Prayer for police officers

Today is not a story but a request for prayers for all our police officers. The death rate for officers on duty has risen so high this last year.  One officer was being a good guy and stopped on his way home off duty to help a stranded motorist and they stabbed him to death!

Even in our small town where we have never lost an officer there were incidents this last year of people shooting at them but luckily they missed.

This makes it dangerous of all people not just the cops. They are family men and they want to go home to their families as much as you want to go home to yours. They have loved ones that want them to quit just because the danger has gotten so bad.

It is dangerous because the police are on high alert which makes them more prone to take action then they would have been a few years ago.  Young people think it is funny to take toy guys that look real and act like they are shooting someone or the police. You can not tell the difference and kid gets shot.

It is not the guns that are killing people, it is the people. When I was growing up all of us had loaded guns in our house and most of us had loaded guns in our bedrooms by the time we were 10.  At the high school every one in our rural area had a pickup and there was usually a rifle in the window. The principal did not panic he was out looking at their new gun and discussing guns and shooting.  No one at our school was ever shot or even shot at or threatened with the guns.

The crime rate was a whole lot lower because everyone knew everyone was armed and you did not want to mess around someones place after dark or being sneaky. People were responsible for their actions, not excused for their actions. If you had a problem that made you untrustworthy that problem was dealt with by the parents.  I would have much rather the cops get a hold of me then my dad when I did something wrong.
People knew who their kids hung around with and if they didn't you did not hang around with them. If you cheated or lied about where you were going you lost your driving privileges and you were grounded and not for a few days. My Uncle who lived with us got caught speeding and driving reckless and they cop did not cite him he called dad. My Uncle lost her drivers license and car for months.

We have to start keeping our officers safe!!!  We have to start making our kids responsible!  We need to teach the 3 "R"s again in school and at home and they are:

R= Responsibility for your actions!
R=Respect for others!
R=Respect for yourself!

There are choices you make in life and those choices all have consequences. When you choice the action you choose the consequences and not making them face the consequences of their actions when they are small has raised a generation of kids who think what they want is the most important thing in life. They have lost compassion for others, work ethic, common sense. They are border line psychopaths who care for nothing but what they want.

Please people, lets stop what our society has allowed to happen. If this continues you aren't going to have an honest cop left as the job will become to dangerous. Teachers are going to quit teaching your kids. It is already next to impossible to find a school bus driver because of the kids, they are out of control.

There are so many nice people and kids out there but they are getting over ran by the bad guys. Teach everyone that the good guys always win!

Mashed potato's for supper

One of the officers called his wife and asked if she could make him something for supper as it was super busy and he did not have time to go to the cafe.  He told her to let him know when it was done and he would stop and get it as he did not have time to stay.

Her being a good wife and not understanding police work very well made him a full dinner, steak (now how do you drive and cut and eat steak?) veggies and mashed potatoes and gravy.  She opened the door and gave it to him covered in tin foil. He gave her a quick kiss and off he goes. He got in the car and sat it on the seat next to him and took off. When he looked over the gravy started to run all over the seat. He gasped and opened it! OH NO!  He tried to hold it in one hand and drive with the other hand. He kept getting calls and he would try to set it where it would not run. He got in his car again and was holding it and eating veggies when he got a priority one call, he took off pulling in he took the mike and told dispatch that he had arrived and jumped out of the car like he always does throwing his mike into the seat instead of taking time to hang it up. He walked back to the car with another officer to call in some names and dates of births for a warrant check. You guessed it!  The mike had landed in the mashed potatoes and gravy. There he was talking with mashed potatoes and gravy dripping off his mike.

Took him months to live that down.

Drunk drivers

Every year during the holidays I worry about drunk drivers. It is so hard to roll up on a wreck and see a family destroyed and a drunk standing there or sitting and laughing unhurt and even unaware that he has just destroyed a family.

One wreck destroyed our lives as my niece who was not drinking and was pregnant was driving home and a drunk ran a red light and hit her right in the drivers door killing her and the baby. The witnesses said that he did not even hit his brake lights, he hit her full force.  She was the only one with no alcohol in her bloodstream and the only one to die.  She wasn't even 21 yet, beautiful inside and out.

I have had to pry a dead baby  out of a mothers arms where we could get the mother out of the car or a child hanging onto mom crying and mom is gone. Bodies disfigured and broken, cut and smashed. One women had a triangle piece of the headlight of the other car buried in her forehead

You know what was common in all of them. The intoxicated driver, the one with minor or no injuries. Drunk drivers and drivers on drugs cause more deaths then wars. They cause more major injuries then war does and they kill and maim more kids then war does. They kill and maim more kids then pit pulls do or all dogs put together and who do we want to ban....The pit bull!

I sincerely think that all drunk drivers should have the car they were driving sold when they are caught. Putting them in jail doesn't do it. The jury says they know how it feels as they have drank and drove when they shouldn't have so they let them go. It should be mandatory that the car be sold and the money put in a fund to help the victims pay for their health costs. No insurance is never enough to pay for all the bills for their health care and some drunks don't even have insurance.  You can stop them by selling the car as pretty soon they won't be able to buy another car and their foolish friends will quit loaning them cars when they lose their cars. Please pass a bill to SELL THE CAR and help the victims.

I also think all drunk drivers should have to sit in the emergency room of an hospital and watch the victims of drunk drivers and their families for at least 6 months. We had one group of teenagers come into the emergency room from a wreck where the driver had been drinking, they were crying, screaming and moaning. The driver was non-injured as usual and his mother was there. He was running to his friends and saying I'm sorry and his mom took him out of the emergency room as he "didn't need to see this" as part of his friend were probably not going to make it and that was going to be hard enough to live with without seeing all the pain the others were going through. DUH!  He needed to watch every minute they could allow him too where maybe next time he would think about drinking and driving.

After years on the ambulance and working in the emergency room I HATE drunk drivers with a passion. Someone told me that I should not be mad at them because being an alcoholic was a disease and that they couldn't help it. I told them I don't let people with a contagious disease around my kids where they can hurt them either. I don't let my kids play with infectious blood. Treat the alcoholic but get them away from my loved ones.  Just because they have a disease doesn't mean they should be allowed to spread the disease to killing others.

Don't drink and drive this holiday season. Please read this poem!  I am sure my niece was thinking this as she passed away:

Many people have been touched by the following "Drunk Driving Poem." (The author is unknown.)

Death of an Innocent

I went to a party, Mom,
I remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, Mom,
So I drank soda instead.

I really felt proud inside, Mom,
The way you said I would.
I didn't drink and drive, Mom,
Even though the others said I should.

I know I did the right thing, Mom,
I know you are always right.
Now the party is finally ending, Mom,
As everyone is driving out of sight.

As I got into my car, Mom,
I knew I'd get home in one piece.
Because of the way you raised me,
So responsible and sweet.

I started to drive away, Mom,
But as I pulled out into the road,
The other car didn't see me, Mom,
And hit me like a load.

As I lay there on the pavement, Mom,
I hear the policeman say,
"The other guy is drunk," Mom,
And now I'm the one who will pay.

I'm lying here dying, Mom...
I wish you'd get here soon.
How could this happen to me, Mom?
My life just burst like a balloon.

There is blood all around me, Mom,
And most of it is mine.
I hear the medic say, Mom,
I'll die in a short time.

I just wanted to tell you, Mom,
I swear I didn't drink.
It was the others, Mom.
The others didn't think.

He was probably at the same party as I.
The only difference is, he drank
And I will die.

Why do people drink, Mom?
It can ruin your whole life.
I'm feeling sharp pains now.
Pains just like a knife.

