When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton replied, "Because that's where the money is."
If someone were to ask a cop why he conducts patrol checks of motel parking lots, he might very well reply, "Because that's where the dirtbags are."
One of the most widely recognized banes of the job among good cops is other cops’ inability or unwillingness to do their jobs. And nowhere is that inability and unwillingness more manifest than in that age-old ritual known as the "kiss off."
There are times when the information provided is too simplistic. While descending on a suspect who was hellbent on taking out his girlfriend and her family with an AK-47, we were advised that the suspect was "on the right side of the girlfriend’s house." Without a "You Are Here" marker painted on the street, we couldn't tell if it was the right side when facing the house or the right side when looking out of it.
Reasons for sound-proofing our approaches are myriad. Domestic calls are notoriously dangerous, with over half of the officers who die on such calls killed upon approach. One way to counter this danger is to make your approach in stealth mode.
The average criminal offender will do just about anything to avoid contact, detention, or ultimate arrest.
"Are you holding?"
For cops and dopers, this question is the first move in a high-stakes game of hide and seek.
Friendly fire. Erratic driving. Improper medical diagnoses. These are but a few officer-involved errors that have resulted in deaths of innocents. That isn't to say that we aren't conscientious professionals. But we do make mistakes.
Here is a common scene: Cop handcuffs suspect and places him in the backseat of a waiting patrol car. In the movies, this is usually performed with a dramatic flourish punctuated by a Miranda warning. In real life, this is sometimes punctuated by tragedy.