I've been trying to write this post all day. It hasn't worked so far, but I'll give it another go. I think the problem has been trying to capture all the things that 'impressed' me.
I'll say first that my friend Chris is amazing. The only time I was scared at all was when we were going on a call at 90 mph through city streets. I freak out on a regular drive when there is traffic...so this was very nerve wracking for me. Had nothing to do with him, though.
It was neat to be able to see someone I know as a friend 'do their job' for a day. Especially with a job like his. He said a lot of great things that I wrote down and will process later for the book (since that is why I went in the first place!) but there is one thing that really stuck with me. He said if you imagine a professional boxer or MMA athlete. Assume they have a 10 year career, which is unlikely, but just assume so. What are the chances they will go undefeated in their 10 year career? It's unheard of. Everyone loses a fight now and then. He's been a cop for 10 years; he can't lose a fight or he might not make it home that night. And he faces a fight of one kind or another every single time he goes to work. I've always respected and appreciated our law enforcement officers, but thinking about it in those terms really opened my eyes.
I was also struck by the lack of resources the Baltimore City Police Department has and the deplorable shape those limited resources are in. They have an unenviable job of trying to keep the city safe and somehow they have to do it without enough cars for each officer, cars that break down and aren't allowed to expect any type of pay increase any time soon. In fact, pay cuts and furlough days are being rumored. How can we allow this? It was comical at the time, when his cruiser broke down and we had to get a jump from the other unit in his sector. It was really funny when the car completely died in the intersection right before the station and the van that had followed us back had to give us a push to make it to the parking space. We laughed and joked about. This morning though, I can't help but wonder what would have happened if someone was shot in his sector while we were limping home in a broken down cruiser. Sure, other units would be assigned and the situation handled. But at what cost? At what number of additional crucial minutes? There was nothing different he could have done then, this isn't placing blame on any officer. It's questionning the logic of budgeting gurus who seem to think cars with 100,000 miles on them should be driven 24 hours a day through pot-holed streets without any real break.
/rant.
I'm still processing much of what happened. It was certainly an adreline rush, even if nothing all that exciting happened. The 'highlights':
- car wreck with a 'victim' giving an Oscar worthy performance until the ambulance doors were closed,
- the suicidal man that took a bunch of cumidin and decided he didn't want to die after all,
- the run away teen that apparently had made it back to the group home but had a phone conversation to finish so didn't bother knocking until we showed up
- seeing what I thought was some high kid doing a freaky dance only to learn it was some gang related step routine
- a breaking and entering in progress, but oh, wait nevermind
- a real breaking and entering with a woman that was just a bit odd
- an asthma attack by yours truly which I think was brought on by the vest. It's hard to breathe in those things.
Chris- I hope you follow the link from Facebook and read to the end here, because I want to say thanks. It was great and I'd actually like to do it again once or twice more if you don't mind to get more insight. I promise to not freak out at your driving- well not too much. And thanks for doing what you do every day to keep us safe. Oh, and in case you missed it...they didn't get the laptop.
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