"Honor" Above All Else: Removing the Veil of Secrecy

By Dennis Wise

AhhhhhhThe day to day life of most police officers is usually filled with plenty of verbal abuse, mean looks, threats and frustration..and then, he goes to WORK !

Everyone who has ever been a cop soon learns that many times his worst enemy actually wears a badge, and so the joust begins. Not only does he have to watch his back from the public, he has his own kind to fear.

Most cops fit into three categories; The honest hard working one who wants to further his education and be a professional; the bum who got his job because he knew someone and doesnt have to work if he doesnt want to, and last but not least; the ones who prefer to run their badge through your credit card machine, rather than pay the bill.

This is a book about all of the above. Though many of the activities are funny, they sometimes created situations where someone could have gotten seriously hurt. For those of you still in law enforcement, I can only hope that my 35 years within its realm can help someone, somewhere, somehow. Enjoy this prose account of life in the crosshairs of the street thugs and drunk drivers. This book is both informative, funny and for mature audiences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 13, 2006
• ISBN: 9781467094658

Dennis Wise

Dennis Wise is an English former football managed and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United. In a career spanning twenty years he played for Wimbledon, Leicester City, Millwall, Southampton, Coventry City and, most notably, Chelsea.

Book preview

HONOR ABOVE ALL ELSE

Removing the Veil of Secrecy

V00_142597676X_TEXT.pdf

Dennis Wise

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

© 2007 Dennis Wise. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 3/1/2007

ISBN: 978-1-4259-7676-7 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2006909821

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Contents

Chapter 1 The Inevitable Happens

Chapter 2 Lauderdale Lakes

Chapter 3 Pembroke Park

Chapter 4 Broward County Sheriff’s Office

Chapter 5 Retirement

Chapter 6 Walton County Sheriff’s Office

Chapter 7 Retirement for real this time

Chapter 8 The American Police Hall of Fame and Museum

and as President of the American Federation

of Police and Concerned Citizens.

In Memory

In Memory Of Those

Who Died On 9-11

Epilogue

Dedicated To

My wife Sheila, who helped me survive my ASS

(Administrations, Supervisors and the Streets). She is my one true lasting love

A well known NFL player almost destroyed a deputy’s career!

A politically connected deputy almost cost me my life!

NFL player beats a DUI arrest………..Go figure!

Two deputies pass badly injured at accident without being reprimanded!

Two supervisors’ incompetence and bias almost destroys several deputies’ careers.

Dennis Wise,

Deputy Sheriff retired

Prologue

Having grown up in the Midwest, in a small city named Chicago (at least back when I was growing up it was small) every adult male relative that I had was a Chicago firefighter. Then, one might ask, How come you became a law enforcement officer and not a firefighter? The answer to that question is easy. I grew up with Marshal John Wayne, Sheriff Roy Rodgers, and Deputy Gene Autry. Every Saturday afternoon at the ‘Biograph Theater’ at least, they fought for those who could not fight for themselves. No matter what the odds, they defeated evil every time! I slept well knowing if I ever needed them, all I had to do was turn on the TV at 5:30 for Western Theater. They would be right there defending us every time, and I have to tell you….I never found a bad guy in my closet…..Not even in the attic, and it was at that time that I realized I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my silver screen heroes!

I started my law enforcement career in 1970, in the city of Dania, Florida as an auxiliary police officer. Back then they issued a uniform with a badge, and you had to supply everything else. Leather, gun, ammunition, handcuffs, you know, the works. The pay was great; it paid .25 cents an hour, and was only paid if I worked a full 4 hours. So, naturally if I worked a 5 hour shift I would make $1.25 and a whopping $2.00 for an 8 hour shift! The city would pay me every six months. This was nice around Christmas time as the extra money helped.

Exposure to police work had a tremendous habitual affect on those who sought to pursue its adventures. It was almost addicting in many ways, and I would have been the first to stand up in a group therapy session and open the meeting by saying, Hi, my name is Dennis and I am a Police-a-holic.

