Raindogblue

Six Officers

Six officers are losing sleep, 

standing in the hall of the court house.

We're waiting for a trial to start, 

when the bad guy's attorney

sticks her head into the hallway.

"Will you check the bathroom for my client.

He went to use it, and hasn't returned."

It's empty.

He's gone.

He's not in the building.

One of the officers

turns to me and says,

"He's like mint jelly."

Why's that?

"Because he's on the lamb." 

Tuesday Court

My wife wakes me up.

I've had four hours of sleep.

"Are you getting up?"

It's 7:20, why would I need to get up?

"You have court."

Right.

Rousing, I recognize the engaged alarm.

Without my wife, I would have stayed in bed.

Booking

While I was on vacation, the county jail announced it would allow officers to book suspects for all criminal offenses. Previously, officers could only book for person to person misdemeanors, DUII's, and felonies. A few years ago, they'd only take person to person crimes. Auto theft, burglaries, and everything else were cite and release. 

Why the change?

The county conducted a study. They found suspects have a higher chance of showing up for court if they spend time in jail.

Deputy Dog's Dangerous Day

Deputy Dog's Dangerous Day. 

To see the video, forward to 2:16 in the broadcast.

*This link will only be good until the broadcast is changed tomorrow.

The Glass Is Half Full and Rising

At roll call, the detectives at West

announced a new "water feature" in their office.

The prisoners in the jail above

have clogged their toilets once again.

The resulting mess drips down onto their desks.

The Fort

New Numbers

Before the reconfiguration,
South's minimum's were thirteen.
Now, after the split,
we're seeing eleven officers 
serving the same area. 

Murmur in the Machine

10-11 for twenty minutes, 

on my first day back, 

I spot a frequent flyer on the street.

He's hot, so I cuff him on the want.

I peck out the blue sheet

after dropping him off at jail. 

Form finished, I hit complete,

and the report disappears 

into the electronic ether.

 Hmmm. 

I spend another thirty minutes 
writing it again. 
I hit enter. 
The result is the same. 

I take a breath, 

type out a message on the MDT,

"Is anybody having problems 

the report writing program? 

My box fills with responses.

There's a bug.

I have to hit F5

to make my reports reappear.

With a key stroke, 

I have the choice of two reports

on the same custody 

to send on to the sergeant.

It would have been nice to know

there was another murmur in the machine.

No Problem

I'm in the prowler writing paper.

A hipster approaches, smirks and says,

"Officer, are you finally 

here to those transients."

I tilt my head, stare,

then jerk my thumb back

to car's cage.

The hipster turns his head,

sees the custody, two feet away,

jumps back, and turns pale.

"Uh, thanks officer."

I return my attention

to the report on the MDT screen.

No problem.

Disposition Codes

Disposition Codes are the Radio and MDT Codes designed to terminate calls.

Supervisors, dispatchers, and other officers can reference the records 

of all calls to see how officers handled them. 

The T Series is used to handle alarms.

The Y Series is for traffic and subject stops unless an arrest is made.

The most common codes are R1, R2, W1, W3, W8, T1, Y2, and Y3.

W1 is frequently substituted for all of the S, W, and X series,

especially if an officers leaves a few comments in the call.

R1- Report Written - Investigation

R2- Report Written - Supplemental

R3- Report Written - No Case Number Assigned

S1- Cannot Locate Person - UTL

S2- No Such Address

S3- Report Condition Does Not Exist

T1- Premise Checked- False Alarm

T2- Premise Checked- Found Secure

T3- Premise Check- Made Secure

W1- Assignment Completed 

W2- Person Assisted

W3- Person Advised

W4- Hazard Removed

W5- Delivered Person, Message or Package

W6- Peace Restored

W7- Nuisance Abated

W8- Investigation Made by other Agency

X1- Person Checked - OK

X2- Vehicle Checked- OK

Y1- FCR Completed

Y2- Warning Given

Y3- Citation Issued

Z1- Condition Exists -No complainant.