PO Potatoes- The thoughts and musings of a crime fighting Potato

When I was in the Chicago Police academy I had a chance to sit down with one of the training sergeants.  His imposing figure was impressive and he carried himself extremely well, not to mention the stories around him as a blue shirt just added to his aura.  I remember asking him what books he has read that has helped him as a cop, and he was so impressed by the question he told me to stop by after class and we would talk. That led to multiple meetings, book suggestions which I bought, and loaned me several of his own personal books to read. It was the conversations that really hit things home for me and brought me a lot of perspective.  While I was a product of Chicago public schools and City Colleges and had a diverse group of friends, I had never been a cop.  I had enough mentors in my life prior to police work that I knew the best way to learn about a field was to find the person that is intimidating and ask them how they think.  I knew if I could go into the field with the right me

The biggest difference in how officers respond to trauma and death (IMO) is the culture of the department and the supervisors around them.  We all know most first responders and military have a dark sense of humor, sometimes almost to a point it is offensive to people who AREN'T in those same circles. My wife is one of those people who "get" the dark humor, but doesn't actually get it and that's OK.  She helps to keep me regulated in that regard. My first homicide victim was a 19 year old man who was gunned down leaving a corner store after having bought a bag of chips and a red pop of some sort.  I can remember as I was tasked with putting up tape I just stood there staring at this lifeless body wrapped up in a bicycle and leaned against the wall.  I can even remember hearing the shots from the district station.  The hearing of the shots and now seeing this life snuffed out was a weird concoction of sorts. While I didn't know this guy at all, and it was goin