Foot Pursuit... after a bear

Today we had an illegal camp raided by a bear. I was willing to let the bear stay and tell the illegal camper he's out of luck: Welcome to Alaska. Instead the Sergeant had us chase the bear away. It became a foot pursuit to keep the bear away from the legal campground and move him towards the mountains. I was lethal cover with another Officer while a third fired a couple of non-lethal rounds at the bear. I'm sure it'll be back tomorrow.

A little while later I was speaking to some parents about controlling their kids who are being bullies. I heard something on the radio about "... she's not breathing...". Somehow I knew it was my area so I got to my car, looked it up and headed over there fast and was the first one there. CPR didn't work this time. On arrival I knew my efforts would be in vain, but should any of the gawkers be family they might appreciate the effort. Oh well; as I was getting off of shift it sounded like Officers located the suspect vehicle and were working on getting the driver.

So domestic squabbles to bear pursuit to domestic squabbles to a fatal hit and run... interesting day.

Felony

Him: FELONY?! HOW CAN YOU CHARGE ME WITH A FELONY???

Me: Well, I fill out some paperwork here (point to computer), then the Magistrate fills out some paper. Then I combine all the paperwork and hand it to the jail staff. That is how I can charge you with a felony.

Latest

My last post wasn't an attempt to get a pat on the back. Really it was an attempt to vent. The whole thing left me bothered for really strange reasons. Part of which was that I smelled of baby puke the rest of the shift. Thanks for the well wishes though... I'm just glad someone I did CPR on finally lived.

In other news I finished a week on the range being trained to carry a Rifle. It was good training. In the Marine Corps we were trained well on the weapon system but it didn't go to far beyond the basics... there was some CQB drills, ambush drills, unknown distance course and of course there was the known distance course (great confidence knowing you can hit the target well at 500 yards). I'm sure if I was in the infantry I would have learned more but being a computer geek doesn't give you much time to play.

This course didn't work to much on the long distance since frankly law enforcement doesn't have much, if any, need to stop a target from 500 yards. This week focused on short range (they've grabbed your barrel) to medium range (school hallway distance).
It was good training but the more I think about the short distance stuff the more I realize that uniform will be done with... I thought I got some blood on me when I pulled the bloody guy from his vehicle... imagine the blow back when you fire at someone holding your barrel - close your mouth tight and pray you have glasses on, ewww...

This week while in training I stayed with The Girl Who Tolerates Me (TGWTM) who is also hosting a friend's cat. She had to go to work last night so I was there alone.
This morning she asked if the cat made any funny noises at night like loud meows and stuff. Initially I said no but then I thought about a dream I had and maybe it was the cat. I told TGWTM that I had a dream and this woman was screaming in it. TGWTM asked why a woman was screaming in my dream with a slightly jealous tone but she was relieved when I told her the woman was screaming because I had her in a thigh lock. Note: I've looked for a picture, video or instructions on the thigh lock to show that it is not a move done on a stripper pole but an unpleasant (for the locked) way to keep a person stuck to the ground... in short you use your shin across the side of a persons head and they remain pinned to the ground. Their spine gets locked out so they can't get any power from the torso. If applied properly their feet will flop once like a fish tail.
She was pleased with that answer, especially as we were walking into the DV Lowes.

N/A

I did the Heimlich maneuver on a choking baby, then did CPR once there was no pulse.

I smelled of baby puke the rest of the day.

CAT Scan came back, she should be fine.

Self mutilation

To the few Officers and Dispatchers that read this... or anyone that knows psychology:

Have any of you come across a person that injures himself (cuts self, shoots self, crashes a vehicle) and then makes up an elaborate story about getting assaulted? I'm not talking about the embellishments of a fight (one big guy getting beat up by five guys when really it was one little dude that kicked his ass)... I'm talking about someone who takes a knife to themselves and then claims a group of people came after him.

I've had one certain case like this (I was parked directly across the street when it happened and no one left the residence when the 'attack' occurred). I now have a second case that I suspect is the same thing. Sadly for this second case I didn't realize until I looked at the guys history.

So now I'm going to be researching trying to figure out what causes this, some sure signs of it and what resources are available to help with this.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Remember... you chose this job

Mom wanted me to be an engineer or lawyer... I chose the job that is not behind a desk. And because of that I got into some interesting predicaments this past two weeks.

If I were to plan a suburban ambush I would chose to be in a house on hill. If the attacking enemy had limitations on their fire (ie don't hit children, don't even fire if you might hit children) I would want children in the house. I would make sure the approach to the house is steep and lit just enough that I could see silhouettes of the attacking enemy and the enemy would be looking into bright porch lights. On the sides of the steep driveway I would have even steeper slopes that would be covered in a few feet of snow making them impassable. I would have trees all around so I could hide behind them to flank the enemy as they approached.
So this was our approach to a house where a person was reported to have a gun and was beating his wife. On the approach I knew we were going to be ambushed. I knew as we approached that we were in the middle of a huge kill zone and I knew the only plan to overcome this kill zone was to give an overwhelming amount of fire back and pray some of our rounds hit the bad guy. Walking into it I said to myself "This is the day; this is the day I get shot at and I have to shoot back. Remember this well because the department will be dissecting it bit by bit over the next few months."
No shots were fired that day. Luckily for us the bad guy didn't know we were there until we lit him up and began barking orders; And lucky for us he didn't have a gun at that moment. That night I talked with a friend who was with me on the approach and we both commented on that being the scariest approach we've ever made. A few days later another friend was with us and we talked it over again - All agreed it was the scariest, worst approach we've ever had.

A few days later I here a strange call on the radio. I'm already on a call trying not to break from it but we get so many people calling in about these shots fired I know we will need every body we have.
Skipping over a lot of details I'll say it was a very strange feeling making a shallow penetration in a very large house to get people out while a gunman was holed up in a room... we weren't sure exactly which room, we just knew it was on our floor and towards one end.

My postings might be fewer and farther between; our department will have a new policy soon about online postings so even with my lack of names, places, exact times I'll be making it even more obscure. Heck I might just make this a fictional blog... things that could happen in law enforcement on calls that could happen in Alaska... like I might get called out to a moose stuck between a fence and a building... and I might help take the fence down, and I might help heard the moose out to freedom; I might have, I might not have, but its a call that could happen.

Not much

Not much for this week either... at least when I hit that truck with my patrol car it was considered a pinning maneuver and I didn't have to go pee in a cup.