The guy who hit me is walking, Mom,
And I don't think it's fair.
I'm lying here dying
And all he can do is stare.

Tell my brother not to cry, Mom.
Tell Daddy to be brave.
And when I go to heaven, Mom,
Put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave.

Someone should have told him, Mom,
Not to drink and drive.
If only they had told him, Mom,
I would still be alive.

My breath is getting shorter, Mom.
I'm becoming very scared.
Please don't cry for me, Mom.
When I needed you,
you were always there.

I have one last question, Mom.
Before I say good bye.
I didn't drink and drive,
So why am I the one to die?

Arizona police

I had the honor to meet one of the Arizona Sheriff's from Salome area. What a nice young man and very good looking to boot.  He could not do my vin inspection but he was very nice and sent me to the ASP down in Wenden.

I went there and met a very nice State officer who also could not do my vin inspection as I did not have the right paperwork. He also was very nice and he loved my Jeep, he loved the color, the fact it was a 6 speed manual and he fell in love with my Aussie.

Cops are nice all over and I just love dealing with them. What a nice group of people. They even apologized that they could not help me and it was my fault that I had the wrong paperwork.

I hope now that I have the right paperwork I get the same officer but then it would be nice to meet another one too.  They are my heroes

There was a time a cop was thought of as a friend by kids

Once on a time long ago kids thought cops were your friend and someone to go in times of trouble. Today they are told "if you don't be good the cops will come get you".  Parents use the cops to scare their kids into doing things or acting better.  I was shocked the first time I heard someone say that.

One day on my bus the kids started yelling, watch out the cops are behind you. I told them "so". They said "they will come get you and haul you off, cops are mean". I explained to them that cops only haul people off to keep them from hurting others. One little girl said "no they come get my dad and mom all the time and then they take me to the JV center and I have to live there until dad and mom come home and I kick and bite"  I asked her if mom and dad were fighting when the cops came. She said "yes, but they hadn't hit me yet". I told her the cops took her mom and dad to keep them from hurting each other really bad and maybe hurting her. They put her in the JV home because they did not want her to have to stay by herself and try to cook and take care of herself. She said "oh, mom said it was because cops are really mean and like to hurt people".

About a month later the little girl came up and said "you would be proud of me the cops came last night to get mom and dad while they were fighting and I told mom and dad that the cops wouldn't come if they would quit fighting. They never come unless you fight" then she said "when the cops took me I did not kick or bite or anything and I said thank you to them".  I gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was of her.  She told me the cops were really nice to her and now she likes them and she actually had fun at the JV center.

Don't scare your kids of the cops!

cops have a sense of humor

I got this email today and I just loved it so I am posting it here.  I love #6


> Those Southerners have a way with words!
> 
> 
> 
> *
> These are actual comments made by South Carolina Troopers that were taken off their car videos:
> 
> 
> 1. "You know, stop lights don't come any redder than the one you just went through."
> 
> 2. "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new. They'll stretch after you wear them a while."
> 
> 3. "If you take your hands off the car, I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document." (My Favorite)
> 
> 4. "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."
> 
> 5. "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? Because that's the speed of the bullet that'll be chasing you." (LOVE IT)
> 
> 6. "You don't know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can write anything I want to on the ticket, huh?"
> 
> 7. "Yes, sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh, did I mention that I'm the shift supervisor?"
> 
> 8. "Warning! You want a warning? O.K, I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."
> 
> 9. "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"
> 
> 10. "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy and corn dogs and step in monkey poop."
> 
> 11. "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."
> 
> 12. "In God we trust; all others we run through NCIC." ( National Crime Information Center )
> 
> 13. "Just how big were those 'two beers' you say you had?"
> 
> 14. "No sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to, but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we can."
> 
> 15. "I'm glad to hear that the Chief (of Police) is a personal friend of yours. So you know someone who can post your bail."
> 
> AND THE WINNER IS....*
> 
> 
> *16. "You didn't think we give pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't. Sign here."*
> 
> 
>     

two wonderful paramedics

Today as I read in the paper about a medical helicopter going down it always saddens me when someone is trying to help someone and they get killed doing it.  Sometimes life doesn’t make sense to me.

Two of the best paramedics I ever knew who saved more lives then most do. We live in a rural community and there is none of this golden hour to the hospital you were lucky to get there in two many times. These two were amazing and even the doctors would look for their opinion and most times they were correct.  I would rather them take care of me in an emergency then the doctor. 

When my cousin had a car wreck and was brought into the ER I met the ambulance there. We were told that they did not think she was going to make it. So I asked the paramedic and he said, she has a crushed foot, broken leg but she is going to be fine. He then proceeded to tell me what was wrong with her and what the doctors were wrong on. She went to x-ray and guess who was right?  The paramedic with no x-ray had got every single thing right.

Both of these paramedics died from cancer. They saved so many and no one could save them. It broke my heart, two of the greatest now spend their time with Jesus.

Remember the empty chair where a hero should be sitting

‎- Remember this Christmas when you are eating your dinner, smiling and laughing, enjoying family and friends, that in another house there's an empty chair where a hero should be sitting. They gave up their time or in some cases, their lives, so you could sit with your family. So light a candle for the heroes who did not make it back and for those who are still serving away from home. 


Thank God some of these heros will be here tomorrow or later today but some chairs will forever be empty as they give their lives for us. Jesus and the heros gave their lives so you could live

Thank you police officers

On this Christmas Eve I set here remembering how we used to give the location of Santa over the police radio on Christmas Eve and the kids would listen for their area in Ketchikan. One of the local helicopter pilots would fly over and had lights on his helicopter and he would drop candy out of it for the kids. They would listen for their neighborhood and then run outside hoping to get some candy. It was a great tradition.

I want to thank all the emergency workers for giving up your time with your families to keep us safe. For all the people that keep the world going where the rest of us can be with our families. Thank you for the job you do. For our troops overseas, thank you for the job you do keeping us safe. Thank you to your families for going through the season without you.

All I can do is hope and pray that all of you remain safe and get to go home to your families as that is the greatest gift of all.

Thank you again for the job you do!  you are a special group of people

talk like this does not belong in this world in any profession

Today I am not writing a story because this video says it all. An officer is just doing his job and very professionally at that. Why do people think it is ok to disrespect any person this bad. I don't think you should talk to anyone like this. What is becoming of our world. I so feel for police officers or any person trying to do a job in this day and age when everyone thinks it is ok to tell you how terrible you are. From driving a bus, waiting tables, doctor, nurse..Come on people, grown up and be respectful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyHMbHHtArE

Where are you?

I was sitting in dispatch and the phone rang and a little crying voice said “I’m scared, everyone left me”. He told me he woke up and no one is home and he is hungry and scared. I asked him how old he was and he said 5.  This was before enhanced 911, now what do you do, he can’t read.  You have to be real careful about telling kids to put the phone down to go look at house numbers or for an envelope with the address because they will hang up on you. This would not work for him anyway as he was not old enough to read. My brain was going a 100 miles per hour

Do you know where you are?

caller: “at Grandmas”

911: “what is grandma’s name?”

Caller:  “grandma”

911: “do you know what people call her?”

Caller:  “grandma”

911: “what is your parents names?”

Caller:  “mommy and daddy”

911: “do you go to school?”

Caller:  “no”

911:  “what do you do for fun? Do you go to the playground?”

Caller: “I go to the Burger Inn and get an ice cream”

911:  “can you see the Burger Inn?”

Caller; “yes it is right by my door”

911: “what color is grandma’s house?”

