Why Did You Die?

I’m not above gloating.  I have done my share in days gone by.  Not always, but I have definitely gloated a time or two.  I remember once, while I was still on the LAPD, I was working with a guy almost as young as I was.  On nights like those, you got into chases.  The older guys had their limits about how much of a chase they’d give.  Some would chase in the patrol car, but only so far.  If the people downtown called off the chase, they’d drop out.  Sometimes officers would chase in a vehicle, but once it became a foot chase, they’d only go so far.  “We’ll get ‘em tomorrow, Bill.”  Those sucked.  But sometimes, I’d work with a young officer.  When two young officers worked together, it was on.  If the suspect crashed lights, we crashed lights.  If they went beyond the speed limit, we’d go as fast as we could to keep sight of him as we called in reinforcements from other directions.  And if they got out and ran, we ran after them.  Those were the best.

There were a few things to keep in mind, to keep yourself and your partner safe, as you chased the high of chasing the suspect.  It was an adrenalin surge like nothing I have seen elsewhere in life.  The law, and the department, mandated that certain procedures were followed, and all laws were to be followed, while giving chase, even speed limits.  According to the law, partners had to obey all of the rules.  Also, you were entirely empowered to go outside of the rules, as long as nothing goes wrong.  If you want to risk it all, there is absolutely nothing to stop you.  It is entirely up to you.  As a civilian, you are penalized for breaking laws, irrespective of the outcomes.  Outcomes can make your circumstances worse, but the mere breaking is the issue for a civilian.  For an officer, law breaking is basically dependent upon the outcome.  If nothing is broken, no one is harmed, generally there is no prosecution.  There are exceptions, but as a rule, that’s how it goes.  Risks in the interest of protecting the peace are condoned, as long as there are no adverse consequences.

That will give some the impression that there is no accountability.  That isn’t so.  There is.  It is not always even, and it can be abused for a variety of reasons, but there is accountability for taking too much risk.  Officers probably don’t get prosecuted enough for certain crimes, but they do face civil liability in ways that civilians tend not to.  If an officer loses the backing of the department and the city, the loss can be great.  That’s the thing that reins in most risk taking officers, in my experience.  That is not the moral judgment that most want, but that tends to be how it works.  It is not ideal, and I am not defending it.

Gloating and risk taking are an intoxicating mix.  You can set up your gloat by engaging on an issue, or in an event.  I’m in the process of planning the world’s biggest gloat.  This one has been in the planning stages for 50 years.  I’m a Browns fan.  So far every year has been a face plant.  I digress.  One night, I was working with a young guy.  He had barely more than a year on than I had.  We were going to take some risks, and have a good time.  And we did have a good time.

We were working Hollywood Div.  It was a Friday night.  The main boulevards were jammed with slow moving traffic bound for restaurants, bars, clubs, and the various activities Hollywood had to offer…back when people left home for that sort of thing.  Early on in the evening, we came upon a white Honda Accord.  I ran the license plate, and it came back as stolen.  A “hot roller.”  We lit him up, and he started weaving, heading East to get out of the dense traffic.  We chased as fast as we could, which wasn’t very fast because of the evening traffic.  The suspect also couldn’t make much distance because of the same traffic, so…he slowed to a couple of miles per hour, left the car in gear, and just took off running north between apartments.  It was on.

We threw the car in park, and flew out of the car in pursuit on foot.  I was feeling good.  Without saying so, we knew we were competing to be the first to lay hands on the guy.  I knew I’d outrun my partner because I was either capable, or willing.  I could not be certain that I was faster, but I believed I was.  I was faster than most.  And while he was very fit, he was also a bit more experienced, and might let the younger dog run faster.  We raced almost shoulder to shoulder.  After passing one building, we came to a brick wall.  It was about 7-feet tall.  I went over it like it was a sofa.  (We did a lot of that in the academy).  My partner was right behind.  We landed on a car parked against the wall on the other side, and then jumped off onto the pavement.  I was just a hair ahead of my partner.  We started to run again, and the suspect suddenly broke his stride.  If front of him was a taller wrought iron gate, with vertical bars.  He had no time to get over it, so he slowed to surrender.  I slowed just as the suspect did.  My partner kept his pace, full steam.

