two metro counties, a stolen SUV, meth and some pretty impressive rips and tears from the fence.

The best part was later that afternoon, one of the wife's elderly female postal customers came in and took Mrs. john1 aside and said "Honey, it's none of my business, but why were the police chasing you this morning?"

Insanely generous karma.

Started my career in green as a park ranger, working a second job as a part-time officer in a small town to make up for being "paid in sunsets" at the first job. Eventually came to the Federal dark side, first as an immigration agent and now as a criminal investigator in an OIG. Almost 30 years total, and still having an absolute blast.

Ever have a situation where you think "This has GOT to be illegal, somehow" and then embark on a several-hour quest to figure out HOW? Turned out that while being highly suspicious behavior, there was nothing inherently illegal about driving around with a comparatively "fresh" severed hand-- not the suspect's own-- on the passenger seat. Surprisingly easy to print. For all I know, it's still in cold storage in a Florida ME's office, still unidentified and separated from its first owner.

Thank you for the generous Karma, please count me in!!

I'm starting my 19th year with my current agency, currently working as a patrol sergeant. My wife has also been with the same agency for 22 years currently working as an investigator.

One day I was making small talk with a sketchy business owner, hoping he would offer up some information on burglary ring I was getting close to breaking. I knew my wife had been dealing with this guy on one of her cases recently, and as female cops tend to do with "tough guys," she'd ruffled his feathers a bit.

Eventually the guy gives me a bit of what I was looking for and says "But, hey, don't tell that red-headed lady cop I told you anything, she can fuck off. God, talk about a cranky bitch!"

Unbeknownst to me, he was in the small minority of the local population who had no clue we were married. I was super pissed for a split second, but somehow the words "Yeah, tell me about it" rolled out of my mouth with surprising ease.

I’m in for the karma. I will have to think of a story. I just hit 5 years so I don’t have a ton of them (relatively speaking).

A couple of my favorites, not because they’re funny but because they’re just neat: when I was a new guy (like 2 months out of the academy) I stopped a Dodge Durango with Illinois plates for a busted headlight right before it got onto I-80 to leave town. Gal had her four kids (ages 9 months-4ish years) in the car, none of them properly secured. She was in the process of moving from Illinois to Colorado. Hit her with a boatload of tickets, photographed the kids just in case, and moved on.

A week later, I heard a reckless driver broadcasts on the state patrol frequency with her license plate. I couldn’t figure out the location, and when I put it together, I realized it was way out in the western part of the state, 150* miles away. There was no reason for us to give gotten that transmission, although we occasionally got radio skip from this tower. In most cases, it was garbled and broken. In this case, it was as clear as our own radios.

The next day, this photo went viral.



I recognized the kid from my traffic stop. Turns out the idiot mother had been driving to CO when her tire blew and her Durango rolled. Ejected everyone, killed her boyfriend, seriously injured 3 of the kids. I reached out to the agency with my photos and they had already found the tickets. My documentation allowed for more serious charges to be filed against her. The totality of the circumstances in that case, particularly the clear-as-day radio skip, was weird.

Another one: had a noise complaint at my last agency for people hanging out in a garage being obnoxious. Went to handle it and ID’d everyone there to give them noise warnings. One guy’s name did not come back on file. While we were trying to sort it out, i referred to him by name to his girlfriend. She had only been dating him for a month or so and did not know him by that name. I ran the name she gave me, and got no return. I called him on it, and he gave me a third name. No return.

Cuffed him up for the time being and then noticed he was wearing dog tags. They had the third name and his SSN on them. Figuring I had his real name, I uncuffed him and told him he could leave, but he stuck around. I started asking him questions about where he said he was from (Odessa, TX) but he couldn’t answer them. Also couldn’t explain why he had a California SSN prefix when he claimed he had never been there before.

While I was playing this game with him, girlfriend came stomping out of the house with his California birth certificate after going through his luggage. Turns out he was a wanted predatory sex offender out of Oregon. In my subsequent interview, we talked about guns and stuff and he told me all about the XD-S he had in the house that he loved. Bad news for him is I knew he was a convicted felon, but he forgot about it apparently. Got a search warrant for the house, got the gun, and it was stolen. He ended up going to prison over it, which I thought was a great outcome for what was going to be a noise warning.