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Paying attention during the most mundane tasks can pose a dilemma. When do you choose to get involved? As was customary when I got off-duty, I gassed up my truck at a Chevron close to my West Side Station before...
Read moreDave Oberhoffer started a law-enforcement career in 1979, having survived the Vietnam War, and owning an Irish Pub. His San Francisco Police Department assignments were: Walking a foot-beat, numerous sector car assignments, and Vice and Narcotics work. As an Inspector, he was then assigned to the Special Investigations Division for five years. This was followed by work as a Squad Sergeant running a team in the housing projects on Potrero Hill. As a Lieutenant, he ran the Records Division, the Crime Scene Investigation Unit (CSI), and was a Watch Commander in four different districts, retiring at the San Francisco Airport. After retirement, Dave had a cup-of-coffee as a small-town Chief of Police, and then taught Law Enforcement Studies at several Bay Area Colleges.
Paying attention during the most mundane tasks can pose a dilemma. When do you choose to get involved? As was customary when I got off-duty, I gassed up my truck at a Chevron close to my West Side Station before...
Read moreWhen politicians get stars in their eyes, especially if it involves 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Washington DC, then local city budget restrictions get ignored. In San Francisco, California, then Mayor Diane Feinstein was a fast rising star in Democratic politics...
Read moreCalifornia Penal Code Section 647(b)(1) - “An individual who solicits, or who agrees to engage in, or who engages in, any act of prostitution with the intent to receive compensation, money, or anything of value from another person.” Six Months...
Read moreEditor's note: This satirical piece will clear up any confusion you've ever had about the legal authority found in modern police commissions along with a little civics lesson in Separation of Powers, something that has been abandoned in order to...
Read moreEditor’s note: This satire piece was compiled as a result of actual crime trends in San Francisco and beyond. For further review, see the article, “Catalytic converter theft strikes SF Police Department,” reported by Mission Local. Moreover, the piece also...
Read moreSince 1966, everyone has come to know the Mirada Warning. (Especially those of us who carried a Miranda Warning card in a uniform pocket while serving in a law enforcement capacity.) I still have my issued card stuck somewhere, but...
Read moreAuthors note: This disclaimer is for the Police Internal Affairs Unit, the empaneled County Grand Jury, and the busy bodies at the ACLU: This is one of those “stories” that never happened, is not true, and is just imaginary. In...
Read moreThe Police Department Record Room is a vital, extremely important, legally required, and a boring-as-hell assignment. When I finally made lieutenant and was looking for places to show off my new-found management skills, without become a droned-out, paper-pushing, desk- jockey,...
Read moreWhy do cops always eat at doughnut shops? Slightly after the invention of the wheel, and way before the sorry advent of "Gluten-Free" everything, if you were working the "dog watch" of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., you needed to stay...
Read moreIf ever there was a specific phrase that I truly hated during my career at the SFPD, (and elsewhere) it was this question being asked by a self-important nimrod at the other end of my ticket book. Forget the 1)...
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