I remember my dad (also a copper) warning me before I graduated academy that my fto if they're good will all of a sudden break whatever conversation we're having and demand our location. Praise God I got it right when that happened. But more important always focused on it later on.
Like you said, that was drilled and drilled and drilled into us. My first foot pursuit ended up, of course, in the back yards. I've called it out, and dispatch asks the obvious question. Well hell, I knew the front of the houses, but not the back yards. I kept thinking well sooner or later, dude's gotta make a break for the street as we kept hopping over chain link fence after chain link fence and he isn't going to want to run into some dog anymore than I. Finally he reached the end of the block and I knew what cross streets I could get out to dispatch. Never once occurred to me to check out and run a vehicle plate, and there were enough to chose from.
In 1996 I did my academy 3 day ridealongs in Newton Div. My first day out I worked with Officer Rick Madrigal. Same thing...while I was writing in the log, every time he turned I'd look up at the street signs. The ONE time I didn't he suddenly stopped midblock and said he'd been shot. There I was, at night, running down the street in my academy issue leather oxfords, long sleeve shirt, and tie, with a flashlight up to the next corner to read the street signs. I realized he'd been watching me the whole time out of the corner of his eye to catch the time I didn't look up.
Back in the mid-1990's, one of the great's of Newton Division did the same thing to me. I got out of the shop, ran about 100 feet and noticed an open fence to a residence. I ran up to the mailbox & (thank goodness) there was mail in it. Went back to the shop, "_ _ _ _ East 50th Street, sir!" He said, "Get back in the shop, smart ass." Fun times! Awesome videos, Scotty!
Wow... Many years of EMS and police work under my belt. Never heard or would have thought of this. We just had to know every road in our zone from memory. They hand us a blank city map and we have to fill it out.
Hi Uncle Scotty, greetings from the land down under (Sydney, Australia). I love your show. The LAPD is one of the most represented police departments in TV shows and movies, it can sometimes be hard to seperate fact from fantasy. You are "The Real McCoy". By the way, have you ever been on "LAPD Life on the Beat" ?
No f*cking shit, always know where you are. I'm training a rookie or two the next couple months, I will share this nugget with them (and maybe tell them where it came from unless I like looking omniscient...). Thanks much.