Caller: “blue”

I sent the officers over to the street behind the Burger Inn to find a blue house and a little boy and gave them his name. It wasn’t long and I could hear them knocking on his door. I told him the officer was there to help him find his grandma and mommy and to open the door. 

He opened the door with tears running down his face and low and behold here comes grandma out of the bedroom to answer the door.  She had gone and laid down too and had not heard him get up.

A fun case of a little boy left alone………….

A dispatchers nightmare

One boring Sunday morning I was sitting in dispatch trying to stay busy doing any paperwork I could find. Sunday mornings are usually slow when the 911 line rang.

I picked up the phone and said "911 please state your"

My grandson said in a shaky voice "Grandma mom just ran over my brother"

My heart raced, my breathing stopped, my brain said OMG OMG OMG OMG but dispatchers have an automatic mode as my mouth said "is he breathing?"

Grandson:  "I don't know he is screaming his head off"

911 still in auto pilot while brain is saying "thank God, thank God, thank God" my mouth is saying "tell mom not to move him and try to keep him still until the ambulance gets there.

The ambulance got there and he was bruised, sore but very much alive. He was taken to the hospital and was ok. It was in soft ground and a back tire with not a whole lot of weight on it.

One thing you learn real quick is that you never know what is on that line when the phone lights up. Many 911 type calls come on the business line too. You can never fully relax because life changes so fast in one phone call and it might be a loved one.

 I have dispatched ambulances to my kids, my grand kids, my parents. I have been on the ambulance that responded to loved ones and I can say this in all honesty. It is harder to dispatch the call then it is to be the res ponder.  When you respond you see what is happening, you can give hugs, you can care for them. When you are sitting in that office all you can do is try to keep breathing until someone decides to tell you something and then you still don't know if it is as good or as bad as they say. Are they just trying to keep me calm?  Is it really ok?  It doesn't make any difference if it is police in trouble or loved ones your heart is in your throat. It is extremely hard not to run out the door and go to the house.  In your heart you know you have to stay there and do your job no matter what as lives depend on your getting what is needed to the call.

Please give your communications officers (dispatchers) more credit then they are given.  A dog catcher has to know his job and the laws. A corrections officers must know his job. A police officer must know his but a dispatcher must know a little of everyone's job.  When you are in a bad mood you can go be by yourself, an officer can drive around in a slow area or go set somewhere quiet.  A dispatcher is always at the mercy of the phone and radio, She can't even go to the bathroom without permission.

Dispatchers are amazing people who do a job very few including officers understand. Put a police officer on the radio for a month and he will have a different view of his dispatcher.  They have all my respect.

calling 911 by accident

Back in the old days before they had a caller id we had a system which if someone called 911 and hung up you could hit a button and it would ring that phone number back. This ring went through even if they were on the phone or the phone was on the ground.

One time I received a 911 hang up. I could hear someone breathing but no one would say anything and then it hung up. I hit the button to ring the phone back and this little shaky voice said “oh my God, oh my god ” I said “Are you ok?”  She said very shaky “I was until this phone rang when I had it in my hand, now I am not sure, my heart is racing and I fell really shaky”. I explained I was the 911 operator and I had received a phone call from this phone.

She asked how in the work that had happened. She said she was trying to call her son overseas and it would not go through and she hung up and was trying again when all of a sudden the phone rang while she was on the phone.

I explained to her that when you dial a lot of numbers you will get 911 and a lot of people get 911 when trying to call overseas as they poke to many numbers. You hear all the time of how animals or small kids call 911 and how smart they are. Any dog or child that starts poking numbers will eventually get 911. Tiny 2 year olds call all the time playing with the phone when mom is in the other room.

She finally calmed down and we had a good laugh. 

Appreciate today as it may be the last day

The funeral for Sheriff Ham went really well. He was so loved. Police funerals are hard for anyone in police work as they know how quick someone can be gone and we are a big family.

We were getting ready to go to a friends house for his wife and his son’s birthday when I got a phone call from the sheriff’s office stating he had died., OMG!  He was not even on duty, what in the world happened, a wreck?  He was only in his 30’s and they were out fixing fence before everyone got there. The cake and presents all set up on the table and everything ready.  They were laughing as they worked together, they loved their small gentlemen’s farm of 5 acres. He was driving a metal fence post into the ground with a pole driver and he said “one more whack for good luck” and died.  He blew an aortic aneurysm and was dead before he hit the ground.  No one could have saved him. What a tragic waste. 

He was a much beloved officer like Ham by the public and his fellow officers. His funeral as large too and I still remember the day so well.

No matter what your loved ones do in life, enjoy every minute and appreciate every minute because you never know when it will be their last. Some occupations are more hazardous then others and those families do more thinking about their loved ones being gone and some families break under that pressure of watching them go to work and wondering if they will come home again. What I am trying to say is it can happened anytime, anywhere to anyone so appreciate your loved ones NOW.  The past is the past because it is over, the future may not happen and the present is present because it is your gift, enjoy every minute of it.  

Sad day in Law Enforcement today as we bury one of the best

Today is a sad day for law enforcement as we bury one of the best Sheriff's that ever lived. 

Sheriff Ham Perkins was the type of sheriff everyone wishes their community had. He cared about every person in that community. He tried to always treat everyone respectfully no matter why he was dealing with them.

He was a fair and honest boss and those are hard to come by.

He also made the sheriff’s department a family. He started a posse, we had BBQ’s, picnics, Christmas parties and just plain old fun together. 

I am sad but also celebrating his life as that is what he would want. He never wanted to bring pain to anyone. He would love the fact that this was a day to celebrate his life and career. Time for memories to be shared, laughter to be shared and love to be shared.

RIP Ham, we will never forget you.

The interview

One of my favorite all time police interviews.  An officer came in for his police interview. They always made it tough for them physiologically as they set up above on the chamber seats which are a half circle at the front of the room and two steps above the regular floor. This was back in the days that everyone smoked.  The interview board all had ashtrays and were smoking and drinking coffee.  The poor guy being interviewed had to set on the lower level with these guys in a semi circle around him.  It is hard enough to face a panel of people for an interview instead of one let alone when it is for a job you have always dreamed of.

The proceeded to ask him questions and finally asked.  If you are on patrol and you see your Sergeant come out of bar drunk headed to his car what do you do?

The applicant said “I would offer him a ride home”   

Interviewers: “he refuses the ride.”

Applicant: “I would call a supervisor.”
Interviewers: “none are available and your sergeant is getting in the car”

Applicant: “I guess I would have to cold conk him and put him in the patrol car and take him home and hope he thanked me in the morning”

Everyone had a good laugh and later when the training sergeant became a good friend he told us how everyone had enjoyed that and in all the years they had been interviewing people for a police job before and since he is the only one who would knock the sergeant out and take him home anyway.  They said many said they would have no choice at that point but to arrest him and advise them to notify the chief. Some even said they would ignore it. Some said they would call for backup and arrest him.

Oh by the way, he got the job and lucky for the training sergeant he did not drink…

Native American baby boards

One evening when I was with the tribal ambulance we received a call of a car wreck with injuries. We responded and had two unconscious people in the car that were hurt really bad. We were working on them to try and get bleeding etc to stop and them packaged on the immobilization device when out of the night we hear a baby crying.

Our hearts stop, where was the crying coming from?  We listened very carefully and from down the steep rocky incline from the wreck we could tell the little cry was coming from. The sweat broke out all over our bodies, our heart rate was going so fast, we were sick to our stomach and I don’t think we were hardly breathing as we looked at each other. Neither of us wanted to go over the side for fear of what we were going to find. Our hearts were aching and we both raced down the slope to where the baby was. Our flashlights lighting where we thought the sound was coming from.

