Back to School + Work = No Sleep
To be a cop meant you would experience humanity at a level of skinned-alive intensity.
-Edward Conlon
A year and a half ago I joined the Cobb County Police Department as a new recruit. Six months later I happily joined nearly 600 others as a sworn Cobb County Police Officer serving the 600,000 plus citizens of the county. One year later, I write this journal entry. Though my time with the department has been short in comparison to others, I feel as though I've obtained a world of knowledge. And there is still so much more for me to learn.
I started going back to Kennesaw State University this semester. Though I'm only taking one class at the moment, I plan on taking more next semester. I needed to test the waters of college while working a full time job before diving in. Hopefully there will be some online classes I can take next semester. I'm taking a Criminal Investigations class this semester. The professor is a former Cobb officer, and refers to me during class if he is unable to answer a question. The class hasn't been eye opening by any means, but I chose it for that reason.
It's amazing how quickly a job can become a way of life. As I drive down the road, I'm constantly glancing at license plates to check if they're valid; I watch traffic to see if I can find any moving violations (and usually point them out to Michelle, which annoys her); and I'm always having dreams about work. Lately, the dreams have really started to annoy me. I used to sleep well, but since the cop dreams started, I haven't gotten a good night's sleep. Hopefully they'll pass and I can get back to sleeping well. They say, "once a cop, always a cop," but I just don't see myself doing this my entire life. Police officers have one of the highest divorce rates, and a suprisingly high suicide rate. We see a lot of bad things. People don't call 911 because they are happy and want to share their happiness with us. They call 911 because they have no other options left. Their life has gotten to a point where they cannot go at it alone.
I responded to a domestic dispute between husband and wife earlier this week. The 16 year old son called, hysterical. Upon arrival, I found that the husband was gone. The mother, 16 year old son, and 12 year old son were all in tears. I found out that the mother and father had been in an argument, when the father picked up a phone and threw it, hitting her in the back of the head. She explained to me that while her husband was serving with the Army in Iraq, he was struck by lightning. (Of all of the things that could happen, he was struck by lightning!) Since coming home, he's suffered from bi-polar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, and heart-problems...
Like I said, they don't call when their lives are going well.
Where has the time gone?
I can't believe it's already August. It has been nearly four months since I last updated my journal, and nearly a year since I finished the academy. I'm staying busy with work, and hopefully I'll start school back soon.
I miss school.
It's that time of year when all of the stores have their school displays up, and the nerd inside of me yearns to play with the pens, calculators, and organizers. I could spend hours in office supply stores.
I'm afraid that I'll never graduate though.
If I take more than one or two classes a semester I'm afraid that I will get burned out with either work or school while I'm doing both. But if I'm only taking one or two classes a semester then it's going to take me years to finish. I only have one more traditional year left. I hope it doesn't take me more than three.
When I was first assigned to Precinct 4 I was pretty excited. Precinct 4 is known for its wealthy neighborhoods and low crime rates. Even though I'm young I didn't want to be where all of the action is. I don't want to get into fights with gang bangers, I don't want to get in foot pursuits, and I definitely don't want to get shot at. But sometimes I feel like I'm going to lose it if I have to deal with one more dispute over nonsense. I went to a dispute over, "She took the remote from me and won't let me change the channel." It was a couple who has been married for 40 years plus, and has probably been fighting for the better part of 39 years.
I do deal with a lot of nonsense, but I get my share - though very small - of big events too.
I handled a call about a month ago where a woman had stabbed her boyfriend in the arm with a steak knife. We found her hiding in a shed in the back yard. We also found a stolen Chrysler 300 as well as drugs in their back yard. (This wasn't in the nice part of town.) And a couple of weeks ago I handled an armed robbery at a gas station. The perp was apprehended about a week later. I'd like to say it was because of my investigative and report writing skills, but I'm not sure how or where they caught him. I've had my fair share of death investigations, both natural and unnatural. One man shot himself in the chest after his wife of 30 years asked for a divorce. The next day a 17 year old girl hanged herself with a jump rope because of relationship problems.
