Start me a Mast Me Hearty!

Jeff has been "on the job" for three weeks now as a KCPD Police Officer. This has, to put it lightly, been an interesting three weeks. Really he should be writing this blog, but seeing as how Jeff likes to "craft" whatever he writes, it could take him upwards of 4 1/2 hours just to "craft" the title. So I've decided to take the helm and share with you that which is, the life of a KCPD Cop.

When Jeff leaves our house at 8:15pm the nights when he is on duty, he leaves wearing:

1. Shirt
2. Pants

These items are important because if he was not wearing them he would promptly be arrested by his fellow officers for indecent exposure.

3. Bullet proof vest

He wore this every day, no matter what they were doing, at the Academy. They told the recruits that this was to get them used to wearing it to the point where NOT having it on would feel weird. I asked Jeff the other day if this was now the case, did he feel weird without his vest? His answer, "No". Okey-dokey then.

4. Very large, high topped, black, butt kicking boots

The reason for these should be pretty obvious. To kick some butt.

5. Inner belt - for his pants.
6. Outer belt, holding: gun, extra clip, handcuffs, mace, radio, transmitter, club, flashlight, keys.

When Jeff gets to work he puts on a stun-gun that attaches to his leg. He also wears a mic on his shirt that records everything he says. Pretty much he is like a walking, talking (while being recorded) lawsuit just waiting to happen.

7. Coat
8. Two gigantic duffel bags containing. . . I had NO idea. These are LARGE, heavy duffels and I seriously didn't know what is in them until I wrote this post.
I looked in the duffels to try and share with you, the reader, what is in them. That didn't help. So I went and asked Jeff who was sleeping because he is on duty tonight. The conversation went like this:

Aby (whispering): Jeff?
Jeff (sleepily squinting): What?
Aby: What is in your duffel bags?
Jeff: Huh?
Aby: Your police duffels? The littler one? What's in it?
Jeff: Hazmat stuff.
Aby: And the other one, is it riot gear?
Jeff: Yes.
Aby: And. . .
Jeff: Everything else.

So there you go.
This is what Jeff looks like when he leaves at night.

He then picks up those two heavy duffels and gracefully leaves. Actually he bumps and thumps his way out the door, and then bumps and thumps his way through the storm door.
He gets in our van, and drives away. After this it gets a bit hard for me to write what he does. Seeing as I am still at home with the kids and not actually watching him on duty. But he tells me that everything goes well and that it's A LOT of paperwork. Just like you hear, it actually IS a lot of paperwork to be a cop. Or any kind of emergency city worker I'd imagine.

So far Jeff has had a couple of arrests (all DUI's), gone Code 1 a bunch of times (meaning turning the sirens on), and has pulled his gun a couple of times. He's already seen some car accidents (ALL involving alcohol), taken a rape report, issued a warrant, etc, etc, etc. Basically crime, accidents, emergencies don't ever stop. Especially if you're a rookie cop during what they call the "break-in" period. That's the first couple of months where you ride around with a trainer but are responsible for everything. The dispatcher gives those on break-in the most report ridden calls so that they can have the experience. During break-in you try, as Jeff said "To make the dispatcher your best friend" so that you don't get so many of those types of calls right before it's time to go home.

7:00am rolls around and it's time for Jeff to leave and come home. Except he pretty much NEVER gets to leave at 7:00. Eventually he does get to leave and he drives home, makes some "dinner" and then crashes into bed in. . . the basement. That's right, we make our cops sleep in the basement here in KC! No, it's alright, he actually chose to do so after his first night on duty trying to sleep upstairs with all of us awake and the kids being their noisy, stomping, yelling, laughing, running, fitty, jumping on the beds, gotta love 'em selves.

Around 3:00 or 4:00pm Jeff emerges from the basement, we see him for a couple of hours and then before we know it he's back in his uniform and thumping out the door again.

We love our KC Police Officer, and we miss him tons when he's on duty. But there is no way Rome and Capri could be more proud of their dad. They LOVE that Jeff is a cop and tell everybody who will listen that their daddy is a Policeman. Capri especially loves to tell other kids, she does so in a "my dad is cooler than your dad" kind of tone.

The KCPD, along with other cities departments I'm sure, uses a TON of slangy, codey type of talk. Our favorite to make fun of is "Start me a Mast". Any guesses on what this means?