Out of Hibernation

Well, I sure have been on a long hiatus. I didn't plan for that to happen, but as real life has gotten in the way, I fell off the grid. However, seeing as how I am out of high school for good now, I have a lot more time on my hands; time that I can dedicate to keeping this blog alive.

Much has happened over the past few months. My post competed in two competitions; the Heart of Ohio Law Enforcement Explorer Competition in April, and the Southwest Ohio Regional District Competition last weekend. This year we brought along a team of rookies, including myself, who had never competed. I am pleased to tell you that we did surprisingly well.

At the first competition, which was in Cleveland, we placed second overall out of fifty-two total teams from across the state. We competed in six team events randomly chosen from a field of nine. We earned second place overall because we finished in the top ten in every event.

Our second competition was a bit closer to home, and it spanned over two days. The first day was team events, and the second was individual events. In everyone's opinion, this competition was much better than the previous one because the scenarios were one hundred times more realistic. We used real radios with a dispatcher on the other end, cars were actually flipped over on their roofs for the vehicle crash and critical incident events, etc. We took third place in both Domestic Violence and the Critical Incident events, and we won Post of the Year for the FOURTH year in a row. We have earned Post of the Year so many times due to the high volume of community involvement we have every year.

I did have a proud moment of my own. One of the individual events was the Fire Arms Training Simulator and I placed in the top five for the Top Gun competition.

Last night was also a very big achievement for me as well. We held our annual elections for ranking positions. If you wanted to run for a spot you had to give a speech of three minutes or less on why you think you would make a good leader for the post.

When I was younger, the words "speech" or "public speaking" used to scare the daylights out of me. But as I've grown older, that feeling has gone away and I have become much more confident in who I am. Honestly, to me, now it feels good to have the limelight for a few minutes.

I went up the podium, stood tall, and did my thing. There were six of us all together who ran for spots this year. After an agonizing five minutes of waiting for my advisers to tally the votes, I learned that I was elected as the new Lieutenant.

It's such an amazing feeling. I haven't even been with the post for a complete year yet, but I've already made my mark. I am so proud to wear those bars on my collar. I think that what set me apart from many of the others was the fact that the main point of my little speech was that having a leadership position isn't about working towards a personal gain. There are certainly a few other Explorers who have been members of the post longer than I have, but I strongly feel that through my high level of maturity and the sense of responsibility I have always felt, I made a good candidate. I told them all that I think having the ability to teach and motivate my fellow Explorers is the most important aspect in contributing to the overall success of our post. Because, at the end of the day, you can take away those pins, and you are still the same person. It doesn't mean that you are a better human being than someone else. But what it DOES mean is that you willing to hold yourself to a bit of a higher standard and challenge yourself; it's about working towards goals and visions that will help everyone better themselves. After all, we're all here to learn.

Anyone can pull the rank card and make people do what they want. However, that's the difference between a leader and boss. I want to be that Lieutenant who encourages and inspires her Explorers to want to push themselves to heights that they never thought they could achieve. When I first became an Explorer last June, I never imagined that I would have rank this early. I believe that through my actions I can continue to be even more of a positive role model. I can only see us all going up from here.

The final thing I wanted to mention was National Police Week. It came to my attention that no one ever did anything for the officers at my department. Not the officer's spouses, none of the Explorers...just no one. I knew I had to change that. I think our officers deserve to be thanked every day, but NPW was especially important to me. The first thing I did was make a big batch of blue cupcakes for the officers. Apparently my cupcakes were a hit. This is an e-mail that my advisor forwarded to me from one of the Sergeants:

"Earlier this week we discovered two containers in the kitchen full of cupcakes and a note from Andrea reminding us that it was National Police Week and thanking us "for all that we do". I thought the gesture was very kind and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the treats.

It appears that Andrea may have a future in baked goods should she decide not to pursue a law enforcement career. This is confirmed by the fact that the cupcakes had a very short lifespan and none were wasted, which is uncommon when we receive so many cupcakes at the same time. Seems like there's always one or two that linger beyond their "expiration date".

Anyway, I thought I would ask you to pass along our appreciation to Andrea, when you see her again, for her kind gift and for her support of out profession."

I thought what the Sergeant said was absolutely hilarious, and I was deeply touched at how much they appreciated the tiny gesture I made for them. That was the biggest reward of all.

In addition to that, I contacted one of my former elementary school teachers and asked if she would like to have her students participate in making 'thank you' cards/letters for each officer. I made some of my own, and I ended up with 181 letters. It probably took me an hour to read them all and sort them into piles for each officer, but well worth it.

