Today and tomorrow Monday and Tuesday 4/29 and 4/30/2013
see my post about working shifts, weekends, holidays, birthdays at Marilyn’s Musings
Month: April 2013
Categories
Guest Post: Marilyn Meredith
Coming up With Titles
By author Marilyn Meredith
Marilyn’s blog can be found at Marilyn’s Musings.
Sometimes I know the title before I write the book. At other times I flounder while trying to find the perfect title.
For my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries, Tempe is a Native American, I often find an Indian legend or saying by an Indian and use some part of that. Dispel the Mist, Invisible Path, Wing Beat all came about that way. The one I’m working on now, Spirit Shapes also came from a quote. Of course they have something to do with the story too.
The latest in that series, Raging Water, is a reference to what happens to Bear Creek when a huge storm strikes. I had to ask for help from my writer’s group for that title.
Sometimes the title strikes me immediately, even before I start to write–at other times I flounder.
With the Rocky Bluff series, a first title came easy.
Final Respects revolves around the death of a much-loved policeman, a mortuary and a funeral–the title was perfect.
Bad Tidings refers to the bad news police officers often have to deliver–and there is plenty in this book.
In Fringe Benefits a not so good police officer takes advantage of his job.
Smell of Death was the perfect title for this mystery centering on multiple murders.
Because No Sanctuary is about two churches, the ministers, their wives and the people who attend, this was the perfect title.
An Axe to Grind fit the murder weapon and motive.
Angel Lost has a double reference which becomes apparent when you read the story.
The reason for calling this next one No Bells doesn’t become apparent until near the end.
I had one heck of a time coming up with the title for Dangerous Impulses and one of the members of my critique group provided this one.
And for the one I’m writing now, a friend gave me the title which triggered the plot line. I’ve only written 5 chapters so I’ll wait a bit to reveal the title.
Remember, titles can’t be copyrighted, and often there is more than one book with the same title–sometimes they even come a around the same time.
I do always check Amazon for titles I’m considering.
How do you come up with a title for your books?
Marilyn
Categories
Woo-hoo!
“Jack Daniels”
My short story, “Jack Daniels”, was just chosen for the Redwood Writers’ 2013 Anthology: Emancipation.
Here’s the opening line on the email from the editorial staff:
Congratulations! Your submission has been selected for inclusion in the 2013 Redwood Writers Anthology.
We received nearly 120 submissions this year. Because of the large number, we selected work that most closely fit the guidelines and that was rated highest by our four-member editorial team based on such criteria as artistic vision, style and structure, and voice.
More to come on the release date. It is usually in August.
Categories
BOLO
From Charlie Metcalf, retired San Rafael Police Department:
Here’s a vehicle pursuit story.
I was driving in a residential area in the hills at night. Suddenly a motorcycle pulled in front of me with no lights on. It accelerated rapidly to a speed that was clearly unsafe. Normally I would figure 20-25 was about it on that narrow and winding road. It’s been about 15 years so I don’t recall just how fast it was going. I hit the red lights and called in the stop. The rider had other ideas and increased speed.
Knowing that I had little chance of catching the rider in the Ford Crown Victoria patrol car I called in a full description of the bike and rider. I had my hands full negotiating the curves while working the radio. Part of the description was that the rider was not wearing a helmet. Once that was done it was both hands back on the wheel, keep the guy in sight, and try not to lose him. I knew other units were coming into the area.
Going faster and faster it was time to update my location for the incoming units. During that transmission I gave the new speed (faster still), and mentioned that the rider was having trouble controlling the motorcycle and I thought he was likely to crash. Based on all of the circumstances I thought the bike had just been stolen. As soon as dispatch answered the Sergeant got on the air. He told me to terminate. I was pissed. I wanted to catch the guy. I had been running on adrenaline.
In the old days we would have chased and chased and chased, until we either lost him or caught him. Not any more. The Sergeant was weighing the risk to the public and the potential downside against the potential upside. He had heard, 1) no lights; 2) no helmet; 3) no skill as a rider. He and I met later in the night. He explained what his thinking was. I had to agree, he was right. Even if it was vehicle theft, which is a felony on paper, it’s a low grade misdemeanor at sentencing time.
Thanks to Joe Leonard, retired from San Rafael PD (Ca) for the following stories:
Thonie, this was my favorite pursuit. The pursuit after this one involved Phil Green, in 1964, before I joined the [San Rafael] police dept. The last one involved Hank Ingwersen and me.