There it was, a Native American baby board upside down between two big rocks.  We reached down and very carefully pulled the board up and turned it over.  It had cracks in it and we were so afraid it would break all the way or move and hurt the baby further. As we turned it over there was a beautiful baby looking at us with big eyes.  We did not see anything wrong with him and were afraid to remove the board for fear it would cause further injury. Thinking he is already immobilized on the board we held it gently and started back up through the road and the ambulance. 

As we walked up towards the ambulance the baby quit crying, our hearts stopped completely and we shinned the light on the board again almost afraid to look for fear the baby had quit breathing. There he was just looking at us and gave us a big grin as we talked to him.

We loaded mom and dad up on each side of ambulance and my partner jumped in the driver’s seat as I held the infant and off we go to the hospital.  Monitoring the baby all the way to the hospital he stayed stable with no changes.

When we arrived at the hospital the emergency room doc x-rayed the baby right in the baby board and found no injuries. We very carefully opened the baby board up. Many pieces were cracked but when we got that baby out we could not find one single cut and he had a couple of small bruises.  The baby was perfect.

Mom and Dad lived and had some serious recovery time. Grandma came and got the baby and took him home.

Native Americans built the first seat belt. It amazes me sometimes how much the baby board can take and how secure it holds the baby. They can fall off the couch or a horse and just giggle. They have to be made with certain material and made right to withstand the abuse but they were not made to survive car wrecks or falling down cliffs but for the grace of God this one did.

They land where???

The secretary for the District Attorney in Ketchikan, Alaska was from back East. Her mom was coming for a visit. She had never flown in an airplane and was nervous.  You don’t get to Ketchikan without flying or coming in by boat.  They explained to her that she would be flying in a commercial plane and then at Metlakatla she would get in a small plane for the last leg of the journey.  Now they have an airport you can come in by ferry.

She flew on the big plane to Metlakatla and landed and her daughter and son-in-law met the plane where they could fly the last leg of the journey with her.  No one bothered to explain to her that even though the plane was on a runway that in Ketchikan they would land on the water. They all climbed aboard and as usual in Southeast Alaska the weather was windy and rainy.  They took off for the short flight to Ketchikan and were landing in the bay when they looked up and in the front seat mom was praying and crossing herself. The daughter said “mom, it is fine”.  Mom said “I know honey, I know we are crashing into the water and I am prepared, it is ok”  Now is the time they explained about float planes to her and that they were suppose to land in the water. She was a little upset that no one had explained that you could land a plane in the water.

The way I am afraid of planes I think I would have been hitting someone. I always loved this story as she was so calm praying away as she crashed.  I am also very glad that when I moved there they had built an airport nearer Ketchikan and you could get off the big plane and get on a ferry. I am not sure my heart would take landing in the waves even if I knew about float planes.

Illegal substance theft

I think some people have more buts then brains or maybe it is more stupidity then brains.

We received a call of a burglary, a guy’s back sun porch had been broken into and they stole all his stuff.

The officers arrived at the scene and he had a big glassed in back porch which at one time had his two marijuana plants and someone had broken out the window and opened the door and took his marijuana plants.

Now he really thought that the police were going to work their tails off to get his marijuana plants back?  Now come on, can anyone really believe that?

A case they worked trying to find who took it but not to return it but to be able to use it as evidence against him but no one worked it hard and the case was never solved.

911, can I talk to Grandma

Calling 911 has been put on TV as if you need help call 911. That did not work because people called for any kind of help. Now they say for life threatening emergencies call 911.

One day the dispatcher received a call and heard.

Caller: “I want to talk to grandma”

911:  “Honey, this is 911 for emergencies”

Caller:  “I know, I want to talk to my grandma”

911:  “can I talk to your mom?”

Caller: “no, I want to talk to grandma”

911:  “What is your name?”

Caller:  “Teresa”

911: “Teresa where is your parents?”

Caller: “in the other room, I want to talk to grandma”

911:  This is 911 your grandma is not here”

Caller:  “yes she is” and starts crying

911:  “don’t cry Teresa but your grandma isn’t here and I will help you if you get your parents on the phone”

Caller: “I want my grandma! I want her to come get me.”

911: “Teresa, are you ok?  Are you hurt?”

Caller:  “No I just want to talk to my grandma”

About his time my supervisor said “what did she say her name was?”

911:  She said it was Teresa

Supervisor: I bet that is Linda’s granddaughter, let me talk to her.

“hi, is this Teresa?”

Caller: “yes, can I talk to grandma?”

Supervisor: “Teresa, this is April and Grandma Linda is not at work today, you will have to call her at home”

Caller:  “I don’t know how”

Supervisor: “have your mom call her for you and let you talk”

Caller:  “ok”

I was so embarrassed but also proud since she was only about 3 that she listened when I said if you need help call 911.  She knew that is where I worked.  I am so glad I had a supervisor that always talked to the kids. All the kids in Madras loved Ms. April and she saved the day.

Football domestic

One night the police got a call of a domestic in an apartment building. They said the woman was screaming but they could not tell what she was saying except “no” and they thought they heard “don’t”.  They said they could hear thumbing like someone was falling or being hit.

The officers took off to the call and up the stairs they went. They could hear the thumping and someone screaming so they went as fast as they could. They arrived at the right floor and could still hear the yelling and then it quit. They listened for a minute to see what they could hear and try to figure out what apartment number it was coming from.  All of a sudden they heard another scream, thumping and yelling. They found the apartment door and knocked “police, open the door”. No response and they could hear No, no, no. They knocked louder, no response.

The officers kicked the door down with guns drawn and through the door they went. The screaming intensified! Here was one lady all by herself.  She was watching a Seahawks game on TV and yelling and jumping up and down. Now that is one true Seahawks game. Those police officer about scared her to death.

I always though that was kind of far fetched until the Red Socks went to the world series and our little rural home town hero Jacobi was playing and my 87 years old mom and me were just as bad, jumping out of our chairs and yelling at the top of our lungs. We are lucky we don’t’ live in an apartment building. 

wrong impressions

As an emergency responder one of your worst nightmares is responding to a loved ones accident.

My partner and I were sitting in the fire hall playing cards with some of the other volunteers.  We used to play poker with M&M’s, sunflower seeds, popcorn or any other kind of stuff we could find. If no one had treats it was toothpicks.  We were hungry but everything in the small town we were in closed at 8.  My husband was getting off work at 10 and coming down so we called him and asked him to bring us some chicken.

We continued to play cards watching the clock as all the treats except toothpicks were gone and our stomachs were growling. I just said it was time for Joe (not his real name) to arrive with the chicken.  About 15 minutes later he still had not showed up and we were starting to worry and the pager went off.

The dispatcher said to respond to a wreck with injuries, she gave us the highway and the milepost and then said “we have a blue pickup over the grade”.  My heart just stopped, my husband was driving a blue pickup.  We took off to the wreck praying the whole time. We came around the corner and we could see the bottom of the pickup and it was a regular pickup.  Our pickup was a dually. I was never so glad to only see one wheel in my life.  There was my pickup sitting alongside the road, my husband was late because he was down treating the person in the wrecked pickup.

My heart leaped with joy, I am sure all the people watching were wondering why we were headed down to the pickup with a big smile on our face.  You never think of things like that at the time. The impression it gives other people when we were grinning from ear to ear.  We were not happy about the wreck just so relieved that our loved one was safe.

