The funny part about Mr. Smarty Pants Police is how quickly he realized he was not dealing with a ‘Status Quo’ BOY who was going to allow him to act any kind of disrespectful way but I also was not going to play the ‘who can raise their voice the loudest game.’
He immediately walked over to his damsel in distress and asked her to tell her side of what happened. And would you believe he actually turned his little puppy dog head to the side and listened to her entire story…..WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.
After approximately 20 minutes, his superior arrived on the scene and asked him to point towards the person who called to speak. I also noticed the superior did not speak to him for a prep talk either. He walked over and introduced himself and I told him who I was and he asked, “How can I assist?”
I asked him if he had a problem shaking hands with me and he said that he did not but he prefers not to take any germs home to his children. He said it in a nice way and extended his hand saying, “If it is necessary I have no issues.” I told him that I appreciated his response and his eyes told a completely different story from that of the officer. He allowed me to explain my issues without interruption.
The conversation was great and went on for over an hour. I found that his wife was a SAHM who homeschooled his children. (we actually shared curriculum challenges and I referred him to Khan Academy). He actually attempted to get his wife on the phone to speak with me while we were talking. He also uses Dave Ramsey Financial Peace budgeting program and is on Baby Step #2. I felt like I was talking to my twin but my WM twin is This Daddy’s Blog and so far from being a cop that it is not funny.
Anywho.
I wrote a statement to be placed in the initial rude officers personnel file and the superior assured me this would be done. Don’t worry about me believing him. I do believe him but I always have a backup plan for the police fraternity.
During our 1-1.5 hour talk session the superior explained that he would stay on the scene with us as long as possible but if he got an urgent call he would need to take it. I told him I understood and appreciated the advance notice. He eventually left but the young woman’s mother, who had taken her Honda to the boyfriends home, eventually showed up with the phone. The mother did not exit the car or even look at me. But we already know this family had some parenting issues. She handed the phone to the daughter who handed it to the bad attitude cop who walked over and gave it to me. I looked at the phone and found it to be cracked on the face. I immediately stated, “The face is cracked.” Little Miss Momma responds, “That is how it looked when we found it.” I looked her in the face and said, “I thought you didn’t know anything about an iPhone because there was NO phone in the bag!” I told her I will let the judge decide if she should pay for my wife’s phone to get fixed.
At this point he told me that I had the option to write a statement that would be included in the police report…but said, “It’s really not necessary since you have the phone back.”
I told him I wanted to write a report. He gave me 2 pieces of paper and half of the first one was filled with lines for my information. I told him that I would need a few more pages and wrote a super long statement with 75% of it not even focusing on the cell phone but on his treatment. He then had to go back and type up my statement into the report and read all of what I felt about his actions and how I really appreciated his superior officer but that I did not trust either officer to turn in the reports given to them and I would be making a visit to Henry County to file an internal affairs complaint.
It will take time for this to get done but these are the things we must do to pay stuff forward in hopes of correcting this curve between BM and the police.
Just a few items that I would like to bring up since this ended up being a little more about the Henry County police. The young lady was cold while waiting and the officer gave her a Henry County police jacket to wear. I just wonder if he would have done the same for me. I also heard that is against policy but have been unable to verify. He can’t say it did not happen because I actually took a picture of the couple standing side by side with their police gear on when I was pulling out of the parking lot. I will post it later. I have my reasons but don’t worry it will be the original and not photoshopped.
Also, I felt really bad for one of the young girls (8) who started crying because she thought she was going to jail. I have a daughter around the same age who is so sensitive and I was telling my wife it just broke my heart to see her so upset and her mom being the cause of it all.
Well, I never even laid my eyes on the boyfriend. He never made it to the scene. The mother ,who could not look at me, had to go pick the phone up and actually had a client in the salon that was unable to get her hair done because of all this mess.
There was something good that came out of this. My wife and I have some friends that I wish we were closer to, and I spoke to the husband while on the way and once at the shopping center. He let me know that I was 3 minutes from there home. Also, when my GPS directed me, it took me a way that I did not know existed. Now I realize they are only 25 minutes from us and not the 45 it was taking me on the highway. So we are planning a Friday night family movie night and Saturday morning Crossfit session with them.
WOW! We finally made it to the end and I want to thank all of you for hanging in there with us to get to this point.
Point to remember:
Log your phone with ICloud!!
Apple is the bomb and I guess I have to now get my wife the IPAD. I have been running for to long but they have earned my business as a customer for life!! The frenzy is actually worth it for our family.
BTW, here is a plug for Six Flag’s lost and found department. Apparently, WF did turn in the Hello Kitty Bag, but conveniently decided to keep the phone. The bag was mailed to us yesterday.
ODC
