Interview with a policeman from America. Part I

[DronVR]

Interview with a policeman from America. Part I

We wrote a lot about the work of Russian police, about the criteria by which they are selected, how they are trained, and the difficulties that law enforcement officers face.

Our interlocutor, Sergei, has lived in the United States for many years, worked for Georgia’s police for 20 years, and agreed to share his memories and impressions.

Somewhere, his story is almost similar to several interviews that we have already published; somewhere, Sergey’s words radically diverge from the opinions of Russian heroes. It is all the more interesting to compare.

-How did you get to work at the police?

- Romance, I've seen enough movies about good Soviet policemen. Decided, here it is, a real male affair. I went to the police school, then I got to the OBKhSS. But there somehow it didn’t work out that way .... Mainly accounting activities, one joy - xiv.

-No chase, no shooting ...

-Yes. Opera in cars, with weapons to capture the gang, and we walked to the store and warehouse ... But he was young, 18 years old, the age when life is generally interesting.

And then the parents decided to emigrate to the United States. Call me with you. What am I? The beginning of the 90s, in Russia it is not clear what, but there, it seems, stability. I am 20 years old, start all over again - but do not FIG!

Arrived in San Francisco. Heat, there is no work, in general, no, plus local unrest, it is scary to go out into the street in the evening. Latinos attack, set fire to cars. Normal people flee from the city.

I knew English well, wrote, spoke without problems, but ... with an accent. It was immediately clear that he was a migrant, and the attitude towards them was appropriate. Spin as he could ... And suddenly ... an invitation to an exam at the local police academy.

-Well?

-And what to lose? He consulted with friends, they worked in the restaurant business, said, take your chance, you see, the cops are in authority. I rummaged through the information, everything seems to be right. With weapons, again, I have no problems, and I understand and shoot well, I decided to try it.

I'm coming. Bliiin, raspberries! Wishing several thousand, a two-turn line around the perimeter of the building. And this is just to go in, take the questionnaire and the first test. Well, since I came, I waited, I sat down, which I checked out there, circled something in a circle, put a tick somewhere. There were a few questions about orienting on the map, I can do that too. I handed over a piece of paper, left, forgot.

A month later, a letter - come for a physical test. Then it became interesting, I went.

- We have future police officers checked seriously, and the questionnaire and relatives, but there?

-There, too, everything is on the level. But about me where to send requests? To Perm from America? It’s funny.

Yes, I filled out a bunch of questionnaires, wrote all the phones, addresses, but I think no one called anyone.

I know, usually verification is complete. Any friend, relative can call: Do you know such a thing? And how does he feel about migrants? And to sex minorities? Or maybe he is emotionally unstable? And so on. Moreover, the person is not warned, the bell rings completely unexpectedly, and you never know what he can blurt out there ...

-And on physical training what is required there?

- An obstacle course, you put on a police belt, a baton and a pistol on it, rubber, but heavy, like a real one. And went! First, through the maze, then through the decks above the ground, through the pit, through the wall, etc. The line is big, you have one attempt. He crawled into the hole, picked up a kilogram mannequin under 100, and drag him, again through the wall, with him, but carefully, he’s kind of alive, your wounded partner. Stumble! And all for a while.

-Very difficult?

-Not really. Just normal preparation is needed. With me, women passed, but you have to be in shape.

-And sparing?

-Make sure. The questionnaire also asks about fights, and there is such a nuance: it is necessary to write, yes, I fought, but only in case of emergency, very rarely. Writing - every day - is categorically impossible. I can give a fight, but never the first. This is what they want from you.

The same day, a psychological test. Many pages, endlessly repeating questions and again for a while.

-Do you step on cracks on the pavement?

-Yes, all such nonsense. On the contrary, a professional is sitting, it is impossible to deceive him. Some departments require a mandatory tower, somewhere college is enough, somewhere you do not need anything other than high school.

I finished school in the USSR, and a police school too. But in America it is not quoted. My curator calls, says: “You can send a piece of paper, a GED, a diploma, General Education Diploma, after school they give it to everyone. Everyone, but I don’t have it ...

The curator advises: pass this test, 40 dollars in total. Spring is on the street, all the students are renting, join us! It’s easy to say ... I’ve been looking for a place for three weeks where they would take me, an overgrown migrant. And time passed. 5000 people passed testing with me, and the set was only 30.

Yes, it’s easier to enter Moscow State University ...

- Oddly enough, they go to the police there not for money, for an idea. Although the pay is also good. Of those 30, six were eliminated while studying, and this is not enough, usually much more.

-And they say he served in one state, moved to another, and start all over again?

