So last night at approx. 0300 hours, we ended up arresting a gentleman for domestic abuse battery. The man is pale, scrawny and has unkempt facial hair. His eyes are empty as he hangs his head down. He's wearing a black sweatshirt with a Ranger tab sewn onto it along with his old rank and last name on a patch.

So I walk into the booking room and me being prior .mil, I question him about the Ranger tab on his PT gear. He stated that he was born in Frankfurt, Germany and was an Army brat until he enlisted. Eventually he got into the Rangers where he served his country as one for 7 years. However, due to an unrelated incident, he had hurt his back and was medically discharged as of Feb 08. Despite the man's appearance, he was very well-mannered and the same respect was returned.

I'm not one to condone wife beaters as I hate them to no end; but the question I've asked myself is how can a man go from a promising career to this within a span of five months? Drugs and lack of willpower appear to be the culprits in my opinion.

Am I wrong to feel bad for this guy? I've been beating myself emotionally over this as I haven't witnessed such a downfall in a person in such a short amount of time. Chime in if you like.

Being a Ranger doesn't preclude one from being an asshole.

Meth.  It short-circuits every single God-given sensibility designed into us.

The prisons in this country are full of vets.  

Quoted: Meth.  It short-circuits every single God-given sensibility designed into us.

+1 to that,people lose their minds on the stuff.Seems like that dude may only be a shell of what he once was.

The back injury could have led to the drug use to escape the pain. I could imagine that deep depression would be felt by most that were discharged like he was. He could feel like a failure. This is all conjecture of course and no excuse to beat a wife.  

Just because you're a cop that doesnt mean that you loose your heart and soul. Its natural and healthy to be curious about a persons life and how they got to where they are. It shows that you still see your job as dealing with individuals that are unique, not just a booking number and a report.

I talk to almost every person that i arrest on the way to jail about their life and what got them to the point that they're at. I try to give them counsel and hope and encourage them to do better things with themselves. Im kind of the front seat doctor phil to them. Sometimes they listen and care and sometimes they're turds to the core and dont care about improving themselves.

Its not wrong for you to care or want to help these people, thats one of the things that seperates good cops from regular cops.

Just dont let these people eat away at you or your faith in humanity or human nature. I do all that i can for people in the short few hours that im dealing with/arresting/booking them.

When i clear the jail and hit the street again i feel good that i did all that i could to help them, and i know that my job is done. If they want to help themselves from there they can but its their responsibility and position to worry not mine. From that point they can only save themselves, I cant do it for them so i dont worry about it anymore.

When i get back out there im worrying about new perps and every day is a new day.

Dont let these fuck ups haunt you.

Also, if that guy exposed some secret fear that you harbor youself of not suceeding in life just know that we all share the same fear.

When i see successful people like me in jail and they're just a broken glimmer of what they once were I worry myself that i may make one bad choice or do something that could make me snowball into a failure like them. But as long as you care enough to worry about things like that its a good sign that you'll be fine.

You ever heard the saying that crazy people dont worry about whether they're crazy cause they're too far lost to be self observant about it?

You're the same way, if you care enough about your life to worry about winding up in that guys place then just reassure yourself by knowing that you're dedicated to not making the same conscious decisions that the army guy made to put himself where he was.

He didnt draw some majical lottery ticket or fortune cookie that fucked his life. He threw it all in the trash in a matter of months. As long as you care about yourself you wont do the same thing.


ETA:

oh yeah, and dont smoke meth!

Quoted: Just because you're a cop that doesnt mean that you loose your heart and soul. Its natural and healthy to be curious about a persons life and how they got to where they are. It shows that you still see your job as dealing with individuals that are unique, not just a booking number and a report. I talk to almost every person that i arrest on the way to jail about their life and what got them to the point that they're at. I try to give them counsel and hope and encourage them to do better things with themselves. Im kind of the front seat doctor phil to them. Sometimes they listen and care and sometimes they're turds to the core and dont care about improving themselves. Its not wrong for you to care or want to help these people, thats one of the things that seperates good cops from regular cops. Just dont let these people eat away at you or your faith in humanity or human nature. I do all that i can for people in the short few hours that im dealing with/arresting/booking them. When i clear the jail and hit the street again i feel good that i did all that i could to help them, and i know that my job is done. If they want to help themselves from there they can but its their responsibility and position to worry not mine. From that point they can only save themselves, I cant do it for them so i dont worry about it anymore. When i get back out there im worrying about new perps and every day is a new day. Dont let these fuck ups haunt you. Also, if that guy exposed some secret fear that you harbor youself of not suceeding in life just know that we all share the same fear. When i see successful people like me in jail and they're just a broken glimmer of what they once were I worry myself that i may make one bad choice or do something that could make me snowball into a failure like them. But as long as you care enough to worry about things like that its a good sign that you'll be fine. You ever heard the saying that crazy people dont worry about whether they're crazy cause they're too far lost to be self observant about it? You're the same way, if you care enough about your life to worry about winding up in that guys place then just reassure yourself by knowing that you're dedicated to not making the same conscious decisions that the army guy made to put himself where he was. He didnt draw some majical lottery ticket or fortune cookie that fucked his life. He threw it all in the trash in a matter of months. As long as you care about yourself you wont do the same thing. ETA: oh yeah, and dont smoke meth!

I'll give that speech two thumbs up.  

