-
I once thought the stereotypes of outlaws in the rural South were unfair characterizations. Then, I began a career in law enforcement… I’ve come to realize that not all the caricatures are incorrect. There are pockets of people in rural America whose family trees do not appear to branch. And, I’ve interacted with a few…
-
An·guish: severe mental or physical pain or suffering There was a time, not long ago, when life was going really well. Then suddenly, it wasn’t. One day, I was thanking God for all the good things happening in my life. The next day, I was bent over double, like someone had kicked me in the…
-
In my office, a framed newspaper photo hangs, depicting a much younger version of me. In it, I’m standing in the bed of a pickup truck that is loaded with 50 tall marijuana plants. Sporting a classic 1980s cop look, I wear a thick mustache, a tight polyester uniform, and aviator sunglasses. And, I’m basking…
-
Every cop I know is bilingual. They all speak English and another language unique to law enforcement, called the Ten Code. The radio abbreviations we use daily aren’t something we have to translate. The ten codes are words to us, just like their English equivalents. If my partner told me he was “10-39 on a…
-
Incredible – so extraordinary as to seem impossible Several years ago, a Georgia man showed up here saying he had been kidnapped. He told a rather incredible story, and I wasn’t buying it. In my defense, most of the kidnapping cases I had investigated thus far were bogus. Not all, but most. Some people used…
-
I am in California today. Anaheim, to be exact. We flew in last weekend to visit Disneyland for the first time. It’s been forty years since I was in Los Angeles last. My previous visit, however, was not so fun. My last trip to L.A. occurred when I was young and stupid. My friends told…
-
Late one night in 1989, a shot rang out from a nice home in a quiet neighborhood. It occurred in a place where nothing bad was supposed to happen. A woman lay bleeding on her kitchen floor as an unknown male fled the scene. The suspect had forced his way into her house and shot…
-
I vividly remember the first dead body I encountered as a young deputy. My partner and I responded to a missing person call, only to find the old man deceased in his backyard. Though the experience unnerved me, the older, veteran officer was unfazed. As we waited for the coroner to arrive, my partner laughed…
-
I’ve spent many hours testifying in court during my career. There have been times when I left the witness stand feeling like I’d been beaten up. Examination by a criminal defense attorney can be exhausting, so it is especially satisfying when I score a win. I once testified in a case where an intoxicated woman…
-
I met Otis at a shelter in 2015. He had lived an unusually rough life, spending the past five years surviving on the streets of West End. His hair was matted, he had teeth missing, and he had a noticeably bad eye. Every time I reached out to Otis, however, he bit me. He wasn’t…