-Right. Everyone has different contracts, different salaries, uniforms, cars. Radio communications are conducted at different frequencies with different codes. The problems are terrible. We speak with the neighboring city, we do not understand them, they do not understand us. We turn to ordinary human language. The authorities scold, but there is no other way.

- We have secret negotiations conducted only by walkie-talkie, in no case by telephone.

-There is a scramble, you press the button, everything is encrypted, and on the other side there is a decoder.

-Let's go back to the tests, to the psychologist. What other questions did you remember?

-Do you think that all people lie? How to answer correctly? What they want to hear, you don’t know. Then the main rule is answer honestly. You are a policeman, you must be trusted. There is no faith - you immediately fly out of work. Nakosyachil - admit it. I lied, transferred arrows to another, the next day you hand over the weapon and the certificate.

-And there is corruption?

-No one needs to take a bribe from the driver, how much can he give? 100 dollars, 200? The cop has a much higher salary, plus insurance, benefits, it’s simply not profitable, they will catch it again - they will expel them right away.

I want to say more about psychological tests. Many questions seem debility at all, then you understand their meaning. After some time, they put you on a polygraph. It’s driving through the whole city, far from your home. They look: do you swear? Not? Are you late? Not? Had arrived? It’s impossible not to arrive and it’s better not to be late. First you answer out loud, then the same questions in your mind. The reaction is important.

-Complicated?

-Interesting. I had nothing to hide, I did not indulge in drugs, did not drink, did not have non-traditional sexual contacts. Fight - fought.

There is another interview, you go in a business suit, to the city hall, there is a panel - a commission of 3 people, an officer, a representative of the city and an ordinary citizen. They show videos, ordinary everyday scenes: on the road, someone cut someone, mother and daughter quarreled because of a blouse, her husband came drunk from work and asked what would you do? You do not know any laws or rules yet, but as a person you can somehow react. That's what they look at. And again, naturally, for a while.

I figured, by that time there were already those who were taken, 30-40 people. But then it turned out, again I was missing some kind of piece of paper ... And I had already gathered all my things for the move, plus my wife, a small child.

While straightening a piece of paper, asked to live with friends, things were handed over to the locker. I found a job, my wife found a job, a nanny was hired for a child. Then the call, come.

Asked off. Drove the paper. But I’m already late for training. The next course in 3 months. However, they offered to work, agreed, the salary was more profitable.

I had to look for a new apartment, a new nanny and a new job for my wife.

The first day came out, here the officer is your boss, young, angry like a dog. Then I realized the guy is great, just a fighter for discipline.

Gradually the class gathered, study began. Five days as at school: you come at 8, at 4-30 home, lessons, laws, instructions, a physical school student, they drove around the city a little, so that they could somehow begin to navigate. Fizuha is very serious, heavy. Running, running crossed, dragging each other, pulling up, push-ups, swing the press. After 2 days, 6 people were eliminated.

- We have about the same.

-Yes, the service could be worse. Stressed, they really want to kill you. And, again, I moved from another city, start learning all over again.

-And you are for the free sale of weapons, as in America? Do you think an armed man is a polite person?

-If you give out pistols to everyone, it will be like in America in the 19th century, uncontrolled shooting will begin. It’s a paradox, but in those states where the nuts are tightened more - the most crimes are there, every day there are disassemblies, murders, and robberies. And where weapons can be bought in the store, on any street - quieter and calmer.

Although there was a case recently, a 10-year-old boy, he heard that two were breaking into the house, went to his parents' bedroom, and pulled out the Colt from the nightstand ...

And opened fire. Fell one at once, the second wounded.

-And what was he?

- At home, on your territory - no complaints. I heard the rule - it’s better to let me be condemned by 12 than by 6.

On the other hand, if they broke into your house, you took out a gun, people ran, you chase them after 3 blocks, shoot in the back - it won’t. You drove them away, they ran away, then call the police. The main thing is that the jury stand on your side. This is difficult, because they are different people, with different backgrounds, cultural, and life values. And sometimes it’s enough that one person does not agree, and that’s all - the guilty person is released.

-In our law on police, if a policeman pulled out a weapon, the slightest movement in his direction is regarded as an attempt to seize a pistol / machine gun and cause harm to health.

-And you don’t have to be a policeman, you can be a simple American citizen, and you don’t need the enemy to have weapons either. Suppose if a person weighs 120 kg and you are 60, he is approaching you, you have few chances in hand-to-hand fighting, if you are not Jackie Chan, you are unlikely to do anything, you will most likely be killed or maimed. And property and life are inviolable. Police may enter the site only with permission.