My face will fall off

We were sitting in the ambulance hall on a Sunday afternoon and it was a really quiet day when a knock came at the front door and someone yelling they needed help.  My partner opened the door and a guy said “my friend cut himself really bad”. We get this all the time when it is a head wound, they say he almost cut his head off etc and it is a small cut but head wounds bleed bad.  The guy said “he scalped himself, I mean it is really bad”. The guy smelled like the local tavern had ran out of booze serving him.

We got to the car and here is another intoxicated person sitting in the passenger side of the car with a wet towel on his forehead. There wasn’t hardly any blood which was unusual so we thought this really was minor. He seemed fine except for being intoxicated. My partner said “move the towel and let me see it”  The man said “if I do my face will fall off”  My partner said “just remove the towel sir, your face is not going to fall off”  The guys says “ok” and he removes the towel, his face fell off. I mean it, his forehead just flopped over his face and the back part of his scalp fell down his back.

Now remember they tell you in training you can not say “oh shit” or “whoops” or show any kind of reaction. Well it is lucky his face did fall off because both of our mouths flew open and I am sure our eyes were as big as saucers.

There was hardly any blood at all. My partner pulled the pieces back up and bandaged them in place. The intoxicated guys said “I told you so”.  We asked them “what in the world happened. They said he was going to jump the creek on a bicycle and got up on the hill to get a run at it. He was pedaling as fast as he could coming down the hill and hit a rock and flew up in the air and hit his forehead on the handle bars when he landed and cut his head almost off.  My partner explained he was going to be ok but that we were going to take him to the hospital for stitches and xrays.

We loaded him up and off to the hospital we went.  When my partner explained to the doctor what had happened she told the nurse to remove the bandage. The intoxicated guy said “if you do my face will fall off”  The doctor said “then we will put it back, it needs to be sewed back on.”  The intoxicated guy did not want the bandage removed. The doc told him that if they did not sew it back on his face would continue to fall off. He finally agreed and they removed the bandage. The docs face looked a lot like ours did even though we had told her. He only had about two inches at the very back of his head where the scalp was still attached.

When she started to give him shots he decided that was enough, that hurt worse then his head did. He was not a happy camper but they finally got him sewed up.

One of the most unusual injuries I had ever seen. Not much blood but you could see his skull, just like someone had skinned him. He was ok but has a scar for his efforts to be a motorcycle stunt man.

How did that get there?

Another favorite of mine in booking was a guy that came in for intoxicated driving. He smelled like a brewery and was totally wasted.  The officer brought him up to the booking counter.

I said “sir, would you empty your pockets for me?”

Drunk: “what did you call me?”

I said “sir”

Drunk “well young lady I will do anything you want, I have never been called sir before”

He at that time started taking things out of his pocket and putting them on the booking counter.  He reached into his right pocket and pulled out a small bag of marijuana and placed it on the counter. 

His eyes got real big, his mouth dropped open and he looked up at me in amazement. You could tell he was shocked completely and said “where did that come from?”

I said “you tell me.”

Drunk “I don’t know how it got there”

I said “you have a package of marijuana in your pocket and you don’t’ know where it came from?” I believed him because of the look on his face when he had placed it on the booking counter.

Drunk “oh no I know where it came from, I just don’t’ know how it got there but it is good shit.”

I said “So you don’t know how it got there but you know it is good shit.”

Drunk “really madam I don’t know how it got there, it is suppose to be under the seat.”

That was one of those weekends that I got off at midnight and had to be back in at 8 the next morning. We called them a roll back.  My first job was to get all of the drunks out of the drunk tank and either release them, let them bail out or put them in a regular cell. 

When I brought my marijuana guy out he looked at me and said “weren’t you the lady that booked me in last night?”

I said “yes I was.”

Drunk “Please tell me I didn’t do what I think I did”.

I said “what do you think you did?”

Drunk “I think I placed something on the counter I should not have had”

I said “yes you did sir”

Drunk “Did I tell you it was good shit?”

I said “yes you did sir”

Drunk “guess I kind of blew my defense on that one, huh?”

I said “yes you did sir”

Drunk “I still love it that you call me sir though” he says with a big smile

One of my favorite drunks

Most of the time people do not want to go to jail but sometimes they will do things just to go to jail where it is warm.

One night at about 3am they arrested this man for driving under the influence. They brought him into the police station to get a video (back before car videos) of him doing the field sobriety tests.  The video is a great tool for court. The video can make or break an officer too.

As they did the tests they also asked him questions.  When they asked him to tell them the time without looking at this watch he said about 6:30. They asked him if he meant 6:30 in the evening or morning. He said evening as he had got off work at 5 and stopped to have a beer and had a couple of beers. Why do drunks always say a couple or two beers, never 3 or 1 or 4 always 2.

When they advised him it was 3 in the morning the guys eyes got huge and he said “I’m drunk, I am officer, I am so drunk, you have to take me to jail, my wife will kill me if I come home this late”. At this point he starts taking his clothes off and kept repeating that he was drunk and needed to go to jail.

The officer was trying to keep his clothes on and the drunk was pulling them off as fast as officer could pull them on. They kept trying to tell him that he was in the police station and not jail and to leave them on.

He was so much more worried about his wife killing him then going to jail and one of my all time favorite bookings to watch. The rest of us were in tears from laughing so hard as the drunk is striping and the officer is desperately trying to keep him dressed.  I don’t know how the officer kept a straight face except he was so busy. No one could help him as we were all in hysterical laughing fits. 

whoa! Stop that ambulance!

When you go on some wrecks or fire you end up being there forever and day.  The one time in life it pays to be a man.  Finding someplace to go to the bathroom on long scenes in Central Oregon is almost impossible.  Juniper trees are not very big to hide behind and the country is open so you can’t go back in the trees.

Well one such day we were on a fatal accident where the car was in the river so we were parked right on the river bank on a narrow road and had been there for hours. We were hanging around because the scene was so dangerous to the rescuers we were on standby.

Our bladders were about to pop and it was getting dark, thank goodness, maybe we could hide in the dark.

Dark came and the scene lights were turned on the ambulance which are located on the side of the ambulance and light up the whole scene where you can work, so much for hiding.

One of the officers wanted us to move the ambulance up a little further so I proceeded to jump in the driver’s seat and start forward slowly, whoa, not slowly enough, I look in my mirror and there is a fellow EMT (emergency medical Tech.) with her pants around her ankles, hiding behind the dual tires of the ambulance. Now she has held it until she can’t anymore so when the ambulance started forward she was unable to quit. Yep there she was running like a cab still peeing away. She can’t yell because she doesn’t want to attract attention, she can’t stay there or else she is going to be in the bright light of the other units with her pants around her ankles. The only choice she has is to run like a crab. One of the funniest things I have ever seen.  The officer could not figure out why all of a sudden I stopped and he was still waving me further…

Oh the good ole days………

The one time on ambulance I wanted to hit someone

One wreck we went on we had five ambulance personnel quit and two police officers as soon as they got back to the office.

Wrecks are terribly hard on rescue personnel. They drive down the highway and can tell you, we had a fatal there. Those teens were killed there. Remember the truck that rolled here.  We look at mileposts and landmarks different then the regular person. I think that is why I enjoy places I never worked better for sight seeing.

I find it extra hard on a wreck like this and the public attitude.  We lost 3 children, almost lost the mother, several critical people who lived. It was a horrific wreck and enough to tear anyone’s heart out. Police and EMS who had been doing this work for years were crying at the hospital. Several went off over by the shrubs and cried.

