day of SCOPE - a night shift on Friday! Over excited, I stayed awake in bed the whole afternoon although it was initially planned to have the store closed from 14:00 and to get some sleep before duty.
After a lengthy waiting game, finally comes the Not enough time to greet everyone and try to remember their names, (always a difficult task for me) a job was called through the radio. Rushed to the car with extremely heavy bags (full of gears I imagine), the first order I was given was to help put my officer’s hat to the back of the car. It’s so obvious that in Wellington city, the capital of wind, hat is for display purpose only. I come up with the conclusion.
For a moment, I was panicking not because of the bar-light was flashing and the siren was wailing, but the way my officer was driving. Powerfully dangerous, definitely not a joy-ride, I shall say, anyone who is carsick will see the end of his/her police pursuing immediately.
Waste no time, communications within/between police is mostly by using of codes. K9 for example, is to have accused on board and back to the station. 10-2 means heading to a scene; 10-3 means available on patrol; 10-7 means arrived at the scene, and so on. Whenever they are free, plus the radio was in silence, my officer always very nice and patient to explain to me what each code means and what was going on.
“10-10, can’t remember who told me that, is to get help, isn’t it?” I didn’t know where that comes from but my officer was clearly not happy. “Don’t want to go there, never and ever, 10-10 means one of us is dead.”
Coincidently, the same day, Dominion Post was front-paged with a story about Police hit the beach to halt boy racers. One out cry of the beach boys was “Police are like sheep…one car drives down and they all drive down.” It’s very true when we 10-7 at a street fight scene, minutes later, the small block were full of police cars. That to me was my first lesson of police culture: you just have to help one of yours, in any circumstance, absolutely no excuse!
Back and K9 to the station, (I heard officers call it ‘base’, another code?) I saw my officers washing their hands right away. Had not got a chance to touch anything other than the hat, yet I washed my hands anyway, thinking this might be part of a standard procedure.
After a short time in producing some forms for the arrest of the arrested, we were on the road again and this time was different with 10-3 radioed to the ‘base’. It surprised me that when in the state of 10-3, police have to obey all road rules. Waiting for green lights and following traffic within speed limits. Meantime, aye on each and every suspicious vehicle and its driver, in many cases even the passengers.
Well trained and experienced my officer would spot problem cars which I see nothing out of normal. My officer made a few pull-overs; none of them end up with no ticket issuing. A car with no WOF/REG, driver couldn’t provide his license, was breaching his Restricted License conditions and fined over a thousand bucks. However, he was not over the blood alcohol limit and was driving normally; I wonder how my officers would see him suspicious?
There are too many paper works involved in police jobs even for a drinking and driving offence. Other than checking alcohol level, each EBA (Excess Blood Alcohol, I learned) case officer needs to complete four or five forms on the road and back to ‘base’. So many things to do, my officer have to list all job numbers down and then cross them out one by one. Otherwise, some thing might be missed and police might lose the case I would imagine.
One can probably tell, most of the weekend late night jobs for police are either alcohol related or caused by a high level of alcohol consumed.
At 01:50 am, we were 10-2 to a domestic dispute which had gone too far frightened a female flat-mate. She called the police, reported an MAF (Male Attach Female, I learned) and rushed to serve the door when we arrived.
The man, barely able to walk or stand straight up, appeared to be cooperative until my officer was about to handcuff him. He started yelling and swearing at my officer as offensive as he could. Despite been stumbled by the effect of alcohol, he held his arms to not to be easy handcuffed.
This man is a really a scoundrel. He has no respect to women whatsoever. Called to his partner’s place, he had beaten her up (certainly not for the first time) and scared the female flat-mate by twice punching and pushing. When that was seeing under arrest by women officer, he of course would not give up without a fight. This time, I helped to arrest him.
I feel sorry for his partner. Who was equally intoxicated and also refused to cooperate with the police. “Please, don’t do this to us.” She was trying to stop the flat-mate from making a complaint.
On the way back to the station, my officer exchanged a few words with him, which got him heated about and become more aggressive. Not only swearing, this time he also spiting and kicking and even threatening to kill my officer. Calling for back up to come, three of us could hardly restrain him and avoid to be spited onto. Pepper spray was used to keep his head down.
The car obviously needs to be cleaned so we jumped onto another one. I was asked to separate with my officer for rest of the night because they were heading back to the property to take statement from the victim. They reckon I might feel bored since the offender was locked in the cell and there would be no drama to be observed. They were wrong.
(to be continued. . .)
ihugihug
注册:2006-1-11
发表于:2006-1-13 9:41:59
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I learned later that when my officers were inside the house taking statement, apparently some bad people slashed all four of their car tyres and smashed also the front lights before running away disappeared in the neighborhood. The tires were still ‘ssssh’ (air coming out) when my officer back to their car, which had to be towed to base. The second car they were driving got damaged in the same day.
