In police work, you get to meet every possible type of human being (and having worked in San Francisco for 30 years, I can authoritatively say that if space aliens ever landed in my town, no one there would ever notice). Poor,...

There was something fishy going on at 26th and Alabama St. Joking aside, this was one case that was easy to solve just by following your police instincts, especially your “nose” for the truth. Because of the rotation plan that Inspectors...

Being a field training officer (FTO) for rookie cops is one of the most important jobs in police work. Even with all our academies, and psyche tests, and background investigations, the true way a cop is educated is in the...

In the Peoples Republic (Duchy?) of San Francisco back in the daze, funny cases came up regularly. I’ll pick one where the statute of limitations has hopefully expired. We were working a plainclothes “Buy/Bust” detail in Dolores Park one sunny...

Sometimes an innocent clash of cultures can be more dangerous to your life and your career than a cornered drug dealer with a straight razor. The Mission District was a ground-level United Nations mixing bowl, and it seemed that every...

When you get out of the FTO Program, and start being a cop, you look down the road, and try to decide what you want to do next. My good friend Mitch decided to go to the dogs. Literally. About...

Depending on who is listening to it, a lot of different information can be gleaned from a short-coded Police band radio transmission: Broadcast: “24th and Capp St, 418 in progress, HMA  5’6”, 110 lbs. taking off his clothes, screaming at...

A foot-beat assignment is the quintessential best and worst job in my business. You make hundreds of contacts that help you, amuse you, and make your life productive and fun. However, the downside is, you get to arrest the same...

Being a beat cop in a major city has its perks, and its downsides. Keeping the regular drunks, hobos, and addicts’ shenanigans to a socially acceptable level (or I should say what the brass thought was allowed) was a large part...

You never know when someone is going to go crazy, or where, or how. Sometime its stress, sometimes it's your brain chemistry that's off, sometimes it's what your doctor gives you to help you get through the day. A lot...