Personal Narrative: My Father's Career In Law Enforcement
My Father’s career in law enforcement practically ended in 1995. Responding to a 10-32 (suspect with a lethal weapon) his armored SUV speeds down a clear Central Avenue but in an instant, smashes into a car running a red light at 90 MPH. With debris and equipment scattered throughout an empty intersection, an officer down call goes out to all nearby units. My father survived the accident but the Taxi driver died immediately upon impact. However, this is not what ended his career. Six months later Detective McGrath was in route to a suicidal individual. When he arrived on scene, the individual picked up a handgun and began shooting at officers and EMTs; forcing him to take lethal action. By incapacitating the suspect, other officers and EMTs
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The suspect incapacitated was a young mentally ill man who was staying with his family at the time (name retracted for ethical reasons). I began asking my father about his overall experience in APD which seemed to be mostly positive. From this he began to go into detail about corruption in APD’s chain-of-command. He told me of stories about officer misconduct which has the potential to change the outcomes of several closed cases. He discussed situations from cover-ups to the planting of evidence. One of which particularly stuck with him and feels it should be shared.
“I graduated from the police academy in the 1980’s and have made plenty of friends and enemies. After completing on the job training, I was placed in the narcotics division where I received my first partner named, (name retracted for legality reasons, but we can call him Bill). For the first few months we worked as UC’s busting small-time operations. Everything went will until a few months later when I became a detective. Bill was still working in narcotics at the time. One night I received a distress call from Officer Bill’s address. I was not the first on scene. When I made contact, my police sergeant pulled me aside said the situation is being handled so I left the scene. A few days later I learned that Bill had beaten his wife pretty badly. I later learned that his wife was not only pressing charges,
The suspect incapacitated was a young mentally ill man who was staying with his family at the time (name retracted for ethical reasons). I began asking my father about his overall experience in APD which seemed to be mostly positive. From this he began to go into detail about corruption in APD’s chain-of-command. He told me of stories about officer misconduct which has the potential to change the outcomes of several closed cases. He discussed situations from cover-ups to the planting of evidence. One of which particularly stuck with him and feels it should be shared.
“I graduated from the police academy in the 1980’s and have made plenty of friends and enemies. After completing on the job training, I was placed in the narcotics division where I received my first partner named, (name retracted for legality reasons, but we can call him Bill). For the first few months we worked as UC’s busting small-time operations. Everything went will until a few months later when I became a detective. Bill was still working in narcotics at the time. One night I received a distress call from Officer Bill’s address. I was not the first on scene. When I made contact, my police sergeant pulled me aside said the situation is being handled so I left the scene. A few days later I learned that Bill had beaten his wife pretty badly. I later learned that his wife was not only pressing charges,