But there are options. If I am chasing someone, he jumps over the fence, I understand, it’s difficult to get the owner’s permission at this moment. This is a “hot pursuit”, you see him, run after him, he breaks into someone’s house, closes, you can safely knock the door. After all, the offender is likely to take hostages, kill someone.

If you missed him, and the witnesses say: he ran there, but you didn’t see, then the house cordons off, the judge calls, the judge writes out a warrant.

-For example, stop the car, hands on the steering wheel, do not touch anything, sit, do not go anywhere. The driver and passengers are sitting there saying something in response. Can they be shot right away if someone twitches?

-Not. You stop the car for different things. If a person drove a brake light, stop, write out a fine. If he starts to run away, you have the right to chase after him. If you stop, just write a fine. But if a person swears, is indignant, tries to run away, is rude, you inform by radio, reinforcements fly instantly. We drove one by one in the cars.

-Dangerous.

- The authorities believe that there will be more cars, and the officers will take care of their safety. But when you go to the incident, you call another employee, you never know ...

-You said, they live here like this, there - in a different way, in the sense in different cities, even blocks. Does this apply to the material sphere? Is it calm here, because there are more whites and workers, is it dangerous there because they are mostly black and unemployed?

-No, working people live everywhere, and parasites too. But certain areas are clearly attracted to crime. One state has money to support prisoners, another does not, five have been arrested, and the same number have been released.

Somewhere articles that were criminal were transferred to misconduct, that is, a lower sentence, and misconduct into an administrative violation is generally just a fine. Somewhere marijuana was legalized.

-And your opinion?

- Grass trading does not bring anything good; competing firms usually resolve disputes by gunfights. But if people can go to the pharmacy and buy grass ... Smoked calm, they do not want to fight, they feel good. Basically, problems with alcohol, alcohol goes along with drugs. Again there were mixtures in which you no longer know what to eat ..

For personal use, let it not bother me. But distribution is another matter. In the last year I don’t know how the laws have changed, they change every year.

This year this is a criminal offense, the next - an offense, then not a crime at all.

-Lafa for statistics! The United States, as the richest country in the world, respectively, uses the most drugs, which means that drugs grown in South America mainly go there. Americans are not a stupid nation, otherwise there would be no such wealth as in the USA. And how is it that so many drugs are imported, they are sold everything, and then money is also taken away? Where is the police looking?

-If everything depended only on the police, there would be nothing. The problem is that the police are not a centralized structure. For example, in California, the police do not have their own police at all, only highway patrols that patrol expressways and guard some of the buildings. They decided to save money, and dumped everything on local budgets.

In counties are sheriffs, the county’s chief sheriff is the person in charge of prisons.

Prisons are federal, state, county, and city. In urban areas, usually people employed by the city work as security guards, and sheriffs serve as district and staff officers. They guard the courts. Roughly speaking, they are responsible for the arrested people. In small towns there is no money to maintain their personal police, they enter into contracts with the district sheriffs, and they are provided with patrol services, then the units go out to call and control certain areas.

-But the budget is like that today, and after a couple of months it was cut. And the city was left without a police force?

-I agree, it looks wild. No one gives money to the police, sometimes the federal departments send small grants, buy new radios, for example, but these are tears. We had more than 800 people on paper in the department, but in fact, if you remove those who were under investigation, broken, sick, on vacation - it’s good if half remained.

Sometimes they were forced to work out of class, every 2 weeks. True for one and a half salaries, but I want to relax, but here there are no options. You choose what shift you will work if you work in the daytime, not the fact that you will get the extra day, you will have to plow 10 hours a day, and then the same amount in the night, but on the same day.

-You came to the service, how did you start? How is your day going?

-First 3.5 months of field trials. They give a boss, you become an incomplete partner, Unit A - 2 people in a car. Trainee and supervisor, no reinforcements have been laid.

The daily routine is: Go, change, clean your shoes, rub a star, then build. You should look normal, you are a representative of authority, your appearance is very important.

-And you can tattoo a cop?

-Maybe, but sometimes they need to be closed, they should not be visible.

Further divorce, distribute sites. Usually there is a choice, depending on the seniority in the department, if you are on patrol, you choose one at a time, shift, weekend, vacation. You know in advance where you will work, which section. Some sites are better than others, some are worse. There are small and calm, but there are those where the shooting never stops. Give a number, a bit.

They read the summary of what to look for, where something serious happened, they shot at 92, after 3 hours they shoot at 96, these are competing firms. You already know where what can happen.

To be continued...
Source @criminalsun