We were covered in blood for head to toe. Our protective gear did not do any good at all. Our gloves, pants and shirts were ripped. People were trapped and EMS was doing everything they could to get to the patients buried in the twisted metal. They were hanging upside down, laying in blood and so were the cops. Everyone was giving 1000% and then some to save as many as we possibly could. There was blood everywhere and I mean everywhere as we struggled to save lives.

We loaded up the mom and kids who were the worse, the one little girl doing CPR on her while we loaded her. The little boy died as the officer got him released and was taking him out of the window. He started mouth to mouth immediately, blood all over him, in his mouth and all over his face but he would not give up.  We got them in the ambulance and headed to the local hospital to meet the air ambulance when it arrived.

As we were screaming down the highway doing CPR, bruised bleeding ourselves and blood flowing like a stream out of the back of the ambulance. We struggled with everything we had trying to save them without any regard to the blood getting on us.

When we got to the hospital and headed into ER, we came out heart broke to find some people at the counter that had followed us to the hospital to complain that blood was leaking out of the ambulance door and we should have done something. They were going  to lodge a formal complaint and wanted to know the name of the ambulance service. They not only were offended, what would the family think? Well Mister the family loved us, they knew we had given it our all.

Our crew was stunned and heart broke. We tried so hard, we lost two little precious lives and they were mad at us.  Tears started and my heart still bleeds today over their thoughtless remarks in front on not only us but the victims family that heard via phone calls went to the little rural hospital.

I wanted to say “you were offended by the blood” what do you think my crew was with it in their mouth and eyes. They gave everything that day and you are offended!!!!

late post

The posting for today will not be until later this evening as I am really running late today. Hope you come back tonight and read it

The Goat Roper

One night about 2 am we got a call of a loose goat on the highway. We are all thinking what in the world is a goat doing in town. The rodeo is not in town so where did this goat come from.

When the officer arrived at the location and got out of his car that stupid goat attached him. The officer got rammed but not hurt. He headed for his car as fast as he could go with the goat in hot pursuit.

He got on the radio to tell dispatch he needed some assistance with the goat and that it had attached him. That made us think, I bet that is the guard goat at the impound lot of the car dealer. Yep, he had a guard goat we had forgot all about. It would ram people but he figured it was better then a guard dog that would do serious damage but still discourage people from messing around the cars he had towed. That goat did a pretty good job and we did not get theft calls from him and no serious injury. It is kind of hard to complain to the police that a goat rammed you when the goat was behind a locked fence. Why were you in there with the goat?

They tried everything, they waved ropes, they yelled, they waved sticks and that goat was not having anything to do with them telling him what to do.  Finally one of them roped the goat. Yep it still tried to ram him. He ran for the patrol unit still hanging onto the rope. Once he got in the patrol unit the goat was as mild as can be.  The officer started leading the goat with the patrol unit out towards the animal impound lot. The goat followed as mellow as can be behind.

The next week’s paper came out with a picture of the patrol unit leading that goat right through town. Now I know that reported was not out at 2 am on a Wednesday night so I think one of his fellow officers turned the photo in to the paper.  Until the day that officer left town to another job he was “the goat roper”.  I hate to admit it but I don’t even remember his name as to us he was the goat roper.  Doesn’t take much to get you a nick name you will always live with.

Bull Vs patrol unit

One evening we had a report of a loose bull in downtown. It was chasing people and was now located at a small grocery store and people could not get to their cars.

The city patrol responded down there. He got out to try and drive the bull, no way was the bull having this and chased the officer too.  He got in his patrol car and decided to turn the siren on to scare the bull out of the front of the store. That was a bad idea, that just made the bull mad. That bull charged the patrol car and took it right in the driver’s door denting the whole side. The officer called dispatch asking for back up as he had a mad bull destroying his patrol car.

Several officers responded to the scene of the officer needs assistance call.  That did not please the bull either so he charged the patrol car again. I am not sure what he liked about that patrol car or maybe just hated the officer but every time he attacked it was the same patrol car.  Finally one officer being a local boy got a rope out of the patrol unit’s trunk. Everyone was thinking, surely he is not going to rope that thing. That bull is a man killer.

Well cattle aren’t quite as dumb as people think some of the time. The officers did not try to rope the bull just swing the rope around and yelled and that old bull just turned around and quietly started walking away from the officer who drove him to the fairgrounds and put him in a pen.

Now how do you explain to your supervisor that your car was totaled trying to play cowboy?  That officer is teased to this day.

But it is illegal

I was training a new girl in dispatch and she was a sweetie. Grew up in a small town and had never really faced the real world. We kind of worried how she would take to dispatch and dealing with the seedy group of people.

One Saturday night about a week after she started we were really busy and booking people in to jail right and left. The booking officer was so far behind that he had people waiting in the locked area by dispatch.

We were busy running criminal histories on everyone that was arrested.  She ran her first CCH and it showed the man arrested had several AKA or aliases, several social security numbers, several drivers license numbers. She said she needed some help because she had done something wrong. I asked why, what did it show. She said that somehow she had got a bunch of CCH’s on people instead of just one.  I looked at the print out and said it was the same guy. She said “it can’t be, he has more then one social security number and you can’t do that” I explained that a lot of criminals do that trying to hide who they are when the officers stop them and once they use a name or social security or date of birth that will always show on their record.

She said again, “no you don’t understand he has lots and it is illegal to do that” I explained we weren’t dealing with honest people or they would not be in there. That they don’t’ care if it is illegal.  She still could not understand how to do that since it was illegal and that would get you in trouble with the feds.

The other thing she had trouble dealing with was they were sitting there laughing. She said “I can’t believe they are laughing, I would be in tears”. “Why do they think it is funny, don’t’ they understand they are arrested?”

I felt so sorry for her as she tried to get her mind around the fact that people were doing things she did not think you could do because it was illegal.  She did not make it long in dispatch as it really upset her.

Blonde haired blue eyed officer saves the day

We had a regular woman that came to jail at least once a week for detox.  She was hell on wheels. I mean kick, bite, hit, spit and cuss and we all hated to book her in. She also had a way of putting things places they should not be where you could not take them from her.

She also we found out had a big attraction for blonde haired, blue eyes police officers. One of our new younger officers brought her in one night for Driving Under the Influence and you could tell she had put up a fight.

We took the stuff out of her pockets and patted her down and now it starts as we try to un-cuff her and put her in the detox cell.  As soon as she feels a hand free the fight is on and all of a sudden she gets a look at the cops and says “oh your cute” and she jumps on him trying to kiss him.  He yells for help and we say “we are only allowed to use force up to and including what force is necessary to keep the subject from fighting and that is far from fighting”…..laughing as we pull her off from him.

She is fighting again but not us just trying to get loose to get a hold of that blue eyed guy. We finally got smart and told him to go stand inside the drunk tank. He does and we let her loose. She takes off running for him and he steps aside and closes the door.  We got her.

This became a standard way of getting her into her cell. She just loved that blonde haired boy and if she got loose or he was not fast enough she was wrapped right around him. We had a lot less bruises to show for booking her into jail after that but we hated the nights he wasn’t around.

Revenge of the troopers

Our shooting range was across the bay behind the airport so when you qualified you had to ride the ferry across the bay, walk through the airport into this valley.  SE Alaska doesn’t have many flat spots that you can set up a range at.

The troopers always wore full uniform when they were doing anything where the public could see them. They decided to take the shotgun and the mace canisters with them as they had lots of canisters and had never used them.  Off they go. I bet you know by now this is not going to turn out good…………….

