Opportunities
The one thing a young officer quickly learns after a few short months on the job is that the “job” is not just about driving really fast and catching bad guys. Apart from the mundane calls and the crazy, unexpected events on certain scenes, the life of a law enforcement officer affords him numerous unique opportunities he may not likely encounter otherwise. Because our job puts us in touch with those from the farthest ranges of society and culture, many interesting opportunities present themselves over the course of a career.
The city in which I live and work is a political hot-spot—deemed a necessary stop on any candidate’s campaign trail. We are also home to several theatres and sports arenas. So, it is not uncommon that, throughout the years, various high-profile politicians, actors, sports figures and musical groups stop by for a visit now and then. Through a little bit of luck, position, and seniority, our officers find themselves assigned to various duties in making the “celebrity’s” visit as worry-free as possible. Officers on the Motorcycle Squad routinely escort dignitaries through our city, the last being John McCain and Barack Obama. These officers and others have had unique occasions to meet these history makers up close while working within the capacity of law enforcement.
A few years back, the 80’s Heavy Metal rock band Motley Crue performed at our city’s oldest and smallest venue. A quaint theatre in the heart of downtown, this “Hall” allowed the band to play in an intimate setting to a relatively small audience—not exactly a comeback tour, but memorable nonetheless. Officers who were assigned already in the downtown district were drafted to provide security and traffic control. Others, through contracted over-time or off-duty security employment provided security inside the building. Although not on this detail myself, I learned of the officers’ chance for a free show and “carte blanche” backstage. A uniform and a badge can sure get a person places.
I’m not talking about abusing my position, but if we have a lawful reason to be somewhere within the city we protect, I say why not? Although I regret not being on any of the details involving visiting political candidates or celebrities, I have had my own unique experiences—a small one of which I am particularly proud. During the summer of2003, the orbit of Mars was such that its path through the solar system was the closest to Earth it has ever been for some 60,000 years. It is true that Mars comes relatively closer to the earth than other times every 17 years or so, but this time, the Red planet was going to appear 20% larger and 85 times brighter. For a science buff like me, this was a pretty impressive occurrence—similar to when the Hale-Bopp comet passed by for a visit for several months back in 1997 and we could see its large cloudy tail in the midnight sky each night at work. While Mars came within just 35 million miles of our planet, it was the brightest and largest object in the night sky, save for the moon. The naked eye could even discern its distinctive slightly red hue.
The Natural History Museum on the east side of town boasts a planetarium and observatory that I was sure was being utilized during the one week when Mars would be its absolute closest. Working the 8pm to 4am shift at the time, I got the idea that a visit to the observatory might be in order. I gathered three other officers on a particularly slow evening around midnight, and we drove our cruisers to the otherwise deserted museum, constructed in the middle of a vast, wooded park district. There were a few cars in the lot. My hopes were up that someone was inside, although the building appeared dark and deserted. We walked around to the back of the large spherical structure that housed the planetarium and telescope, looking for alternate doorways that perhaps the scientists or astronomers used for a work entrance. It was like being on the dark side of the moon, traipsing through the rough grass along the woods’ edge, in the black, lit only by the occasional searching beam of one of our flashlights.
We made it full circle back to the front of the museum and were heading back to our cars, our expectations dashed, when suddenly a woman came out of the front entrance and asked if everything was all right. Slightly embarrassed that my plan was now out on the table, I explained what we were doing there, and she was more than happy to oblige. She introduced herself as Leslie and explained that she and her colleague were just wrapping things up and weren’t normally here this late. They happened to see four police officers searching around the building and wondered if there had been a break-in.
Leslie was one of the astronomers on staff with the museum, and she took us back to the observatory which is normally off-limits to the visiting public. A large pale green telescope greeted us, jutting up from a rotating platform accessible by gangways out through the domed roof many feet above us. I was all too eager to look through the eyepiece at my first ever scientific glimpse of the solar system. Our personal expert for the evening explained that the image we would see would be different from the images in books or on NASA TV. The image seen through ground telescopes, especially ones near metropolitan areas, must get through Earth’s atmosphere. The surrounding light and even the air itself, creates a layer of interference, similar to looking at the shimmering of a hot, deserted roadway on the distant horizon. Also, due to the mirrors in the telescope, the image of any celestial body would be inverted.
