Day 2 -- Twice the Excitement

It's Vicki again. Gary worked a couple hours of overtime again yesterday, which means he's working 12 hours, with an hour of drive time on top of that. So, that is why I'm left to keep everyone abreast of his life on the mean streets. He'll probably resume back into normal operations (is taking 1.5 hours to get dressed normal???) within a week or two. In the meantime, you're stuck with me. So, here goes...

Day 2 proved to be just as exciting as Day 1. It's hard to top a first day in which you get to arrest a drunk for aggravated assault on your partner, but lo and behold, Day 2 was even more exhilerating than its predecessor. I don't have a lot of details (we had only about 3o minutes together and we didn't want to spend all of it talking...wink, wink. Okay, that's gross AND I'm just joking) but I will do my best to inventory his evening:

1) Two felony arrests. One was purely "coincidental" -- Gary and his FTO were randomly typing license plates into their computer when they noticed a woman trying to overtly avoid them. They followed her through a series of turns in a neighborhood while they eventually ran the plates as someone with an outstanding warrant, no license and a rap sheet that would make Mike Tyson blush! She was a tweeker, with a badly scratched up face, and had about a dozen previous drug arrests. She went promptly to jail.

2) Some parole officers arrested a gentleman for breaking parole, and the man was the only custodian for his 5-year-old daughter. Sadly, Gary and his FTO had to shuttle the youngster in the back of the squad car to CPS headquarters. Gary said she was scared to death, crying the entire way. The parole officers indicated that she thought she was going to jail. Gary and the FTO (I have GOT to ask his name) tried as best they could to calm her, but given the situation, it was nearly impossible. Gary said she held the FTO's hand the entire way from the car into CPS. Given his FTO is 6'5" and 285 pounds, I can only imagine how touching that must have been to see the little girl and her gentle giant friend. Sad story, but makes us all appreciative for the normal lives we lead.

3) Gary and his FTO got called to investigate a death. This is standard procedure anytime someone dies -- just in case there is foulplay. In this instance, it was a very elderly woman who was being cared for by her very edlerly son. She apparently died in her sleep. Gary had to check her over to be certain everything was legitimate, which it clearly was. His first dead body turned out to be less traumatizing than he expected. "It was just like she was sleeping," he told me.

Gary loves his FTO and vice versa. The two hit it off famously when they discovered a mutual love for Taco Bell. Gary also said he's learning a lot already. His main problem, at this point, is multi-tasking. While he's writing reports, he's supposed to be listening to calls coming in on the radio. His FTO tested him on this yesterday. He stepped away while Gary was writing his report. He then dispatched a call for Gary. Gary was not "hearing" the dispatcher's repeated call for "272 Adam -- do you read?" -- even though it was being broadcast directly into his ear. Eventually, another officer gave Gary a nod and Gary finally realized that the repeated call was for him! The FTO was testing him out -- and it was a really great lesson!

That's it for today. More to come. Thanks for tuning in...