my run-in with CJ

Did I mention that I see CJ (Calamity Jane) every single day except weekends? It's true. Turns out she also has a five year old and her 5 yo is in the same kindergarten class as my 5 yo. I knew who she was and assumed she had no idea who I was. Well recently as I was dropping my son off, she looks at him and exclaimed, "Why you look just like your daddy!" I knew I was in for it then. She introduced herself to me and I mentioned that I had met her once before but her hair was super short and blonde if I remembered correctly (it is much longer now and her natural color-red). She said, "Oh yeah! I chopped it off and dyed it blonde to look more intimidating". I smiled because I was picturing the hairstyle and look she donned back then as intimidating.

image credit

It was hard for me to look her in the eye and talk to her without thinking "OMG. I'm talking to CJ!" in my mind. It was definitely a surreal moment. We made small talk about kids and then she seemed to want to talk about HF and police work. She actually said that she had no business being a police officer and that she didn't know what she was thinking. I can't tell you how uncomfortable I was hearing my blog fodder confess all this to me. I smiled politely and told her that it was admirable to give something like that a shot. She gushed about HF. Said he was a supercop and amazing and I agreed with her. She also mentioned how kind he was to everyone and helpful and encouraging. I liked hearing that, but I also felt like I wanted her to stop talking about HF.

We made small talk for a few more minutes. I felt a little bad for sharing her stories with the world, but when I saw her driving away from the school eating what looked like toast in one hand, and holding a book in the other, I had to laugh. She actually had the book open and in her face while she was trying to eat and drive! She is one of a kind. If you aren't sure who CJ or Calamity Jane is, you can see here and here. Now when I see her we smile and wave, she might compliment an outfit and vice versa.  She's very nice and I think she came to the right conclusion about her invovlvement police work.  

22 months on the job

image from here

It's been a while since I talked about what's going on with HF's job.

Patrol Update:
The usual: People feigning innocence, being jerks, lying, trying to ruin lives, etc. HF's department hired two new officers so he is no longer the lowest of the low. Ain't that somethin'. HF is testing a wireless microphone system that may be implemented for the entire patrol division. He is excited about that. I'll start sharing more patrol stories soon. They will include HF being asked out, people recording HF while he's interacting with others, being called a dirty cop, incredibly stupid people such as those riding skateboards and bikes and doing tricks on the police station's steps and rails and arguing with HF about it. "I didn't know that this was a police station", and other stupid quotes.

RAD Update:
HF is still a RAD instructor. He is not currently teaching any classes because of his new shift schedule, but assists when he can. A few weeks ago he gave an into class for a women's church group and that was a blast to see him in action as a teacher. He loves teaching and is good at it. He ended the class showing a couple of things that the women could do and they loved it. I think quite a few of them will end up signing up for RAD. That's the hardest thing for people to realize I think. They think that they can learn a couple of these techniques and call it good, but they don't realize that it's a lifetime endeavor and takes practice.

Besides HF getting the crap kicked out of him by a bunch of girls and coming home with bruises and welts, concussions and chipped teeth (yes, that's all with the red suit on), there is the ocassional happy story. One of the things that HF loves about teaching classes is that he gets to see transformations take place with these women. They start out weak and afraid, especially those who are survivors of rape or aggression. At the end of the class they are confident and strong. One of these girls, who is a rape survivor came back to class full of excitement. At the end of a date she was on, her date wouldn't take no for an answer (if you know what I mean), so she punched him in the nose, breaking his nose and screamed, "I SAID NO!" And she got out of there. I have never seen or met this girl and when HF told me about it, I was thrilled. That might sound strange to some of you to be thrilled that she broke somebody's nose, but for a woman, especially a rape survivor, to be able to do this is complete control over mind and body and it is a beautiful thing. It made my day to hear about this, and HF felt like what he's teaching them is worthwhile and important.

CJ Update:
It's true. She's back. Kind of. She has some kind of obsession with law enforcement and HF's agency specifically. Her current facebook status still says that she is a reserve detective for said department. Recently, she interviewed to become a dispatcher. Although we are still scratching out heads at how she landed the interview given her history with the department and her infamous FTO experience, she had an extensive interview. She brought elaborately decorated cupcakes for the entire center (which is nice) and HF's friend, who works in there said that she came in for a tour and said, "There sure is a lot of clicking going on in here!". Thankfully, her former FTO had sent a letter to the dispatch supervisor detailing some of her history. While this might seem cruel, if you kept up with her shenanigans while she was in the academy and on FTO, you would know that she needs to choose a career in modeling, hosting, interior design, or other social based enterprises. Seriously. Or there's news anchorwoman, air hostess, etc. You get the idea. Police work or dispatching  for her would put others in harm's way. For real. CJ Refresher course here.