There is a sense of well being, comradery, loyalty, and absolute trust that evolves from being a brother- in- blue. It is something that never leaves one’s soul and can sometimes be so emotionally devastating that retired officers have taken their lives once they were no longer welded within the structure of the brotherhood.

Chapter 1 The Inevitable Happens

The Dania, Florida Police Department had a lot of very good police officers. Their Chief was one of the best; his name was GUS BRUGGER. It seemed that every time I was coming into the Police Department, or leaving, I met him. As an auxiliary officer I was spending about twenty five to thirty hours a week working with the full time officers, in addition to my forty hours a week full time job. Every officer that I worked with would put in a good word for me to Chief Brugger to hire me full time if ever an opening came up. As an auxiliary officer I could not make an arrest on my own. I had no police powers, but the officer I was working with at the time could transfer his police powers to me, if needed. I was, however, able to write city parking tickets and enforce city ordinances.

On a Friday night after work, I reported for duty to ride with an officer, and on this night was assigned to ride with Skip. Skip was a seasoned officer who had worked with the department for almost eight years. He knew the bad guys and where to find them if they were needed for any law enforcement investigations, or other inquiries. About midway through our shift we received a disturbance call on the west side of the city. When we arrived we found a B/M (police lingo for a black male) standing in the middle of the street yelling at a small group of people who had gathered to see what was going on. Skip approached this guy, and the guy yelled to Skip not to come any closer, or he would regret it. Skip tried to ask this guy what was going on and again he replied that if Skip and I try to arrest him, he would hurt us and bad. When Skip took another step towards him, he informed Skip, My hands are registered lethal weapons, and I know Karate! Well, at this statement, Skip starts to laugh and this guy now became even more upset, once again warning that, I am telling you my hands are registered! Skip nonchalantly told him, Do you know how many times people tell me that they know Karate? The guy quickly stated, I can prove it, with a knowing smirk on his face. Skip asked, How? I’ve got it in my wallet, I’ll show you. Skip said, Ok, show me. The guy walked toward Skip with his wallet and opened it up and gave Skip a card. Skip read the card and replied, I’ll be damn, your hands are registered, and as he was giving the guy back his card he pulled his weapon and told the guy that if made any kind of funny moves he was going to shoot him since he had removed all doubt in Skip’s mind concerning the danger of his hands. I cuffed him and we transported him to booking. When he was not drinking, like a lot of other street people, he turned out to be a pretty decent guy upon dealing with him over the following year.

Skip related a story to me about a time that he had made a traffic stop on a vehicle for speeding.

The driver did not have his driver’s license with him, as he had left it in his shop. He had just recently opened an auto body shop and was on his way home for the night. When Skip asked the driver for his name so he could run a record check and license check, the driver replied, Davy Crockett.

Well, Skip at this point was in no mood to be jerked around, so he asked the driver again, What is your name sir? Again the driver replied, Davy Crockett. So Skip arrested the driver and took him to the police station. Once there, the driver called his wife and informed her of what happened and asked her to go to the shop and get his wallet and meet him at the police station. A short time later she arrived and produced her husband’s license. The license stated that his name was indeed David Crockett. As it turned out, he was in fact a direct descendant to Davy Crockett, the American hero. Skip introduced him to me a few weeks later and one thing that Skip forgot to tell me was that Davy became an auxiliary officer for Dania for a short time because of the incident with Skip.

After getting off work every night, I could not wait to get home and get ready to ride with one of the full time officers. See, law enforcement is like nothing else, as it is such a rush knowing that you are there just when someone needs you the most. When I arrived for duty this particular night, I was assigned to ride with a new hire. Now he may have been new to Dania, but he had eight years with the NYPD. This officer could make his night stick walk down the sidewalk. When we were out checking businesses at night on foot, he would twirl that stick like the professional he was. To be able to do that was an art, and it took practice…… lots of practice.

