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

Cops and their supervisors; if you want an earful ask a cop about the worst supervisor they've worked for and grab a seat, and maybe some popcorn.  Every cop has the horrible supervisor story, and probably more than one.  Why is it some supervisors don't see why they are being bad at the job they are supposed to do? I've found that bad supervisors were never the real, working police.  And the ones that were, have forgotten what it's like. Any cop reading this can point out their good/great supervisors.  The ones that they didn't mind working for or when the supervisor asked for volunteers or for some sort of activity, the officers gladly went and did it.  I have had several really good supervisors, and still do, and while I am not a supervisor (yet...maybe one day?) I have been in positions of leadership or supervising in my life. The best supervisors I have had have done police work or been on a team of sorts (tact, gang, narcotics, etc.).  They know how paper shou

I know what you are thinking... WHOA!  FULL STOP!  Did that cop say he would loot too?  Is he an anarchist?  A rabble rouser?  A criminal cop? I'm none of those, and nor would I loot. Now. Based on my life's circumstances and how my finances are in place I don't need to.  I can fully support my family, pay my bills, and have a few hobbies.  I can keep a roof over my head, food on the table, and clothes on everyone's back. Even as a kid growing up in a large family, my father worked and was our main source of income.  I got a paper route at a young age to start saving money with, and was able to buy myself toys and eventually a car when I was old enough.  My mother did some in home babysitting to shore up some more family finances, so I had plenty and was taken care of. But I still had the spaghetti dinners, the whatever-lunch-meat-on-sale sandwiches, we drove (very) old cars, I wore hand-me-downs from other families being the eldest in mine, my first bicycle was probabl

One of the narratives that is alive and strong today, more so in certain circles, is that the police are nothing more than a wing of the government that is meant to oppress, tax, and murder.  Usually along with that narrative is that modern policing sprout from slave catchers pre- and during the Civil War era in the US.  That frame of mind does nothing but put police on the same plane as the pro-slavery supporters, Nazis and bloodthirsty communists of the 20th century, and the sociopaths that police routinely put behind bars. More times than I care to count I have been on the scene of a shooting, usually a young man, more often than not black/African American, and normally known to us from arrests or not-so-positive interactions.  Usually they are in their gang's territory, or were followed.  In any case, there are usually young teenagers or young adults.  Many have been in and out of bad homes, or come from single parent house holds, or even just raised by grandma.  They foun

Let's be honest, shall we? Humans do some really fucked up shit to each other.   There really isn't another way to put it.  We are the smartest animals on the planet, with a conscious and internal moral compass, that we are able to somehow completely ignore and perform some heinous acts on each other.  Whether it is a heat of the moment, gripped by passion kinda situation, or something premeditated and played out several times over before the plan is executed, we do harm against each other. Recently in Chicago a young mother was killed in a drive-by.  While she may not have been a saint by societies standards, she wasn't a monster like the 2 individuals were that took her life.  If you haven't seen the video it's hard to watch.  When I first saw it, along with several other officers, being angry or incensed would be an understatement. No mother, no matter how big or little of a criminal they might have chosen to be deserves to die holding their baby

Like most cops I'm pretty guarded.  I was like that before getting on the job and it isn't about to change now, and if anything I'm even more so.  Working as a cop we see a bit more of the sadness, despair, and destruction that people cause to each other.  Our fellow first responders on the fire and EMS side also do and can relate. So why is it a bad idea to ask a cop "How ya feeling?" or even "How ya doing?"? It's a pretty normal thing to ask someone right?  I mean we all ask each at the station when processing an arrest or during the few minute lull before the bosses walk in at roll call.  But why is it a bad question? Because every cop has an answer. "Fine." Now, outside of law enforcement it's a standard, and probably correct, answer.  But to a cop it can carry a different meaning.  A "fine" can mean "eh, I'm tired but it's my Friday" or "my wife and kids are pissing me off" or "I jus