*********************************************************************************************
Sometime around September or October of 1980, I was working day shift. I had just made a traffic stop on Third St., between Irwin and Grand. This was around 10:30-11:00 AM. I was just getting ready to call it in on the radio, when I got a call of a 10-33 (Alarm) at Crocker Bank in the Montecito shopping center, which was a block away from my location.
I broke off from the traffic stop and proceeded over to the shopping center. I stopped my unit by the N.E. corner of the Thrifty Drug Store, exited my vehicle, and looked towards the bank. I saw a lady in front of the bank, pointing to a black man walking by the entrance of Thrifty Drug. When I looked at him, I saw that he had a large amount of bills (Money) in each hand. I yelled at him to stop, but instead, he took off running towards Grand Ave. I started running after him.
As he ran past the used car lot, an employee at the lot saw me chasing the black man and yelled at me “What’s going on”. I yelled back “He just robbed the bank”. I continued chasing the robber, with the used car lot employee joining in. When we got to Grand Ave. and East Francisco Blvd.(a distance of about a block), the car lot employee broke off from the chase and went back to the car lot to get a car.
I continued chasing the robber on foot for about another block, block and a half. At the Toyota dealership, there was a person exiting from their parking lot in a Ford P/U. The robber, simulating a gun in his jacket pocket, ordered the driver of the P/U out of the vehicle. He then got in and took off down East Francisco Blvd. The car lot employee had gotten a car from his lot and picked me up at the Toyota Lot, so we began giving chase. From the time that I first saw the robber, I had been talking on my portable radio, keeping the dispatcher and other officers advised. After I had got in the car with the car lot employee, I continued to do so.
We traveled down Francisco Blvd., then went beneath the underpass and got on Highway 17, headed towards the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. At this time, there were a couple of San Rafael Police cars and one Mill Valley police car, plus myself, involved in the chase. The chase continued onto and across the bridge. The San Rafael Police Dispatcher had called Richmond Police Dept and advised them of the chase and why, etc. Richmond PD had their airplane in the air, so as soon as the robber came off the bridge, they had him in their sight.
After about another five minutes of pursuit, we were able to get the robber stopped. A Richmond Police Officer was the first one to the driver’s side of the pickup. He reached in through the open driver’s door window, grabbed the robber’s shirt, and pulled him through the window. The robber landed on the ground about three feet past the pickup. The robber was arrested on the spot, handcuffed, and then placed in the backseat of one of the San Rafael Police cars that was there. (As a side story to this incident, when the robber was placed in the police car, we didn’t know that he had gone to the bathroom in his pants. He sat in the car for about an hour, with the windows up. The smell permeated that car for six months)
After collecting evidence and getting the pickup towed back to San Rafael, I caught a ride with one of our officers at the scene back to the police department. I had contacted my Sgt. by radio, asking him to take control of my car, which I had left at the bank.
********************************************************************************************
I don’t know the date of this pursuit, other than it was in 1964. I also don’t know the details or the reason for the pursuit.
Phil Green, who was a patrolman at the time, initiated a pursuit that ended up on Highway 101 Northbound. Phil is rolling code three, in the fast lane of the highway. At the time of the pursuit, the speed limit on the highway was 65 MPH. Phil had a slight problem. The patrol unit (I believe it was a Ford) would only do 55 MPH. Here’s Phil, driving code three, in the fast lane, and he’s being passed by cars in the middle and slow lane. This pursuit lasted until Rohnert Park (Other patrol units were also involved) About 5-10 minutes after the stop, Phil finally rolled onto the scene. Phil said it was a little embarrassing, but he also thoought it was funny.
******************************************************************************************
Another pursuit story. The arrest of this person resulted in clearing about 300 burglaries
We got into Hank’s patrol unit, called in that we were back in service and started to leave the Mental Health Center. As we were approaching Sir Francis Brake Blvd, the dispatcher put out a broadcast. A residential burglary had just occurred in the South End of San Rafael on “C” St. The Suspect was seen leaving the scene in a vehicle (I don’t remember now what the car description was, but I do remember that a brand, model and color, plus the license plate number, were given at the time)
The vehicle was last seen going S/B on “D” St, and then up and over Wolfe Grade, headed towards Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
Hank, who was driving, looked over at me and said “Let’s Go.” We turned W/B onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd, then N/B onto Wolfe Grade. We were about a third of the way up Wolfe Grade, when we spotted the vehicle in question. Hank turned the car around, turned on the red lights and siren and the chase was on. The suspect vehicle got down to the intersection, and then turned W/B on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Sir Francis Drake Blvd, at this point, is a four lane, divided roadway, with two lanes going East and two lanes going west. The road continues this way until the main intersection at College of Marin, where it narrows down to one lane in each direction and no center divider, until it goes into San Anselmo, where it once again goes into a four lane divided roadway.