The city in the early morning was quiet in a sleeping mood. But inside the office, officers are busy around the desk with all sorts of paper works after a weekend late night shift. Files needs to be completed for the Court of those cases which with arrests in cell.
I went home at 08:00, feel excited still rather than exhausted.
- Day Two -
I was sitting at the reception waiting to be called upstairs, where I met this lady MP also an observer that night. We had a brief but pleasant conversation; each wondering what the other was here for.
Upstairs, Sergeant called a meeting for a start and introduced the MP to the group. Officers joked about what had happened the night before especially the double car drama.
It seems lots of the drinkers have had too much on Friday and couldn’t back to the pubs on Saturday, which makes the Police with fewer jobs to do. Therefore, I have more time to note down the things.
The police prosecution level of the offender who is on bail but breaching bail conditions are equally high as to the offence. (I might be very wrong to this) Bail info can be quickly passed to a patrol officer through radio or by handouts. Part of our job was to nock the doors to SEE weather they are home or not, and just that.
There is a gap. A young man my officer stopped on the road was found breaching bail from Police system. But he was adamant about a later instruction given by a Court Judge that the condition was waived. I saw my officer cautiously dealt with the situation. There might be some delay of updating changes made by the Court regard a bail into Police system. The boy was released anyway.
At 01:30 am, a taxi drove pass a scene called 111. The driver saw a woman screaming for help while chasing by a man. We were dispatched to the job and were arrived at the location within minutes. With the woman on board, details of both were quickly verified through radio. The terrified rather than injured victim was soon escorted to Wellington Hospital for a check up. Another MAF between partners, but this time, the victim is going to make a formal complaint. The husband nearly killed the wife by choking her. Police will later deal with him for sure.
Most of the 111 calls are very true like this. Unfortunately, some are not. Early morning at around 04:40, two drunken girls were reported hitchhiking in an intersection; disturbing traffic and putting themselves in danger.
At a nearby petrol station, the girls were found squatting outside the store building. When questioned and warned by my officer, at least one of them lied about her identity. (Which later causing big confusion to the Police) They were considered save and sober, and claimed that they have called a taxi to go home. “That’s very good.” My officer said to them. “Young girls like you hitchhiking at this time of the night are easy targets to be mugged, attacked or even worse.”
The girls shook hands with my officer before we left.
At 04:55, not far away from where the girls were, we stopped a man carrying big bags and riding skateboard. My officer saw him approaching cars parked long side the street. He told us he was on his way to Railway Station to catch a 09:00 morning train. Well, who would believe him? He was asked to open his bags for a torch checking.
When my officer was just about to let the man go, at 05:00, radio called out for an urgent job. We rushed back to where we come from, passing a car driving opposite with two Middle Eastern like men inside.
“Silly girls! Damn it!” My officer was a bit angry. The radio message repeated that a young lady was seeing dragged by a car driven by two Iraqis while another was left behind running after it. Two female informants reported the incident and claimed they heard both girls screaming. It’s very likely an abduction. But why? If it’s that two girls we found at the petrol station, they were warned just about five minutes before the ‘abduction’. It’s unbelievable!
It seems to me (I observe) that whenever offenders were alleged away from a scene, police will circle the vicinity as well in order to catch them on their way out. If the offender was reported on foot, the circle would be much smaller since they can’t be very far away. But when they were reported driving, things are different. My officer was first driving around the area searching for the car which we almost certain we have passed it not long ago. Then we patrolled parks and beach outlooks along the coast. It took us a couple of hours to check every place concealed but with easy car access.
Meantime, seems no police were able locate those girls. Not only the one alleged to be in the car, but also the one was out chasing it. They all vanished just like that. Case was taken over by the Detectives. Radio message helped piece together the puzzle. Much like the morning sun clears everything up.
My officer visited an address which one of the girls claimed as home. It was a property divided into three units. We woke up everyone but none of them knows the girl we were looking for. (For the first time, I saw my officers grab their hats before knocking the door) Only by then it’s cleared that in information we were given are false. Later we also found out the informants of the possible abduction was the girls themselves. All calls were false alarm to the police. What they were trying to do? Making fun of the cop?
Arrived at another location, we saw the girl who earlier lied about her identity appeared to be fine. She was pretending hard enough not to laugh. To us, both girls were safe and well were a kind of release. But I don’t think spending two hours drove around looking for the criminals which not exists was a laughing matter.
The girl was standing in the wind try to prove her innocent to my officer. I watched and wondered why Peter Jackson has to go all the way to Hollywood to look for actress? One right here almost next door to his Weta Digital base.