Texas Cops Exposed: The Ugly Truth They Don’T Want You to Know

By Jay Kidd

The author is a former police chief and three-time Texas whistle-blower, he now owns a private investigations company. Bret Adams tells a story that is inspired by true events. The story reveals everything you ever wanted to know about police corruption in Texas. Adams was the class president and valedictorian at the police academy, and served in all most every Texas Law Enforcement capacity. Adams has filed whistle-blower type lawsuits against state law-enforcement agency administrators, police chiefs, law-enforcement organization leaders, sheriffs, dozens of police officers, multimillion dollar companies, city councilmen, and mayors. Adams ended a corrupt sheriffs career and exposed a huge cover-up in a famous whistle-blower law suit. The story also includes a unique look into the murder of a deputy sheriff and explores the possibility that the deputy was murdered by fellow officers. Also read how Adams exposed one the most flagrant and outrageous speed traps in Texas history. It does not stop there; in fact, the story details how Chief Adamss police department was disbanded by the mayor to obstruct an investigation into the mayors company which allegedly employed hundreds of illegal immigrants. Read how the mayors fifty million dollar a year company was suspected of bribing sheriffs, district attorneys, and a former United States Congressman. The story provides valuable information for protecting you and your family from police corruption. This story is also an absolute must for the policeman hopeful, as it will give the new officer essential knowledge going into their career. From speeding ticket quotas and racial profiling to one of the most corrupt towns in Texas, all the way up to murder, this story will finally reveal the other side of the blue line and what goes on outside the public eye.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465367327

Jay Kidd

The author is a former police chief and three-time Texas whistleblower, he now owns a private investigations company. Bret Adams tells a story that is inspired by true events. The story reveals everything you ever wanted to know about police corruption in Texas. Adams was the class president and valedictorian at the police academy, and served in all most every Texas Law Enforcement capacity. Adams has filed whistle-blower type lawsuits against state law-enforcement agency administrators, police chiefs, law-enforcement organization leaders, sheriffs, dozens of police officers, multimillion dollar companies, city councilmen, and mayors.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Jay Kidd.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2011916576

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4653-6731-0

   Softcover   978-1-4653-6730-3

   Ebook   978-1-4653-6732-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book is a work of fiction, but is inspired by true events. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

PURPOSE OF THE STORY

CHAPTER 1

The Making of a

Whistle-Blower

CHAPTER 2

Police Academy Valedictorian

CHAPTER 3

Deputy Marshal, City of Cedarville

CHAPTER 4

Deputy Sheriff,

Trevor County Texas

CHAPTER 5

Taking Down the

Benson County Sheriff

CHAPTER 6

Citation Quotas Exposed,

City of Victorian

CHAPTER 7

Becoming the Chief of Police in

the City of Parker’s Peak

CHAPTER 8

Mayor’s Company Investigated,

Illegal Immigration Exposed

CHAPTER 9

There Is a Problem and the

Way to Fix It

CHAPTER 10

Preview of the Next Book,

Harrisville Police and

T.B.A. Exposed

Texas Cops Exposed in the

Interest of Justice

The book is inspired by recent and even pending TRUE events. All the locations and names, including the authors name have been changed to protect the innocent, and for obvious safety concerns. All the individual names and specific locations are completely fictitious and any similarities should be considered completely coincidental.

PURPOSE OF THE STORY

I believe we have the greatest judicial system in the world; but unfortunately, it has become severely damaged, and it is in need of repair. The purpose of this story is to create awareness. The story will help show people and policemen hopefuls what is really going on, so we can all start repairing the system.

I’m going to let you see what goes on outside the public eye. I will confirm a lot of your suspicions, but it is your job as the reader to help solve these problems before it is too late.

I will also give some solutions to the problems.

I want to give the policeman hopeful some inside information to assist them in making the decision on whether or not to become a police officer. If the policeman hopeful still desires to become a police officer, I hope my story can guide the new officer and make their time in law enforcement easier than mine was.

If you just want to drive fast and carry a gun, close the book it is of no value to you. If you want to change things, if you want to make a difference, and if you want to be in a career of Public Service learn from my book and I will show you the way.

Finally, if there is another policeman hopeful out there willing to put making a difference before their own success, I hope this book helps you.