Law enforcement is such a thankless career, and I feel that sometimes police officers lose sight of why they chose to sacrifice themselves for others in the first place. If I can help it at all, I want to avoid that. They need to know that people care. Many times when we hear about an officer who has committed suicide, we ask ourselves, where were the signs? Why didn't we know? That's the thing, we didn't know. Police officers are excellent at hiding their emotions simply because they are forced to. Too many officers forget that they are still human and that they face obstacles. There is a stigma that if you reach out, you're weak - it's not true. That was another reason I did this; there may be an officer who is struggling mentally, and this could have helped, no matter how little.

~A

The Day Shift

Last Saturday was, without a doubt, one of the most exciting and entertaining days of my life. I had the privilege of going on a ride along with one of the officers who helps out with my Explorer post, Kyle. His shift started at 0600, but I didn’t join him until 1000. I didn’t quite know what to expect, as far as our activity level would be, but I guess I got lucky and happened to go on a day with a lot to do.
 

We started the day with a few “housekeeping” items – picking up the data boxes from the mounted speed detectors, finishing up a few reports, etc. Kyle was working as a district unit, as well as a traffic safety unit, so we made four or five vacation house checks. After those, we were sent to a business alarm, but the call turned out to be a fluke. No one was there, and of course, we checked the entire perimeter of the building, the doors/windows, and so on…but there was nothing suspicious. It took us longer to find the place than it did to clear it.

It was about 1200 by this time, so we picked up some lunch and headed back to the station and watched The Soup – we got a few good laughs in, that’s for sure!

Here’s where the real fun began (for me, at least)!  Kyle and I made our first traffic stop on a Mini Cooper for speeding, 55 in a 40 MPH zone. The man stopped right in the middle of the roadway, and Kyle had to tell him on the PA to turn right on the street directly in front of him not once, not twice, but three times. The kicker? The man had actually received a citation for the same violation only ten days prior. As you can imagine, the man wasn’t too happy about being issued yet another citation. I highly doubt he had even taken care of the first ticket yet. Kyle didn’t bother to explain how to deal with the ticket - the driver knew the drill.

Our second traffic stop, believe it or not, was on the same road in the same exact location we stopped the first vehicle; this man was also speeding. Deductive reasoning will tell you that this particular street is a problem area for violators. This traffic stop was rather humorous to Kyle and me, though. The man completely pulled off into the grass/mud on the side of the road. Take note that there was a bit of a drop off from the pavement to the grass. Kyle and I just looked at each other and shook our heads. It was even better watching the guy try to get back up onto the road. We ended up following him for a few miles just because we were consequently headed on the same route, but of course he drove five miles UNDER the speed limit.

Following more road patrol, we parked up on a little hill facing the street to finish more reports. After about a half an hour of that, while jammin’ out to some Van Halen and Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen”, and keeping a close eye on the Port-A-Potty that was violently rocking back and forth in the wind (we told each other that if it fell over we’d be booking it out of there!), we got called to back up two other units who stopped a car involved in a theft from the grocery store. We went full speed, lights and sirens. My adrenaline was through the roof and I had the biggest smile on my face; I couldn’t help it. I’m sure you police officers still remember your first call involving a high rate of speed - it was awesome. We arrived on scene to the active traffic stop, which, including us, now had three cruisers lined up behind a white Buick with two young males. It honestly looked like a felony traffic stop, but without weapons drawn. The suspect in the passenger seat was acting very belligerent and giving Officer Eshman a great deal of attitude. I stood back by the first cruiser in the line, so I couldn’t hear all of the details, but we ended up letting both males go. There was/is definitely more to the story.

Following that incident, we continued our road patrol and stopped an SUV almost immediately after leaving the previous stop. The man was doing 40 in a 25 MPH zone. Everyone must have been in a hurry that day! The best part about all three traffic stops, however, was that Kyle let me approach the vehicles with him, but on the passenger side. My boots did not cease to be covered in mud by the end of the shift.

Now, our last call had been ongoing all day, and it was seriously ridiculous as far as the suspect is concerned. Long story short, a male who had already been problematic at this particular McDonald’s restaurant had come in earlier in the day, around 0700, and stole the hat of one of the employees after he/she had taken it off and set it down. Seems like a stupid crime, right? It gets worse. Number one, the guy who took the hat was already wearing a hat when he snatched the McD’s hat. Of course, the manager was upset and Kyle was given the case for the $6 hat. The suspect had been identified and Kyle physically spoke to him on the phone, even saying that there would be no further issues if he would just return the hat. Well, he didn't. He said Kyle was a liar and in fact, hung up on Kyle as Kyle was in mid-sentence. If there’s one thing you don’t do to Kyle, it’s precisely that. So, the both of us took a trip back to McDonald’s and got the surveillance tape which unmistakably displayed the man picking the hat up off the table and walking out of the building with it in hand. We left with a copy of the video and told dispatch we were making a follow-up visit to the suspect’s house. When we arrived, the lights and television were both on in the dump of a house, but no one answered despite us relentlessly beating on the door. With that, Kyle left his card in the door and we departed. Now the guy has a warrant out on himself for theft; whodathunk?

