CIVILIAN PERSPECTIVE (Chapter 1)

A friend suggested I write down some of my stories for my grandson to read some day. No good segue or apropos of nothing I will launch into some of my adventures. Though a lot of it was, as are most jobs, a lot of routine and paperwork, it had its moments. Making something out of nothing was fortunately something of which I excel and there is something to be said for the attractiveness of creation. Of course, one must remember these incidents occurred many years ago and many of the issues identified have been more efficiently and routinely addressed over the years. 

Though the hue and cry that ensued over my recent paper presented at a conference on marijuana in the workplace illuminate there will always be new problems with their accompanying hysteria to navigate.

As a Safety Director and later Deputy Personnel Director of a city I had unique interactions with the police department. When I was promoted I had to caution my new Safety Administrator not to focus his attention on police and fire.  Yes, I know that's where the fun and exciting stuff happens, but they have procedures and policies much more detailed than our rules and they do not need the amount of assistance, and devotion, that other departments desperately needed. But I also got to see some of the warts. 

First they are a different breed who unfortunately interact with, shall we say, the seamier side of life and thus do not trust others very easily except for each other. I attended a vehicle accident review one time when they were expounding on their low rate of accidents. I had to point out, as a civilian, that we see a "cop car" and are desperately trying to get out of the way, down a side street or slow wayyyy down so as not to become the object of attention. They were surprised at my observation. Apparently that would not be their reaction-go figure. Considering they drive with their window part way down (regardless of weather), listen to radio communications and run a computer while maneuvering the car, perhaps their driving skills are more exemplary than I considered.

In both disciplines, they are the folks who wade in while the rest of us are running the other way. But the fire folks were hoping I could persuade the powers that be to change the color of their shirts so there would be no mistaken identity issues.  Speaking of shirts, the police must have been proud of theirs (dark blue) because trying to get them to wear fluorescent vests, in the roadway, in the dark was considered less than macho apparently. A surprising reluctance to accept bullet-resistant vests, citing discomfort, bulky, too hot, etc., was real but eventually accomplished. I never did get the approval for athletic shoes on patrol while I was there. Nothing like slippery leather shoes jumping fences chasing a perp, etc. 

The gear weight issue was legitimate. On a ride-along we stopped for coffee about 3 am at a hole in the wall diner that I swear I did not know existed and could not find in the daylight. After my question on how much weight they carried (gun, cuffs, do-rights, baton etc.) the officer removed his gun belt and handed it to me. As I was hefting it to appreciate the weight another officer walked in the back door. You can imagine my face as I was lofting the gun belt in front of me and an armed officer went immediately into a crouch. Talking fast and handing back the gun even faster, we all had a chuckle. Turned out to be about 12-13 pounds when I weighed it later. 

I had the pleasure of firing one of their 357s when I was doing lead exposure monitoring at the police gun range. Without warning me of the kick (I had only fired .22s before) I promptly whacked myself in the nose from the recoil. Again we all had a good chuckle-no lasting marks.  If you did not know it before, I am here to tell you they all carry another "personal" weapon...always. They are expected to intervene, with weapon, even when off-duty and were required to practice fire both weapons at least monthly. It was an interesting day but very noisy. They do not make good enough hearing protection for eight hours of gunfire. All those cowboys and spies must have been half deaf.

When the HIV/AIDS/hepatitis issues become prevalent I got quite an education about vaccines, anti-body testing and treatment protocols. Then as now, no one believes the science and even the toughest dudes and dudettes become a bit hysterical over previously manageable situations.  Such as who and how do we clean up the blood? Who gets to clean up the police car after a sick or bleeding "passenger" was transported in the plastic back seat? What ppe do I now have to carry and who disposes of it. How does my uniform get cleaned? I even had to figure out how to set up an "evidence drying" area in an empty store room, as items come in still "fresh" from the scene covered with, well use your imagination. There was no template on a lot of this stuff so someone had to come up with these protocols back in the beginning. That is the nature of the employee safety business. 

Digress: When working with the city zoo I was asked how many snake bite kits would be required. Trust me. There is no guidebook from OSHA on that one. So thinking quickly I asked, duh, how many poisonous snakes do we have? One - so that was the answer. Yes, I know it depends on what KIND of snake it is, but that was a sufficient answer.  Not like a call in the wee hours saying maintenance busted through a wall and thinks they hit asbestos, but that's another story requiring me to pull in favors from better staffed safety departments. I was a one-man band most of the time.

 But the claim that drug evidence was "leaking" out of bags and getting the quartermaster guys high was a wee bit suspect. Actually got the head of emergency services from a local hospital to come in and calm the troops on that one.