MEMORIES!!! aka: Lessons Learned on the Job!!!
1)
Man Ditches Weapon ( N. Vancouver BC 1986 I was a rookie)
A call we received to a known drug area was to back up other police officers wanting to make a a traffic stop. The officers broadcasting the call were in plain clothes and driving a unmarked police car. All we knew was that they wanted a marked police car to stop the vehicle.
When you hear these calls go out, they usually don't tell you the reason for the stop except for the violation they observed as the reason for the stop (i.e. running a red light).
In this particular incident, it turns out the man either had a gun or narcotics and dumped them just before we arrived. The undercover officers didn't see anything thrown out, but lost them for a second while tailing them. When people throw out narcotics, they're sometimes extremely difficult to find if you don't have a specific spot to find them in. Most of the time however, police officers are keyed in on watching for contraband to be thrown out, as we're already expecting it. But this time, the suspected dealer/weapon violator got the upper hand by losing the police for that moment.
Anyway, it turned out that this guy had no warrants and had a valid drivers license, so there was no reason to arrest him. A search of the area of his known path turned up nothing. It did turn out however that he was previously shot at by drug dealers, and police had knowledge of this as well. An attempt to explain to this man that he was "on the wrong path" seemed to be a waste of time as he laughed at us. The attempt murder on his life in the past nearly missed him, but it didn't seem to faze him.
If the weapon would have been recovered in the path he was in (which he's known to carry weapons), he could have been charged with Carrying a Concealed Weapon which is currently a 2 year Indictable Offence. If the police officers would have found the narcotics, depending on the what it was, he could have faced 14 yrs. in prison.
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2)
Drug Dealers with Guns try to ditch us!! This happened in 1987 in N.Vancouver BC)
One night a friend and I were pulled up next to each other talking when we noticed a black car approaching us. The vehicle appeared as if it was going to head straight until it noticed us on a side street, which it then slowed down, and turned. This of course made us suspicious. It was around 3:00 AM, which made it even more suspicious as we were on a side street. My partner and I (both driving separate vehicles) went to follow the vehicle. However, it rapidly accelerated in speed, turning the next corner it came to quick, and again accelerating. At this point, the lights were on, and it appeared it was going to be a pursuit.
The vehicle (occupied by two males) then made an immediate turn into a driveway, turning left, which put the passenger side "away" from us as we were exiting our vehicles. As an officer in these situations you learn to get to the car quick, because more then likely something is going on (i.e. they're eating dope, hiding a gun, loading a gun, etc.) and the more time you give them, the more time they have to control the situation.
However, as the vehicle stopped in the driveway, I saw the driver throw something out the passenger window, and then simply act as if he did nothing.
When I approached the passenger side (my partner approached the driver's side), I acted as if I didn't see what just occurred. I remember talking with the passenger asking him what was going on, and he told me he was getting a ride to a friend's house. However my partner (later told me) the driver had a completely different story.
My partner placed the driver under arrest for an open container of alcohol that was sitting in the middle counsel. Subsequently, the passenger was arrested for the same charge, as neither party claimed ownership of it, and both had access to it. The were handcuffed and placed in our cruisers. When walking back to the passenger's side of the vehicle, I found a loaded revolver laying on the ground approximately 5 feet from the passenger door in the grass. A subsequent search of the vehicle found one baggie of crack cocaine, while another (found by my partner) of approximately 25 rocks .
The suspects were booked and interviewed by a sergeant, and both blamed the other for the drugs and the gun. They were both lodged in jail, and the outcome was pleas to a lesser charge.
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3)
The Shooting: ( 1991 Surrey BC)
Man gets shot approximately 10 feet from me. It's about 2:00 A.M. and my partner and I are working a high crime area. We're parked in an alley waiting for a truck across the street to leave since he wants to play "cat and mouse" (We've been looking for this particular truck for awhile). Since we can't get our cruiser positioned so that "he" can't see us, I decide to get out on foot and "peek" around a wall. Approximately 2 seconds later, I hear about 5 or 6 gunshots...all in a loud and fast rapid motion. My first thought, "I'm getting shot at from the roof of this building," since I don't see anything. I look up and see nothing. I start inching around the wall with my gun out when I see a guy sitting in the driver's seat of a car. There's another guy running toward the car and gets in the back seat. Simultaneously, I see a guy laying on his back about 5 feet from me rolling around...he's just been shot. I start yelling at the guys in the car to put
their hands up. They're completely surprised. A few seconds later they take off. I stay with the victim and my partner goes after the car. I ask the guy who shot him and all he can do is moan. I hear my partner advising dispatch the directions of the car. One of the guys throws the gun out of the car and more police join. The car is surrounded and they're arrested. The victim lives after being shot 5 times.
4)
The chase turning into a shooting: (1991 Surrey BC) yes '91 WAS a bad year
My partner and I hear a pursuit go over the air from a police call, and we're in the area. We tag along and are the last car in the chase. The vehicle running tried to buy drugs from an officer in a sting and starts running lights and ramming police cars. It eventually turns around on the freeway,(The Kingsway), loses control and goes off the road. The driver in the vehicle tries to run, myself and another officer over and shots are fired at him. He lives and is arrested.