SWAT Update:
I'll tell you all about it in March.

Personal Update:
If you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you know that HF has had a lot of success. He graduated top of his class, and while on the job has generally done everything right and has received a lot of praise. He is well-liked by his colleagues and even well-liked by some of his clients! He seems to have an amazing intuition about people and what to do in any given situation. Having said all that . . . lately, he has been really hard on himself and is showing a lack of confidence that is unusual.

Let me take you back 2 months. HF got in a minor car accident. He backed into a parked car. It didn't damage the police cruiser, but did cause some damage to the parked car. The result is that the department determined that he needed remedial drivers training. HF prides himself on his driving and it was a mistake he never thought he would make so early on in his career. He started wondering and really nit picking, "What else do I think I know but I don't really know?". It's like he is in the academy again. He is studying more and is being so hard on himself. Can you say perfectionist? The more he learns, the more he realizes he doesn't know anything. He is surrounded by a multitude of officers that have a decade (or two or three decades) experience on the job and he is trying to do as much as he possibly can now to offset what he lacks in experience. So anyways, what used to be your average game face getting ready for work each day, has turned into more intense focus and determination getting ready for work each day. I would love to hear your personal thoughts on this. For you more seasoned officers, is this something that happens periodically? For you newer officers, have you gone through this?

weekly academy update

With a little more than 2 months left in the academy, they have decided to start the drill sergeant/militaristic style of training. I'm assuming it's because they are starting firearms training. I'm a little worried and curious to see how Hot Fuzz handles the berating and belittling. I'm all for that method of police training though.

He has been given a laundry list of supplies and items needed by next week in addition to the laundry list of things he's already had to purchase and the laundry list of things yet to purchase by the time he graduates. . . I have a feeling he'll always need something, and it's most likely that his department won't supply it. Right now he just needs to purchase shooting glasses and a large duffel bag for all his stuff. They have asked the cadets to not arrive at the academy or leave the academy in their uniforms because of personal safety. Unfortunately, my mind likes to wander at this point and then I cringe. And then I put it in the back of my mind and try not to think about it anymore.

They also recommended a couple of books: On Combat and On Killing by Dave Grossman. Also, an officer that he works with that is on the brink of retirement gave him a bunch of his old books. I wonder if they are still applicable or if they are just completely outdated. It was still a nice gesture. It looks like they are intended for the administration-minded officer. Any book recommendations out there for either myself or the cop? I've been hearing a lot about "I Love a Cop" and I think I will definitely look into that. Here's the stack of books the officer gave him.


HF has been helping CJ a lot this week. He said that when they were practicing scenarios and she would go to draw her gun, her belt was so loose, that when she would try and lift her gun out, the belt would go up in the air with her gun as she struggled to get it out. She was saying things like, "my belt's too big!" or "I lost weight and my pants are all baggy now!". He would try to explain to her why she needs a belt that fits and she would just argue with him until he grabbed ahold of her belt on each side of her and basically spun the belt around her waist while she was wearing it to show her how ridiculously loose it was. It didn't seem to make sense to her why an officer would wear their pants and their belt a certain way. Even though this has all been explained to them at the beginning of the academy. Maybe it would all make sense when she is forced to shoot someone, but can't get her gun out and they shoot her instead. SCARY. Everything he tells me about this girl, I've either seen on Charlie's Angels or an old black and white western.

Well I'm off. I have to do laundry. I want to cry because HF just informed me that he has to have creases in his shirts and pants from now on and I don't do creases. Thank goodness his department he'll be working for has free dry cleaning service. This has been a long week and I have a feeling it's going to be an even longer next couple of weeks.

Stop! Police! I'm Serious!

Hot Fuzz passed his arrest control defensive tactics final examination. He took 2 days off of work to recover physically. He needed sleep since he is working graves and then attending the academy, and he wasn't hydrating properly, or eating properly, so it's been good to see him get some much needed rest and nourishment. His schedule has made it difficult for him to eat and drink at the right times. He started doing protein shakes and vitamins again and that is helping a ton. I was loving him being home because I was able to go get my hair did and some other things to help me out of my post baby slump and frump. More importantly, I was able to go to the eye doctor and get an eye exam. It's been 10 years at least! They wondered how I even made it to my appointment without glasses. But hey, when you know your city like the back of your hand, who needs glasses?