This night was on the quiet side, until just around 2:30 a.m. (you know, after the bars close). We received a call of a possible burglary in progress. When we arrived we were checking the house for any signs of forced entry and we found it. A lot of the doors in south Florida were frames with awning type panes of glass in the center. This door had not one pane of glass left in it. Then we heard screams coming from inside. As we entered this make shift apartment (you known the type, the back of the house is still for storage and the front half is made into an apartment) the yelling started. We opened the door, which was ajar, and we found a very large male standing over a petite young lady. Not knowing what was going on in the apartment, we both had our guns drawn and this got the very large gentleman’s attention real quick. The young lady yelled at us, It’s ok, he’s my ex-husband, please don’t hurt him! Don’t hurt HIM, I’m thinking, Lady, don’t let him hurt us!

We got everyone to sit down and started to sort out the events leading up to when we arrived. It turned out the young lady went out for a few drinks with her girl friends and while they were having a good time, she danced with a male she had met there a few times. This is when a friend of his saw them dancing and called him. The female stated, I had left before he arrived at the club, and this fool thought I had taken the guy home with me.

Then he broke into my apartment and then you all arrived. My partner asked her ex-husband, Is that about what took place, to which he replied, Yes. Sir, at this time I am placing you under arrest for burglary and disorderly conduct, please stand up and place your hands behind your back. Now this guy says, If I stand up, it’s to go through you, ’cause you’re not going to take me to jail. Sir, it will be better for you if you just cooperate. I’m going to hurt you and hurt you bad right now, replied the ex-husband! When this guy started to get up off the couch, my partner pulled out his nightstick, twirled it and struck the guy in the head. The guy just sat for a second and I watched as swelling appeared, small at first, then just grew until the skin split and blood started flowing out. The guy then said, Why did you do that? I was wondering the same thing right about then, seeing that it just pissed the guy off more. The fight was on and the two of us were being tossed around the apartment like rag dolls!

Have you ever seen those bar scenes in the old westerns when the fight began and what the bar looked like when it was over? If so, then you can imagine how we looked and the lady’s apartment looked when we finished. Our two backups were of considerable help in subduing the subject. If you can picture this small apartment in total ruin; I’m talking everything from tables, chairs, the couch, dishes… the works. But, in the corner, sitting on a small corner stand, was this small porcelain ballerina, unharmed and still standing upright. My partner went looking for his nightstick as it was the one he carried for all those years in New York. We found it under the broken coffee table. It too had become a victim of this call, as it was split from striking the gent on his head.

* * * * *

One day I received a call at work from Sergeant Housknecht who asked me when I was getting off work. I informed him it just so happened that as I came in early that day I was going home early. He stated, You need to come by the station, something has come up and the chief needs to see you! I asked, Can you tell me what is up? He replied, No, but I would advise you not to keep the chief waiting! Then he hung up.

So after work I drove over to the Police Department, and when I walked in, I was met by Sergeant Housknecht, who took me right back to the chief’s office and announced me. Chief Brugger asked me to have a seat. The chief took a puff from his cigar and stated, Dennis every time I turn around I seem to be bumping into you. Every officer I have working for me have a great regard for you and your work habits, so the only thing I can come up with to keep you away from here so much is to hire you full time. What do you say to that? I replied, YES!"

He took me next door to city hall and after filling out some paperwork, I was then sworn in as a Police Officer for the City of Dania. In those days we could work the streets up to one year before attending the police academy.

I was assigned to work the midnight shift the next night. I, of course, then drove home one very happy camper. Once there I called my employer and told him what took place. He knew how much I wanted this and knew if I could have, I would have given him more notice. He wished me well.

Sergeant Housknecht was of average height and weight and never without his cigar. He was a quiet spoken man, until he had something to say, and when he spoke you knew exactly what was on his mind. He just commanded your respect.

I think the best way to describe him is to say that he was just like Sam Spade in the movie, The Maltese Falcon, who was played so well by Humphrey Bogart. Now Sergeant Baxter was a horse of a different color. They told me he was an ex-marine sergeant. In my opinion, any resemblance to a marine living or dead was impossible. I guess the best way I could describe him is that he would be like Wilmer, the boy from the same movie, played by Elisha Cook Jr. Remember, he was the little weasel looking guy who Sam always slapped around and took his gun away from him.

When you got to know him, which did not take long, you could not stand to be around him. You knew he was not on the up and up.

