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

 " What do you see when you're in the dark, and the demons come? " - Frank Horrigan ( In The Line of Fire) It's 4 am as I start to write this.  It has been something bouncing around in my head for a while, and if you know me I'm all about dumping shit off your chest.  I'm a big advocate for cops seeking out mental health resources.  That can be with a licensed counselor, a PhD'd doctor, a clinician, a good friend, or just a buddy at work.  We all need to vent out work related stresses, and when we don't it should be no surprise police officers have a higher rate of suicide than other professions.  And in Chicago we are found to be even higher within the profession. My first dead body was an elderly man that had a lot of health issues and his kids couldn't get him on the phone.  We made entry and found him.  He was long gone.  But I clearly remember 2 distinct things about him, his eyes (which were still open) and his hand was grasping the cord for

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