butting in

[T.COTE]

Hey all,
Well I finally have a couple of funny stories to share being on the beat. I work for Kennebunk Me that neighbors Kennebunkport Me. You all know that is where George W. Bush spent the 4th of july weekend. I was constantly being asked how to get close enough to Walkers Point to see the president. I kept telling people where walkers point was but that the secret service was being real tight, so don't expect to get very close.
I actually had one person get mad because I told him I highly doubted that he would be able to go to church with the president. I don't know exactly how it worked out for the guy but just based on his spastic behavior I doubt the secret service let him in.
I also had a woman ready to call and complain to my department that I was being rude. This is what happend:

There is a convience store that has a zero loitering police and a letter of complaint on file at the station. So if you are not on your way in or out of the store you need to move along. The store was closed and there was a parked car next to the building. I started to approach the car the same time a female employee from the store started for her car parked next to it. When I started to ask the man in the car how he was doing she started to yell at me that it was ok for him to be there. I calmly said that I would decide that and she started yelling loud enough so the kids accross the street could now hear her. She yelled that I didn't understand and that he was the boyfriend of the girl in the store waiting to give him a ride. Then she tells me to leave him alone.
I told her to move along. She thought I was being quite rude for not just leaveing and following HER orders.
I talked to the guy in the car and everything was fine. I let him stay and wait. On my way out of the parking lot I see her dialing on her cell phone.
I asked for a second of her time. I told her that the situation did not concern her and there was no reason for her to get involved. I am an officer and when I want to talk to some one it is important that I am able to do so. I also said from a officer safety point of view she created quite an obstacle because I had to be looking at her when the guy in the car could of pulled out anything and done pretty much anything with it with out my knowing untill it would of been to late.
I left if with saying " the next time an officer wants to talk let him talk" She seemed to understand , but still could not believe I just didn't quickly do what she was telling me to do.

Any suggestions or comments would be cool.



T.COTE

[cpl mike]

Welcome to Law Enforcement!!! Haven't been on the site for awhile(Think my pass word is "B/O",i.e. bad order or no good)- Frankly , T.Cote most people don't care about the uniform-It's simply called "selling the service", and yes it can seem like you're smooching the rear ends of the happy "knuckle heads, err , citizens" you've sworn to protect,but thats just the way it is-you handle it the way you feel it should be handled, and you'll come to the conclusion that is most applicable-in the future though, a little more explanation of what you're doing,i.e. SALESMANSHIP , could save the unneeded "mouth beef" that joe/jane citz will freely toss around-have fun....

[Charlie]

T.COTE--This sort of reminds me of a story an FTO told me years ago: Basically, an FTO and his rookie were working at a building location at the state fair. At this particular location, there was a sign that said "keep of the grass." In short, the rookie was getting real uptight about the fact people were walking across the grass. The FTO siply told the rookie, "it's only grass." (i.e.: the grass is gonna grow back no matter what happens! Hence, no big deal!).

Aside from Cpl. Mike's comments which are on the mark as usual, I wouldn't get too uptight about this kind of crap from Joe or Jane Q concerning this particular situation. Based on what you wrote, if the female employee said the guy in the car was OK waiting for his "squeeze," big deal....I would have likely got back in my squad and left without giving it another thought. On the other hand, if you had something more going on that warranted further investigation, different story..... ;D

Without a doubt, it seems to me that these days there are so many more people that seem to know more about our jobs than we do. And of course, most are more than willing to get a case of "diarrhea of the mouth" and make this known to you. You simply have to deal with it. This is most definitely not the last one you'll deal with. ;D

Again, welcome to the wonderful world of law enforcment!

Charlie

[T.COTE]

Cpl. Mike and Charlie,

Thanks for the responses. As always they are good to hear. I agree with what you guys said. Don't get me wrong about either of the situations - I didn't loose any sleep over it. I just thought it was strange that this woman was mad that I didn't do exactly what she said and when.

I have really liked being an officer so far. I am gaining great experience and hope that a agency will pick me up full time. If I don't get picked up right away at least I can say I had a great summer.

If anyone knows or has heard rumors of anyone hiring in the New England ,preferably maine area I would appreciate the heads up. I know that these jobs don't always hit the newspapers before they are filled.

Thanks again for the response, I always like hearing them.


Stay safe
T.cote