The shift was drawing to a close, so we went and filled up the cruiser with gas for the night shift officer. We got back to the station around 1730 and waited…but no more calls. That was good or bad, depending on how you personally look at it. Kyle was relieved, but on the other hand, I was kind of disappointed; I was still ready for more action. The Sergeant asked if I wanted to go another six hours. I said yes, but thanks to policy, I couldn’t. Policy shmolicy. I stuck around for roll call with the night squad and BS’d with them for another hour. Sarge said it wasn’t roll call anymore; it was “quality bonding time!” It was, after all, the last night that the squad would be together; most of them were getting reassigned to a different shift or Sergeant. You know, it was kind of sad for me too, I really liked that group. They were a rowdy bunch. But really, how could you expect anything different from night owls?

Most veteran officers would have most likely considered the day just another monotonous one, but I ate it up. It was an awesome day, to say the least.

Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo... ooo... ooo...

No Such Thing as Manners, Anymore

Today's events certainly did not cease to excite. It was lunch time, in fact, the lunch period was almost over. As I'm eating my food like a normal human being is supposed to, I suddenly hear all sorts of commotion. Normally, I sit in such a manner that I have a visible view of the entire cafeteria, but today, I did not because my friends and I had to temporarily relocate. As I turned my head to see what could possibly be going on, I see a boy pour a bottle of blue Powerade on a girl. Of course, it was not just a case of students being stupid or joking around - the two were actually having some sort of altercation. I don't know who was the primary aggressor in this situation, but the boy was the last to act. To my surprise, as I continued to watch what was unfolding, my School Resource Officer quickly stepped in and grabbed the boy by his shirt and proceeded to "guide" him back up against a wall in order to separate the two. Presumably, I couldn't hear what Officer A was telling the boy, but it was obvious for me to make out that Officer A was telling him to look at him as he was speaking. I can personally tell you that Officer A is a veteran officer who is not going to take a young buck disrespecting him.

I had never seen Officer A have to step in like that, so my heart was beating at a hundred miles an hour. I was just sitting there with my hand over my mouth. I was honestly just more concerned with the kid doing something dumb to Officer A. Luckily, mostly for the boy's own sake, he decided to calm down and was escorted out of the cafeteria without incident.

It's crazy how quickly incidents can escalate. One minute Officer A was smiling and waving at me, and the next he's breaking up a fight. I really do applaud him and the work he does for my school. Like I have said many times before, he is without a doubt one of my favorite police officers, and a GREAT one at that.

Training

In about three months, my Explorer post is heading up to Cleveland, Ohio for a law enforcement competition. Between now and up to the day of the competition, we will be training in several different areas.

Our meeting on Wednesday was centered around Burglary in Progress. We started by talking about the basic structure of how this kind of call should be built around. Of course, no situation is going to go just as the manual has been outlined, but you have to have some basic idea of what to do.

We spent the last hour and a half of the meeting running actual hands-on scenarios in the service building next door to the police department. One Explorer acted as the homeowner who just returned home to find that their house had been entered by an unwanted guest(s). We went in the building in two or four man teams and searched the "residence".

Eventually myself and four other Explorers acted as the suspects hiding in the building. My adviser told us that as soon as the "cop(s)" came in the room we were situated in, we were to flee on foot. That we did! I took off across the parking lot and hid behind one of the cruisers. No one found me for a good 5 minutes. Just to make it fun I started running towards the fire department. Obviously, I was spotted and chased down. I was then proned out on the ground of the parking lot and handcuffed. I didn't fail to get road salt all over my uniform...the Explorer who took my into custody let his guard down and I took off again, but this time in handcuffs.

You know, I felt like I was actually running from the police during the scenarios. I didn't (and still don't) necessarily like the feeling of that idea. I'm just glad that I'll never be in that predicament in real life.

We all got a basic guide written by the IACP for Burglary in Progress. I've been studying it like a religious person studies their Bible - note my awesome highlighter work.

I also found out the in mid-February the post is going to Parma, Ohio for training with the Cleveland SWAT team. I'm stoked! Trips like that make a 0430 wake up call worth it.

Lasting Memories

Tonight I had the privilege of participating in my department's 'Shop With a Cop' program. It will be impossible for me to describe with words how much I enjoyed being at the event. The first child I took was a 9 year-old boy named Jacob, and the second was a 13 year-old girl named Trinity. Helping someone in need to have a better holiday is absolutely priceless. It really taught me the joy of giving.

The latter part of the night I had a chance to meet new police officers from neighboring departments who came to help with the event; that was great in and of itself. It felt wonderful to be included in a giant group picture with the police officers. In addition to that, I had a chance to see some of the officers I already cherish. I don't know how many times I smiled.

