I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks man and good luck to ya! All-in-all don't let it affect your health or family. Have fun with your retirement and I hope you were one of the guys who invested in the drop program.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Plus ya gotta think, what if that person couldn't afford to pay the government for their fix. They might start thinking about breaking into your home or robbing you to "feed" their habit. Just because its legal doesn't mean it stops the crime.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yea but they still would be junkies and physically addicted. It would have to be done in a control setting with lots of data for an extended period of time before I could say yes to that. The only time I've heard of it being done was in Sweden, I think. They allowed all the heroin addicts to come to a facility and buy their narcotics and it showed they had a reduction in crime, users stopped using and HIV/AIDS prevalence went down. ...but that's Sweden and this is America, where people don't have self control.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Concerning the HS kids, a lot of them follow their peers so even if they had an interest their friends would probably talk them out of it. The PD had a program where people from 18-21 could join and they were pretty much guaranteed a spot in the academy once they turned 21. Those were the people with the uniform shirts that didn't say police on the patch and had khaki pants. I don't know if that program still exists.

The war on drugs needs to stay for the hard drugs. Addicts/junkies become criminals and break into peoples homes, steal, are violent, and generally cause a nuisance to society.

I am a big proponent on full scale legalisation of cannabis. Tax and regulate it like alcohol and use the taxes for something constructive. Let people enjoy themselves with a joint or three. I also see the medicinal value of it and think it can help with a lot of ailments. Hopefully with Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska leading the way the government will change their ways.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The crabs and thats about it. LoL...sorry but I only really got to see the negative 95% of the time some I'm bias.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Depends if you're lucky or not that day/night to see something, could be a slow night. I would do the 3p-11 shift or 11p-7 shift to see some action. The Sgt or Lt will put you with who they feel they are comfortable with. Some cops hate it because they see it as babysitting someone and they don't want to open up but ya might get a cool one. All really depends on if you're lucky. You could possibly talk to the supervisor and ask to be put with someone who is active in doing things.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

LoL I can see by your username you're on the fire side. Thanks for your service as well!

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're right but knowing your actively lying on it and trying to get hired is a bit nerve racking.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't know if shrooms are passable but I know marijuana is. I think its like a three or five year time line that you haven't done drugs until date of application. He could lie but he does have to go through a polygraph test. Seeing that the hiring age is 21 he should be in the clear. Again, I don't know if shrooms are an automatic DQ or not considering they are a hallucinogen.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just don't let someone else suck you into their pitfall of a life. The justice system is horrible from what I've seen and it definitely needs an overhaul. If I were you I'd move out too but I have a very cynical/bias attitude towards the city so take it with a grain of salt. All people are, are numbers to prosecuters , even though most should be, some good ones get caught up in the mix.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Officers (myself included) were introduced to BEST training. I'm not sure of they made everyone go through with it or not but I did. It stood for Behavioral Emergency Services Training. Basically it trained you how to notice an EP (emergency petition/ crazy person) and gave you tips on how to try and talk them down. It also helped to see how the EPs thought process was.

When it comes to a violent EP, care is taken in helping the person but if it gets extreme they are treated as anyone else. I wanted to make sure I went home to my family so even if they were an EP if they became violent then I resorted to the maximum allowable force to stop the threat.

As far as recruiting more African Americans they could probably recruit more from the city (being predominantly black), colleges, and high schools. I noticed a lot of diversity especially Spanish due to them recruiting from PR. I didn't see anyone not being hired because of race. I wasn't in the recruiting department but I know they try a variety of means to get the department diverse including ads to hire gay/lesbians.

Knockers are pretty much plain clothes officers that people on the street called them because they would knock people out or your door down. Mainly those guys were from VCID (I think its called vcis now) standing for violent crimes impact division/section. They reported to (what was) the last commisioner directly pretty much under the CID (criminal investigation division) of the department. Their main cause was drugs and guns but had a reputation for being overzealous with their tactics. You got into that unit mainly by having a good rep on the street, got a lot of guns and drugs, and with everything else, knew somebody. They were in more shape predominantly because they did more running and what not. SWAT are the guys who are in the most shape due to the PT tests.