During the chase, we reached speeds of 90 MPH. The suspect vehicle was involved in four hit and run accident. He slid sideways into a M/C that was stopped for a red light in Ross, knocking it down and dumping the passengers onto the ground. I thought that they had been injured, but they hadn’t.
We arrived in San Anselmo, where the suspect vehicle was involved in a third accident, sideswiping a parked pickup as it was turning from Drake Blvd. onto a side street. The suspect vehicle went another 50-60 feet and then rear ended a parked car and stopped moving.
The driver of the car then jumped out of his vehicle and started running. He ran back towards Drake Blvd. then crossed it. From the time he jumped out of his vehicle and ran, the distance that he ran was only three of four blocks. When he exited his vehicle, I got out of the patrol unit and started chasing him on foot.
After he crossed Drake Blvd. He went behind a corner gas station, then down into a dry creek. At that point, he hollered out “I give up”. I went down into the creek, handcuffed him, and then placed him in our patrol unit. Chief Brusatori, who had ridden to the scene of the stop with Art Myers, rode back with Hank and the prisoner to the police station while Art gave me a ride out to Terra Linda to pickup my M/C. I then returned to the police station.
Be On the Look-Out:
I’m looking for comments, stories, observations, or recollections about pursuits–mainly vehicle pursuit as foot pursuits will be addressed at another time by law enforcement officers and dispatchers…from both sides of the radio. Just add a comment (paragraph, several paragraphs–no limit to word count) at the end of this blog.
I rode along once with a young officer who had a growing reputation for getting into lots of pursuits. I found out why when I sat in the passenger seat.
He observed a violation from some distance, several blocks at least. He flipped on his emergency lights to initiate a stop but he was at a great enough distance that the driver didn’t see them. The driver continued on. The officer jumped on the gas, grabbed the mike and called in a pursuit. Sheesh.
The poor driver stopped eventually when he realized the cop car was coming after him. He got a ticket, if he was lucky. Jail if he wasn’t.
It didn’t take too long for his shift partners to figure this out. Fortunately, he worked for a savvy enough sergeant who corrected this burgeoning bad behavior. “A training issue”, he said.
A pursuit is one of the most galvanizing events in the life of a cop. When a voice over the radio says, “I’m in pursuit,” virtually everything and everyone (cop-wise) rally around the incident. Dispatch readies jurisdiction notifications, maps, traffic hazards, and the cops (whether under the radar or not) flock to the area with spike strips, scenarios of Pit maneuver and whatever tricks they can come up with to thwart the bad guy.
So tell me your story, with or without names. Funny, tragic, imaginative–whatever. Tell me about your favorite pursuit. In the meantime, check out this video. It may jumpstart your imagination!
This post is the second reflection of the mysterious nature of “good police work” versus training, experience and all that…It is interesting to note that both authors are retired police officers who worked for different Northern California agencies, who don’t know each other and didn’t know the topic the other wrote about. Talk about mysterious….woooo woooo….–Thonie
Going Left Instead of Straight Ahead
By Gerry Goldshine
Sometimes, what’s called good police work is nothing more than an officer being in the right place at the right time; what actually makes it great police work is the ability to recognize a choice nugget of information and take the appropriate action. Sure, Hollywood would have us believe that solving a particularly notorious case always involves painstaking crime scene evidence collection, interviewing witnesses, checking video tapes, researching criminal information data bases and the like. To be sure, most criminal investigations do entail varying levels of meticulous work. Frequently though, it’s the beat officer who happens to drive by a local school and spots a window open that he knows should be closed. Taking the time to investigate further, our observant officer, winds up catching a burglar inside the school. Later, the bungling malefactor is found to be in possession of property from several other school break-ins. Great police work or luck because the officer decided to drive down the street where he was able to see that open window?
