Topic: First Responders and Military

[RC-1136]

Hello there, all.

I thought I would put this thread here for all the folks who do these jobs and happen to be a member of the forums as well. I am a Law Enforcement Officer in the state of Florida. I work for a small police department in Central Florida. I usually work about 85 hours a week, dealing with various calls for service. I'm currently in training, working my way through the Field Training Program. I have some prior experience, which helps with a lot of that. So far, I'm nearly at the end of my first training phase. I take a lot of pride in my work and serving the community. I self-sponsored myself through the police academy and about $5,000 later, I passed the state exam and became certifiable as a police officer. Feel free to ask any questions you like and discussion is perfectly welcome! Cheers.

[Tamer]

Congratulations. I didn't know you had to pay to go through the police academy. So awesome to see motivated young people. Keep safe out there and thank you for supporting your community and putting yourself in harms way to do so!

[RC-1136]

Congratulations. I didn't know you had to pay to go through the police academy. So awesome to see motivated young people. Keep safe out there and thank you for supporting your community and putting yourself in harms way to do so!

In the State of Florida, unless you get sponsorship from an agency/department (which is very, very rare) you'll have to pay out of pocket to sponsor yourself. Thank you for the kind words. It's a great career and I love what I do. The goal is to make it through training so I can keep my spot!

[Tamer]

I wish you the best of luck. With your motivation I am sure you will exceed!

[RC-1136]

I wish you the best of luck. With your motivation I am sure you will exceed!

I will say nights are screwing my circadian rhythm up really badly.  So that is a huge challenge. And learning every nook and cranny of an unfamiliar city.

[Clonehead]

Cool thread.
  That would be quite a challenge.
We go down to SE Florida once a year but I don’t know about this year.

[Tamer]

Yes, I am wondering how the coronavirus is being dealt with where you have your training?

[RC-1136]

To be frank, unless it's a report call or life or death, we are handling typical calls landline (over the phone). I use EXTRA PPE (personal protective equipment) when dealing with anyone. All proactive actions (traffic stops, citizen contacts, etc) have been temporarily suspended by general order. No call is (not) responded to in one way or another. Every call for service is handled. I have 2 nearly gallon dispensers of hand sanitizer in my car doors. I also use wipes, masks, etc. If I have go into businesses/homes.

All jurisdictions within my county (including my city) are following Universal Precautions guidelines.

We are treating it seriously.

One county away they initiated curfew and we have talks about following that model.

I also made an out of county warrant arrest. I sanitized my cuffs with industrial strength medical hand sanitizer at booking...lol

[Tamer]

I figured it was something along those lines. I hope you don't have to deal with crazy folks, but I bet you will. Stay safe.

[RC-1136]

I figured it was something along those lines. I hope you don't have to deal with crazy folks, but I bet you will. Stay safe.

Most of the folks in my city are decent folks. You'll have your occasional domestic and Driving While License Suspended/Revoked (DWLSR), etc...but due to our distance from the jail, with the exception of major stuff, we usually Notice to Appear (NTA) people for most Misdemeanor crimes. It's a paper arrest with a court date with a judge/magistrate. The only exception to that is domestics. There we determine the primary aggressor and physically arrest. Same goes for all felonies and serious crimes. And warrants (both in and out of county).

Our main "crazies" if you will are surrounding jurisdictions we assist when they are tied up elsewhere. Our city is sandwiched between the Sheriff's Office unincorporated section of my city, and the next city over's larger Police Department. So no matter what, we are pretty good about having backup on all calls between the various departments. We are on the same dispatch system across the whole county for all agencies with the exception of two tiny ones.

For example, when I was driving thru the city just before where the county jail was, I provided backup for a county deputy who was doing a traffic stop. A marked city unit just drove by, so I told my Field Training Officer (FTO) we would assist with his stuff until he was done. I refuse to leave them alone until I know they are good.

