Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually busy at work. Families get together hoping that their problems will be forgotten for the day. Sometimes it works, mostly it doesn’t. This Thanksgiving was no exception. Near the end of shift, I was dispatched to a fireworks call. The man called in saying that his neighbor was shooting fireworks, and he was tired of listening to them. He then told the 911 call taker that if we didn’t get out there in ten minutes, he was going to [children, cover your ears] “shoot those mother fuckers right now!” Since it’s illegal to threaten to shoot someone, three officers responded. Since it was near the end of shift, my initial plan was simple: calm the situation down, get the guy to admit that he was overreacting and that he didn’t mean it, and talk to the neighbors about the fireworks. My plan was the best, because everyone would be happy, and I’d get to go home on time. Unfortunately, the guy didn’t like my plan.

When I knocked on the door, he came out and said, “It’s the stucco house on the corner!” I asked him what was going on, and he said that they were shooting fireworks, and we never do anything about it. He then said that if we didn’t do something to stop the fireworks (which were not going off at the time) that he was going to take a baseball bat to his neighbors.

I decided at this point that this man needed to go to jail. He had already made a threat in the presence of the 911 call taker on a recorded line, and he made a threat in front of three officers, who were all recording as well. We were standing on a porch that was about four feet wide. The man was about six feet tall and 300 pounds.

We then attempted to place him in handcuffs. He immediately said that he was claustrophobic and began resisting arrest. When a 300 pound man doesn’t want to move, he doesn’t move. During the process of arresting him (which took about five minutes) each of us had been thrown off of him. My parter ended up tearing his ACL in the process and is going to be at a desk for several months while he heals.

In the end, we were able to trip him and dog-pile on top of him. I charged him with two counts of terroristic threats (felonies), three counts of obstruction (felonies) and one count of aggravated battery (felony) for tearing my partner’s ACL. Aggravated battery on an officer carries a minimum of ten years in prison. This guy is going to jail for a long time, and all because of fireworks.

I later spoke with the neighbors and told them not to shoot fireworks anymore.

Arresting someone means a lot of paperwork. There was the arrest report, the warrant, the jail papers, the use of force report, and a report of injury report; plus, each of the other officers wrote supplemental reports. 

I clocked out at 4:00 am, after 14 hours of work.

This is funny, sad, thought-provoking, and possibly other things as well. Watch it.

I’ve added a collection of photographs of autumn colors to the Nature album on my Photo page. I took the pictures while I was “working” yesterday. When you need to stop on the side of the road to take some pictures, it helps to be in a police car. The last one isn’t colorful like the others, but it’s a cool picture.

Barack Obama will be the next president. I’m not too upset; mostly because I voted for him. There will never be a perfect candidate. There will never be someone who has the “right view” on all of the issues.

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Here’s my stance on politics: Leave religious beliefs out of it. Period. I see myself as a very religious person. I also see myself as a very patriotic person. I do not believe that in any circumstances these two things should be combined. There’s a very good reason that there is a separation of church and state. Unfortunately, the separation is not great enough. Our government still denies two men (or two women) from entering into a legal contract together because of religious beliefs. There is a HUGE difference between being married in the eyes of the government, and being married in the eyes of a church. Those eyes should be two different sets, but they are not. When Michelle and I went to the probate court to get our marriage license, the only questions they asked us were if we were related, and what we wanted our names to be. They then asked us for $26, the judge signed a piece of paper, and we were married in the eyes of the state. Where is God in that? Where is religion in that? It was simply a civil contract that we both entered into. 

So why does our government deny people of the same sex from entering into this contract? Because religion still plays a huge role in the government. If our government decided to let two people of the same sex marry, what difference would it make in your life? What difference would it make in your religious beliefs or in your church? None. Since there is a separation of church and state, the state can’t require that the church does anything. If the government says that gay marriage is legal, it doesn’t mean that churches will have to acknowledge that marriage. If the government did influence religions, there would be riots in the street. Why should there not be riots, then, when religions influence the government?
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<rant=”#2″>
A lot of people are worried that Obama will make this a socialist country. First of all, our country will always be a democratic republican country with capitalism at its heart. It’s not going to change. Secondly, we’re surrounded by (and dependent upon) socialist programs. For instance: when you call 911 because your house is on fire or because you’ve just been robbed, does the dispatcher ask you what your preferred payment method is?  When I respond to a dispute and arrest someone for sexual battery (like I did yesterday), do I give the victim a bill? When I take said abuser to jail, does the jail send the family a bill for housing and feeding their abuser? No. These things are all paid for by taxes, and are therefore social programs. They are things that are paid for by everyone, for use by some.

When you go to the library and check out a book, it’s free because it’s paid for by taxes. When you send your children to 12 years of public education, it’s free because it’s paid for by taxes. Everyone pitches in to pay for these things. People who have never visited a library help pay for those that visit daily. People who don’t have children help pay to educate the children of others. Similarly, when you send your monthly payment to your car insurance provider, you’re helping to pay for medical bills of the family who’s father/mother/brother/sister/whoever was crippled by a drunk driver (who was subsequently arrested by a socialist police officer). We’re all pitching in to help others.

When the victim of family abuse needs help and has no where else to go, they go to a domestic violence shelter and speak to someone like my wife, a social worker. She helps them get their lives back on track. She helps them find government housing, because at this point in their lives they are refugees and have nothing to their name. She helps them find a job. She and the other staff help them obtain protective orders against their abusers.

These things can happen because we have socialist programs in place for the good of the country. We have socialist programs in place to help those who are less fortunate. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the Christian thing to do. “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). In the end, are you going to be judged by how much money you earned, or how much of it you gave away to help those who need it the most? 
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Let the comments begin!

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