Thursday, November 12, 2009

HF's first complaint

After reading Sandra's post, Today's Would-Be Hostage, I was reminded of a recent incident involving HF. A few weeks ago, HF and his partner heard gun shots in the area they were in. They moved towards them and HF deployed his AR-15. It was 0030 hrs (I asked HF what the military time for 12:30 am was. I didn't actually know it. I just wanted to sound cool). Anyway, the shots came from an apartment complex and HF and his partner began searching for the gunman. HF was wearing his rifle across his body ("on sling") with his finger off the trigger. As they were clearing the area, they would tell people to go back inside if they came wandering out. It was relatively quiet because of the time of night. Everyone complied and no one seemed to know where the shots had come from exactly, but it was nearby.

A girl came out and HF identified himself and told her what they were doing and to go back inside. She said, "who are you?" He identified himself again. She said, "Are you supposed to be a police officer?" Are you kidding me?!

This is where it got ridiculous. She was demanding to see identification, arguing with him and asking over and over why she needed to go back inside, etc. HF didn't have time for this, but more forcefully made her go back inside to which she yelled, "Fine!"

After HF left, she called 911 to see if he was really a cop. She ended up filing a complaint and wanted to meet with the chief. At first we didn't know what on earth she had to complain about. Turns out she didn't think he was a cop because she had never seen a cop with a rifle before and it threw her off. She didn't think that cops should have rifles. I think it's fine if you want to call 911 and verify a situation, but go back inside! Even if he was a fake cop, wouldn't it be wise to go back inside? I always knew that there were "special" people milling about the city, but ever since HF became a cop, I now know there really are lots of "special" people milling about. More than I could have imagined. The chief backs HF up 100%. He said it was appropriate that he pull out the rifle and that he would've done the same thing in that situation. Oh, and she didn't like that he was mean to her (after repeated attempts to have her go inside and her not complying).

HF has already qualified with his AR-15, but yesterday, he had an unexpected test. He thought he was just going to shoot at the range, but when he got there, they had him do various obstacles while shooting his rifle. One officer attacked him, punching and kicking, to see if he could still shoot at a target. He said that he didn't miss one target. He at least hit the blue area.

HF also has his first court appearance this week to testify for a criminal case. He's a little nervous about that since he hasn't done it yet. Only practice scenarios in the academy.

In other "firsts" news, our 1 year old took his first official steps this week.

9 comments:

Erin said...

What an idiot. I mean, uh, concerned citizen. What?

Momma Val said...

Oh boy, sounds like a winner. In our area there have been several women pulled over and sexually assaulted by what appeared to be undercover cops, so I do not find asking for ID totally off basis depending on the situation. Cop Dad has had more than one complaint from the same scuzbag woman in PD town. If the whole PD did not already know that they were dealing drugs out if their home and the whole family had various records, I think it could be much more detrimental to his career. This woman sounds like a nut though, yet I could see how the rifle would throw anybody off. Still, I think I'd be heading inside F-A-S-T and not asking questions. If I really doubted it I think I'd go hide INSIDE and call the PD and ask?

KD said...

My husband had a similar situation... you're making me think I should blog about it!

Thanks for the laugh, I love hearing these crazy stories. Best to HF this week, you'll have to report back and let us know how his court appearance goes and what wackiness comes up (a la "SET" over at motorcop's blog, ha ha)

mrsofficer said...

I can only imagined how annoyed HF was that she wasn't listening.She could have gotten herself in trouble and seriously even if he wasn't a cop do you want to be confrontational to a man with a rifle? lol Um I would think not.There are special people everywhere i tell you! In my hub's area he does alot of court dates.About 5 a month,ridiculous huh! but it is OT if it falls on days off.CONGRATS on the little one taking the steps!

TM said...

This a was a good post. This happens all the time to Chancho. It's so hard to believe people sometimes. You have to wonder how they survive out there. I wish HF luck in court, it'll be a breeze, so I hear. Chancho was in court today.

Yay for first steps! So exciting to see them wobble around :)

Slamdunk said...

Congrats on the first steps--time to rearrange the house!

I don't think any officer is doing a good job if he/she is not complained on sometimes.

OrdinaryLife said...

Gotta love stories like that. My husband responded to an active bank alarm the other day. He was set up behind his car on the corner of the building, and a woman came walking out the bank. He asked her to walk towards him. She rolled her eyes & kept walking away. He then more forcefully asked her. Still, no appropriate response. He finally had to yell at her. She then walked slowly too him, saying "Officer I didn't do anything wrong, I'm not even in my car" (I guess thinking she was speeding??). I think our agency will probably get a phone call from her too.
The alarm turned out to be false (we get a lot of those), but you never know, and he couldn't just let her walk away!!

Stella said...

I'm glad your HF is seeing some action...cause that's what they really like to do, but at the same time keeping safe. I try not to let my mind wander at night imagining what is going on at work...on the streets... You just have to let him do his job. It's amazing how many people dislike police officers...and everyone loves the firemen! God made firemen so police officers could have heros too! That's my favorite line..but we're thankful for them all. And yeah on the first steps for your baby!

firefighter / paramedic said...

Those special people are what we call job security. Congrats on the one year old!