Riding the bus...

Some police officers in the big city are assigned to patrol the transit system. Besides the subway system, there are miles of bus routes that have to be protected. This is a huge responsibility.

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One of the tools available to the officers is the surveillance cameras that are installed on board most, if not all the buses, on the system. These cameras provide remarkably good quality video or digital photos of any incident occurring on the bus.

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Modern technology is a helpful law enforcement asset but it still takes the dogged determination of good coppers out on the street doing the leg work.

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When crimes are recorded on a city bus, these officers obtain copies of the video and hit the road. They look for landmarks visible on the video such as fences, ads, benches, or anything that will give them the location where the bad guys boarded or exited the bus.

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These officers, whose only mission for the day is to find the bad guys, will then go on foot, asking questions, showing the photos, and searching for signs of the crooks. They visit the schools, look through yearbooks, and talk to students and teachers.

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Using the technology available along with good old fashioned "boots on the ground" police work, many crimes have been solved.

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Serious crimes, such as a bus driver being set on fire, or the shooting of a teenager have been successfully prosecuted. Criminal vandalism cases have also been closed due to the dilligence of big city police officers.

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This is what police work is all about for these officers; One mission, one villain, go out and get em. Positive results is the only payoff. Pride in one's work is the only thanks. The look of surprise on the guy's face when he is shown his photo is worth the hours of pounding the pavement.

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Wiser words have never been spoken than what an old sergeant preached at roll call, "Being a big city copper is a vocation, a calling, not a job. Kind of like the priesthood without the young boys."

Air and Water Show

Every summer, one of the big events of the season is the Air and Water show. Thousands of people fill every empty space to be found any where near the lakefront where the show is held. They come out early in the morning and picnic all day. They look like they're really enjoying themselves too.

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For big city coppers though, it is a major pain. People, locals as well as tourists wander every where. They clutter the park, the streets, and the roads. Traffic is a nightmare.

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This year, the big city copper arrives at work and is handed a new assignment for the next two days event. Report to the boss early and dress comfortably. "What is up" the copper wonders aloud. "You are," says the el tee. "You aren't afraid of heights are you?" he continues, laughing.

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The assignment is a big one, er, tall one. Monitor and control the flow of traffic and provide an "eye in the sky" for the officers on the ground. "Cool, I get to ride in the police chopper." thinks the officer. WRONG.

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For the next two days the officer is standing on the roof of a fifty story building with a spotting scope, binoculars, and a radio. The wind up that high, approximately 500 feet up, gusts strongly. He notices, "holy crap, this is kinda scary!"

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There's no time to be chicken though, the boss on the ground wants to know where the problems are. It's getting busy in a hurry. Cabbies are dropping off passengers right on the roadway that hugs the lakefront. They are unwilling to wait for the exit ramp to clear and are walking along the shoulder. An ice cream truck has pulled over on that shoulder and is doing a brisk business. Pedestrians are trying to cross the eight lane road instead of using the overpass or tunnel. Calling out the problem areas, the "eye in the sky" begins to direct the ground officers to the exact locations where they are needed. Exit ramps are opened and closed as necessary. Controlling the flow at intersections as far as a half mile from the gridlocked ramps eases the congestion. It is amazing, This is working great. The copper is having fun.

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The show starts. Watching the air show from eye level is great. The USAF jets come roaring by just overhead. "WHOOOEEE" shouts the copper. He could see the sharks teeth painted on the nose of a deadly looking warplane as it soars past. The building is aligned with the brightly painted boat being used as a guide point for the jets, explains the official USAF photographer that has joined the copper on the roof. Every airplane in the show passes close by at one point or another.

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The normally dreaded annual event has turned into yet another fantastic adventure.

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Being a big city copper is the best job in the world. Except maybe, for those guys cruising around in their multi million dollar war jets.

Becoming the real police.

It's amazing what goes through a copper's mind in the middle of a knock down drag out tooth and nail attempt to put handcuffs on somebody who just doesn't want to go quietly.

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Standing at a window entangled with a police fighter and his partner the thought comes "If I shove him through this window will he hold on to us so we all go down two floors? Why is our police car the only one on the street? Did the call for help go out?"

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As if reading his mind the partner says, " I called ."

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There is a lull in the fight. The bad guy, the officers, and even the victim (who decided she didn't want her man arrested after all) are exhausted. The officer's are able to grab a breath but so does the offender. The battle resumes. The woman jumps on an officer's back clawing at his eyes. The copper twists and throws her across the room. He turns back and sees the bad guy is about to bite his partner in the groin. He reaches in grabbing the mans face and feels a crunching pain as his fingers become the target of the bite. The two officers throw punches, knees, and elbows trying to get cuffs on the tremendously strong man they are trying to arrest. Hell, at this point they are just trying to survive.

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Like music from heaven, sirens can be heard in the distance. The struggle continues. A short time later the door flies open, a mass of blue uniforms rush in. It's a most beautiful thing. Now the odds are in the police officers' favor, fifteen to two, the way it should be. Peace through superior firepower!

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The bleeding exhausted men watch as the offender is buried under a flurry of punches and kicks as the situation is brought back under control. Now they only have to go home and explain to their families how they got the bleeding hickeys, the stitched up fingers, and the stripes across the face and eyes.

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Often a situation rapidly escalated to where force became necessary. Pepper spray? Tasers? They didn't exist up until a few years ago. It was all manual combat. Coppers died in the double digits every year until the bullet proof vests began to be issued in the mid eighties. A tee shirt with an "S" emblazoned on it didn't do the trick.

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An amazing thing happened when the partners returned to work after a brief recovery period. Prior to this incident, they were two FNG's (effen new guys). It was "hey kid, I'm driving you do the paper." and "hey kid I'll be right back wait in the car." Suddenly every one knew their first names. They got invited to coffee. They were accepted. Real coppers aren't afraid. They had stood and fought and had been bloodied. They were now the real police.