CHAPTER 1

The Making of a

Whistle-Blower

This is not an autobiography; it is an expose in reference to my experiences as a Texas Peace Officer. This Chapter tells a few short stories in my life leading up to my decision to become a public servant. The stories are primarily in reference to encounters with law enforcement growing up. The stories help explain what made me so different from other police officers. This Chapter will help you understand what makes a whistle-blower.

I think it is important for the reader to start off by knowing a little about me and where I come from as well as why I’m telling this story. My name is Bret Adams, and I was born in the City of Alamo Valley; but I was raised in Saddlewood, Texas, by my mother, Tracy Adams, and my father, Steve Adams. We lived in a very rural area. My parents were very strict with me, and they spent a lot of time emphasizing the importance of the law. Most of my childhood, I was home schooled by my mother and father who taught me how to read, and I have been reading at a 12.9 grade level most of my child hood and life. My parents are Republican, and politics were always very important in my family. I was brought up to believe in the constitution and we should demand our rights. I was taught we should question our government. I was raised as a member of the NRA and taught the Second Amendment was the most important right because without it all your rights could be forcibly taken away by the government, which history has proven to be accurate time and time again.

I am telling this story because during my life and especially my law-enforcement career, I have found proof that corruption is worse than most of us realize and our system does not work at all; it has completely failed. I’m going to lay it all out so the reader can understand how bad it is. If you understand it, you have a better chance of fighting it and correcting the problem, which I still believe is possible. I also want the policeman hopeful to have the tools needed to change the system and protect themselves. I want people and officers to be in a position to stand up for their rights and stand up to corruption. I believe this story will accomplish a great deal toward that goal. This story is an instruction manual on how to fight corruption, and if everyone uses it, we will make a big difference together.

It is important for the reader to pay close attention to the names, dates, and events because so much of this ties in together. This story will show you we are dealing with a conspiracy and will leave you unable to deny it.

The first story is very important. When I was about six years old, my Dad fixed up old cars and sold them. He was a great body man and mechanic, and he was able to support his family. Just down the street, there was a man named Victor Armstrong—do not forget that name. Victor borrowed my Dad’s push lawn mower, which my Dad was happy to loan; but my Dad told him to make sure to replace the used gas and bring it back clean, which Victor agreed to do. Well, days went by and Victor had still not returned the mower, and finally, Dad needed to mow our lawn; so he went over to Victor’s house and said he needed the mower. Victor was drunk and said to take it. My Dad noticed it was completely caked with grass/mud and there was no gas in it. My Dad became angry, he told Victor he would never loan him anything again and to stay away from our house. Victor became angry and said, Why don’t you get off my property and take that piece of shit lawn mower with you? Words continued to be exchanged, and finally, Victor pulled out a badge—he was a police officer—and said, I’ll get your ass.

Several days later, it was a beautiful day, I was sitting in the front yard and Dad was working on a car he was going to sell. Then, the county sheriff’s car pulled into the driveway. Two deputies walked over to my Dad, at which point Dad asked what it was about. The deputy stated that my Dad was under arrest for possession of a dangerous dog. This made no sense because our family dog was the sweetest Lab in the world. The deputies stated the dog had scratched Victor’s daughter’s leg. Dad became very angry and started explaining to me, You see, son; this is how cops are! They handcuffed my Dad. My Dad said he had just sold a car for $5,000 and because a cop was mad at him because of what the cop did wrong; it was probably going to cost him every penny of the $5,000 to get out of jail and added Victor actually got paid with his tax dollars to do this. My Dad looked at me and said, Remember this, Bret, you will be dealing with this your entire life.

I did not forget and I never will. I will take this opportunity to point out to policemen hopefuls, Don’t arrest people in front of their children. Take the time to have toys in the trunk and always explain to the children you’re not going to hurt their parents, you are actually going to protect them. Some might say, sometimes you don’t have time for all of that. Then don’t do it, period. It is your job to get the person arrested with the least amount of drama possible. Be good at what you do, and arrest people on your terms. Get the person without traumatizing their family, because if you don’t, law enforcement loses in the long term because you will be sending kids into the world and every time they see a police officer they think about that arrest rather than the good you do. You will have a person that may live ninety years and never like cops because of one stupid arrest. I would add ninety years is a long time. It is the same as Rodney King—that incident set law enforcement back a hundred years; you have to be careful what you do because you can cause a lot of damage. If this is done on a large scale, you will be sending entire generations into the world that don’t like cops.

