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

Being a cop is stressful a lot of the time.  Chaotic calls, fast paced situations, use of force incidents, shooting scenes, large scale fights, people on drugs or in a state of excited delirium...the stress is just a part of doing business. Then there are the complaints, going to talk to IA or a civilian oversight body, getting pulled aside in the hallway or into the sergeants office for a little chit-chat, or going down to Corp Counsel/city attorneys to talk about the lawsuit and why someone is suing you. More than once I've seen the back side of this door Then there is the ever present risk of injury from hopping fences, crashes in a squad car, being struck when outside of a squad on a traffic stop, and use of force injuries.  Lets not forget that always waiting-in-the-wings chance of being seriously injured or killed by gunfire or a weapon.  Every cop knows what the potential outcome is for an incident, even the "routine" or "mundane" calls that we handle eve

  When my star was pinned on my chest during the ceremony at the academy I had a great sense of pride and relief.  Relief that the academy was over and I had made it, and pride because I had joined what I felt to be the greatest department this profession has to offer.  Every kid at some point wants to be a cop…along with a firefighter, astronaut, soldier, racecar driver, and so on.  I just wanted to be a cop more than most; my closest friend, also a cop, was the one who pinned my star on my chest and a huge reason I even joined the profession.  The idea to become a cop was solidified at the funeral for 1st Deputy John Thomas as then Superintendent Terry Hillard talked about his friend.  I could see the respect and admiration in how he spoke of his friend and colleague and I wanted to desperately be a part of that fraternal feeling. I knew the job would be hard, not just physically but mentally.  I filled my head with as much knowledge on the human reaction to stress, violence, opposit

Sun Tzu said it is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. Robert Peel, in his 7th of 9 Principles of Law Enforcement, wrote that "the police are the public and the public are the police".  Referring to that notion as having been a historic tradition of policing itself. The knights of England, and many other countries, were trained in war and worked in other pursuits during peace time. So what is, or what has become, modern day policing? Is it viral videos of entire departments dancing or doing the newest online trend?  Is it that sneaky video a citizen took as an officer does some sort of mundane task for another like tying a tie or helping change a tire?  Is it officers running their department's twitter or social media feeds to inform the citizenry of traffic incidents, crime, or other things?   Or is it more of what someone may deem as nefarious? Is it that officer not properly using the authority given to them by the peop