I recently took care of a guy who was a vetran (confirmed he had care through the VA)

He was picked up by the police and developed chest pain and pain in his leg, which had lymphedema.  

This guy went on and on about how he was a hero from vietnam, medals, served his country, etc.
He was a complete prick though, non compliant with any of my questions, refused to let me take his vitals, etc.  (he relented when I told the police to take him back to jail).

The dickwad actually told me to run down to the resteraunt the police arrested him at.  He wanted me to pick up the dinner that he ordered but did not get to eat.  After I told him no, he informed me that I had to get him a meal tray.  I again told him no.


After an hour of dealing with this asshole, I asked the officer that brought him in what he was arrested for.  

He was a predetory child sex offender, who left the city up north and came down south for no good reason.  He had been pulled over by the county on his drive down and when they ran his name it sent a page to his PO.  The PO didnt see the page until a few hours later and had the local PD arrest him.

His PO said that he was confined to the city up north, and the guy was more than likely in town to molest.


Btw, his last victem was a 4 yo female.


Just goes to show, even if you are a Vet, you can still be a dousch.  In my eyes, It garners respect, but not enough for me to call an asshole an asshole.

(I am a vet btw)

Quoted: So last night at approx. 0300 hours, we ended up arresting a gentleman for domestic abuse battery. The man is pale, scrawny and has unkempt facial hair. His eyes are empty as he hangs his head down. He's wearing a black sweatshirt with a Ranger tab sewn onto it along with his old rank and last name on a patch. So I walk into the booking room and me being prior .mil, I question him about the Ranger tab on his PT gear. He stated that he was born in Frankfurt, Germany and was an Army brat until he enlisted. Eventually he got into the Rangers where he served his country as one for 7 years. However, due to an unrelated incident, he had hurt his back and was medically discharged as of Feb 08. Despite the man's appearance, he was very well-mannered and the same respect was returned. I'm not one to condone wife beaters as I hate them to no end; but the question I've asked myself is how can a man go from a promising career to this within a span of five months? Drugs and lack of willpower appear to be the culprits in my opinion. Am I wrong to feel bad for this guy? I've been beating myself emotionally over this as I haven't witnessed such a downfall in a person in such a short amount of time. Chime in if you like.

On any level, I wouldn't justify or excuse this man's actions.

I will say there is a healthy and unhealthy way to address issues. It appears this Soldier,assuming he was one took an unhealthy route.

Like they say, "No excuses". Hopefully he will take full responsibility, deal with the consequences, address his issues and improve himself.

What's the maximum effective range of an excuse?

When I first started working security I had a police officer say, "I have all the respect in the world for people in the military, but that doesnt mean they cant be dirtbags".

Quoted: Being a Ranger doesn't preclude one from being an asshole.

In my experience of 10 years in the Army the words Ranger and Asshole can be exchanged at any time with each other.

I had a similiar case once.  I arrested a heroin dealer who just seemed too decent and normal to be a heroin dealer.  His story was that he had been in the Marines for nine years, and had planned to make a career of it, until he had injured his back while playing sand lot football one weekend, and then been medically discharged without full benefits like he would have had if he had been hurt on duty.

He had then come back from Californa to Baltimore , his hometown and started working as an electrician.   His cousin, one of the larger heroin dealers in town, had come around, and started giving him money to help him out, and befriending him.   The next thing he knew, he was helping his cousing by delivering heroin for him, and then he got caught with 200 grams.

When we hit his house, instead of being a shithole, everything was neat and clean and his wife and little daughter were so nice, and so distressed, that we walked away feeling really sorry for him and his family.  He still had to do his time, though.

height=8

Quoted: Just because you're a cop that doesnt mean that you loose your heart and soul... I talk to almost every person that i arrest on the way to jail about their life and what got them to the point that they're at. I try to give them counsel and hope and encourage them to do better things with themselves...

+1

It doesn't hurt, and it may have an effect.  Sometimes short term, sometimes long term.  Sometimes a timely word is all it takes to keep you or someone else from being an idiot.

Hard to say with the Ranger guy.  Many people live, or try to live, with emotional/mental problems bigger than they are, and no one but the people closest to them know.  Others succumb to previously-unknown vulnerabilities.  Easily triggered by pressure, loss of control, etc.

But for the Grace of God, there go I...


-josh

It's all about choices.  I busted my back up pretty bad on Sicily DZ, got patched up and given a nice pay-off and BTW, have a nice life.  One of my best friends lost his right thumb, a finger, and some other large pieces from his chest in a training accident about a year before I got hurt.  Getting injured and MEB'd unexpectedly when you have planned on putting in your 20 sucks.  You spend a lot of time going, but what if?

I went back to school, slowly and carefully got back in shape, and ended up in local LE.  He hit the bottle and let his disability ruin his life.  The last time I spoke to him his Step-Father had just seized all of his weapons and he had just been arrested for beating the crap out of his wife.

There is a large VA hospital in the city I work in, and a large number of vets in the area.  A lot of Vets I know are crack heads, and a lot of Vets I know are officers.  It's all about the individual.

And let us not forget the douche bags in uniform.  I am embarassed to say that I served in the same Task Force as PFC Burmeister, was friends with his Squad Leader, and knew the racist, murdering POS.  Being a soldier doesn't mean that you're a good citizen.

ETA - I have to agree that Ranger and Asshole are interchangeable terms...my wife proudly calls me the biggest Asshole she's ever met