It is your job to understand how to relate to people and children. If you are not good with kids, learn fast they are what this is all about; they are what we are fighting for. Keep in mind, most people don’t like cops, but kids do; don’t mess it up. The uniform you are wearing is magic with kids—use it to your advantage. Study what kids are into so you have something to talk to them about. One wrong move in this area and you will be creating a community that does not like cops, which is a more important concern than most of the warrants you serve.

Keep in mind, when children are crying while you are arresting their parent, the pain is real; and it hurts, and they will never forget it. When my Dad was arrested, it hurt. My tears were real, and I felt like my Dad was going to be hurt. To this day, I have never looked at a police officer without thinking about that arrest.

The case against my Dad was thrown out; the vet checked the dog, and he was not dangerous in any way. Victor had gone to the judge with cookies and donuts and used their relationship to get the warrant. Remember this, bribing judges and prosecutors with donuts is very real and scary, but it goes on every day and has been for decades.

If Victor had not been a police officer, my Dad would have never been arrested. The reader should always understand, when you are dealing with cops, they are not afraid to abuse their position for personal reasons.

The arrest did cost my Dad thousands of dollars. My father told Victor he beat the case. Victor said, I knew you would beat the rap, but you did not beat the ride. Victor laughed while asking my Dad how much it cost him. I have heard this a lot in my career even at chief school, and it should never be said or believed. Do not file cases you know are wrong under the belief that they may beat the rap but not the ride. This represents what is wrong with our system.

My Dad’s lawyer said he had a great lawsuit. But Dad did not file the suit because of a couple of reasons. First, my Mom was scared because we had to live in the county where we would be filing the suit and she believed more retaliation would follow. Second, my Dad is like most people—they get mad; but when it gets close, they lack the will to file suit. When I explained why I am telling this story, I said I want people to know how to fight corruption. This was a big mistake by my Dad; he should have sued. The lawsuit would have showed the county, the good ol’ boy system was not going to work, which would have benefited our family and everyone else living in the county. You cannot be afraid. You have to fight. It was once said, if you are not willing to stand up for something you are liable to fall for anything. Law enforcement depends on your fatigue and you being caught up in the game of life and just not having the will or time to hold them accountable. It is scary to think about how much they have gotten away with for these reasons. If you get a chance, nail them to the wall. For all we know, they did the same thing to another family the following week; but if we had held them accountable, it could have been prevented.

As a child, I had several opportunities to see law enforcement in action, I would see deputies tell Dad and I one thing and then go and tell the suspect another and just flat-out lie.

I did, however, have a run in with an officer by the name of Fred Chapman. I was at the house one day and looked outside and observed Fred looking at the house next door. Fred then knocked on the door to our house and spoke to my mother. Fred stated there were holes in the house next door consistent with holes from a 9mm handgun, and he said he knew I was the one who shot the house. My mother had known Fred because she worked at a gas station in town and could not understand why he thought that and tried to reason with him, but he said he had done his investigation and he knew I did it. My mother became angry and told him off. I heard Fred had a meeting with all the cops in the city and told them to boycott the store where my mother worked. Which most did, and my mother had to be worried because she did not want to get robbed while at the store; and because the cops would not come there, it made it a target for robbery.

I later looked at the holes and they were far apart from each other, and I would have said they were from a 9mm myself. It did appear the shots were fired from my house. However, when the investigators actually came out, they found the holes were not from a 9mm. In fact, they were from shotgun pellets, and the reason the holes were so far apart was because the shot was fired from two lots down from my house. By the time the pellets made it to the house in question, they were spread far apart.

I did not get an apology, and the boycott continued.

The interesting thing about this story was while I was being falsely accused, my mother’s life was intentionally being put in jeopardy. Shortly after this, I heard Fred Chapman got arrested for Driving While Intoxicated, I heard he gave the officer a hard time, telling the officer he was a cop and nothing could be done to him. If he had kept his mouth shut, he probably would have gotten away with it; but he had developed the God complex, in my opinion.

This is important because cops will stick together whether they are right or wrong.

My Mom had thought she had a good relationship with Fred, but she found there is no such thing as a good relationship with most cops. Most cops are very hypocritical, as you can tell by this story.

