I remember one night on duty, I'd already responded to I-don't-know-how-many fights, domestic violences and traffic incidents (TA's). It was one of the busier nights in terms of volume that I'd been through. It was going on perhaps 2am, 3 am? and I was already exhausted and the weekend was just getting started. I was in dispatch and I heard a phone call come over the dispatch phone that was a guy screaming for help about being outnumbered and needing the police immediately and his friend was "going down."
Sadly, you become callous to such things as a cop, everyone's life is in immediate danger and when you get there it was a crazy guy down the block with a salad fork muttering to himself, yet he "nearly killed the neighbor's daughter." At any rate, I was exhausted, so far I'd managed not to get hit that night. I don't even remember everything from that evening, only that I was busy. Except for this call. I was going to remember this call....and be haunted by it ever after. Watch commander asked if I wanted to go. The phone rang again, I picked it up in dispatch and it was the guy again screaming for help - yelling at any rate - and not making sense. I think he was drunk from the sound of it, and drunks aren't the best judge of what's happening. I remember thinking it was ironic that I only had a job because there were stupid people in the world, and thinking, "Why do I have to go save the world...when are people going to learn to stay the heck out of trouble and watch their own backsides?"
I told the watch commander I would go, I asked for "code 2" originally and he said "negative" until we know what it is and have clearer instructions and then the second call came in. I headed out, I wasn't even sure where I was going.
I headed out expedited code one (driving over the speed limit, no lights or sirens) when a third call came in from the same guy and I had better directions. I lit up my lights and started hauling ass. When I got to the approximate destination, carnage and chaos scrambled in front of me. This was a mob....and it was ugly and they were coming at me...... I hit my siren to cause some confusion and intimidate this huge crowd....I stopped a ways off.......
The video below wasn't me - but this is what the mob looked like - only instead of a car in the middle there were human beings and this is about what it looked like and was getting ugly when I showed up and it was me....against them....and I was expected to stop it and save the people in the middle of it......
It was night....it was raining....I remember the street lights, their amber light in the night. I asked for backup - hoping I wasn't going to be calling "9 9 9" (Officer down) in a few moments - and the crowd was maybe 300 or so. Doesn't sound like much....until you're alone and people are screaming for help and you're the only one who can stop it and its one against three hundred....the crowd began running, people began running past me, I started calling in license plates and said "breaker I need you take these down, I'm moving fast so get ready....here we go...." and I started rattling them off as they were rolling out of there. I got on foot and what I saw next was like I was in a daze, I saw an American lying in the street while one of our sailors was trying to get to him when a crowd gathered around, attacked him, and slammed beer bottles into his unconscious face and they were kicking him in the face with steel toed boots. Others showed up and were showing up on motorcycles....and I was in the middle of it.....
Fortunately I was fluent in the language and I started screaming at the crowd to back up, I watched another go down, and another bloodied came running up to me. I unholstered my baton giving info, walking, still calling in license plates and asking for an ambulance.
Some local girl was on the sidewalk and she started screaming at me, hysterical, but I couldn't understand her even though I spoke the language.....I got to the sailor in the street when I noticed blood, his blood flowing - flowing - down the street in the rain. The crowd was running.....other officers arrived on scene....I went into a bar where the event started.....blood spattered on the walls.......I pulled out another body......
I could never get there fast enough......ever.....so I'm guessing you can guess my stance on citizens being able to defend themselves.....
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| homosexuals with guns.....I think I can go with that..... |