The arbitrary nature of police work came into sharp relief for me one fall night many years ago. I was heading back to the station and for some unfathomable reason, I decided to drive through a residential area instead taking the most direct route on the main boulevard. Going west on a quiet side street, I approached a four way stop intersection and happened to glance at the lawn of the church on the northwest corner, opposite from where I was stopped. At the edges of the illumination thrown out by my headlights, I caught sight of some scattered clothing on the lawn. They seemed to trail up to the large wooden sign that had the church’s name. About the same time, my sergeant, Sgt. Dave, arrived at the intersection on the cross street going north. At almost the same moment, we both saw movement near the base of the sign; immediately we each lit that area up with our spotlights. In the stark bright light, we saw a man with his pants pulled down to his knees atop a partially clad woman. My first thought was the front lawn of a church seemed a rather strange place to be connubial. However, when the man didn’t scramble to get off her, as would be the reaction of most people when being caught by the police “in flagrante delicto”. He also turned his face away as if he were trying to conceal his identity. All my “Spidey Senses” started tingling as were those of Sgt. Dave.
As Sgt. Dave got on the radio and requested additional units for a possible “261 PC” or rape in progress, I drove my patrol car right up onto the sidewalk to the edge of the grass, positioning it about 20-30 feet from the church sign. Sgt. Dave did the same, at a right angle to mine. Tactically, we had good cover and an excellent view of both subjects. When the other officers arrived, we detained the male subject for further investigation, without incident.
At first, he acted all indignant, telling us that he and his “girlfriend” just got carried away on their way home from one of the downtown bars. He was outraged that we had interrupted them, nevermind they were on the front lawn of a church. Sensing our growing irritation regarding the dubious veracity of his tale, he then tried apologizing for causing us any problems or delays. Meanwhile, the woman, who was bordering on hysteria, told us that she had been walking home from work when the suspect jumped out from some bushes, where he had been lying in wait. Grabbing her from behind, he dragged her across the church lawn, ripping off her clothes until he reached the sign, where he threw her to the ground. He was still trying to remove her panty hose when we drove up on the scene. The woman said he told her that if she called out to us, he was going to kill her. Needless to say, the man’s detention quickly became an arrest. Detectives later linked the suspect to another rape that occurred under almost the exact same circumstances and at almost the exact same location a year earlier.
Absolutely fantastic police work, right? Of course! On the other hand, one cannot help but ask, why had I turned left instead of going straight to the station, which would have been quicker? What brought Sgt. Dave and me to the exact spot we needed to be, at the exact time we needed to be there? For many a night afterwards, I would park somewhere quiet and stare out at the stars and contemplate the cosmic roll of the dice that brought us to that intersection at that precise moment. I couldn’t help reflecting on a drunk driver I had arrested several weeks earlier. Days after that arrest, he drove intoxicated once again. On his way home from one of the downtown bars, he missed negotiating a curve while going 65 miles an hour and killed both his passengers. I couldn’t help pondering on why he came into my little sphere of influence when he was alone in his car yet managed to take two lives several nights later totally unhindered. For some officers, mulling over these metaphysical quandaries become too much; they cannot contemplate how little control they have over certain events. As a result, many leave police work for other worthy endeavors. Me? Somehow the prospect of donning a robe and mediating upon the collected lint in my navel for endless years in search for answers to such metaphysical quandaries was less than appealing. Perhaps Rudyard Kipling said it best in his epic poem, “If”, part of which says;
“If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!”
aka T-36
Petaluma Police Department mid-1980’s
Gerry was born in Providence, Rhode Island but raised in Southern California.
Upon graduating from California State University, Los Angeles, Gerry enlisted in
the Army and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. After leaving active duty
in 1979, he worked for Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. From 1980 until his retirement
Friday Night Links 4/12/2013 — Let’s Kick Off Dispatcher Appreciation Week!.
Post borrowed from Melissa Kositzin
Check out her blog at Wandering Voiceless
Friday Night Links 4/12/2013 — Let’s Kick Off Dispatcher Appreciation Week!
On time and under budget this week… Here we go.
Next week — April 14-20 2013 — is Dispatcher Appreciation Week. Okay, I know it’s actually called National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. Sue me. Here’s some background on “our” week.
