Pet
peeve and red button time! I have been
stepping over bodies and visiting celebrities in their freshly burglared homes
for about nine years. I work as a crime
scene photographer for the Los Angeles Police Department. To say that I have seen it all seems somewhat
redundant.
So
here is the thing that is stuck in my craw: People who write about crime without any
people in it frosts over my will to continue reading. WHAT!?
You heard me; stop writing as though anyone who carries a gun and a badge
is devoid of personality. I work with
FBI agents who have a better sense of humor over life and its lessons than the
DMV-styled officious maunder that is today’s attempt at getting a reader behind
the yellow tape. By the way, the LAPD
invented that stuff to keep politicians and other ilk from trampling over
evidence.
Example: PIII Juarez led XA-21 mission ready as
always.
Result:
I am going to find where you live
and….
Let
us see this more clearly shall we? A
PIII has been with the department for a while, approximately five years. They can stay at that level, many choose to do
so, or promote to detectives or administration by way of Sergeant. A PIII is a Police Officer III. Everything has a rank. I am Photographer III, which is right below
supervisor, who could also be ranked at various levels.
It
begins at the academy where an officer is either a boot or field trainee. After graduation, they are sent out into the field
and are become another officer’s partner. On duty, a partner is like a ventricle; you cannot
pull one out and have a functioning heart.
Rank
is important. I have been on scene where
two Detective III’s had to fight over who was in charge, and it came down to
date of hire. Oh, the poor fellow who
graduated first.
XA-21
is a Unit. Basically, two officers
patrolling anywhere in the area designated as 21. It is somewhat of a mouthy insider; do not use.
Avoid
power words like maximum or turbo. Relate
the relatable like an officer who sees their first dead child and it looks like
their cousin.
Tensions
rise on scene when brass shows up. It
gets worse when politicians are involved.
Once, the District Attorney got me on the phone to tell me directly what
to photograph.
We
all have our own method of writing. Just
think about the heart behind the badge that covers it.
Some
insider things you should know. Bulletproof
vests are never comfortable. In the summer,
they do not breathe and will make a hot day even more hellish. In the winter, they are dense, causing the
cold to come straight through. They also
bunch up when you sit down.
A
car is called a unit or shop; some still call them radio cars.
SWAT
stands for Special Weapons and Tactics and it saves more lives by less than
lethal means. Less than lethal are stuff
like tasers, water cannons, ladders, so on and so forth. They go the extra mile to stop someone from
hurting themselves, but primarily anyone else. Shootouts are nowhere near as common as you
are led to believe. The people in SWAT
are extraordinary; they are in amazing shape and practice safe takedowns
constantly. They are not the biggest badasses on the department.
Special
units and, in our case, Metro cops are far more likely to get into a nasty
fight than anyone else. They are also
some of the nicest people I know. Funny
how true badasses know they are the 600 lb gorilla and do not need to flex.
Officers
cry. I was shocked the first time I witnessed
it. I always let them know it is okay
around me.
Please,
let us connect with the human being first before you start taking us into the
world of your creation. Detectives have
been single moms needing a solid job or fresh out of the military with no idea
of what to do with their lives. It is
true that all of us behind the thin blue line go into a mode when it is time,
but we also have to go to the bathroom and find chow if we are stuck on a long
scene.