5) The Baby (2003 CARMAN MB )
While training a new officer I was approached by a woman who was screaming and crying hysterically that her baby wasn't breathing. I advised our dispatch and entered her home. When I found the 7-week old infant, he was lying on his back and looked like he was sleeping. He instantly reminded me of my great-nephew who was about the same age at the time. I did everything I was taught (my A,B,C's of CPR) and didn't stop CPR until the ambulance arrived. He was transported to the hospital where doctors made several attempts to revive him...but no luck. He had passed. After he was pronounced legally dead, I had to stay in the same room with him for about an hour until the detective arrived. It was the first time I ever cried on the job.
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The morals of the stories here guys and what I am trying to show/teach you???:
Situation One:
Be ever vigilant on the job. A small lapse can lead to lesser charges and the actor gets less than he deserves. It was a learning experience for me, even though I had my ass raked over the coals by a duty Sgt.!!
Situation Number Two:
The way we approached this situation could have been deadly for myself or my partner had the perp not thrown out the handgun. You must always be on the lookout for such things, if your mind strays, you lose control. Also by not thinking these guys gained the upper hand on us and were able to plead to a lesser charge of " distribution" which carries a max of 2 years less a day in Canada.
Situation Number 3:
Another potentially out of control situation where I could have had my brains blown out. STOP, THINK, ACT!! I was'nt as street wise back then as I am now.
Situation Number 4:
Be in contstant radio contact with all other units that are responding to the call, this saves lives, nerves, and time for paperwork on filling out Use of Deadly Force Forms!!!
Situation Number 5:
This lesson is to teach you that YES grown men do cry and there is nothing shameful about this. It is a critical Incident situation. It hurts more to keep things like this bottled up inside of you, eventually things may back up inside you so much that you can no longer perform your job as efficiently or even worse, you bite your weapon. There are police chaplains, CISM councilor's and others to talk to, get help if needed, and believe me, a great partner makes a wonderful listening post.
Tom
Man Ditches Weapon ( N. Vancouver BC 1986 I was a rookie)
A call we received to a known drug area was to back up other police officers wanting to make a a traffic stop. The officers broadcasting the call were in plain clothes and driving a unmarked police car. All we knew was that they wanted a marked police car to stop the vehicle.
When you hear these calls go out, they usually don't tell you the reason for the stop except for the violation they observed as the reason for the stop (i.e. running a red light).
In this particular incident, it turns out the man either had a gun or narcotics and dumped them just before we arrived. The undercover officers didn't see anything thrown out, but lost them for a second while tailing them. When people throw out narcotics, they're sometimes extremely difficult to find if you don't have a specific spot to find them in. Most of the time however, police officers are keyed in on watching for contraband to be thrown out, as we're already expecting it. But this time, the suspected dealer/weapon violator got the upper hand by losing the police for that moment.
Anyway, it turned out that this guy had no warrants and had a valid drivers license, so there was no reason to arrest him. A search of the area of his known path turned up nothing. It did turn out however that he was previously shot at by drug dealers, and police had knowledge of this as well. An attempt to explain to this man that he was "on the wrong path" seemed to be a waste of time as he laughed at us. The attempt murder on his life in the past nearly missed him, but it didn't seem to faze him.
If the weapon would have been recovered in the path he was in (which he's known to carry weapons), he could have been charged with Carrying a Concealed Weapon which is currently a 2 year Indictable Offence. If the police officers would have found the narcotics, depending on the what it was, he could have faced 14 yrs. in prison.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2)
Drug Dealers with Guns try to ditch us!! This happened in 1987 in N.Vancouver BC)
One night a friend and I were pulled up next to each other talking when we noticed a black car approaching us. The vehicle appeared as if it was going to head straight until it noticed us on a side street, which it then slowed down, and turned. This of course made us suspicious. It was around 3:00 AM, which made it even more suspicious as we were on a side street. My partner and I (both driving separate vehicles) went to follow the vehicle. However, it rapidly accelerated in speed, turning the next corner it came to quick, and again accelerating. At this point, the lights were on, and it appeared it was going to be a pursuit.
The vehicle (occupied by two males) then made an immediate turn into a driveway, turning left, which put the passenger side "away" from us as we were exiting our vehicles. As an officer in these situations you learn to get to the car quick, because more then likely something is going on (i.e. they're eating dope, hiding a gun, loading a gun, etc.) and the more time you give them, the more time they have to control the situation.
However, as the vehicle stopped in the driveway, I saw the driver throw something out the passenger window, and then simply act as if he did nothing.
When I approached the passenger side (my partner approached the driver's side), I acted as if I didn't see what just occurred. I remember talking with the passenger asking him what was going on, and he told me he was getting a ride to a friend's house. However my partner (later told me) the driver had a completely different story.
My partner placed the driver under arrest for an open container of alcohol that was sitting in the middle counsel. Subsequently, the passenger was arrested for the same charge, as neither party claimed ownership of it, and both had access to it. The were handcuffed and placed in our cruisers. When walking back to the passenger's side of the vehicle, I found a loaded revolver laying on the ground approximately 5 feet from the passenger door in the grass. A subsequent search of the vehicle found one baggie of crack cocaine, while another (found by my partner) of approximately 25 rocks .