I had an academy member attended the funeral of Officer Kondak from Tarpon Springs PD. He was killed on a traffic stop by a guy scared of going to jail for a misdemeanor warrant. Shot like 5 times and ran over. Left behind a widow and 7 kids. That was sobering to hear about, because the academy person I knew was his dispatcher when he died.

[Tamer]

Sad to hear about the person who was killed over a misdemeanor. I don't know why folks won't rationalize what they do, but humans aren't rationale. Stay safe out there. I hope you don't have to respond to any department stores with fights over toilet paper.

[RC-1136]

Sad to hear about the person who was killed over a misdemeanor. I don't know why folks won't rationalize what they do, but humans aren't rationale. Stay safe out there. I hope you don't have to respond to any department stores with fights over toilet paper.

Lol! Luckily I have only two dollars stores and a RaceTrac gas station here. Everything else is residential.

[Clonehead]

That is pretty quiet.
  Are the residents in good spirits about the whole thing?
We arnt too spooked yet.
     The folks are on their way back from ft Myers. They say most of the stores are shut down. Beaches are closed, the Canadian vacationers had their visas revoked and have been in mass exodus for the last week.
     That’s where we go every spring for fun in the sun.

[Tamer]

Glad to hear you don't have too much crazy retail. Some of the stories and videos I am seeing are just bad. I can't even see a police officer going into a situation like that without full riot gear. Over toilet paper no less!

[RC-1136]

That is pretty quiet.
  Are the residents in good spirits about the whole thing?
We arnt too spooked yet.
     The folks are on their way back from ft Myers. They say most of the stores are shut down. Beaches are closed, the Canadian vacationers had their visas revoked and have been in mass exodus for the last week.
     That’s where we go every spring for fun in the sun.

Never use the q-word!     Residents are mostly scared, as to be expected. But I try to calm their fears when they speak with us. Mostly it's the older folks who are afraid (our 55+ community). I give them practical advise, based off what the latest stuff given to us from the department...letting them vent a bit helps. Most of them live alone and don't have family down here, as many of them are Canadian snow birds. Ft. Myers is quite a distance from me, I'm closer to Orlando. I live in exactly the middle of the state, but I like that. My girlfriend is in Orlando going to school and my family is back in Tampa. I'm exactly equidistant from both; 60 miles each way, if I visit either of them.

Glad to hear you don't have too much crazy retail. Some of the stories and videos I am seeing are just bad. I can't even see a police officer going into a situation like that without full riot gear. Over toilet paper no less!

Nah, we haven't even really had a theft problem (which shocks me greatly) - I know how to work them from prior LEO experience, but I haven't yet in my town lol. Police work can be really stressful. In the prior city I worked, I had to draw my firearm many times. Luckily, I never had to use it. Usually people really rethink their actions when they have multiple officers aiming weapons at them. I'm thankful for that, because I don't (want) to use it, but I would do so if the life of another or myself was in jeopardy. Honestly - being a cop is so much like being a Jedi, it's not even funny. I'm an officer of the peace and I've had to mediate many situations... from the crazy to the absolutely absurd. Perfect example, I got called to a disturbance... when I get on scene, the guy is arguing with his girlfriend about having a threesome and is upset about it. She wanted MFF threesome (Male-female-female) and he was mad. I'm like, "dude, you're getting a BOGO deal. Be happy!"  It took everything to keep a straight face through the whole thing. LOL! I told them if I had to come back, I would flip through the entire statute book and find something to take someone to jail for... guess what? They shut up. 

I'll never forget what my academy director told me: "Dazzle them with your brilliance or baffle them with your bull%$&^!"  And it works. You just have to look and sound confident. Florida laws are kind of hilarious... one of my favorites are milk crates. If someone is sitting on a milk crate and it belongs to an active business (which you must prove), you can arrest for it. It's super petty but if someone is being a problem and you don't have anything else, it just works. And the probable cause affidavits (the written up arrest paper work) reads like something out of a comedy skit.

Here is an example: https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-man-behind-bars-for-having-a-milk-crate

The actual law: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0506/Sections/0506.509.html