I quickly took advantage of Leslie’s invitation to approach the telescope. I peered down into the eyepiece which then bent at a ninety degree angle aligned with the trajectory of the giant apparatus. A picture about a centimeter tall became clear among the darkness. An orange orb marred with small dark smears and a distinct cap of white presented itself to me. Leslie explained I was looking at Mars upside down and should be able to see its polar ice cap covering the planet’s South Pole. The smudges I was seeing were the variations in terrain and topography. For something so far away, even though I was seeing it so small, it truly was an awesome sight to view Earth’s closest neighbor this way.
After a brief astronomy lesson while each of us got his turn at the huge telescope, we thanked our hosts and were led back out to the parking lot by the gracious scientists, who were probably just as glad for the break in the routine of their jobs as we were. It’s not everyday that employees at a museum can say they were “raided” by the cops in the middle of the night. And, it’s not everyday, that a police officer has the opportunity to go behind the scenes to witness a once in a lifetime event in the history of our planet.
For some, the nature of their current work assignment dictates when they might be in a similar situation or one of standing next to a celebrity or being asked to assist at Ground Zero or Katrina relief efforts. Training opportunities in Quantico or Florida are not uncommon for officers in Evidence collection or detective positions. Other times it seems it’s who you know that gets you on a detail with a once in a lifetime chance to be a part of something you wouldn’t ordinarily do as a routine part of your job. Most of the time, when something presents itself, it comes down to seniority—which is how I came to experience another once in a lifetime opportunity. I was one of a few dozen officers who had the privilege of serving on a detail which, not once, but twice, traveled to Washington D.C.—first to provide security along a Protest Parade Route speaking out against the World Trade Organization’s weekend summit, and secondly, a few years later, to stand guard along the Parade Route for the Presidential Inauguration of George W. Bush. My experiences and observations during my journeys to D.C. will be coming up in Part II. Stay tuned…
The city in which I live and work is a political hot-spot—deemed a necessary stop on any candidate’s campaign trail. We are also home to several theatres and sports arenas. So, it is not uncommon that, throughout the years, various high-profile politicians, actors, sports figures and musical groups stop by for a visit now and then. Through a little bit of luck, position, and seniority, our officers find themselves assigned to various duties in making the “celebrity’s” visit as worry-free as possible. Officers on the Motorcycle Squad routinely escort dignitaries through our city, the last being John McCain and Barack Obama. These officers and others have had unique occasions to meet these history makers up close while working within the capacity of law enforcement.
A few years back, the 80’s Heavy Metal rock band Motley Crue performed at our city’s oldest and smallest venue. A quaint theatre in the heart of downtown, this “Hall” allowed the band to play in an intimate setting to a relatively small audience—not exactly a comeback tour, but memorable nonetheless. Officers who were assigned already in the downtown district were drafted to provide security and traffic control. Others, through contracted over-time or off-duty security employment provided security inside the building. Although not on this detail myself, I learned of the officers’ chance for a free show and “carte blanche” backstage. A uniform and a badge can sure get a person places.
I’m not talking about abusing my position, but if we have a lawful reason to be somewhere within the city we protect, I say why not? Although I regret not being on any of the details involving visiting political candidates or celebrities, I have had my own unique experiences—a small one of which I am particularly proud. During the summer of2003, the orbit of Mars was such that its path through the solar system was the closest to Earth it has ever been for some 60,000 years. It is true that Mars comes relatively closer to the earth than other times every 17 years or so, but this time, the Red planet was going to appear 20% larger and 85 times brighter. For a science buff like me, this was a pretty impressive occurrence—similar to when the Hale-Bopp comet passed by for a visit for several months back in 1997 and we could see its large cloudy tail in the midnight sky each night at work. While Mars came within just 35 million miles of our planet, it was the brightest and largest object in the night sky, save for the moon. The naked eye could even discern its distinctive slightly red hue.
