Six Quirks
Uncle Pete has instructed me to write about six unspectacular quirks of mine. Not only do I always follow directions from my uncles, but I didn't have anything else to write about. From his blog:
Here are the directions:
- Link the person who tagged you
- Mention the rules on your blog
- Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
- Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them & leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they have been tagged.
- I am very indecisive about things that don't actually matter.
For instance: where and what to eat. Usually, when I go into a restaurant, I challenge the cashier/server to "surprise me." They usually look at me as if I had asked them to give me their firstborn. I visit a couple of different coffee shops while at work on a regular basis. They know me by name (it's kind of sad). When I walk in, they usually have a drink ready for me. It took a while, but I finally convinced them that they could make me any drink they wanted, and I would like it. So far I haven't been disappointed.
Another thing I do to avoid unnecessary decisions is to limit my wardrobe. Since I wear a uniform each day, my work clothes are taken care of. I have three pairs of pants and two pairs of shorts that I wear away from work. I have about 10 black undershirts and 10 white undershirts. All 20 of my shirts match all of my pants and shorts. It is very uncommon to see me in something other than a plain white or black shirt.
- I am much more likely to be productive if I have a to-do list to follow.
Michelle and I have a program on our iPhones called ZenBe. It's basically a to-do list application, but it allows us to send the lists to each other's phone. She'll usually send me a list each day so I don't sit around on my butt.
- The improper use of an apostrophe really annoys me.
For whatever reason, it really annoys me when people use an apostrophe incorrectly. It also annoys me when people use the words "they're" "there" "their" "your" and "you're" incorrectly.
- It drives me crazy when things tug on my skin.
If Michelle and I are holding hands, or she has her legs propped up on my legs, it annoys me so much if her skin tugs on my skin.
- I refuse to pay for something when I can do it myself.
Due to this quirk, I have learned several new skills. I started cutting my own hair once I moved out of my parent's house. (Mom used to cut my hair.) And I learned some mechanic skills after buying my current truck.
- I don't like people. I typically don't like people. It's usually nothing personal, I just tend to not like people.
Per the instructions, I'm supposed to tag six other bloggers and tell them to write about their unspectacular quirks. I don't know six other people who blog on a regular basis, so I will skip this step.
Teens and a Shooting
The Teens
Around 9:30 last night at work I was driving eastbound on Roswell Road approaching East Cobb Park, when I noticed several cars in the rear corner with teens standing around. I turned into the parking lot and headed towards the teens. They were each holding plastic cups. When I came into view they all simultaneously tossed the contents of their cups into the grass. By the time I pulled up next to them (and parked strategically behind three cars), the cups were on the ground as well. I told the dispatcher that I was out of my car with a group of teens at East Cobb Park.
Me: Hey, what are you guys doing?
Teens: We're just hanging out.
Me: What did everyone dump out as I pulled up?
Teens: Nothing... What are you talking about?
Me: Seriously. I saw everyone dump the contents of those cups onto the ground, and now you've littered by throwing the cups on the ground.
I walked over to the cups on the ground and picked one up.
Me: Why is this cup still cold, and why does it smell like beer?
I was getting blank stares from everyone. None of them were talking at this point, just kind of looking around at each other trying to figure out what to do. I was now at an angle that I could see under the car.
Me: Why are there beer cans and cups under the car?
Teens: We just got here. Those must have been there when we pulled up.
Me: There is a can in front of your rear tire. Are you saying that you didn't run over that can when you pulled into the parking space?
Teens: Well... Um...
Me: IDs. Everyone.
At this point a tone is played over the radio. A tone is just a long beep. The tone is played before a very serious call is dispatched on the radio. It's used for armed robberies, shootings, stabbings, burglaries in progress, and officer down calls. We get quite a few burglary in progress calls where someone says that they hear someone in their house. When we get there we find out that they were just hearing things. When a tone is played, we usually assume it's a bogus burglary in progress.
Dispatch: 4316, copy a signal 50.
Translation: 4316 (my beat partner's radio number) copy a signal 50 (shooting).
Me to the teens: You guys are lucky! Someone just got shot! I gotta go!
Teens: What?! Seriously?! Sorry!
I turned on my lights and siren and peeled out of the parking lot.
The Shooting
The woman that called 911 was simply making a u-turn in a church parking lot when she saw a man laying on the ground. She checked for a pulse, saw a bullet hole, and called 911.
I arrived on scene shortly after to find the fire department giving CPR to a young white male laying in a church parking lot. He had a bullet wound to his lower abdomen, and didn't appear to be alive. When the ambulance arrived they loaded him up and took off. After he was gone and we had a chance to look at the scene. The first thing that I noticed was that there was no blood on the ground. Not a drop. We couldn't find a shell casing anywhere. It appeared that he was shot somewhere else and dropped in the parking lot.
I took the role of making the crime scene log. When there's a major crime, we log everyone that enters the crime scene. It's a boring job, but it's important. I had to stay there until the next shift could relieve me. The media showed up after everyone but the detectives had left. I've been on TV three times that I know of. I'm always standing around doing nothing. Which is usually all you can do by the time they show up. All of the exciting stuff is already done. I'm not sure if they played the story or not.
I got home at 1:00 AM. I had called Michelle just before I went out with the teens in the park. I told her that it had been a slow night, and that I should be home at a reasonable time. 
