POLICE NOTES: Wednesday during the wee hours.

Imagine the “old days,” twenty plus years ago, it’s after 2am on a cold slow graveyard shift.  You’re all alone in a patrol car on Cape Cod, winter population seemingly only slightly above several hundred, no pending calls, streets vacant, motorists all tucked in for the evening, nothing but the occasional raccoon making its rounds, what do you do?

In the “old days,” certain officers would find a secluded wooded area, shut down the cruiser’s running lights, open a book of matches (officers frequently smoked "legally" while on duty in those days), light a smoke,  enjoy it, carefully positioning the open matches over the lighted glass tuner on the Delco AM/FM radio, in such a way to reduce the glare, turn up the patrol radio full blast, in case something happened, pull out an inflatable airline pillow from their bulky Samsonite plastic brief case, switch on WQRC and pleasantly examine the inside of their eyelids for next several hours. 

In the “old days,” phrases like “stress management” and “peer support” counseling did not exist.  There were no SWAT teams or “Arrest and Apprehension Units,” you usually rode alone.  If the “stuff” hit the fan, guess what, you were it – yell into your crappy portable radio, if you actually had one (if it actually worked you were doubly blessed), deal with it and try not to get killed.  You carried a crappy thirty-eight revolver with 6 lousy rounds, 12 more loosely contained in dual pouches, a dried-out wooden “night stick,” a few illegal survival tricks, and a nasty temper certainly never hurt your chances of staying conscious during a blow by blow altercation, waiting for “backup,” if there happened to be any that night.   Barnstable cops were some of the toughest in the Commonwealth.  Although those were the days when we would occasionally find a State Trooper knocked-out up on Route 6, apparently injured during a traffic stop which suddenly turned ugly – Troopers very rarely had portable radios in those days, often they couldn’t call for backup, even if they did want it (strange phenomena, but most “Staties” claimed not to need backup, they were no nonsense old school law enforcement with Texas Ranger mindsets, "One riot, one trooper...")  My uncle was an old time Trooper; they don’t make ‘em like him anymore, “backup is for p-----s [sounds like wussies]!” was his mantra, especially after several tankards of beer.

In the “old days,” bad things happened and cops often got banged up a bit.  Being stressed out was not allowed.  Talking about it was even less acceptable.  (Most of us, however, were stressed out from time to time, some handled it better than others, some didn’t – one relative of mine on a local city force killed himself with his own service weapon, job stress and a bitter divorce was cited as the cause, another uncle got really drunk one night during his own divorce and attempted to take a header off a local bridge just prior to being stopped by brother officers – he survived, never ever talked about it again, and retired a decorated officer.  Departmental support regarding job stress simply was not there in the “old days.”  Also, in the “old days,” marriage and being a cop rarely ever worked out. 

Many cops, not all, tried other things to compensate for the stress.

We drank a lot.  Often until the sun came up.  Catching just enough sleep before our next shift.

Several officers I knew, good officers, smart cops who use to say things to me like, “remember, a good cop is never cold, wet, hungry, or overtired… blah blah blah” had these little “napping rituals” down to an exact science.  It was their little way of taking a “time out.”  I knew one guy in particular who packed a big white fluffy pillow each shift, claiming it was for his “lower back.”  He took his little “time outs” to higher level than most.

Oh, by the way, some cops will swear up and down that they never ever took a “cat nap” back in the “old days” - yah right!

But you had to be careful in the “old days.”  Old-school chiefs didn’t “play.”  One particular iron-willed chief would routinely climb out of bed during the wee hours and sneak around trying to catch the “slicker” snoozers, particularly the ones who took the whole thing a tad too far.  And if you got caught, well let’s just say the local patrolman’s union wasn’t as strong as it is today.  Watching squirrels and raccoons for the remainder of your career was an “easy sentence.”

Things were different in the “old days.”

But I must admit that today’s cops are also hard working and have it tough, facing just as many dangers.  But one major difference I see is that they are better prepared to deal with stress.  Also, they are generally far better trained to work as a team and support one another. 

(It might just be me, but I find fewer cops have serious drinking problems compared to the “old days.”  I knew several officers, one locally, who actually use to drink while on duty!  That would never ever happen today!)

I happened to be out this morning during the wee hours.  It was slow, with hardly a soul on the streets.  Just the occasional crack-head or raccoon.

In Hyannis nowadays, it’s very rare if things are ever “slow,” day or night.

I was pleased to see Hyannis patrolmen working in tandem cruisers this morning.  Working with a partner not only cuts cruiser and gas costs by 50%, it allows officers to be more creative and initiate investigations as a team.  During the night hours, tandem patrols in the downtown Hyannis area make perfect sense.  Also, most calls that time of day require more than one officer anyway.  Sending officers out in pairs in densely populated areas, such as Hyannis, is a very smart move.  (However, during business hours it is a completely different story, tandem patrols don’t always make as much sense due to the general nature and range of daytime calls and activity.)

Working in a tandem unit also allows one officer to focus solely on driving while the other operates the computer and radio.  Synchronized efforts almost always produce improved quality.  Officers can share ideas and even provide each other with moral support.  Tandem patrols are also the logical choice for community policing efforts.

For example, last night I observed (from a safe distance of course) two partners who got out on foot patrol to walk the streets in a particularly violent neighborhood.  Stealth worked in their favor as they approached certain trouble spots.  This particular pair were able to gain information regarding concerns about ongoing drug activity, actually finding a discarded dirty hypodermic needle just feet away from where small children play on a daily basis.

It’s a proven fact that tandem units are able to come up with many more ideas than when officers merely work all by themselves. 

In short, police work has come a long way since the “old days.”  Highly trained young officers are out there doing heroic things all night when most of us are home sound asleep.  It’s nice to sneak out during the wee hours and see a focused, highly dedicated police force actually doing its job.  Other communities in the Commonwealth are not as lucky.

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Photos: Visit http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeopzls/policecars/ for an excellent collection of vitage MSP car photos.