One day just before we were to have a full uniform inspection, including service weapons, I passed his office and I could not believe my eyes. He had the cylinder of his weapon open and had taken his cleaning rod and placed it into the round chamber and began to knock out the rounds from the cylinder using a small hammer. The rounds were stuck in the cylinder due to the algae build up. As you can see, this is the guy you could NOT count on in a fire fight! I know of no marine that would treat a weapon like that, or ever let it get in that condition. This is just one of the reasons that I never believed he was a marine; the weasel!

One of the auxiliary officers that I worked with in Dania got hired full time two weeks before me. Later after years of working in Dania, he became Chief of Police. When he retired from the job and retired to the Keys, I later learned he moved very near to a friend of mine, Kip Anderson, who you will learn more about in a later chapter.

On my second night working, I was told to respond to the ‘PARADISE CLUB’, as there had just been a shooting and several people were shot. Arriving just as other units were pulling up, we entered the club which did not have its lights turned on inside. When the lights were turned on, we found one young man on the floor shot in the chest; another subject shot in the head and hip, while another was shot in the chest.

As the detectives were questioning witnesses to the shooting, my backup and I noticed that the front wall of the nightclub looked as if it had been used as a firing range. We found casings from 22’s, 32’s, 38’s, 44’s, 45’s and 357magnums. This was the direct result of one man not wanting to pay the $1.00 cover charge. He was willing to pay it only if he could get it back when he left. He was told he would not get it back, and as he tried to enter without paying the cover charge, the doorman tried to stop him. He pushed the doorman down and pulled his gun and shot him in the head and hip. The doorman returned fire and struck the man in the head. When the man entered the dance area he opened fire into the crowd, killing one male as the shot hit him in the heart, another was shot in the chest. There were about three hundred dancers in the club. Suddenly, return fire was heard from within the crowd and everyone dropped to the floor. Miraculously, the shooter was never hit by anyone from the crowd and the bullet to the head from the doorman didn’t slow him down; although over one hundred rounds were fired, based upon the casings we found on the floor.

The shooter was subsequently arrested at Hollywood Memorial Hospital when he came in for treatment for his wound he received to his head as the result of being shot by the doorman. I ended up sitting up all night with him until being relieved the next morning.

The City of Dania was very active for us back then. All the windows in the police department were bricked up to cut down on the occasional sniper fire we would take now and then. We had a small amusement park (Pirate’s World) located on our south boarder next to the City of Hollywood. On the weekends in the evenings, they would at times have rock concerts. This one particular evening the crowd became very hostile and began throwing rocks and bottles at the officers working the detail. They called for help and all on duty officers arrived. As it turned out, it was too little too late, because the number of officers who arrived were not enough to quell the disturbance. Subsequently, our sergeant instructed the dispatcher to contact the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for assistance. A short time later, a captain from the sheriff’s office arrived on scene.

By then the crowd had calmed down. I believe they just got tired of throwing the rocks and bottles and their arms were sore! The parking lot, as you can imagine, was full of broken glass and rocks of all sizes, all around. Our sergeant asked the captain where the other deputies were and he replied, A few blocks away, I am here to evaluate the situation. From what I can see there is no problem here that requires our help. The captain took a few steps forward, stepping over the broken glass and kicking rocks out of his way. He turned and stated, My men and I are leaving! Suddenly, someone from the mob threw a rock which struck the captain square in the back. His response was to run to his unit, pop the trunk, and pulled out his 37 MM gas gun.

It was a very warm night, and all of us were drenched in perspiration from ducking bottles and rocks while making a few arrests. Realizing that this fool was loading the gas gun, we all shouted a warning about the wind direction being wrong for gassing the crowd. Too late……BANG! The tear gas was launched in the direction of the crowd; of course the gas shell fell short just in front of the crowd, and the wind blew it not into the crowd, but back into us, gassing all of us. The crowd thought this was the funniest thing they had ever seen and were laughing so hard they left the area without any further confrontation.

We all returned to the station to clean the tear gas from our eyes and bodies; so much for the calling for ‘Mutual Aid’ idea.