I know you all love my Calamity Jane updates, or CJ as I'll now refer to her. In her latest scenario, she drew her gun, pointed it up at the ceiling, Charlie's Angels style, and then lowered at the "suspect" and shouted, "STOP! POLICE! I'M SERIOUS!!"

What do you think? If you were the bad guy, and an officer shouted, "I'M SERIOUS!", would you stop? I'm still laughing about this. One guy in HF's class even said, "When I'm feeling really badly about myself and I'm at my lowest, I just think about her saying this. Then I feel better."

Calamity Jane Update

Calamity Jane is what I'm calling the girl that had the AD at the shooting range. There's been more shooting range fun. She continues to cover the muzzle with her hand, and covering the eject port with her hand when racking the slide (is that the right term?) My favorite is when HF told me that she was shooting like a Charlie's Angel. She was standing with one leg forward and bent a little. After she shot, she brought the gun up to her face to blow off the smoke, just like in a cheesy movie and said, "YES." Except, she was pointing the barrel of the gun at her nose and not straight up in the air. The instructor explained to her that the only reason actors shoot like that in movies is for product placement and so you can see the gorgeous actor's face. You obviously can't shoot like that on the job.

At the academy, they were doing scenarios where the cop had to get a suspect to do what they wanted. During her scenario, her suspect began walking away, and she stood there with her feet together, leaning forward with one fist on her hip and the other wiggling her baton in his direction saying, "Hey. You get back here Mister!" just like you would to a child. Of course, everyone is cracking up. Then during her critique, she argued with the instructors about what she did wrong, and then saw her family in the hallway, and walked out in the middle of her critique. I guess she got reemed by the instructors pretty good and warned that if she did anything like this again she would be gone.

On a positive note, HF said that she's been doing better and accepting criticism and instruction better from others. He also said that she's improving overall. Maybe finally taking things seriously. I'm still scared that she is going to kill somebody though.

wait a second!

I honestly don't worry about HF being a cop that much. That is until reading other police blogs, paying attention to the news, and searching for other police related websites!!! There is so much negativity out there, and my eyes have kind of been opened up to those negative aspects of life as a law enforcement officer, or even as the wife of a law enforcement officer. I probably should stay away from the websites, blogs, and news sources that give me reason to panic, but it's also good to know what's out there. It saddens me that there is a seemingly large population of people that "hate" police. It's also sad that there may be officers that give people good reason to hate police. I can't hide from it all obviously, but I hope to compartmentalize all that and find ways to remain positive and enjoy my life as a cop's wife and the others that will become my family so to speak.

Having said all that, this is what made me panic this week. My husband already has a job with a department even though he's still in the academy. Once a week, an officer takes him to the shooting range for training. They want him to be "the best" in the academy to represent their department or whatever. There's a girl that they have started training as well, but it's obvious already that her heart is not in it at all. She shows up at the range wearing high heeled fashion boots over her skinny jeans and a cute furry jacket. Do you really need to get all dolled up when you are training at a shooting range? Anyway, it's the little things HF tells me. When they are cleaning guns she's pointing the gun at everyone's faces, not paying attention to what she's doing, not knowing how anything works, etc. But this is what kills me. On Thursday, she had an accidental discharge and HF is standing right next to her. She wouldn't take her finger of the trigger, and listen to the commands being shouted at her for safety's sake.

So this is one of the first things that have given me cause to feel panic, and he's not even graduated the academy yet. I'm not supposed to worry about my husband's safety when he's with his fellow "officers". This was the last thing I would've worried about until now. I would worry more if he were partnered up with this girl than I would with him going head first into some kind of active shooter situation, you know? So of course I was kind of freaking out for about a day. But I'm sort of over it now. I'm all for girls being cops and everything, but this seems more like Barbie trying to prove something and not doing a very good job of it. I also understand that it takes practice and experience, but something tells me that that's not always good enough. Is this someone I want watching HF's back in any given situation? Not so far. Now I pray that my husband makes it through the academy alive because of the potential dunces he's surrounded by. And only time will tell. She more than likely won't make it all the way, or she'll smarten up and figure things out. But seriously, he could've gotten shot by this girl by accident the other day.

If this is causing me to need oxygen? I'm in for it, huh.