Once a Cop, Always a Cop

My first week back at the police department was a little like making your first parachute jump after spending a couple of years on the ground. It isn't hard to remember the important stuff, but you need help with some of the details.

For everyone who thinks I'm too old to be a cop, see if you can pick me out in the above picture from my first law enforcement job. (Yes, I'm kidding for crying out loud.)

During this first week, I had over two hundred revisions in policies and procedures to review, hours of videos to watch and several days of all types of training. We hit the range so I could once again qualify with my Glock and the shotgun (which I did) and I had to become current on my taser training. When I was first issued my taser after Iraq, I volunteered to let them shoot me with the probes so I could experience the full five seconds of 50,000 volts. No, it wasn't fun, but everyone else got a kick out of watching me bite the dust.

I also had to successfully pass the wellness or PT test that my department requires twice a year for all officers. The PT test includes a bench press, leg press, sit-ups, sit and reach flexibility exercise, body fat measurement and a timed walk or run. I passed with excellent scores in every category which is good for an old guy like me.

I needed a little refresher training on the in-car computer, but I will surely need some pointers after I start writing reports next week. Still, most of the systems are the same and it won’t take long to get back in the groove.

After I finished the training and received all my gear, I drove my patrol car around the city to become familiar with the changes in the landscape. Some buildings are gone, new ones have been built and a lot of businesses have changed their names. I saw some things that really surprised me, including our newly designed hospital.

I responded as backup officer to a couple of disturbance calls and linked up with cops I hadn’t seen since 2007. It’s good to get back with such an outstanding and professional group of people.

Almost everyone I saw made the same two comments in the same order. The first one was to welcome me back and the second one was to ask me how long before I would retire. A lot of the older officers will retire in the next couple of years, so it was a natural question. My response was simply that, since I will be 60 years old on February 28, I promised them I wouldn' stay on the job longer than five years.

Just like the Army, I’ll know when it’s time to take the police uniform off for good.

* * * *

I have received some inquiries about the book and it is in the hands of the publisher. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer before it's available.

Thanks for asking and I hope you like the new header. I moved the C.O.B.R.A. Team header to the team website.

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Soldiers of the Street

Police officers hate the term “routine traffic stop”. Anyone who has done our job long enough knows that there is no such thing. Like infantry soldiers who never know what is around the next corner, across the next ravine or over the next hill, cops also must always be ready for the unexpected. That is why they are truly “Soldiers of the Street”.

On Friday, January 12th at 3:22 p.m., 48-year-old Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Nicholas Sottile was fatally wounded during a traffic stop near Lake Placid. He was able to call out over his radio that he had been shot, but he later died from his wounds at a local hospital. His killer has been arrested.

Those of us on duty have put the black bands over our badges once again. All police officers are reminded that traffic stops, domestic violence calls, suspicious person calls or any number of other so-called “routine” situations could turn bad at any time. We must always be ready and we must never forget our training.

Sottile was planning for his retirement after a long career with the Highway Patrol. Our condolences go out to his personal family and to his law enforcement family as well.

SFC Chuck Grist

The Baghdad Sting

It is late Christmas Day. Please read “Christmas at War” from yesterday and may everyone have a wonderful holiday season.

Now that Christmas is just about over, I can concentrate on continuing to wait for my mobilization orders. I have been given the word that it won’t be January 1 (which is good since that is almost upon us) but that the 15th is a possibility. I am not alone. There are several of us in my local Army Reserve unit whose mobilization packets were submitted some time ago.

While it is unknown why our parent unit is waiting to call us up, I suspect it is because they are waiting to find out exactly what President Bush’s “New Way Forward” will consist of and how our unit will be tasked.

As I continue to reflect on my tour in Iraq in 2004, I remembered an incident where we learned once again that the Army, like any other organization, has its black sheep. The vast majority of soldiers perform their missions with honor and integrity. Still, there are always those who are in it for themselves.

I was fortunate to work with a team that was comprised entirely of police officers. When we were approached one evening to participate in a shady weapons deal, there was only one thing to do. The following op-ed piece tells the story:


THE BAGHDAD STING
Good Cops Catch a Bad Soldier
Special to the Orlando Sentinel
August 20, 2005

The Army master sergeant had served in Iraq since the beginning of the war. When our command arrived in Baghdad’s Green Zone in February of 2004 to replace his unit, he extended his tour to serve in one of the offices at the Coalition Provisional Authority. The CPA was located in Saddam Hussein’s former residence, the elaborate palace that eventually became the U.S. Embassy.

My team, the COBRA Team, went to Iraq to serve as the protective service detail for an American general. In our limited off-duty time, we lived in a small house on the west bank of the Tigris River. (We called it the COBRA pit.) We were well-armed and, depending on the mission, carried M16s, M4 carbines, shotguns, M9 Berettas, an M79 grenade launcher (courtesy of the Marine Corps), two squad automatic weapons, a German sniper rifle or MP5s. Like the sniper rifle, the MP5 submachine guns had been captured from Saddam Hussein, but their compact nature made them perfect for use on most of our missions.

One evening we had a visit from the master sergeant, a man with many years of service in the Army. He said he heard we had some MP5s and he wanted to know if we would like to trade them for some Glock handguns. We were surprised because we thought the only Glock handguns around were the thousands that had been delivered to the CPA for use by the new Iraqi police.

My civilian job as a police officer has made me suspicious by nature. Once this man told me the Glocks were brand new, I was convinced they were stolen. My team members, also cops in civilian life, looked at me out of the corners of their eyes as I made a deal to trade two of our MP5s for two Glocks. If the handguns were stolen, I wanted to nail this guy. The exchange would happen the following evening.

The next morning, just before I went to the CPA to report the encounter, we were contacted by another sergeant from our headquarters. He said the master sergeant had come to him asking if he knew how much the Glocks would bring on the streets of Baghdad. Now we really had a problem. If this soldier sold weapons to Iraqi civilians, it was almost a certainty that such weapons would ultimately be used against Americans.

With the assistance of one of our unit’s officers, I made contact with the Defense Department’s Criminal Investigative Service at the CPA. The DCIS agents confirmed that there had been thefts from the CPA. I told them I had arranged a weapons trade for that night. The agents decided they would also be present when the deal went down.

The master sergeant showed up at our house at the appointed hour. He had one brand new Glock handgun in a box with two magazines. I gave him one MP5 and walked him outside to the street. I shook hands with him – the pre-arranged “done deal” signal to the DCIS agents – and they made the arrest. The serial number of the Glock confirmed that it had come from the stock of Iraqi police weapons at the CPA, weapons paid for with American tax dollars. When we left Baghdad, the case was still pending, but we were told the thefts had stopped.

In every war there are thieves, profiteers, black-market operators and those who think that the war is their own private business enterprise. Wars will always have these black sheep, those who dishonor themselves for pleasure or profit.

The overwhelming majority of the men and women serving in today’s military fervently believe in living by fundamental character traits such as the Army values: Loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage.

Thankfully, these good soldiers far outnumber the bad ones.

SFC Chuck Grist