The Natural History Museum on the east side of town boasts a planetarium and observatory that I was sure was being utilized during the one week when Mars would be its absolute closest. Working the 8pm to 4am shift at the time, I got the idea that a visit to the observatory might be in order. I gathered three other officers on a particularly slow evening around midnight, and we drove our cruisers to the otherwise deserted museum, constructed in the middle of a vast, wooded park district. There were a few cars in the lot. My hopes were up that someone was inside, although the building appeared dark and deserted. We walked around to the back of the large spherical structure that housed the planetarium and telescope, looking for alternate doorways that perhaps the scientists or astronomers used for a work entrance. It was like being on the dark side of the moon, traipsing through the rough grass along the woods’ edge, in the black, lit only by the occasional searching beam of one of our flashlights.
We made it full circle back to the front of the museum and were heading back to our cars, our expectations dashed, when suddenly a woman came out of the front entrance and asked if everything was all right. Slightly embarrassed that my plan was now out on the table, I explained what we were doing there, and she was more than happy to oblige. She introduced herself as Leslie and explained that she and her colleague were just wrapping things up and weren’t normally here this late. They happened to see four police officers searching around the building and wondered if there had been a break-in.
Leslie was one of the astronomers on staff with the museum, and she took us back to the observatory which is normally off-limits to the visiting public. A large pale green telescope greeted us, jutting up from a rotating platform accessible by gangways out through the domed roof many feet above us. I was all too eager to look through the eyepiece at my first ever scientific glimpse of the solar system. Our personal expert for the evening explained that the image we would see would be different from the images in books or on NASA TV. The image seen through ground telescopes, especially ones near metropolitan areas, must get through Earth’s atmosphere. The surrounding light and even the air itself, creates a layer of interference, similar to looking at the shimmering of a hot, deserted roadway on the distant horizon. Also, due to the mirrors in the telescope, the image of any celestial body would be inverted.
I quickly took advantage of Leslie’s invitation to approach the telescope. I peered down into the eyepiece which then bent at a ninety degree angle aligned with the trajectory of the giant apparatus. A picture about a centimeter tall became clear among the darkness. An orange orb marred with small dark smears and a distinct cap of white presented itself to me. Leslie explained I was looking at Mars upside down and should be able to see its polar ice cap covering the planet’s South Pole. The smudges I was seeing were the variations in terrain and topography. For something so far away, even though I was seeing it so small, it truly was an awesome sight to view Earth’s closest neighbor this way.
After a brief astronomy lesson while each of us got his turn at the huge telescope, we thanked our hosts and were led back out to the parking lot by the gracious scientists, who were probably just as glad for the break in the routine of their jobs as we were. It’s not everyday that employees at a museum can say they were “raided” by the cops in the middle of the night. And, it’s not everyday, that a police officer has the opportunity to go behind the scenes to witness a once in a lifetime event in the history of our planet.
For some, the nature of their current work assignment dictates when they might be in a similar situation or one of standing next to a celebrity or being asked to assist at Ground Zero or Katrina relief efforts. Training opportunities in Quantico or Florida are not uncommon for officers in Evidence collection or detective positions. Other times it seems it’s who you know that gets you on a detail with a once in a lifetime chance to be a part of something you wouldn’t ordinarily do as a routine part of your job. Most of the time, when something presents itself, it comes down to seniority—which is how I came to experience another once in a lifetime opportunity. I was one of a few dozen officers who had the privilege of serving on a detail which, not once, but twice, traveled to Washington D.C.—first to provide security along a Protest Parade Route speaking out against the World Trade Organization’s weekend summit, and secondly, a few years later, to stand guard along the Parade Route for the Presidential Inauguration of George W. Bush. My experiences and observations during my journeys to D.C. will be coming up in Part II. Stay tuned…
posted by Enforcer at 11:36 PM
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