The most heartfelt part of the night, however, was after all of the volunteers had packed up and we were awaiting departure. I was the last Explorer left at the store (I was also the first to arrive, by the way), and the police Chief and Captain waved me over to where they were standing, white uniform shirts beaming. Surprisingly, I had never really had a conversation with the Chief until tonight - mostly because I don't see him that often to begin with. The whole night I had already sensed this, but the Chief told me that he had been observing me throughout the night. Do you know what he told me? No? He told me that I had the esteem of a police officer - the way I carried myself, how I stood, and how I was always cognizant of my surroundings. His statements struck me. He asked me what I wanted to do with my life, and I told him that I wanted to be a police officer. I told the Chief and the Captain that as cliche as it may sound, police officers truly are my heroes. Police officers don't have to physically save your life, all they need to do is be there to listen. As an Explorer, an aspiring police officer, and as a young woman, those kinds of words from such a prominent person are, without a doubt, inspiring.

I've been told by multiple police officers that I have the attitude, temperament, and charisma to be a police officer. The Chief told me that if I saw police work as a job, I would not make it. But if I felt like it was a calling, I would, and that's exactly I how I see it - a calling.

I hate to even imagine my life without my police department.

The Thin Blue Line

As I sit here right now, there is a fierce thunderstorm going on outside. It eerily fits the tone of today.

Just like I do every morning, I turned on the 0530 news this morning after I got out of the shower. I didn't quite anticipate the headline that I saw, the update that two police officers had been killed in the line of duty the evening before. I froze. Chills literally went down my spine. The mere fifteen second mention of the officers didn't leave me much time to process the reality of what I had just seen.

Later, as I was finishing up lunch at school, again, the faces of the two officers, Jeff Atherly and Corporal David Gogian, were on one of the television screens in the cafeteria. Not to my surprise, none of the other students seemed to care or even take notice. Beyond my control, I could feel my eyes starting to well up with tears as I looked at the officers' faces. I managed to hold myself together, but inside I was reeling. My friends were laughing and joking about other things, but I couldn't bring myself to act like nothing was wrong. In moments like this, I find it impossible to put on a front.

I used to wonder if it was strange for me to have such overwhelming feelings for people I never knew or had the chance to meet, but then, through the help of others, I realized that it was okay to feel grief for these people. Everyone is - especially police officers - still human, afterall.

A lot of people I know, who have no involvement in law enforcement, think I'm just a girl obssesed with those who enforce the law. But really, they simply don't understand. The truth is that I love the people who have shown the courage to face scrutiny that ninety nine percent of people could never even fathom. No, a career in law enforcement is not glamorous. It is not like the movies, you won't get rich, and it is nearly thankless. BUT, when given a chance to be understood, when a police officer puts forth everything in his power to help someone in need, it is a beautiful thing.

What it comes down to is the fact that I have built such strong bonds with the police officers I have met that I cannot grasp the idea of something happening to those men and women. I really feel like I have already become part of the Blue family. It would be impossible for me to say that the experiences I've had with the officers in my department have not been the best experiences of my life...because frankly, they have.

It's not just the badge and the uniform that I love so much, it's the person behind it.

 

Rest in peace, warriors.

The Sad Truth

Saturday night I went on a ride-along from 1800-2400. It was an absolute blast and the officer I was with was fantastic. As the night progressed, we eventually stumbled upon the topic of alcohol. The officer asked me if I had ever drank before, and I told him no, which is God's honest truth. I've always been that kid who stops and thinks, "Oh hey, whatever I'm about to do is illegal, so I shouldn't do it". However, the reality of it is that the officer had a hard time believing that I am actually one of the last free-living teenagers to have never drank, smoke, or done drugs. Even the Sergeant working Saturday’s night shift could hardly believe it. The officer I rode with asked me if I cared about being “popular”, and again, I said no, if it meant I had to involve myself with drugs and alcohol. I don’t see the thrill of getting high or getting drunk. As lame as it may sound to a lot of people, I don’t need either of those things to have fun. And, needless to say, a $400 dollar underage consumption fine isn’t exactly my cup of tea. I'm actually very proud of the fact that I've stayed out of trouble. Sure, some police officers did things they shouldn't have as juveniles and still became officers, but I guess there's just something in me that tells me that one night of fun may ruin my entire future in the career that I am so adamant about joining.

Many times I wonder what made me the way I am. My parents are, quite honestly, not strict at all. If I wanted to, I could get away with a lot. Furthermore, I do not come from a line of law enforcement officers, nor is my family made up of saints. More often than not I feel as if I was born into the wrong family…and most of the time I’m happier when I’m at the station or just in the presence of police officers. None of my family members completely understand why I want to become a police officer.

Oh, and I bet that everything I was taught in the D.A.R.E. program seven years ago is a factor in my decision making. In fact, I still know that officer too.