The suspects were booked and interviewed by a sergeant, and both blamed the other for the drugs and the gun. They were both lodged in jail, and the outcome was pleas to a lesser charge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3)
The Shooting: ( 1991 Surrey BC)
Man gets shot approximately 10 feet from me. It's about 2:00 A.M. and my partner and I are working a high crime area. We're parked in an alley waiting for a truck across the street to leave since he wants to play "cat and mouse" (We've been looking for this particular truck for awhile). Since we can't get our cruiser positioned so that "he" can't see us, I decide to get out on foot and "peek" around a wall. Approximately 2 seconds later, I hear about 5 or 6 gunshots...all in a loud and fast rapid motion. My first thought, "I'm getting shot at from the roof of this building," since I don't see anything. I look up and see nothing. I start inching around the wall with my gun out when I see a guy sitting in the driver's seat of a car. There's another guy running toward the car and gets in the back seat. Simultaneously, I see a guy laying on his back about 5 feet from me rolling around...he's just been shot. I start yelling at the guys in the car to put
their hands up. They're completely surprised. A few seconds later they take off. I stay with the victim and my partner goes after the car. I ask the guy who shot him and all he can do is moan. I hear my partner advising dispatch the directions of the car. One of the guys throws the gun out of the car and more police join. The car is surrounded and they're arrested. The victim lives after being shot 5 times.
4)
The chase turning into a shooting: (1991 Surrey BC) yes '91 WAS a bad year
My partner and I hear a pursuit go over the air from a police call, and we're in the area. We tag along and are the last car in the chase. The vehicle running tried to buy drugs from an officer in a sting and starts running lights and ramming police cars. It eventually turns around on the freeway,(The Kingsway), loses control and goes off the road. The driver in the vehicle tries to run, myself and another officer over and shots are fired at him. He lives and is arrested.
5) The Baby (2003 CARMAN MB )
While training a new officer I was approached by a woman who was screaming and crying hysterically that her baby wasn't breathing. I advised our dispatch and entered her home. When I found the 7-week old infant, he was lying on his back and looked like he was sleeping. He instantly reminded me of my great-nephew who was about the same age at the time. I did everything I was taught (my A,B,C's of CPR) and didn't stop CPR until the ambulance arrived. He was transported to the hospital where doctors made several attempts to revive him...but no luck. He had passed. After he was pronounced legally dead, I had to stay in the same room with him for about an hour until the detective arrived. It was the first time I ever cried on the job.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The morals of the stories here guys and what I am trying to show/teach you???:
Situation One:
Be ever vigilant on the job. A small lapse can lead to lesser charges and the actor gets less than he deserves. It was a learning experience for me, even though I had my ass raked over the coals by a duty Sgt.!!
Situation Number Two:
The way we approached this situation could have been deadly for myself or my partner had the perp not thrown out the handgun. You must always be on the lookout for such things, if your mind strays, you lose control. Also by not thinking these guys gained the upper hand on us and were able to plead to a lesser charge of " distribution" which carries a max of 2 years less a day in Canada.
Situation Number 3:
Another potentially out of control situation where I could have had my brains blown out. STOP, THINK, ACT!! I was'nt as street wise back then as I am now.
Situation Number 4:
Be in contstant radio contact with all other units that are responding to the call, this saves lives, nerves, and time for paperwork on filling out Use of Deadly Force Forms!!!
Situation Number 5:
This lesson is to teach you that YES grown men do cry and there is nothing shameful about this. It is a critical Incident situation. It hurts more to keep things like this bottled up inside of you, eventually things may back up inside you so much that you can no longer perform your job as efficiently or even worse, you bite your weapon. There are police chaplains, CISM councilor's and others to talk to, get help if needed, and believe me, a great partner makes a wonderful listening post.
Tom
Comments
Last year I literally came within a hair's width of putting two in the K5 of a teenage armed robber. He was exiting the business as I approached. I yell warnings as I'm squeezing on him. I'm six to ten feet away and there is no way I can miss. He ducks back inside and I now have a hostage situation. After a short time I hear one shot inside the business. That moment was the absolute worst in my career, thinking I hadn't dropped that kid and he had repayed the favor by shooting a hostage. All turned out well when the suspects surrendered a few minutes later and I discovered one of them had accidently fired a round into the floor.
I spent months agonizing over the fact that I DIDN'T shoot that suspect. There were even some officers that told me I should have tagged the suspect. Fortunately, I was able to talk it out with my wife and I am now OK with not having pulled the trigger, because I honestly can't say I saw a weapon in the kid's hand.
That kid plead guilty a few weeks ago and receive a twenty year sentence.
Glad things worked out fine for you!! Civvies don't understand about split second judgement calls on the job that can affect a cop for years to come. Also glad your wife was able to help you with it. Don't ever feel "bad" for not shooting somebody, some of the youngster's these days are too trigger happy in some situations.