They get down in the bottom of the draw and start their shooting exercises and they go good.  Now time for play, they load up the canisters and shoot several off. The other end of the draw is one big cloud of mace. OH NO!  A gust of wind comes and here comes the cloud. They all take off running. The Sergeant and our commanding officer is not a very fast runner and the cloud overtakes him, down he goes, the eyes are burning, the snot is running, coughing on his knees.  The officers think they can’t leave him there so they turn back. Sarge crawls to a small stream.  The officers are running down the hill yelling “no, no, that is the sewer from the airport”, but he doesn’t hear them and starts throwing the water in his face.  They don’t know if they should cry or laugh………..

They finally get to him and half drag, half run back up the hill. The cloud has dispersed a little by now but their eyes are still running and the nose is going full force snot running everywhere and Sarge stinks.

They clean up as well as they can and head for the ferry. They know they can’t go inside as they are a mess and Sarge, well he stinks to high heaven but his nose is still running so full he can’t smell himself.  They looked like something that cat had drug in.

They finally walk through the door of dispatch and the laughter erupts, what I would have given for a camera.  Not a smile on any face but dispatchers and our eyes are watering too and not from mace. Man those officers all stunk but no one as much as the sarge.  

The Sergeant comes in the next day headed to Juneau. He still is not smiling but boy does he smell better. Off he goes for a week.

The Troopers all come into the office; we wonder why all of them are coming in. They must have a meeting. Well they had a meeting alright.  All of a sudden here they call come into dispatch and right out the front door of dispatch as they are spraying mace everywhere and laughing. 

Our office smelled just like that draw for 3 days. The tears were running and this time not from laughter.  We opened every window and door and still had to dispatch the shift with the radio mike and phone sitting on the window sill and us in a lawn chair outside. Those blasted guys. They sure did not spend any time in the office the next 3 days.

The dispatchers???? Revenge will be mine!  Someday when you least expect it, revenge will be mine.

The city boy cop

We had a patrol deputy that was a city boy and he brought many a good time to our department. They fed him so full of bull it wasn’t even funny but he had a way of putting himself where it was easy to do.

One night we got a call of some cattle out on the highway and he went to see if he could get them back in.  He arrived and said he had about 6 cows on the road.  I asked him if any of them had a brand where I could look it up in the brand book to find the owner. He said he could not see any. I then asked if he could see any notches in the ears. He asked what a notch was. I advised him where they had cut a V shaped cut out of one ear or both ears and sometimes two notches. It was as good as a brand.  He advised they had a notch in both ears.

I found two different owners with a notch in each ear. One also had a waddle. I asked the deputy if they had waddles.  He said he would check.  It was quite a while before he came back on the radio and said “I have followed them for quite a while and they seem to be walking pretty straight to me”

I laughed so hard, it was hard to keep the laughter out of my voice as I explained to him that a waddle was a piece of skin they cut loose on the lower part of the neck where it leaves a section free to hang loose. 

Another time it was horses and I asked for the colors to try and think of who might own the horses and the reply I got was “two brunettes, a red head and a blonde”

Got to love those city boys

Getting shocked

As I have told you in many stories on my other County gal blog I hate being shocked and am terrified of electricity. To many incidents with the electric fence growing up. My career as an Emergency Medical Tech. suffered as I was afraid to move to the level where you shocked people’s hearts.. I was not sure I could shock people, even if they were dead and I sure did not want to shock myself.

After about 3 years and many times of wishing I could do more to help on a call because call where someone is not breathing or cardiac calls it takes all the hands you can get. I finally went and got my EMT3, Cardiac tech.

We got a call of a man down and not breathing, CPR in progress and off we flew.  We arrived on the scene and with the firemen and police we had about 6 to 7 people to help and everyone was busy.  The paramedic was attaching the heart monitor, 2 were taking over CPR, two were getting the gurney out of ambulance and myself and another EMT were getting an IV set up.  It is hard at this point to even find room to get to your patient so we were between the paramedics legs with an arm out getting the IV started and getting medication ready to put in the vein.

This was in an area where lots of people were around and traffic and it was hard to hear. The paramedic read the heart monitor and had decided to shock the patient. We are taught to yell “clear” and check to the left, across and to the right which he did. Yep, your right, he did not check between his legs and we did not hear him…ZAP! That arm we were working on jumped right out of our grip and dang that electric fence got me and the other EMT..ZAP…

Neither of us were hurt and it became a joke at the department, say “CLEAR”, look to the right, look to the left, look across and look between your legs to see where Linda & *Jim are.

The man lived, got his condition taken care of and is still doing good today and a funny memory for us to laugh at when things get tense.

*Jim not his real name

The mad bull

A short story about a bull that got loose at the rodeo. That bull was out for blood. He chased people if he saw one and no one could get him cornered. They called the cops for help.

The Calvary arrived and attempted to help corral the bull but he would have nothing to do with going back into the pen.  They finally got him in an area they could drive him towards the corral.  Once he realized where he was going he became enraged and would chase the officers and crew everywhere. Up over the fence, under the fence, through the fence the people would climb.

Finally one officer decided he had enough. When the bull turned around and came charging down the fence line and people ran everywhere he stood his ground. He faced the bull and yep, he pepper sprayed him right in the eyes. That bull was enraged, bellowing and blowing but they were able to get him in the pen.

Someone asked him “did you really think that was going to make the bull sweet?” He said “no, but it was going to make him where he couldn’t see me good”

Bull back in the pen, madder then a wet hen but he was in there and no one was hurt.

My Native American traffic stop

 While working for the tribal police we had one officer who was Native American and was 6'5 in his stocking feet, He had a voice like a bull frog in a big deep pipe.  He wore his hair long and had two small braids that came down each side of his face. He wore an old cowboy hat with some different pins of the front of it of police stuff and marine stuff. Everyone was afraid of *Jeff (not his real name). He was a great big giant teddy bear if he liked you and I adored him.

He was working the main highway on patrol with another officer who was not a Native American. They pulled a car over from New Jersey for speeding.  Jeff was driving the car so he starts up towards the drivers side of the car. The other officer starts up on the passenger side of the car.  Due to the fact that he other officer had called the license plate in he was slower getting out of the car then Jeff was.

As Jeff approached the car he could see there was two women in the car and the driver was searching through her purse probably for her drivers license but you never know. When Jeff got to the window he had to lean over since he is so tall which made his braids and long hair fall over part of his face and the other braid hang down and he says in this bullfrog voice. "can I see your drivers license?"  The woman turns and looks at him and starts screaming bloody murder and yelling "oh my God! Oh  my God, its an Indian"  you would have to know Jeff but he never cracks a smile. The non-native is laying across the hood of the patrol car in hysterical laughter when Jeff says "what did you expect on an indian reservation?"  The driver says "I'm sorry, I did not realize I was on the reservation. I am so sorry, how do I get off, I promise I will leave"  The other lady is crying softly.  Jeff says "where did you come from and where are you going?"  The driver advised she came from Portland and she is headed towards Bend.  Jeff still has not cracked a smile.  Sometimes he has a real attitude with people and their reactions to Native Americans and this was one of them. He was not the least pleased with her screaming and crying about the fact he was a Native, let alone acting like he was some monster to be afraid of so he says....You have to go back to Portland and down to The Dalles and  take highway 97 to Bend.  He gives her a verbal warning for speeding. (I am so surprised as mad as he was that he did not write her a ticket but I think he just wanted away from her) The driver turns around to head back to Portland on her trip that is now about 100 miles longer then it would have been and Jeff walks back and gets in the patrol car. The other officer is still laughing almost unable to walk. Jeff says "shut up your snickering and get in this car or you are walking back to the station" The other officer gets in the patrol car and they come to the police station. 