I would add, Fred may have gotten the idea I shot the house with a 9mm because everyone knew that I have always carried a 9mm in my belt from ten years old all the way to becoming chief of police. This may seem hypocritical, but I would say no because of the Second Amendment, which I always carried in my back pocket. Dad has always carried a .45, but I like the 9mm.

I was raised to believe it was irresponsible not to carry a gun. This is because if you are a robber and you have a choice on who you are going to rob, would you choose option A—little old unarmed lady; or would you choose option B—little old lady with a 44 Mag. pointed at you? The same is true about a criminal that is about to shoot everyone in a Luby’s Cafeteria, would you choose option A—room full of unarmed unsuspecting victims; or would you choose option B—a room full of men with .45 autos pointed at you? Finally, if both little old ladies and both cafeterias had .45s and 44 Mags., you may choose option C, which is getting a job instead of being a criminal because you don’t want to get your ass shot off. Unarmed people are to blame for most of the crime we have today, and it is irresponsible to be unarmed. I was raised as a NRA member and Dad was a NRA Legion of Honor member. We are no longer members, and I will explain why. There are approximately four million members of the NRA and about eighty million gun owners in the USA. I have a problem with this because it means four million are paying for the rights of seventy—six million. All those hunters sport shooters out there enjoying their rights and we are just paying for all of it. All those people sleeping at night knowing they have a gun to defend themselves when I am paying the bill, well, they can pay their own bills; I’m tired of carrying these people on my back.

I had lots of disagreements with law enforcement as a teenager. I went to my hunters safety course, which is required if you want to hunt, and the instructor was a game warden who I had a heated argument with about the right to hunt. The game warden told the class hunting was a privilege, not a right; of course, I told him off saying he was wrong and I damn near started a riot with the class who all agreed with me saying he was full of crap. Hunting is a right, not a privilege. The conversation ended with him saying we were entitled to our point of view, but for the sake of the class, it was a privilege.

Not to say I thought the game warden was a bad guy. I later heard about an incident where two high-school football players killed someone’s pet elk and the sheriff let them get away with it. The game warden was upset, and I understand why. The fact that he cared about the law and the sheriff did not, made me like the game warden; that is, until we had a conversation about animatronic deer that were being placed on the side of the road to entrap people into committing the crime of road hunting.

I used to go out and start petting the deer to warn people driving by that it was a fake. I would put cigarettes in their mouth and would leave sunglasses on them. I just don’t like it. I think it causes good people to do bad things. Road hunting is wrong and dangerous, but we need to catch people that are out doing it all the time; not try to entice people that never do it by presenting a once-in-a-lifetime deer and causing a good person to do a bad thing. The game warden, of course, said making a violation available does not constitute entrapment, but I would argue that a four-foot spread with thirty-two points is more than making a violation available.

I had another disagreement with a state trooper over a comment he made to my driver’s license class where he said if someone has $5,000 in their pocket, it is suspicious and the money should be confiscated. I told him about my father who was arrested after he had just sold a car for $5,000 and he had $5,000 in his pocket. The trooper said, Well, he would just have to explain that. I said, No, we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty and you are way out of line thinking the way you do. I don’t think that trooper liked me very much.

The first time I was ever pulled over. My father had an antique suburban, and he asked me to drive it into town so I could get gas and wash it, which I did. Well, while driving into town, I was pulled over by a trooper. I asked why, and he stated I did not have a registration on my windshield. I said that’s because it has antique plates. He said, Yeah, but this vehicle is not an antique. I called my Dad and put him on the phone with the trooper, and Dad put him in his place real quick, telling him it was an antique and he had better let me go or he was going to get himself sued. I was released. Lesson: Don’t pull people over unless you know for a fact they have broken the law. And if you do pull them over and you had made a mistake, remember, a mistake in this type of situation is a violation of the driver’s Fourth Amendment rights.

I have had a lot of run-ins with troopers because they have a God complex; they think they are above the law and they can do whatever they want. Troopers are generally not very smart, and they make a lot of mistakes. They also have a temper problem that makes them easy to get into trouble. This complex comes from their training; they are trained to be this way. The reason they are trained to be this way is because troopers are not much more than revenue machines and they are sent out to do a very dangerous job, sometimes hours away from back up on the highway. To do this job and generate the revenue, it requires someone that is not very intelligent because they are putting their life in jeopardy to generate revenue. In order to go out under these types of circumstances, they have to brainwash the trooper into thinking he is invincible, which they do a very good job of; many troopers die because of it.

