Man Down

Published Tuesday, November 29, 2005 by Joshua | E-mail this post

I didn't have to work today but my mind was there. I spent the first half of the day cleaning the house and listening to North dispatch on my scanner. I finished putting up my Christmas tree and got some laundry done then turned my scanner off to watch some TV. A few hours later I got a phone call from a friend that works at police communications with me. She said that an officer had been shot on North Patrol and is in critical condition at the hospital. She described the frantic scene at communications as they tried to find the officer whos emergency status was going off. She also described the somber mood at communications as everyone headed home for the day.

She told me that the suspect had kicked in the door at a nearby residence and had taken a 25 year old hostage. At that point the SWAT team had been called out and was beginning the negotiating process. I turned my scanner on to the SWAT channel and listened as the situation unfolded. They managed to negotiate with the subject and got him to release the hostage and eventually give himself up.

This was just a reminder to me that anything can happen in a typical shift at work and I need to always be mentally prepared for anything that is thrown my way. I do not ever want to get into a situation that I cannot control. I know that I am going to have to work a lot harder and speeding my thought process up and making the everyday things automatic so that I don't have to think when I get into a crazy situation. I will already know what to do. If you are reading this please pray for our fallen officer and his family. Pray that he will be healed and be able to join his family this Christmas.