Oct 2023. Blues Vol 39 No. 10

WORDS BY 5FRANK36 Just

WORDS BY 5FRANK36 Just another night shift. According to the careers section of my sons “high school career manual” a career as a police officer can be: “satisfying, rewarding, saddening, lonely, and fulfilling—all during the same shift. The job pays pretty well, and the benefits are typically very good, but each day can present—and probably will present—a new challenge.” UH HUH. These days, I’m just satisfied if I can make it through a shift in one piece and make it back home again. I’m still working nights, which is good and bad. The good thing is it seems I have a lot more “day hours” to get things done. The bad thing is, while I get a lot done in my daylight hours, my 3-hour nap from 6-9 isn’t helping much. I’m still tired as shit. But the truth is, I love working nights. It’s cooler for one. And there’s a lot less report writing. And getting my car ready for shift isn’t done in the blistering heat. And when I say get ready, I mean cleaning up after my car share partner. I’m lucky that he 152 The BLUES 152 The BLUES drops the car at my house and for the most part, he keeps it fairly clean. But when he’s late, I must move all his crap to the trunk and get mine out. But hey I’m not complaining. I can get in service from my driveway and only have roll call a couple of times a week. But today is his day off and I washed and cleaned the unit and she’s ready to go. I’m showered and shaved and about ready to walk out the door. No wife or kids to kiss goodbye. With over 15 years on the job, the wife left, and the kids are all in college. But I think about all the other cops on my shift that do have families. What it must be like these days for them to walk out the door and worrying what will happen if they don’t come back. In that high school manual, I also read that when you get dressed “you become quiet, stern, and thoughtful as you prepare yourself mentally for the day ahead. You stop being “you” and become “officer you” as you put on your vest, zip up your uniform shirt and strap on your gun.” Yeah, I don’t know about all that. I just hope and pray tonight won’t be another protest night. “5Frank36, I’m in service checking traffic.” “5Frank36, show you in service and you’re clear at this time.” I log in on the laptop, check for emails, BOLOs and see what’s what. I pull out of the driveway, turn on to the highway outside my subdivision and first thing I spot is a car with a headlight that’s out. Please dear God let’s don’t start the night with an asshole. I was nice, he was nice, gave him

a warning and sent him on his way. Why can’t they all be this simple. “5Frank36, major accident, 14300 FM3466, two pinned in, possible fatality. Care Flight has been dispatched.” “5Frank36 is enroute” Yep, it’s a Friday night. They should teach people what to do if you see flashing lights in your rear view and hear sirens and air horns blasting in your ears. Because people obviously don’t know shit about what to do. Assholes all over the place. 5Frank36 arrived, FD is on the scene. Holy shit. It’s hard to tell these were even two cars. Head-on collision. Both had to be traveling at 60-70+. It’s pure chaos. You can smell burnt oil and coolant. It’s always the coolant that hangs in the air. The Fire Dept and EMT’s have both just arrived. I hear the Fire Chief yelling commands to his guys on how they were going to cut open the two cars. An EMT walks up and tells me the driver of the SUV is DOA. “Hey, are you guys still needing Care Flight? He says yes and I tell him they are inbound with an ETA of 3 minutes. “Let’s put them down in the school across the street. I’ll get an LZ set up.” “5Frank36, I need units to set up an LZ at the High School for Care Flight. I have one confirmed fatality. Can you notify DPS and get them in route to work that.” I walk over to my unit and grab a blanket out of my trunk to cover up the front of the SUV. On my way back to the crumpled remains of what was a new Tahoe, I see the roof come off the compact car. The woman inside is covered in blood. My first instinct? Look in the back seat and pray to God there is not a car seat. NOPE. No car seat. Thank you, Father. A fireman and I had just finished placing the blanket over the Tahoe when I heard Care Flight overhead. I thought to myself they are going to be waiting awhile. They are still cutting that car into a dozen pieces. The crowd of onlookers has grown to a few dozen, everyone with their phones out. I just don’t understand the need to film people when they are having the worst day of their life. The BLUES 153 The BLUES 153