* * * * *

Dania was a very great place to learn law enforcement because we would work the case until we could not go any further, then, and only then, would we turn it over to a detective. Our detective bureau consisted of a detective sergeant and two detectives, so you can imagine what their case load would have been like.

Like many other small cities, it had its internal strife also. There were three cliques within the department. One was behind the chief; one was behind the assistant chief, Cecere, and the third behind Sergeant Baxter, who was the former chief of police. The mayor, at this time, used these internal problems to his advantage. At one point, Chief Brugger threw up his hands and quit the job as chief. This was a dark day for the city’s police department. Those who supported Chief Brugger knew their time was marked. Asst. Chief Cecere was being questioned by the Broward County State attorney’s office, and he felt so intimidated that he too quit as chief. This left us with no chief to run the department. The next day our city manager named himself to head the police department.

* * * * *

I was dispatched to Dania Beach and I was to meet with one of our auxiliary officers in reference to animals on the beach. When I pulled up, the auxiliary officer met me in the parking lot and told me that this young lady was riding her horse up and down the beach and her animal was leaving droppings everywhere. I started to look for the young lady and found her riding at the north end of Dania Beach. I had her put up her horse in its trailer and placed her under arrest for violation of the city ordnance pertaining to having animals on the beach. She told me she was from DAVIE and did not know our laws.

I told her she would have to see the judge and explain her side to him as it was out of my hands, a complaint was called in, and later I found out several more calls came in about her and her horse, and explained I had to do my duty. I told her I would take her to the station and she could post bail or call someone to come and post her bail. She was not a happy equestrian, and I felt bad about having to arrest her. I dropped her off at the station and she called her mother to come post her bail.

I was told by the dispatcher that he could hear the girl’s mother screaming on the phone from across the room. When she arrived she never let up on how she was going to get even with this BLANKTY BLANK city. She added we had not heard the last of her, or this incident.

The next day the switch board lit up and I think the only one who did not call that day was the Governor. Turns out that the young lady was the ‘Florida Rodeo Queen’, and I mean every horse rider from Florida was calling, every equestrian club called, every horse stable called, and many more including the mayor and Chief of Police of Davie. Then after all this fuss, when she got before the judge and explained that she was not familiar with the law, he dismissed the case.

One further thing that did come out about this case. I was called at home by a friend of mine who worked in Dania and was now working for Davie, who told me under no circumstances get stopped anywhere in Davie now, for a while anyway. So I avoided any trips that would take me to Davie. Things did calm down after about six months.

Around this time is when I started the police academy to be certified by the State of Florida. Then Lieutenant Housknecht took me and the other officer that needed to attend the academy to see our city manager/ police chief.

I had gotten to know the city manager through working so many hours for the city, and he knew me, along with the fact that I was dedicated to my job. Lieutenant Housknecht advised him that we had to attend the police academy and that the academy now required that an officer not work while attending. The chief looked up from his desk and asked, How many people do we have in that position? Lieutenant Housknecht replied, Just these two, sir. Without batting an eye he said, FIRE THEM!

The other officer with us spoke up and read him what for and gave him a large piece of his mind. After he spoke his mind, there was not even a change in the city managers face, or a further word from him. We all left his office.

Once back at the Police Department, the other officer wrote out his resignation, threw his keys on the desk and walked out. (About eight months later he did return after being certified and was reinstated). Lieutenant Housknecht made a call to the police academy and made the arrangements for me to attend the academy and work my shift.

Hence, the next week my shift was changed to 11:00 p.m. to 7 a.m. which gave me forty five minutes to drive to the academy and start my day there from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. I was lucky in one respect, that I was at this time living across the street from the academy. I would go home for lunch and study some during my lunch hour.

Almost all the instructors were from the city of Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Each and every one of them was very knowledgeable. Each and every one of them were great cops and later became great friends.

My first day was something to remember, as I was called to the side by the head instructor who stated, You are not going to graduate this academy I am going to see to that personally! When I asked him why he was on my case, he replied, Because we do not want cadets to be working and also attending the academy. You will not be of any good on the road and you will not be able to give your full attention in class that is needed in the academy, so both you and the officer from Cooper City will not graduate!