Today I attended Sonoma County’s Dispatcher Appreciation Luncheon in beautiful Healdsburg at the Healdsburg Golf Course. Every year this luncheon is put together by a small group of dispatchers representing every agency in Sonoma County. They find a venue, plan a menu, and arrange for door prizes for all attendees. In years past, they’ve had various speakers on the program; this year we played two rousing games of Family Feud with dispatch specific questions — that’s right, they sent out a questionnaire ahead of time to build the “top x” answers. As a special treat this year, they also had raffle prizes. Bonus: I won a 2010 World Series baseball, which I gave to Prince Charming. THANK YOU SONOMA COUNTY DISPATCHERS!
So, in honor of my fellow dispatcher cohorts, whom I deeply appreciate, all links this week will be dispatch related.
First up, there’s a fabulously funny gal running around facebook who goes by the name of “Diary of a Mad Dispatcher.” Her real name is Kristin Kitchen and she is a dispatcher in southeast North Carolina. She and her team of trusted friends/co-workers post a lot of cartoons like this one:
… but she also posts give-aways, discussions and Q&A. She also has a blog. I find her to be articulate and passionate about our profession. She’s a great ambassador.
In honor of Dispatcher Appreciation Week, she was interviewed by The Badge Guys. You can find the interview here and here – yes, it’s two parts! Part 2 includes a video about Roseville PD dispatch (in Northern California), and in it Kristin discusses the stress and uncertainty associated with being a dispatcher. It’s a great read.
As a bonus link, The Badge Guys also recently posted a column about dispatcher stress. Go take a look at that, too; it has really good information about “the silent killer.”
In 9-1-1 Magazine there is a page of NPSTW resources, and Barry Furey talks about how, “… we’re saving the world, one caller at a time.” 9-1-1 Magazine is one of my go-to resources for all things dispatch-related.
Finally, we’re gonna wrap it up with a video about the Newtown dispatchers winning an award for their work during the Sandy Hook incident.
So, yes, although I don’t talk about it too much, I’m very proud of my job. Hopefully, I’ll be writing more about it soon.
Have a great weekend… and take some time next week to thank your local dispatcher, eh?
Categories
There’s hope for indie authors
As I do every second Sunday of the month, I attended the Redwood Writers Club (RWC) meeting in Santa Rosa. I took a writing class Jordan Rosenfeld co-taught several years ago at the RWC Conference. We have corresponded via Facebook, so it was nice to make that personal contact. Beyond that, I found her talk fascinating. She spoke about a writers’ collective to help indie authors publish and market their work. More on that later this week. Until then, this was a particularly hopeful article for us self-pubbed scribblers that appeared in Sunday’s Press Democrat. I LOVED that the author, Crissi Langwell attended the meeting. –Thonie
There’s hope for indie authors
Published: Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 3:00 a.m.
Three years ago, Jenn Sterling, 35, of Petaluma got fired from her job. At the time, it felt like the worst thing that could have happened to her. But in fact, it ended up being the best.
“The first thing I did after getting the boot was go out and buy a laptop and start writing,” Sterling said. “I had this one particular story in my head for over 10 years and it wouldn’t stop nagging at me. Getting fired was the perfect time to start writing it.”
Three years later, Sterling’s third novel, “The Perfect Game,” has sold over 100,000 copies, has hit multiple bestsellers lists, and has created a buzz among her fans with the announcement of the upcoming sequel, “The Game Changer,” publishing in June.
What makes Sterling’s story remarkable, however, is she did all of this by starting out self-publishing.
Like most self-published, or “indie,” authors, Sterling attempted to get her book published by a traditional publisher.
“I got too many rejections to count,” she said. “And I remember thinking that when the next rejection comes, I’ll cave and just self-publish. Thank God for that next rejection.”
The ability to self-publish isn’t a new phenomenon. But it has been making waves in the way books are published, thanks to a few notable self-published authors who have found their way to larger success and recognition.
Amanda Hocking, 28, a Minnesota writer of paranormal fiction, decided to self-publish a few books just to earn a few hundred dollars. Almost three years later, she is a multi-millionaire with five book series under her belt.
Hugh Howey, 37, a writer in Florida, began sharing his “Wool” series on Amazon in 2011, originally self-published as a novelette. His short stories soon hit high demand, and all of his books can be found among the bestsellers lists on Amazon.
And, of course, there is E L James, the London author who took a story written as fan fiction and turned it into the huge, self-published success story we know as the “Fifty Shades” trilogy. All three books have dominated the bestsellers lists and are being transformed to film.