So, he beat me to the suspect, and grabbed him with both hands on the back of his jacket.  Then, in one motion, he rotated the suspect 270 degrees, and threw him against a chain link fence which was to our right.  The suspect bounced off of the fence as if it had bounced on a trampoline.  My partner then grabbed him again, like playing catch against a wall, only the ball was a fleeing felon.  He then used the suspect’s momentum as impetus, lifted him, and not-so-gently introduced him to Mr. Ground.  Then, in one continuous motion, he grabbed his cuffs and cuffed him.  So, as I was slowing to a stop from my run, my partner had grabbed the suspect, bounced him, grabbed him again, felony proned him out…as the vernacular goes, and cuffed him.  “Code-4”.  It was like watching a fast magic trick.  I was speechless.  So, I gloated.

I looked up at the sky, and laughed the loudest laugh I had ever laughed in my life, then bent down with my hands on my knees, laughing at what I had just seen.  My partner never so much as cracked a smile.  Didn’t say a word.  He had defeated me in the race to the suspect, and the defeated the suspect, in the interest of justice.  But…I gloated.

There was a lot wrong with how we went about that chase.  It could have gone much worse.  It went perfectly.  We were lucky.  The risk and the gloat were like narcotic.  (Incidentally, the suspect was a career criminal with a very long rap sheet.  When we went to court a year or so later, I testified alone because my partner was selling his house.  He had written the report, so I read it in the courtroom, minutes before I took the stand, and did the best that I could.  It didn’t go well.  Once on the stand, his attorney asked me, how did he know that you were police officers?  I said, we were in uniform, and in a uniformed patrol vehicle.  Then he said, how was he supposed to know that those were not fake? I had no answer.  I was speechless.  I assume he and his attorney gloated.  I left as soon as I got off the stand.)

On March 13, 2020, and Ohio man John W. McDaniel, stated on a Facebook post that COVID-19 “is a political ploy.”  He went on to say, “does anybody have the guts “, and to, “prove me wrong.”  A week ago yesterday, April 15, 2020, Mr. McDaniel died from the virus.  Mr. McDaniel was 60 years old.  He was an OSU alumnus, a loving family member, and a small business owner.  According to the reports, he was well liked, and liked every one he encountered.  Many of us know lots of people like him.

This is the crazy thing about this crazy time that we are in.  We don’t agree with all of our neighbors, friends, or even family members.  That’s fine.  Mr. McDaniel seemed like a regular guy, not different from most.  Somehow he was convinced that COVID-19 was some sort of hoax for someone’s political benefit.  I can’t say that I know this is the source, but this reeks of Fox News, and the right wing scream machine.  This isn’t about making political points, or gloating.  This is just to say that this is just sad.  Mr. McDaniel took some swipes at Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine.  I am no fan of DeWine, but his handling of the social distancing in Ohio has been superb.  With respect to the deceased, some are getting the idea that governors with whom they share a political viewpoint are politically opposed to them.  That alone makes no sense.  What makes it tragic is that, apparently, some are willing to wager their lives, and for what?  To gloat?  Sadly, Mr. McDaniel was proved wrong.  I never knew him, but if I could, I’d take it all back.  I would take back Facebook.  I would take back Fox News and the radio scream machine.  I would take back any smirk, smile or laugh I ever uttered on duty.  I’d take it back if Mr. McDaniel…and you, will practice safe social distancing.

I read a poem to my academy class, rather than to talk about myself.  That’s another long story.  It was a poem by Edmund Vance Cooke called, “How Did You Die”.  When you’re looking back on your completed life, from some platform that makes that possible, don’t let the answer be, because you wanted to gloat.

 

 

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