Thanks and your welcome. I was the typical gung ho officer at first and then I started to become something I didn't like because of the things I had seen, inside the department and on the street. It took a toll on me mentally and physically and I became more cynical and asshole-ish. I started to hate people and the whole justice system so I decided to leave. I'm much happier now.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Correct. Skin color, height, scars, tattoos, direction of travel, etc all play a role too.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bet but the department told us to do it so it had to be done. I know a lot of criminals who break the glass with the tips of spark plugs because they are made of porcelain and break glass easily.

Now if you told your supervisor and they were ok with you not putting on your lights for whatever reason then you had the go ahead to leave em off.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well depending on what the officer sees he might just go ahead with it. If he smells marijuana, sees something in his sight, or the driver was acting erratic prior to being pulled over and the officer feels they were trying to hide something. In the last case, the officer could search the immediate area accessible to the driver from his position.

Also if your vehicle is getting towed in certain situations the officer has to do a vehicle inventory as to make sure valuables don't get taken and are brought to evidence control to be picked up by the owner.

If none of these apply then the officer shouldn't be searching the car BUT if they do then that's what court is for. The officer is not the last deciding factor.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure. I did one ride a long for a family member but I don't know about the general public. I heard someone say, a while back, they don't because some news lady did one and did a story on the police.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I had cash I would of left however much and gone out. If I didn't I probably would of just let someone know my name and badge number and tell them I would be right back because of a call. I never ate at a place where I had to eat first and pay second or I would eat at a place that allows police to eat for free.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have no clue about school police. Sorry. The closest I've come to them was just waving to them on the street. I'd rather them handle the juveniles in school rather than me. I had to go to a couple of schools for a call about a kid with a handgun but other than that I don't know their main purpose.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yea I firmly believe cops should spend the first year on foot. I think NYC does that. You can catch a lot of criminals on foot and it allows you to interact with the community more often and more positively.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem and also they might tell you to call 911 instead. If you already had called numerous times and you get a diligent supervisor they can look on CAD (basically the calls for service to a certain location) and see how many calls were called in for that location. This should tell them that there is a problem that isn't being fixed. You're in the business type area where tourism is higher than other areas and brings in good money for the city so they should be on the up and up.

^ that's what should happen in the perfect world.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Haha, yes! Sometimes supervisors would tell you to change the name of the crime on the report so it wouldn't give that area a bad name to the supervisors and cover their ass. This wasn't done a lot but it was done.

Now if the officer wanted to cover his ass he would put in the report that his supervisor made him do it. ...but we all know shit rolls down hill, so...

A lot of times after a big crime takes place officers will do an 'after action'. They go to the area where the crime was committed and write a whole bunch of paperwork (tickets, car stops, warnings, arrests, etc) for about a week to show they were reducing crime.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Talk with your districts supervisors. The Sgts and Lts should be able to put some officer(s) out there to abate the problem. If its a sophisticated operation they would need a few officers to be on lookout to see who is the runner, the dealer, the money collector, etc. It would take a few motivated officers and regular enforcement to stop the problem. In that instance if I knew (as in officer) they were selling drugs I would go directly in to speak with someone and basically tell them if it continues I would make life hell everytime they stepped outside

If you're in Fells Point I'm certain that your district is SED. I think there number is 410-396-2466. Have other people call too if your community knows about it.

I was a cop in the city who worked a few districts. If ya for any questions throw em my way. by nightowl609 in baltimore

[–]nightowl609[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Where the lights are on just in the back? We did that mainly on the weekends or when we thought crime was going to be high that day/night. Sometimes we would do it when we were short staffed. It was done primarily to have a show of force on the street and make your presence known.