Calling all cars! Any coppers out there?

[buddha]

I hope this is an acceptable topic for a new thread.
I am a retired Police Officer from the Waukegan, Illinois, Police Department. Served 20 years and 2 days.
Wondering how many active, retired, or ex-coppers are in the forum.
Might be interesting to swap some war stories.
Standing by!

[Tyler]

I think we have a couple hanging around.

[Robmeister]

Here's a thread I started last year while going throught the testing process myself.

http://www.slybaldguys.com/smf/index.php?topic=2400.0

[buddha]

Here's a thread I started last year while going throught the testing process myself.

http://www.slybaldguys.com/smf/index.php?topic=2400.0

What part of Colorado? I lived in Loveland for 2 years (2002-2004) and worked security at Boulder Community Hospital while we lived out there.
Also, where do you guys get the license plates that are posted on your messages in the forum?

[Timmay]

go to imagechef.com.  There is a place to copy the image code and yo place it in your signature box in your profile.
Timmayy!

[Robmeister]

What part of Colorado?
 

I live in Littleton, just a couple miles from Columbine High School.  I live in an area called "Columbine Knolls."

Loveland is BEAUTIFUL

[Timmay]

I would like to go to Colorado sometime.  Just think it would be a neat and fascinating state to visit. But would also love to go see the mountain ranges in Montana.  My wife is heading out to Portland Oregon next month, is there anyone out in that area.  Im sure she wouldnt refuse an invitation out to dinner one night! LOL....she eats likea  bird so you dont have to worry about going broke..

Timmay!

[JMMARICH]

Former Deputy Sheriff for 2 years here in Birmingham (Jefferson County Sheriff's Department). Decided I needed a change and often think of going back. Still have my certification, although I would have to go through a refresher course.

--Josh

[buddha]

Former Deputy Sheriff for 2 years here in Birmingham (Jefferson County Sheriff's Department). Decided I needed a change and often think of going back. Still have my certification, although I would have to go through a refresher course.

--Josh

What made you leave the job?
When I had my 20 I was too young, theoretically (only 45), to retire. I left the job because I had just had enough of the fun and thrills that come with it. The stuff I ran into out in the street didn't bother me so much as the politics in the house.
The thing I miss about it most is the camaraderie. I hadn't been down there for almost 10 years and went a month or so ago for a buddy's wake. Seeing all the old faces was a great thing but it also seemed like our conversations picked up right where they left off 10 years ago.

[JMMARICH]

Working for a politician is what killed it for me. If I ever do the job again, I will never work for someone elected to office. Plain and simple. Priorities got screwed up, and it wasn't about how good you did your job or who you helped, it was how he looked in the news.

I miss the brotherhood more than any other factor. Same reason why I miss being in the Marines. Don't miss being dirty, or running 6 miles with a hangover, but sure miss my fellow Marines.

--Josh

[buddha]

Did you have an assignment that detailed you to work directly for a politico? Otherwise you are always going to find yourself working for a politician.....or for more than one at  time. These guys are a pain in the a$$ but it is usually acceptable to ignore/avoid them or nod your head like you're gonna do just what they say. Then you go and get the job done the way you know it needs to be done. It's hard for them to criticize your efforts when you have arrest numbers behind you. They will usually take the credit, or what they think is their share, but when all is said and done your bros (and siss) will know that it was you that got the job done. Eff the politicians!

[JMMARICH]

When I got hired, there was big controversy on who actually won the election. Woodward went out, Hale came in and shook the house, Woodward came back in and shook the house back...then Hale was back in for good. Moral was terrible, and from that point on...Hale micromanaged everything. 300+ sworn deputies, and you can be assured you would be second guessed and directed on what you "should" have done several times per arrest.  On top of that, you had a small percentage that worked for the department that made you think " Did you really get hired here?!". Give you an example (and I am not making up a single bit of this) I went to the academy with a guy named Shabaz Lee. He was a little on edge. Had some explosions during the academy over stupid stuff. Fast forward a year later, he gets popped for stealing money at a club he did extra duty at. During his arrest, turns out his social was a second social, and he had priors under his original info.  Just wasn't the best place to work IMO based on my unfortunate experiences.

--Josh

[buddha]

When I first got hired in Waukegan we had to go in for a swearing in ceremony. The mayor, at that time, was a guy named Bill Morris who I had never seen. So in the group I got hired with there was me and 2 other guys that had been cops before in different towns and the three of us are sitting in the council chambers trading war stories. The usual stuff about throwing people beatings and such. There was another guy sitting listening to all of this who said that he had been in security work for a long time. He was eating the stories up. All of a sudden he stands up, walks up to the front of the room and sits in the mayor's chair and announces that as mayor of the city of Waukegan he would like to take this opportunity to swear us all in. I'm thinking, "holy sh*t, I've just been joking in front of my boss about brutality", when all of a sudden a captain and a deputy chief who were in chambers walk up, grab this dude under the arms and bodily drag him out of the room. So the "screening process" isn't foolproof.
We had a situation during the time I was in SOG that involved dirty cops in the unit. We had a high-line crack dealer in Wakegan/North Chicago who had crack houses set up all over the 2 towns. He would buy 2 story houses with basements. His stash would be on the second floor, the slot was on the first floor, and his emergency disposal was in the basement. His set-up was that he installed a 6 inch PVC pipe from the second floor through the first floor and down to the basement. In the basement he had a garbage disposal connected directly to the sewer line with a constant water flow running through it. If the cops tried to hit the door his teams on the first and second floors would dump everything into the PVC pipe where it would fall down to the basement. A team in the basement would then throw it all into the garbage disposal where it would get ground up and diluted and sent right into the sewer. So we kept coming up dry on raids. One of the COs of the unit said we needed to exercise more strict security controls around our briefings so we started making everybody go to the bathroom before briefings, turn in cell phones, etc, and once we were done with the briefing we got right into the truck and went out to hit the door. All of a sudden we started scoring on this dude and ended up siezing a couple of his houses. Then the CO decided to have everybody take drops (pee tests for drugs) and 2 guys came up dirty with cocaine. They were given the opportunity to resign, which they both did, but some of us thought we should give them the opportunity to work it off and flip them on this guy but that didn't fly.
So some wierdoes always sneak in through the cracks. Some of the strangest people I ever knew were other cops but the best I ever knew were cops, as well.