But I guess that's what keeps us all coming back to work every day. I truly never know what's going to happen when I put on my uniform. One minute I could be doing a "routine" traffic stop, and the next I could be wrestling a drunk to the ground (which has happened).
There's a certain amount of excitement that comes with pinning on my badge every day. But with that badge comes more responsibility and stress than I ever could have imagined. I couldn't have made it this far without the prayers and support of my family and friends. But most especially, I wouldn't be able to continue doing this without Michelle.
No matter what I have to deal with, no matter what time in the night I come home, and no matter what I'm going through, I know Michelle will be there for me. Always supportive of my plans and goals, and always with a positive word to say, she has truly been a lifesaver to me.
My 21st Birthday
Today is my 21st birthday. So far it's been a great day. Last night a couple of friends (Esther and Coretta) came over. I stayed up talking with them and Michelle until about 3:00 and went to bed. Michelle told me this morning that they didn't go to bed until 7:00 AM! I've never been able to pull an all nighter; I guess I just missed that part of being a college student. Dad called me this morning to sing happy birthday to me, and to update me on everything that's happening in Hiawassee. It's been at least a month or two since I was last home, and I won't be able to go home again until Thanksgiving.
Dad also informed me this morning, that I didn't have to pay him back for the money I borrowed to buy my new laptop. I tried to convince him that I did have to pay him back, but he wouldn't hear it. I guess I'll just have to take really good care of him and Mom when they're old. 
Michelle took me out to lunch at my favorite coffeeshop, CozziCafe. It's a great little restaurant. The owner has worked his entire life in gourmet restaurants, and his wife is a graphic designer. So not only is the food and coffee great, the place looks awesome as well. Not that I ever have time to go, but ever Friday night they have live music. And of course, they have free Wi-Fi. While we were having lunch, Michelle's grandmother called to sing to me. Her husband's birthday is tomorrow, so she can always remember mine. Shortly after that, Michelle's mom and little sister called.
The rest of my day will consist of cleaning the apartment in case anyone wants to come over tonight after work, and going into work for my birthday dinner. My boss, Grace, said that I get a free meal and drinks!
I'm really enjoying two of my four classes this semester. The two I'm not enjoying are Economics and Statistics. They're both just classes that everyone has to take. They aren't difficult, and I think that's why I don't like them. I completely love my other two classes though. Ethics in Criminal Justice is such a great class. We talk about controversial topics (capital punishment, corrupt police, etc.) and the entire class participates in the talks/debates. It's so nice being in a class where everyone wants to be there. My other Criminal Justice course I'm taking is called, "Ideological/Group Violence and Law Enforcement." We just call it "The Terrorism Class," because that's what we're studying. My teacher is a big-wig in the Georgia Army National Guard and is very passionate about the subject, having worked both as a police officer and in the military. A passionate teacher makes all of the difference to a student. Sometimes I want to be a teacher just so I can make that difference, but I feel my talents would be better used as a police investigator or an FBI agent. The Cobb County Police Department is having a career fair in two weeks that I'll be attending. During the day it's going to be all bells and whistles: showing off the equipment, giving demonstrations, and other things for the community. But afterwards, they are giving the written exam to become a police officer. I'm going to talk to my Ethics teacher, who used to work for Cobb County PD, to see if he can help me figure out what I want to do with my life.
I've been very busy with school and my two jobs. Today is the first day in months that I've been able to just sit around without having to go to one place or another. I have class three days a week, and I usually work seven days a week. Between Zyng Asian Grill and Chapter 11* Books, my free time is pretty much nonexistent. I prefer it that way though. I don't know what I would do if I came home from school with nothing else to do. If I weren't updating my website right now I'd probably be cleaning, studying for one of my two tests on Monday, or finding something else constructive to do. Now that I think about it though, I should probably be studying now.