Our class had officers from the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Oakland Park, Hallandale, Cooper City, Pompano Beach, Wilton Manors, Plantation, Miramar, and Dania. We also had two deputies from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and the Legal Eagle (police department’s lawyer) of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, who was the same individual a number of years later who would be arrested by Fort Lauderdale P.D. for smuggling narcotics.

We had an instructor from the Florida Highway Patrol who taught us accident investigation as well as the difference between an investigation and an accident report. Captain White from Fort Lauderdale P.D. taught us about ‘Bombs and Explosives’. Some of the most valuable advice that he gave us was, Be as far away from anything you might think could go BOOM, and get someone who knows about bombs as soon as possible on the scene.

Then there was Judge J. J. King, of Broward County, previously an Assistant District Attorney in Cook County, Illinois. He was always telling us of the things they did in Chicago to catch the bad guys with the help of the Chicago Police and other agencies. Some of his stories I would remember from reading the ‘Chicago Sun-Times’ when I was growing up. I remember there was one Chicago police officer who was always in the news. His name was Sam Joseph. Sam was always in the news for being shot, stabbed, and thrown off an EL platform, or receiving awards from Mayor Richard J. Daly, or other organizations for his heroism in the line of duty.

Judge King was giving his class on Florida law to us one day, and when we reached the section on ARSON, he looked out at the class and said, Arson, what can you ask about arson? Just what he was afraid would happen, happened. Our special cadet, raised his hand to ask a question. Before I answer his question, Judge King asked, Who is the class president? Our class president raised his hand and Judge King stated, You know this is going to be a pip of a question, don’t you? And if it is, I am going to hold you personally responsible. Judge King turned and said, Go ahead and ask your question. Our special cadet proceeded to ask his question, Does arson have to contain fire? At that, Judge King turned to the class president and said, That’s all! He turned and left the classroom.

This special cadet never made graduation day. Luckily for the rest of us, this was not enough to deter Judge King from returning to class the following day! Other instructors came from A.T.F. (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) F.B.I. (Federal Bureau of Investigations) and D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Agency). Most of us enjoyed the presentation that A.T.F. presented. They spoke of the many moonshine operations still ongoing in the south, then passed around a mason jar with pure moonshine, aka white lightning, which they stated was the best moonshine they had ever come across. Upon sampling, I would have to say it was indeed like the agents had attested to…it was truly the nectar of the gods! It tasted like a smooth Jack Daniels, and it was as clear as water, just the way nature intended it to be. The person responsible for this particular brew was serving his sentence in a federal prison for the third time. Both agents concurred that when he got out he would most likely go back to making moonshine, because it was the only thing he knew how to do, and even today moonshining remains quite a lucrative business.

The FBI told us all about how they could help us. (You know, I’m from the federal government and I’m here to help you……..yeah, right!) The DEA taught us about narcotics; how to spot marijuana, what the plant looks like, and to recognize the distinct smell, whether it was growing, being dried or smoked. They also showed us many legal prescription pills that are being abused along with animal prescription pills, such as qualudes, but also made available by your friendly non-licensed pharmacist who had whipped up a batch in his non-sanitized garage, complete with the number 714 (badge number of Sergeant Joe Friday of Dragnet fame) which I was informed many times upon arresting these fly by night pharmacists; they just thought it would be cool to do it that way. The DEA was kind enough to give out brochures, so we did not have to remember all the pills all at once. At that time, DEA was concerned about a new drug just making its way onto the scene, known now as methamphetamine, or more commonly referred to as Meth.

We were trained in crime scene preservation, collection of evidence, fingerprinting, chain of custody, sex crimes, traffic control, riot control, writing traffic citations, parking citations, notice to appears, handcuffing, pursuit driving, defensive driving, pat downs, riot baton training, night stick training, hand gun retention, unarmed defense and much more.

Oh yes, that reminds me of firearms training. When the firearm instructor walked into class, the very first thing he demanded was that no one speak while he was talking.

Anyone who failed to listen would go home (sporting a strange limp)! His opening remark was to ask how many were in the class.