But despite the inspiring stories of indie authors making it big almost instantly, the grim reality is that it takes a lot of work to make a career out of self-publishing, and success isn’t necessarily instant – or guaranteed.
“I think the only people who bought my first book were all of my friends and family,” Sterling admitted. “My first book barely made any money. And by barely, I mean nothing.”
Helen Sedwick, the 37-year-old Santa Rosa author of “Coyote Winds,” credits books like “Fifty Shades of Grey” with turning the tide for self-published authors.
“Will people take you seriously if you self-publish?” she mused. “The thought process is changing. Thanks to ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ people are more familiar with self-publishing.”
Sedwick’s paperback book sales and eBook sales are close to even right now, due in part to a recent book signing she held. But she acknowledges the advantage eBooks have over physical book copies.
“There’s a lower risk involved with eBooks, and they’re less expensive,” Sedwick noted. “Readers can download a sample before they buy. And authors make more money on an eBook,” she said, noting the lack of printing costs and middlemen.
However, those who decide to bypass a traditional publishing house in favor of self-publishing have their work cut out for them. Without a traditional publishing house, publishing a book is more than just writing it. For Sedwick, this meant hiring an editor and copy editor, a web designer and a publicist. She attended classes on self-publishing, emailed everyone she knew about her recent accomplishment, conducted book giveaways, and created a book trailer with the help of a videographer. She even took part in a blog tour, a popular alternative to book tours, by writing blog articles then re-published by other bloggers — thus expanding the self-published book’s reach.
The latter form of promotion is just one example of how indie authors are banding together as a community to help their success grow.
“The worst thing you can do is to self-publish in a vacuum,” said Jordan Rosenfeld, the 38-year-old author of “Forged in Grace,” a story that takes place in a fictional version of Drake’s Bay. Rosenfeld co-founded indie-visible, a collective of 16 independent authors who publish under the indie-visible name, acting as a small publishing press but still holding all the rights to their own work.
“I’ve seen enough self-publishing authors make mistakes that added to their lack of success,” Rosenfeld said. “Poor cover design, not enough editorial feedback or marketing” are some of the reasons books don’t do as well as an indie author might hope. Rosenfeld stresses the importance of making independent publishing a collaborative effort to further success, joining forces to further promotion and offer support.
And the best thing an indie author can do?
“Create the audience first,” Rosenfeld said. She advised setting up a marketing plan before the book is even published, building a platform through blogging, social media, and more so that there’s someone to pitch to when the book is published.
(Crissi Langwell writes about entertainment and family at the Press Democrat, and is the indie author of the novel “A Symphony of Cicadas.” You can reach her at crissi.langwell@pressdemocrat.com.)
Categories
The Bad Guys Never Had A Chance…..
Police work is rarely portrayed accurately on television and movies. Books do better because they have more time to explain and explore. There is no easy solution to every problem. Sometimes it just a matter of being at the right place at the right time. Next week, Gerry Goldshine’s post illustrates this. Today’s post from Woody Hoke shows how a good eye prevented a bank robbery. Be advised, though, there is no flashy ending to this story. The conclusion is more typical of how real-life police work is accomplished: good intel (and/or tips), diligent observation, meticulous regard for the laws entrusted to our care, and continuous training.
The Bad Guys Never Had A Chance…..
Some days, it just doesn’t pay for the bad guys to get out of bed…from the get-go their chances of landing in jail grow as the day lingers on…
If you are a crook and good at your profession, those days are far and in between but sooner or later your luck is going to run out….
Such a day and such luck befell these two ‘professionals’. This day, these bad guys never had a chance…
I was working Day Shift patrol when I was called over the radio by my Supervisor Gerry Green to 10-87 (meet) with him for some important information. He advised me that he had gotten details of a possible robbery that was about to take place in San Rafael this day…He advised me that there were two white male occupants in a green colored Plymouth cruising the city planning to rob a bank…The details were a little sketchy but the plan was to kidnap a bank manager and use him to withdraw funds from his bank…Sounds like an episode right out of the television series ‘Police Story”…
Sergeant Green advised me of the license plate on the vehicle and to be vigilant of this vehicle cruising the City…As we parted from this meeting I started cruising E/B on Fifth Ave. No more than three blocks away, I observed a green Plymouth with the license given to me heading W/B on Fifth with two occupants. I alerted Sgt Green of this sighting and I immediately turned N/B up to Mission Ave. I followed the vehicle W/B giving the location of the vehicle to dispatch…I was advised to continue following the vehicle and that other police agencies were being alerted and were enroute to my reported area.