Update: June 18, 2008 | 11:55 PM
This is a press release from the department:
The Cobb County Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit is investigating a homicide which occurred at 835 Powers Ferry Road in Marietta, Georgia.
According to investigators, the Uniform Division of Zone 4 was dispatched to the Powers Ferry Church of Christ in reference to a male who was found lying in the parking lot. When uniform officers arrived they discovered that 17 year old Joel Ray Andresen of Marietta, Georgia had been shot. The victim was transported by ambulance to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
***UPDATE***
The Cobb County Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit is updating information regarding the homicide which occurred last night at 2136 hours.
As a result of a tip (from a person who watched the various news coverage overnight), Cobb County investigators along with detectives from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department developed information on the homicide suspect responsible for the death of 17 year old Joel Ray Andresen of Marietta, Georgia.
At approximately 1430 hours this afternoon, investigators were conducting surveillance on the suspect’s residence, when he was observed driving his black 2003 Acura on Baker Road in north Cobb County. As detectives were asking for assistance from the Uniform Division to stop the vehicle, the suspect pulled into the parking lot of a Texaco station off Wade Green Road. As detectives started to approach the car, the suspect along his female passenger fled southbound on I-75 in the Acura. While the pursuit headed southbound on I-75, to help protect the public from harm, police units from Marietta and Cobb blocked the various entrance ramps to the interstate. The suspect eventually exited onto westbound Windy Hill Road to southbound Cobb Parkway. As the suspect approached the entrance ramp from southbound Cobb Parkway to westbound I-285, he struck a police car. After striking the cruiser, the Acura continued southbound, eventually coming to rest on Cobb Parkway under the I-285 overpass.
After a brief confrontation with officers, the suspect identified as 28 year old Lester James Smith (Jr.) of Acworth, Georgia was taken into custody without further incident. He was not injured and currently resides at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center after being charged with Felony Murder, Convicted Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Armed Robbery and Attempting to Elude (Felony).
The female passenger was not injured in the crash and is an acquaintance of the suspect. She will not be charged in the case.
Esther sent me a link to this news clip which features me putting up a police line. I had already lined off the area, but when the media showed up I expanded the crime scene. I also turned on the blue lights on my car so they would have something pretty to look at. They got most of the details wrong in the first story.
Funniest Arrest
We get a lot of "fight in progress" calls, but I've never arrived to find someone in an actual physical fight. One of the reasons for this is because we respond to fights with the lights and siren on. The siren can be heard from a mile or more away, and people tend to break it up when they hear the police coming. Monday evening a fight in progress call went out in my beat. I was busy on another call, so I quickly finished it and sped off. The dispatcher said that a person called 911 and said that a black male, 240 pounds, wearing a white t-shirt and black sweat pants, was hitting a black female wearing white shirt and blue jeans. It was taking place in a parking lot next to a restaurant, and the caller was inside the restaurant.
I arrived at the same time as my sergeant, but from a different side o
f the parking lot. The male described as the one hitting the female waves down my sergeant, and I pull up with him in time to hear their conversation:
Sgt: Are you the one that called?
Male: Yes.
Sgt: Is there a fight?
Male: No.
Sgt: But you called and said there was a fight?
Male: Yes.
Sgt: Turn around, you're under arrest.
They guy looked completely dumbfounded as I cuffed him, and asked me what he did wrong. I explained to him that calling in a fight, when there was no fight, is false report of a crime. I explained to him that I drove over 90 MPH to get there and save the woman that he was supposedly hitting. He then changed his story to say that he told someone else to call in and say what was happening. It's not who makes the call, but who causes the call to be made.
When I asked him why he would call 911 and describe himself as the person who was hitting another person, he told me that he needed the police to escort him to his ex-girlfriend's house so he could pick up some of his belongings. He explained that he did not know of another way to get the police to respond other than to call in a fight in progress. I told him that he could just call 911 and ask to have an officer escort him--it's something we do on a daily basis.
We were two beats short on Monday, and it takes a couple of hours to arrest, transport, book, and take a warrant for a person. I told the guy that I was going to let him go home and I was going to take out a warrant for him. He said he would turn himself in at the jail the next morning. Before I let him out of my car, I ran him on the computer. His driver's license came back suspended for failure to appear. Meaning he got a ticket as some point in time and did not go to court for it. If he didn't go to court for a ticket, then he probably wouldn't turn himself in at jail.
So I took him to jail. When we got there, I found out that he had just left the jail the day before. It's completely absurd that someone would do what he did. I was irritated with him at the time, but looking back it's really funny.
::
That same night I arrested a woman for D.U.I. I also charged her for endangering her child's life by having him in the car while she was D.U.I. I typically hate dealing with drunk people. She wasn't much of an exception, though we did have an interesting conversation on the way to the jail:
Drunk: Don't leave me.
Me: Don't leave you where?
Drunk: Don't leave me at the jail. Just stay with me.
Me: You want me to stay with you at the jail?
Drunk: Yes! I'm claustrophobic, and I need to you stay with me so I don't panic.
Me: Ma'am, I'm not going to stay with you. I'm going to drop you off and then get dinner.
Drunk: But just don't leave me, okay? You can just let me out here, I won't tell anyone.
Me: Um, no.
She was at least slightly entertaining. I was talking with Michelle on the phone while the drunk and I were having this conversation. She thought it was funny and suggested that I stay with the drunk at the jail.