Sometimes the News Stories are Closer Than You Think

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has recently reported that an officer from Monongahela, Washington County, is charged with numerous drug crimes including "tipping off drug dealers" on police search warrants. It's interesting to note that in one local town, officers have been tipping off the bad guys for a very long time. One example that comes to mind was a marijuana grow operation where the chief dictated exactly when the search warrant was to be executed. When officers knocked at the door, the residents of the house were all smiles. Of course, nothing was found.

"It's Time for Headlines"

A few years ago, one local officer, who is now a chief, was once caught napping in his town's coffee shop while on-duty. Embarrassing as that is, the local newspaper snapped a photo of his public slumber and made the next day's front page news. It gets worse: Weeks later, the entire nation saw that picture on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno during the "Headlines" segment. I have it on good authority that not one but at least seven different people sent that newspaper pic to NBC! He must have had a lot of friends.

Juvenile Drinking is OK (If you're a girl and friends with a cop)

Lately, the local news has featured Pittsburgh area police officers getting in trouble for things like tipping off drug dealers and drunk driving but here's one story that never hit the media:

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An officer in a local department was investigated by a DA's Office for a possible sex crime. At the very least, he was guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor by letting her drink alcohol at his house. He was forced to resign (before the department fired him) and with that, the investigation was ended.

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Well, not really. He not only re-applied for his job, he was hired back then promoted. Word is, he may be the next Juvenile Officer!!!

A Nice Evening Drive

Many departments require their patrol officers to maintain a vehicle log which includes their miles driven on any particular turn. On a shift that lacks activity such as arrests or reports, an officer is expected to be "patrolling the borough." One officer, after being reprimanded for low mileage on his assigned police car during a night-turn shift decided to use some imagination. He drove into the borough's garage, jacked up the back of the police car, put it in drive and, with a brick on the accelerator, took a little nap. The problem was that he over-slept and upon awaking, found that he had put nearly 200 miles on the car. Not too bad considering that the size of the borough was a little less that 1 mile square! Seeing this error, he of course put the car in reverse and placed the brick back on the gas peddle. Not knowing that an odometer will NOT go backwards even if the car is in reverse, he quickly racked up a total of 380 miles during his 8 hour shift! He was terminated for "Abuse of borough property."

Just a Joke Between Partners

Police are always pulling one gag or another on each other but here's one that is almost legend. Two guys who had been partners for years found themselves working night turn one summer evening. The passenger was nice and curled up in a deep slumber while the driver was just circling the borough. They soon found themselves near some railroad tracks where there was a train engine stopped not on, but near the crossing facing the roadway. With his passenger in la-la-land, the driver stopped the police car on the tracks, turned the engine off and began screaming. The sleeping officer awoke, saw the train's spot light just feet from his door and, unable to find the door handle, hastily climbed out the car's window in a panic. Even after many years, he never did find that gag too funny.