The suspect vehicle continued through heavy traffic on Fifth Ave which made it easy for me to keep up with them and keep them in sight without being detected–especially in a marked Police vehicle. Soon I was advised that other police vehicles had taken up the surveillance of the suspect vehicle and that I could stop mirroring their location.
The following units couldn’t take any action at this time as no crime had been committed yet and so they continued to follow it. A couple of hours later, I was advised that the following units followed the vehicle out of town and at some point decided to take the vehicle down rather than keep following them. They also identified the target bank. The suspects committed no crime to the bank manager or his bank.
Not sure if these professionals continued on with their criminal ways or if maybe their lack of luck gave them pause to think of another to make a living…
Woody Hoke began his law enforcement career
in the early 1970’s with San Rafael Police,
then Sausalito PD. He has graciously agreed
to share some of his memories of those days.
See more about Woody Hoke, Jr. on Facebook.
Nights, weekends, holidays and birthdays
As I settle back into my recliner after a superlative Easter Brunch at my sister’s sister-in-law’s (talk about extended family!), I reflect on the holidays that I’ve missed. Technically, you couldn’t really say I missed them as I was present but often not at the place of the celebration. In the years I spent on the job, missing a holiday celebration was part of the deal. I signed up knowing that I’d miss Christmas morning with the kids opening their gifts, Thanksgiving afternoon with Mom and Dad, birthdays and anniversaries. Those days were often spent driving around alone trying to keep busy but not get into trouble or sitting in a dimly lit room staring at flickering monitors.
It’s kind of funny, going to work on Christmas morning when everyone you know is still in sugar-plum fairy land isn’t as doleful as it sounds. I always (even in the depths of my comatose commute) felt a little special to be awake when everyone else was asleep. I knew that when I got to work, that I would be there. I might really be able to help someone, maybe even save a life. But, I knew I would miss holidays with family and friends when I hired on so I didn’t spend time feeling sorry for myself. I adjusted my thinking to alternatives and never looked back. Sure, I had to explain my goofy shifts to my mother and non-law enforcement friends. But over the years, they all grew accustomed to my absence or shortened visits (“Sorry Mom, gotta go to work.”).
When I got married, it was to a man who had children. Holidays and birthdays were sometimes celebrated a day before the actual event, or maybe a day after—it depended on my husband’s schedule. Because he was a fire fighter, he worked 24 hour shifts, sometimes 72 hour shifts. One day, I consoled my son who was upset that we wouldn’t be together for Easter: I reminded him that he’d be at his mother’s house and get goodies then come home later that night and have goodies at our house. Twice as many goodies! This was a lesson that the kids learned well. Our time together became more special because we had to schedule it—with others in the family (brother-in-law and sister) who also worked in emergency services, it was usually a challenge.
Christmas Eve swing shift and grave yard were always kind of “special”. In years past, someone from county dispatch sent out periodic “Santa sightings” over the police telecommunications system. These days, this is strictly prohibited but for those of us on duty then, it provided entertainment between family fights and drunks. In dispatch and on the street, it was normal to be sorry to miss your family but few if any officers or dispatchers allowed themselves to give in to melancholy. I’ve been ordered in on Christmas. I wasn’t happy but I worked. Crime, fires and medical emergencies don’t wait for 9 to 5 hours, so neither can the job. One Christmas, I worked my scheduled day shift-7am to 5pm. The second dispatch position was off on vacation and as no one had signed up to work the overtime, five dispatchers were ordered in to each work a 2 hour shift. That is an extreme, to be sure. Usually, a generous soul—one with grown or no kids—would take the time. But not always. Sometimes I had to dump the kids at a sitter and work. It’s just the way it is. But don’t feel sorry for me. I am a professional and get paid accordingly. If I worked a holiday, I was compensated with varying degrees of salary or commensurate time off.
After all, all your co-workers were in the same situation. The bottom line was that everyone, no matter what their situation, was prepared to get the job done—paycheck aside, even then it was sometimes a sacrifice. But we do it every day—nights, weekends, holidays and birthdays.
A salute to all those working this Easter!