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Back when I was assigned the Juvenile Division/Gang Unit, I found that gang-related shootings normally resulted in retaliation. After seeing this occur several times, the pattern became easy to predict. If Gang A shot someone in Gang B’s territory, it wouldn’t be long before Gang B came to retaliate in Gang A’s neighborhood. As a…
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Even though I am no longer on patrol, I still listen to calls that other officers respond to. It’s interesting to hear how other supervisors handle various situations. One day, I heard patrol officers being dispatched to a 10-86, a missing persons call. I paid close attention because these can easily turn into an all-call…
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Many years ago, when I was trying to start a career in law enforcement, I worked for the University Police Department as a dorm security guard. Our job was to provide an extra set of eyes in and around the student housing areas after dark. Each night, the PD issued us a police radio and…
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Not every assignment given to rookie cops actually involves police work. Most officers have likely been tasked with a detail that had little to do with law enforcement. Some calls have even made them question the wisdom, or sanity, of their leaders. Mine involved a tray of hot wings and a very demanding country singer.…
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During my early years as an investigator, my partner and I followed many leads in an attempt to solve cold-case homicides. One was an unsolved murder of a young woman in our jurisdiction. Like so many other cold cases, we felt we knew who committed the crime, but we didn’t have the evidence to prove…
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One night, as a young patrol deputy, my partner and I received an “in-progress” call just as we sat down for our dinner break. It was a domestic violence incident occurring at a house on Flatwoods Road. Flatwoods Road was only a short distance from where we were eating. So we got up and left…
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It had been a long week of courtroom testimony. I sat at the prosecutor’s table as the jury considered the guilty man’s fate. He was already convicted of capital murder. Now, jurors deliberated his sentence. Due to the heinous nature of the crime, the death penalty was on the table. The defense attorney, however, worked…
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Eleven years ago, my family adopted a street dog from the animal shelter. Otis had already lived a rough life, and it showed. It took weeks to get him completely dewormed and to nurse him back to health. I think he realized we rescued him. He loved us unconditionally as only a dog can. This…
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Sometimes, when we pursue a wanted suspect, we request assistance from a K9 Unit. Their presence alone often prevents resistance, and the dog can move a lot faster if the bad guy runs. There are other times, however, when they create more problems than they solve. In the dog’s defense, it’s normally the handler’s fault.…
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Sometimes, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Several years ago, we executed a search warrant at a large, nice home for a wanted man. Every move we made preceding our entry proved unsuccessful. We lost our element of surprise, our radios didn’t work, and the breacher forgot the ram and got his foot…