I looked up when the walked in and Jeff looked like he wanted to kill someone. He did not even say “hi” to me but stomps into the squad room. The other officer is still laughing so hard tears are rolling down his cheeks as he tries to tell us the story. We are all laughing and Jeff does not even come out of the squad room.

All the years I worked there the only thing I ever heard him say about the story was when an officer asked if he thought it was kind of mean to send them so far out of their way and he said “they deserved it, if they feel that way they need to stay off the reservation”

Thanksgiving for the inmates

The small tribal jail I worked at only had a pizza oven. The inmates ate TV dinners for breakfast, lunch and supper.  One year just before Thanksgiving we got a real stove. We had about 15 inmates that could not get a release for the Thanksgiving holiday. The inmates wanted to know if they could have a real Turkey that Thanksgiving instead of a TV dinner. I told them that all the trustees’ had a holiday release and there was no one to cook it for them.

I went home and was telling my family and my three teenage girls asked if they could cook it for them. I said “I don’t know if that is a good idea”  They kept at me saying that was what Thanksgiving should be like and it would not be fun to stay at home because their dad who was also a cop and myself were going to be working anyway. I told them I would ask the Chief of Police.

The tribes are really good about anything that was family. When I asked the police chief he said that would be fine as long as they were monitored by the corrections officer at all times they were in the jail area and the inmates could not leave the jail area. They would have to eat at the metal picnic tables they used. We had wanted to decorate the room where the tables were the officers and public used as it was still secure but we accepted his rules.

The girls had to be careful what they allowed in the jail area and everything approved by corrections.  They decorated the tables with painted cans (no glass) and flowers and used clean sheets for the tablecloths.  They got some fancy paper plates (no glass). They used the forks etc. from the jail.  They spent the two days before Thanksgiving making pies in the tin foil plates and getting all their goodies as ready as they can.

The big day arrived, we got up at 2am…yuck so they could get down there and get started. They did every bit of that dinner by themselves. They hauled our big Kitchenaid mixer down etc. They cooked and served that beautiful Thanksgiving dinner to the inmates.  There was not a better behaved grateful group of people ever sat down for a Thanksgiving meal. They minded their manners and could not believe that those girls were waiting on them like they were something special.

After the kitchen was up and running good the next year the tribes did not allow Thanksgiving breaks for the inmates and the trustees cooked the meal.

The inmates that were in jail at that time have never forgotten my girls.  Even today if they see me they ask if I remember that Thanksgiving. In fact, once an inmate that had been in jail at that time for murder would help my daughter out of a bad situation at a local store when some thugs were bothering her.  They never forgot, they were always thankful and that is what Thanksgiving is about.

Most inmates in local jails are good people with an alcohol or drug problem. The inmate serving time for murder had served his time in federal prison where he could be in a local jail on work release status. His incident was also an alcohol related incident where he was fighting over a gun and it went off.  There are some fine people in jail and we need to remember that and treat them nice.  They are great when they sober up or clean up from taking drugs.  Hard time prisoners are a different story. 

Thanksgiving Turkey emergency

Sitting in dispatch one Thanksgiving morning pouting because I had to work while everyone was at home having Thanksgiving. At least one of the best things about Thanksgiving dinner is the left overs.  Thanksgivings are usually as slow as molasses on a cold morning until that night when people start getting liquored up and the domestics start. During the day shift you are lucky if the phone rings.

The 911 line rings!
"911 please state your emergency"
caller: "I need some help, I can't find out how hot to cook my turkey or for how long"
911: "I am sorry mam but this is the 911 line"
caller: "I know."
911: "you should never call 911 unless it is an emergency."
caller:" you don't understand mam this is an emergency. My new in-laws are coming for Thanksgiving and my mother-in-law is an excellent cook. I can't have her show up for my first dinner at my house and have the turkey still raw. Please, you have to help me."
911: since it is so slow I proceeded to tell her to call my business line and I would tell her how to cook her turkey and answered what questions I could. This was back before the internet which would have been so much easier. She called me off and on all that morning.  She made my Thanksgiving one to remember even though I had to work.

The Bear Prowler

In Ketchikan, Alaska it rains a lot and I mean a lot. The main street of town in built on pilings right over the ocean. The storm drains drain right into the ocean and it still rains so hard they back up. When you are driving it is like trying to drive through a waterfall and sometimes traffic comes to a halt or hardly moves.  The electricity on the island goes out if it doesn’t rain enough and it goes out if it rains too much. Most people set their house up with gas when they have lights all the time if necessary or buy lots of oil lamps and candles. This was one of those nights, rain coming down hard.

911, please state your emergency. This hysterical voice says “I have a prowler, please help me, I saw a shadow on the window too”

911:  “what is your address?”

Caller: “I don’t know. I don’t know. I have no idea?”

 911: “what street do you live on?”

Caller: “I don’t know, I am sorry but I really have no idea.”

911: “Do you live on the south end or the north end of the island”

Caller: Crying she said “I really don’t know, I came up from California with my fiancé to meet his parents. They won’t be here until tomorrow and he went to town to get groceries.”

911: “ok calm down we will figure this out” I tried to remember what I saw when I got off the ferry the first time that a tourist might notice. “did you see an arch over the highway that said “Alaska’s first city?”

Caller: “no, I don’t think so.”

911:  “Did you see a bunch of airplanes sitting on the water?”

Caller: “yes, a whole bunch of them”

911:  Most tourists notice the planes on the water instead of an airport runway. “ok, we are making progress”  “Do you still hear the prowler?”

Caller: “yes he just knocked a garbage can over I think.”

911: “has he tried to get in at all?”

Caller:  “no, he is just walking around outside like he is looking over the place deciding where to get in. I am hid”

911:  “good you stay hid”  “When you were driving out there did you notice any houses that looked like someone cut a can in half?”

Caller:  “yes, oh yes, we turned to the left right there”

911:  “ok, we know what road you are on, stay calm”  I then dispatched the officer to that road on the north end of the island. “madam, can you describe the house at all, any feature that stand out or color or anything outside that you noticed or any cars in the driveway”

Caller:  “A red pickup in the driveway, OMG, he just cut my electricity!” starting to cry really hard again.

911:  “calm down, I just lost mine too, this is a common occurrence in Alaska, I am pretty sure your prowler is a black bear. They aren’t real dangerous as long as you stay in the house. He probably knocked the garbage can over on purpose looking for food and the officer is just a few minutes away now”

Caller: “I am starting to feel stupid, it probably isn’t a guy.”

911: “just stay on the phone until the officer checks to make sure, he is just pulling up now”

Caller: “I just heard a car and now I see a flashlight beam. Thank you for helping me I was so scared”

911: “no you stay right here on the phone with me until the officer has contact with you. Do not open the door until I tell you too for any reason”

Caller: “ok, my friends are not going to believe this when I get back to LA”

911:  “good you will have some stories to tell and they will probably think you are making it up” I say kind of laughing. “The officer just ran a small black bear off and he is coming to your door. He will identify himself as Trooper *Smith. Ok I can hear him knocking on your door, lay the phone on the table and go make open the door”

Caller:  “ok”, she lays the phone down and I can hear the officer identify himself and her open the door and them start talking. She comes back to the phone and says again “thanks, I really appreciate your help, I really feel stupid”

911: “don’t feel stupid, this is our job and only to glad to help. I am just glad it turned out to be a beat and not a person. You enjoy your stay in Alaska.”

Two days later a big bouquet of flowers arrived with a thank you note. A nice calls where someone actually appreciated your help. I could have done one of these a night. Makes you feel good and you love it when it turns out with no one hurt, just a little humor.