Cop Chronicles

The Big City

I was born there.

I lived there for half of my childhood when I stayed with my dad.

It's where I've been a police officer for fifteen years.

So why don't I live in the Big City proper anymore?

For many reasons. Here's one:

One day, when I had been on the job for about two or three years, I ran in to the local grocery store chain to get a few items. When I turned a corner to go down an aisle, I came face to face with a suspect we had arrested two weeks prior.

Not just any suspect, a 6'2, 280 pound He Man. He had a felony warrant for Aggravated Assault. When we went to go arrest him, the fight was on. At one point, one officer was on his back, one (me) was trying to take him out at the knees, and another was using his mace. It ended when all three of us and the suspect went crashing through the coffee table, shattering it into a million little wooden pieces. Somehow, once on the floor, we managed to double cuff him and get him under control. Once out to the squad, he was ticked. He kicked at our squad car doors, spit all over the back seat, and even struggled with us as we brought him in to jail.

So here I was, middle of the grocery store, face to face with this He Man that had gone a couple rounds with us. And guess what I was wearing???

Shorts, flowery tank top, flip flops, and a tiny purse barely big enough to hold my check book. (It was July.)

Needless to say, it was quite obvious I was not carrying my handgun. Heck, I wasn't even carrying my mace. Nothing.

"Oh Sh--" was what went through my mind. But I stayed calm, acted like I didn't recognize him, and boogied down the aisle as quick as I could. In my mind, I was thinking, "How the heck did he get out so quick?"

As soon as I was out of sight, I ditched my grocery cart and took the fastest route to the front door. I kept an eye behind me to see if he was following, but he didn't. Once I was out to my car, I took the farthest exit out of the parking lot and kept an eye on my rear view mirror. Luckily, no cars followed me out.

Now, would he have really tried to do something? Probably not. However, as cops, we need to always have the upper hand. It's how we survive. This was the first of many incidents that convinced me that living in the Big City where I worked was probably not a good idea.