Random Emotions or Normal Feelings?

On Monday, several different emotions ran through me. With each new activity, the emotions changed. Some of these emotions surprised me, while others just seemed mundane.

Lt. Ron took me on a tour of the whole building. At first, the walk through was exciting. I got to see the evidence room, booking chambers, and meet all of the other Lieutenants on the squad. However, as we rounded the corner into processing my heart skipped a beat.

In the hallway into the processing room everything was hunky-dory and strangely peaceful. However, in a matter of seconds I became very nervous. It didn’t help that Lt. Ron said, “What out for shit-bags. Sometimes they are unpredictable.”

At first, I didn’t understand. Then within the blink of an eye, I understood everything completely. A woman weighing every bit of 220 pounds came bounding down the hallway in a blind, confused rage. Her hair was disheveled. When she came closer, her black and white jumpsuit revealed leg cuffs but no handcuffs. I was so nervous and frightened that I jumped behind Lt. Ron. It wasn’t her size that scared me. It was the way she kept looking at me. Her eyes were wild and full of hatred. I wasn’t expecting that kind of wake-up call at 8 am. Needless to say, I learned police rule number one very quickly-Always expect the worst and be on your toes.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of my surprises. After my incident with the woman prisoner, my tour continued into the kitchen. My second surprise came on very quickly. Lt. Ron said to walk in front of him, but to keep close. I was confused but understood when I rounded the corner. There was another prisoner, only this time it turned out to be a very burly man with tattoos all down his arms. For some reason, my emotion wasn’t fear. Instead, I was just a little bit nervous, but confident. I was more prepared this time and just walked right by the man, ignoring all of his looks and smart remarks.

When my extensive tour was complete, I started filing papers. Police work is 90 percent paper work. Exciting times come far and few. Anyways, these papers were police reports. What shocked me was how unorganized everything was. Nowhere to found were filing cabinets. It was just messy stack after messy stack, cardboard box after cardboard box. How is it that our legal system is so disorganized? People wonder how police files get lost or how reports never get filed. Now I know the answer why. My shock slowly started to turn into anger. The longer I sat there, the more upset I got. Justice wasn’t being served, they were serving injustice on a silver platter.
When it came time to leave, I recapped the day. I thought about what I saw and how it was handled. And then, I was thankful to have learned these things very early on and that I was on the free side of the bars.

Average Cop?

When one first thinks of a police officer, he or she thinks about lazy people eating donuts that are out to just give people speeding tickets. However, that perspective is completely wrong in most cases. I learned just how different the public's eye is on police officers than how the normal, mundane Law Enforcement student.
I wasn't able to go to the Crime Lab this week because of my car. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have contact with the Crime Lab. This week I was supposed to get a confession regarding a bank robbery. Since I couldn't be there, Lt. Richardson and Lt. Craig Davis brought what they could to me. I was kept in the loop during the entire process. I got conference phone calls regarding what had happened during the interview process.
I learned just how much the average citizen disregards police officers. People hear about citizens yelling and spitting at officers on T.V. Just how little respect citizens had for the people that go out and risk their lives to protect others shocked me. These officers usually go the extra step.
Little did I know, Lt. Richardson had gone above and beyond the extra mile. He didn't send a rookie out in the field to go get the perp, he went himself. As far as Lt. Craig Davis went, he made sure that I was constantly informed of what was happening at the station. Lt. Craig Davis was willing to come pick my up in a squad car that way I could be at the interviews and interrogations. He was also going to pick me up earlier this morning, Wednesday, to go to a crime scene. However, I had to go to class.
I was so surprised at how I was being treated. I am not a uniformed officer or detective, yet I am being treated just like the normal, mundane police officer. These officers aren't lazy and just eating donuts. They are helping out the community in everyway possible. They aren't just sitting at a desk; they are working to serve, protect, and save the communities they live in.

The Quest for Service Learning

I started off my quest for service learning with a bang. I have an internship with the Jasper County Crime Lab. My mentor is Lt. Richardson.
Before I could even start working, I had several obstacles I had to overcome. First, was a criminal history and background check. I was clean, on to step two. Next, I was fingerprinted and profiled. My prints are now in AFIS (Automatic Fingerprint Identification System). Now, I'm cleared to work.
My first day was supposed to be Tuesday. I say supposed to be because I scheduled a time with Lt. Richardson; however, I had a surprise coming my way. Around 8:30 on Tuesday morning, I received a phone call. Lt. Richardson had been subpoenaed into court for a double homicide. He rescheduled our meeting for Thursday.
Thursday was definitely an experience. I went to Carthage Square for the first time. Little did I realize, the court house, Jasper County Sheriff Department, and the Carthage Police Department are all stationed on the same three blocks. When I arrived, I had another surprise in store for me. I figured my purse would be searched and what not to make sure that I wasn't carrying gun. I was right. However, when I was escorted towards the offices I noticed some odd things. First was that all of the officers were wearing cowboy hats that said Jasper County Sheriff Department. Then I noticed that all of the people on this floor were men. Next, I realized that I was getting funny looks from the people around me. These people were suspects or victims being interviewed. They seemed shocked to see a college student dressed up walking through the Sheriff's Department. When it came time for my meeting, I realized that Lt. Richardson wasn't there. One of his co-workers interviewed me. His name was Lt. Craig Davis. I had so many questions for him.
I needed my questions to be answered. To my surprise, Lt. Davis told me everything I needed to know. I wanted to know if I would get the chance to interview victims or suspects. Then I went on to ask if I got to go to a real crime scene. If I got the chance, would I be able to collect evidence? Would I ever be used as a witness or expert in court? Lt. Davis answered yes to all of these questions. My heart leapt with joy. I just had one more question to ask, but I knew I didn't have the guts to. How am I to interact with someone who is more than double my age? I didn't want to look dumb or inexperienced. But the truth is I really was inexperienced.
My one main goal for this whole experience is to learn and grasp new things. Granted, this will look amazing on my resume the next time I fill out a job application form for a police department. Hopefully, my experience will teach me better techniques on how to process a crime scene.