Doing traffic stops on the highway far away from backup and medical help is stupid, and it is just a matter of time before you get killed. Troopers are placed in this position because the state wants the money—expendable assets. This is why so many ex-Marines are state troopers because Marines are trained the same way and they follow orders—bodies sent to die for money. They are trained to be fearless. But fear is your best friend sometimes; it will keep you alive. It was once said by William Shakespeare, discretion is the better part of valor—that discretion that keeps a man from running into swords and dying for the sake of being remembered as a hero, for if you’re dead, you won’t be around to enjoy your new reputation. There are some things worth dying for, but citation revenue is not one of them but understanding that requires an IQ.

I got caught in a rainstorm and went off the road into a ditch. Two hours later, my car was on a trailer. I was going to leave when a trooper came up and said, Was there anyone else involved? I said no, at which point, he wrote me a ticket for unsafe speed saying if I was going a safe speed, I would not have gone off the road. I told him when he died he was going to hell. He started yelling and shaking. Then his face was red, and he said, For what, doing my job? And I said, No, for being an asshole.

Last but not least, there was Officer Ted Smith of the Saddlewood Police Department. The strange thing was I really did not have that big of problem with him until an incident occurred at the store where I worked. A very intoxicated man walked or, should I say, was falling over drunk into the store. I called the police because this man was about to get in a vehicle and drive off. Ted came to the store, and I told him what was going on; then he raised his voice with me saying he could not do anything until the guy drove off. I said that it is crazy. You’re going to let him drive on the road and maybe kill somebody! After the guy pulled out onto the street, he was pulled over and Ted called someone to come pick him up. I was pretty upset about that; I told a so-called friend of mine about the incident, and he went and told Ted what I had said. Ted then came into the store and threatened me saying the next time I pulled into the street without my front license plate, I would be given a ticket. I said, What are you talking about? There is a front license plate on my car. He looked outside at the car and said, Well, it’s a good thing. This guy wasn’t very smart.

Ted continued to be rude and disrespectful, but he was never able to do anything to me, and I don’t know why he acted like that. I really don’t care. With a face like his, he had to be paying for it.

We made a bunch of complaints on him, but they never did anything to him. Blue line, what can I say?

Another incident in Saddlewood was with the Texas Beverage Agency. I believe the reason the Texas Beverage Agency did the stings for stores selling alcohol to minors was to get back at me, I believe Officer Ted Smith was behind it. One day, I was working at the store and a black woman placed a beer on the counter. She looked about thirty-two years old, but I had a lot of cop in me even back then, so I asked for her ID anyway and she showed it to me. She was sixteen years old. They had this girl dressed like a grown woman, and it was definitely entrapment. I told her she was not even old enough to buy cigarettes and she needed to leave. My mother was doing paperwork at the desk nearby and came over, touched my face, said they were from Texas Beverage Agency and she was so proud of me. She said I was like my father and would always be smarter than the cops. The Texas Beverage Agency guy behind this girl in line did not care for my Mom’s comments. Mom knew they were Texas Beverage Agency because after I told the girl off, Mom noticed the camera on the guy in line. They tried to give me a Class A Misdemeanor, which would have kept me from ever being a cop. Bunch of jerks!

I heard almost every store clerk in Saddlewood fell for that girl except me, and it really burned the cops. I made fun of them for months, and they pretty much gave up after that.

People do not understand life, but great people who we have had a chance to read about in history come very close to understanding life and how to achieve happiness.

President Richard Nixon is my favorite president. This is not because I agree with everything he did. Nixon was my favorite president because he came from nothing; he came from poverty. He came from a place that offended the system. And he was and still is proof that anyone can accomplish their dreams. Even the son of a grocer can become President of the United States; even the son of a mechanic can become chief of police. Even more important is what Nixon said when he left office: only if you have been in the lowest valley could you ever know how truly magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

I like Nixon because he and I think a lot alike. Like Nixon, I believe in an enemies list; and I take the same approach—if you are coming after me, be ready for a fight—and I plan on winning.

