Safety Net | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Safety Net | Previous Challenge Entry
By DJ Evans
01/19/08
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

The time had come. I was finally ready, after a grueling several weeks in the "training car" for the check ride with a sergeant. The check ride would be easy, I told myself. My field training officer (FTO) had demanded and gotten my best--I was ready to go out solo in a patrol car. Or so I thought.

The Sergeant, let's call him Sgt. G, was in rare form. He was pretty amiable on a good day, but not someone you wanted to be anywhere near on a bad day. He ate rookies for breakfast. He gave me the look, the one that said, "You better not be wasting my time, kid," and we left the station to begin the shift.

I checked into the car thoroughly. We were in the Caprice, mark one against me. I had never taken it out before, but there were no other cars available. Worse yet, it had a bench seat in front. I stand 5'2" if I stretch my neck a little. Sgt. G got in and his knees were immediately in his ears. I could tell it put him in a good mood. Lucky me. I made sure all of the lights and equipment were in good working order, checked turn signals, tire pressure, oil, fluid levels, everything. I went through the front and back with a fine-toothed comb, making sure the last officer who had the car hadn't missed anything left by one of our illustrious clients.

It was a quiet shift, no assaults, no DV's, not as much as a drunk driver. One or two traffic stops, nothing big. I answered procedural questions and drove him to the locations he asked me to, passing the part of the ride I was actually nervous about--city orientation--with flying colors. I did some high-speed driving in a deserted part of town to show off my Emergency Vehicle Operations skills and was bursting with pride. I had this down!

I couldn't figure out why the Sergeant looked so grim when we pulled up to the station at the end of the shift.

"So how do you think this has gone, kiddo?"

I told him I felt pretty good about it. He told me to get out of the car. He walked around to the back of the car, opened the door and pulled out the back seat. Without saying a word he pulled a gun out from under the seat and put it on the roof of the car. My stomach fell into my duty boots. I didn't even know the back seat came out on the Caprice and I hadn't asked.

Needless to say, missing a gun when checking into the vehicle meant that I failed the check ride. Better then than when it was left (and found) by a criminal, not a veteran officer who knows how cocky a young officer can get. I thanked the Lord many times over for that lesson in humility, one which kept me safe and brought me home every night thereafter.

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.