This afternoon Houston news stations were filled with coverage of yet another police shooting. Officers in Southeast Houston were serving a warrant and suspects opened fire on them, injuring 5 officers. Such a tragic and heartbreaking event that happens far more often than it should. Anytime an officer is injured it hits close to home for the men and women in blue, but this one just seemed a little different. It just wasn’t that far away for us. Make sure to take some time tonight to send some thoughts and prayers to the Houston Police Department and all of the surrounding agencies.
As I’ve sat in my office at the police station working tonight, I’ve thought about how law enforcement officers operate constantly in the anything can happen realm. Yes they train, are educated, and have tactical ways to respond to situations, but that doesn’t always cover everything. Traffic stops are one of the most dangerous things that officers do on their job. They take numerous precautions and each has their own way of going about it to help ensure their safety, but they really don’t know who or what is waiting for them in the car as they approach. Anything can happen when they arrive at a home and there is no way to initially know the difference between a setup and someone really needing help. They cannot let their guard down for a moment when in uniform or on the job and always have to be ready to act.
I could spent much of this blog spouting off statistics to you, but instead I want to share some stories to help you understand how things can go south so quickly. Just a couple of weeks ago I was riding with Officer S. A call came out over the radio that a white car was following two vehicles driving recklessly on Harborside. The car was giving dispatch a play-by-play of where they were so it was easy to find the vehicles. We were almost on the same street as them, so we were able to get behind them pretty quickly. At some point in all of the information coming out over the radio it sounded as if one or both of the drivers had a weapon. As we got behind them the first vehicle turned into a dirt area and then proceeded through an opening in the fence to go to the backside of the building. The second vehicle, the one right in front of us, took the same turn into the dirt area but did not go through the fence. Instead the car began to turn back toward us. Officer S. was giving directions over the loudspeaker to stop, but the driver kept turning. Within just a moment, the vehicle finished turning and stopped directly in front of us. Thankfully there was not a weapon and the driver was very cooperative from that point on. Things could have gone so much differently. If the driver did have a gun, he quickly could have pulled it and shot at the officer or at the vehicle. That situation could have gone much differently. Officer S. did a great job of keeping everything under control.
Another night I was riding with Officer G. and we headed to a disturbance between a couple at their home. The couple did state that there were weapons in the home, but neither of them had them or used them. When we arrived on the scene we were joined by Officer R. We headed up the stairs to the apartment. At the ground level there was a set of stairs on the left and the right, but then those two staircases come together at a landing and join to be one set of stairs that goes up to the second story apartments. The officers walked up the single set of stairs and were met with a woman sitting in a rather dark corner who instantly put her hands in the air and said she had a gun by her side. She kept her hands up while the officers reached beside her and picked up the gun. She told her side of the story and then the officers knocked on the door to talk to the male knowing that there were weapons in the house, but not knowing where. The male opened the door and instantly pointed out where the weapons were and then came outside to talk to the officers. Imagine if the woman out on the porch wanted to harm an officer, she definitely had an opportunity to do so. The man in the apartment also could have opened fire when he opened the door to the officers.
One night quite a while ago, I hoped in with Officer M. to go to the viewing of Officer Sanderson who died from cancer. I only planned to go to the viewing and then come back to the station, but it didn’t work out that way. After the viewing we decided to go eat and a shots fired call dropped while we were there. What had happened was a group of people were arguing outside of a bar and one of the guys decided he would stop the fighting by shooting a few rounds across a busy street and into an open field. When Officer M. and Officer A. arrived at the bar, they learned the guy with the gun had left the scene in a large red truck. Both officers headed out looking for the truck and found it pretty quickly. They positioned their vehicles well and then begun the process that they go through to do what is called a felony take-down. Basically it’s a quick way to get someone out of the vehicle, their hands in plain sight, and get them to a place where they can be put in handcuffs. The officers handled it very well, but it could have gone so differently. If the man hadn’t complied with what the officers were asking, he easily could have grabbed his gun, quickly turned and opened fire on them.
These are situations that I’ve seen firsthand and been extremely thankful that they did not turn out differently. There are so many other stories that I could share of places the officers find themselves in where truly anything could happen. It’s just not fair that officers are losing their lives by the hands of people who have made poor choices and don’t want to pay the consequences. It’s not fair that officers have to walk around with a target on their backs and hope that no one decides to take a shot. Their job is stressful and intense enough without all of the added uncertainty that they deal with now. Officers put on their uniform willing to lay down their lives for someone who is truly in danger, but that’s not even what is taking the majority of them. Enough is enough as was said by Joe Gamaldi tonight in response to the Houston shooting. And he is definitely right. Something has to change.