The above is important, but the most important thing about Nixon was his views on life. Nixon said it was struggle that gives life meaning and purpose even if you are not successful. Combine this with the greatness of our founders, who talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The key word is the pursuit of happiness. Well, the founders were more than men, and they were bigger than life; but there is more to what they were trying to say. The pursuit is the happiness—if you are in pursuit, you obtained real happiness. Nixon understood this; he just worded it differently.

Life is about the fight; stay in it and you stay happy. Why do you think so many millionaires are on meds for depression? It’s not about money, it’s not about wearing a uniform or feeling important, it’s not about keeping your job, it’s about doing your job even if you’re not successful.

This is very hard for people to understand, but get your mind around this; and rather than confront adversity with an attitude of this is not what I wanted, face adversity with a keep it coming attitude and want more. Salivate over your trials and tribulations because if you open your eyes and understand, the struggle is living, and it is great to be alive.

I spent most of my teenage years wanting to be a professional wrestler. I really enjoyed weight lifting and performing. I loved everything about wrestling. I trained all over the world, including in a world-famous wrestling academy in Canada. I got to meet some very interesting people, like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahan, who is the owner of the WWE.

Before I tell you about why I gave up my wrestling career, I will tell you it was one of the best things that ever happened to me in reference to my days in law enforcement. Pro wrestling is the art of wrestling holds without hurting someone. I am very proud to say I never got an excessive force complaint during my time in law enforcement, and I never hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anyone; that’s why I liked carrying a 9mm because I always hoped that if I did have to use deadly force, I would luck out and the person would not die. I just don’t like hurting people.

I gave up my wrestling career because I met the person that would become my wife. When we got married, it became more important to me to take care of her than it was to chase down a silly dream. I started a couple of small businesses, including lawn and tree service and a construction company. It was a huge success. I was able to give my wife everything she wanted: new house, property, and a Corvette.

We were as happy as could be; in fact, we went on a vacation. This is where it went bad. When we got back, our house had been burglarized, but that was not the worst of it. It started raining and it did not stop. Not long after we were asleep in our lake front house, we were woken up by the fire department and we were told that a wall of water was about to hit because of massive flooding. We left with the shirts on our back, leaving behind everything. We got out just in time, but our house was completely destroyed—the septic system was destroyed, the Corvette was underwater for days, all of my business equipment was washed away and never found: tools, trailers, garage, everything. I accidently missed an insurance payment on the Corvette, and it was not covered.

The problems did not stop there because apparently, my wife was not happy with the arrangement after all our possessions were lost. She left me for another guy that had all the things we lost. She filed for divorce. She did not want anything but her new life with this new guy.

There is one final thing I need to mention in reference to this chapter. I was raised to believe in God. I was raised to believe in the Ten Commandments. I believe in Jesus. As an investigator, I’m always looking for the proof in things. I believe there is proof that the Ten Commandments were written by God. The proof I’m speaking of is as follows. Most people look at the Ten Commandments from the same perspective, they see them as rules to follow and they would be correct, but there is a lot more to the Ten Commandments than just a set of rules. The Ten Commandments, simply put, also represent our rights as human beings set by God.

For example, thou shall not steal. That sounds pretty simple. We are not allowed to steal, but it also means you have a right to your property. God says you can’t steal a $100 bill from another man, this means the $100 belongs to the person; it is his right set by God. Another example is thou shall not bear false witness. Sounds pretty simple, you are not allowed to lie, but it also means people have a right to the truth. Finally, thou shall not murder. Sounds pretty simple, you are not allowed to murder people, but it also means we have a right to live. From there, it goes on with the other commandments. This list is so perfect, it is beyond human capability. It really is the word of God. This is my opinion.

I don’t have as much experience dealing with people as some, but I do have enough experience to know that Jesus on the cross asking God to forgive them under the circumstances was anything but a human characteristic. People have always known torture and horrible pain brings the truth out. Jesus was in more pain than we can even imagine, and the words he spoke were not human, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do, they were the words of God’s son and they saved us. This is my opinion.

CHAPTER 2

Police Academy Valedictorian

After my divorce, I was looking for new direction. At that particular time in my life, I did not fully understand how much I was capable of accomplishing. Maybe understanding was not the problem; maybe it was the fact that God helped me, maybe God decided to open some doors for me. I believe God made the impossible possible and cured my problem in reference to not believing in myself. I thank God for that; my life has never been the same.