Forty two sir, was the response from the class president. The instructor looked around the class, and then paused a moment and stated, "Those of you who have S&W Model 19s, hold up your hands. There should be twenty eight of you. Twenty seven held up their hands. His count was one short. Then he advised the class that there should be fourteen who have Colt Pythons or Colt Troopers. Fourteen held up their hands.

He then looked at me and asked me to stand up, which I did. He turned to the class and said, This cadet has a Colt Diamondback! He will not shoot on my range in the morning! No one was able to figure out how he had derived at this equation. It was amazing how accurate he was in his assumption, and how he knew I had a Colt Diamondback. To this day, other than himself, no one knows how he knew.

I was, to say the least, devastated! Here I was on my first day, and the head instructor is telling me I am not going to graduate. Now this guy tells me that my gun is not good enough to fire on his range. After his class was over I approached him, and asked, What is wrong with my Colt? He looked me straight in the eye and said, NOTHING GOOD ABOUT IT SON! I’ll tell you what, you show up at the range in the morning and find out yourself."

The following day I arrived at the range with my Diamondback in hand. We were told what the course of fire was to be, and then we walked to the firing line. After shooting the required sixty rounds, I found out why he did not like the Colt Diamondback. Out of sixty rounds I was able to fire eight! Lesson learned, there was no need for any further communication between the range master and myself as we both now knew the reason he was not a fan of the Colt Diamondback. As a result, right after class had ended for the day, I drove right over to ‘Harris’ House of Guns’ in Hollywood, and traded in my Colt for a brand new S&W Model 19, which was much more expensive, but a definite upgrade. I passed firearms training without any problem, which was just one less hurtle on my way to graduation.

During a break I was speaking with one of the long time instructors and he told me a story about one of the officers they had trained. The officer reported for training and as class progressed he did not seem to fit in with the others in his class; more of a loner. Even at lunch time he would never eat with any of his classmates, always alone. One day by chance one of his classmates was walking past his car and saw him looking at a notebook filled with photos. The other cadet stopped and to be friendly asked him, Richard, what have you got there? Just some photos of when I was a mercenary in the Congo. Mind if I take a look? No, here I will show you. When the book was opened it was full of black and white photos and a few colored ones. They were of dead and mutilated people. One photo he showed to his classmate he explained, This one was taken just after I cut her baby out of her. He showed him several other graphic and horrific photos, along with the gory details.

The classmate getting sick to his stomach excused himself by saying he had to get ready for the test later that day and left. The student that had witnessed the outrageous brag book, contacted the head instructor and told him of what he had just seen and heard. The head instructor questioned the cadet and looked at his photos.The instructor called his chief on the phone that day and told him, Chief Scott, about your candidate Richard S, I don’t think he is right for the position of police officer. There is something very wrong with that man. The chief responded, You are hired by me to train the men I send you to be certified. That is your sole job, so do it! And one more thing, don’t you ever tell me who I should hire, ever again." The cadet passed and became a police officer in Broward County. The officer left Broward County and moved around the central part of Florida and was hired by a sheriff’s office. One day a hiker came upon a skeleton remains, which appeared had been tied to a tree. Several more bodies were found in the area over a short time, all were tied to trees and all were women. The last body that was found gave the investigators their best lead on this case. The woman tied to the tree this time had the officer’s handcuffs still on her! He was convicted and is now serving his time, as far as I know. This is why it is now required that all applicants must undergo a psychological evaluation.

Just before graduation, we entered the classroom, and three of our instructors were at the front of the class room laughing very heartily. After we were all seated, one of the instructors started to tell us what was so funny. It turned out that one of their F.T.O.s (Field Training Officer) had just gotten into his unit and his trainee stated, I hear your wife bought you a new gun. He replied, She sure did, and is it a beauty, at which time he drew his new gun from its holster, opened the cylinder and turned the gun upside down to empty it. After doing so, he counted six rounds in his hand and placed them on his lap. He then took aim at the lock on the glove box and squeezed the trigger..…BANG!! The empty gun blew off the lock and killed the unit’s engine! The instructor explained that this had occurred two weeks ago, and that last night he came back to work