I had told myself a thousand times I could not be a cop. I had spent my entire life thinking it was impossible. Nothing I did changed that, God made it possible.

I started studying for my GED, special thanks to my mother who is one of the smartest people I have ever known, and she helped me. I wish I could put it into words; I was not the same person. I somehow was able to learn and comprehend so fast, it was scary. I was flying; it did not even feel real. Something set me free.

I passed the entire GED the first time with an unbelievable score; it was a miracle. Let me send a message to those out there, you can do anything once you believe in yourself. My mother had never finished her education, but after I got my GED, she got hers. I was really happy the day Will Costner in Harrisville told me on the phone I passed my GED Test. But words could not describe how happy I was when she passed hers. She cried and said I inspired her and I was going to inspire a lot of people; but my mother is my inspiration, and she is the finest person I know.

One of the instructors said I was too good a person to want to be a police officer. I asked why he would say something like that, and he said power corrupts. I said not with me, and he replied I could not fight it; if I became a police officer, I would eventually become corrupt.

I met a person while going to the GED class who failed his test several times, but he still did not face the trials I did. He had originally wanted to be a fireman, but apparently, he was going to need college with the GED to get into the fire academy, so he gave up. He had been a jailer, and according to what he had told me, that made him eligible for the police academy. He completed the police academy and walked right into the Harrisville Police Department. He said he had family working for the City of Harrisville.

I had not been a jailer, and I was going to need twelve hours of college to get into the police academy. I passed the entrance exam for Capital Community College. I was going to have to go the long way around.

My father knew the lieutenant for the Harrisville Police Department; his name was James Murphy. At the time, he was the acting chief of police. I later heard the reason there was no chief was because to be the chief in Harrisville, you have to have a master’s degree; apparently, the last chief had been caught lying about having one. I was set up to begin riding out with the Harrisville Police Department. James Murphy told me several times all I had to do to get the job was to be valedictorian of the police academy and be class president. I was paying attention while he was talking.

I began going to college in Trevor City and riding with an officer by the name of Anthony Villarreal. The first classes I took were state and federal government. Will Costner, who had been the GED instructor, was the professor, and I enjoyed his class; however, I don’t think he liked cops. I made an A in that class, and I enjoyed every minute.

While riding out with Anthony Villarreal, I gained a lot of respect for him at first. Anthony was very by the book and was very critical about the entire department. Anthony said all the supervisors were lazy and incompetent and pointed out things wrong with the department every time I rode out. He hated this one officer because of his hair, saying he was a burn out, making everyone at the department look bad. Anthony seemed to hate everyone at the department; he talked about resigning from the SWAT team because he said they were all losers with no discipline. I don’t remember exactly when it was, but I asked Anthony about the shooting that had made the news where a man had been shot in the face. The officer who shot the guy was Conrad Baker, who I believe was the head of the SWAT team. Anthony told me the guy could not do anything right and it did not surprise him at all that he could not even kill the person by shooting him. I asked why that happened, and he stated, Conrad claimed it was because of mechanical offset, meaning the sights were off on the gun.

It was kind of boring riding out with Anthony because all he did was run personal errands all day. He seemed to know a lot of women. He said he did a lot of modeling in magazines for law enforcement and the women could not get enough of him. I saw one of the magazines; I thought it all looked pretty terrible. Anthony, however, did have to get his speeding ticket quota for the day. Anthony liked to watch the hill as you come into town right there by the Ford dealership. Anthony was assigned to traffic. I have never heard as much profanity as I heard out of him when he had to go mark tires downtown for the two-hour parking law. But, of course, he would not let me mark any of the tires; he said it takes a highly trained professional to mark tires.

Anthony did seem to be good at police work; his reports were okay. I don’t care for third person reports, but he made a persuasive case saying it made it easier for the prosecutor to present the case in court. I wrote a lot of reports that way.

While riding out with Anthony, he arrested a guy on his twenty-first birthday. I got to go to the Nest County Jail with Anthony. The most interesting thing about it was that upon entering the booking area of the jail, I noticed Vicky Morrison Bonding cards all over the place, and I heard jailers recommending Vicky Morrison Bonding, which I later found was against the law; in fact, it is Class-B Misdemeanor.

Anthony did wear the uniform well, and he was unfortunately a very good officer compared to the ones I have known.

I had lunch with a lot of officers during the day, including an