No sun today, but then, no wind either in our neck of the woods.

Getting some chores done around the house.

This is my last installment of my ‘novel.’

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Chapter 21

Closing Thoughts

I realize that my Novel may not have been ‘exactly’ what was intended, but it did get me to tell some of the stories I have shared with people in the past.  And, it did meet the criteria of 50,000 words – actually more, and kinda in the style of one of my favorite authors James Herriot, a Veterinarian, who wrote All Creatures Great and Small and several other books on his practice and the people he worked with.  Short stories. 

Not sure I will be making this into a book, not sure of the interest it would garner and it needs a lot, a LOT, of editing.  Then, of course is working with a Publisher.  Steven and Celinda’s plates are full so not sure either has the time to help.

When I was just starting my career there was a lot of turmoil in America, the Vietnam War was being protested and law enforcement was under attack.  Here in The Dalles we didn’t feel a lot of that but there was some hostility.

Police Officers today have it much worse than I did; they are under violent attacks, far more than ever before.

I think most of you realize where my feelings are on that point, but let me discuss it in a little detail.

In America there is somewhere between 900,000 and one million local law enforcement officers – police and deputies. 

That number does not include State officers, but that number is much smaller; and they don’t do a lot of what is required of the local law enforcement – although their backup is always appreciated.

Without going into detail with assignments, management, investigators etc., positions, as well as vacancies, vacations, training that take officers away from the patrol divisions, there are approximately 100,000 officers on duty at any given time - nationwide – give or take 10,000 – 20,000.

These are the men and women that arrive on any given scene, first, no matter the call.  They are the ones that respond to accidents, family disturbances, robberies, murder, lost children, deaths – both violent and natural – and anything else that comes over their radio (or computer, now) for them to respond to.

They answer the call for help as quickly and earnestly as possible.

They patrol dark alleys, make contact with suspicious individuals in those dark alleys; stop suspicious vehicles hours from the nearest backup.

Have you ever walked down a street and crossed it because there is someone or a number of someones that look suspicious and you are in fear they might attack you? 

The police officer doesn’t have a choice; they continue walking down the street, knowing there could very well be danger for them there.

They work traffic details where they never know what they may encounter when they make their stops, it could be someone who has never had a problem before and is just nervous, or someone who just killed their wife (or robbed a pharmacy at a hospital) and thinks the officer is stopping them for that reason.

While the badge and uniform has always been a target, it is even more so now.  Killers are deliberately setting up ambushes for police officers, and killing them.

While it has always been known by the officers that the day/night they go to work may be the last day/night they will see their loved ones, it is even more so today.

100,000 officers across the nation. 

The come from all walks of life, these are people, just like everyone else. 

They occasionally make mistakes, just like everyone else.

They have families, they have a life out of uniform, just like everyone else.

They shop in grocery stores, pharmacies, clothing stores; they help with their kids’ programs, just like everyone else.

But, unlike everyone else, they face the unknown, every single day; every single shift.

When they are called, they answer.

They are the first line of defense in our communities and they are being so second guessed on everything they do they are not able to do their job as well; and are even in more danger because they can’t react as quickly as they should for fear of being branded.

100,000 officers working, on any given day, 365 days a year, holidays, weekends, sun, rain, snow or freezing weather they are on patrol.

They are divided up around the country, some cities and counties have dozens working – others one.

Some have backup a moment away, some have backup hours away; maybe.

They lay their lives on the line on every call, on every traffic stop, on every contact.

They sometimes have to make a split second decision that will be reviewed, dissected, second guessed by others – who were not there, and some who have never faced adversity - over a period of years.

If they are involved in controversy they must remain silent while the incident is investigated by their or another department.  Sometimes that takes days and even weeks to complete.

Meanwhile, people and media with their own agenda crucify them; accusing them of all kinds of misconduct.

When – and that is the majority of such investigations – the officer is exonerated and what they had to do was proper, it lands on the back pages of the newspapers. 

Meanwhile they are ostracized, their families are harassed, other officers are targeted and all because many times those involved lied to the public and media.

There are no apologies by anyone.

And he is expected to go back to his job and not let this affect him.

Law Enforcement is a profession that is not only dangerous because of the potential physical attacks, but dangerous to the spirit, emotions and mental health.  Suicides by police officers are among the highest of professions.

Through the years it has always been difficult finding good applicants for the position – more and more young people are asking themselves why should they put themselves in such a position – and veterans are asking the same thing, it surely isn’t for the money, and finding less stressful occupations.

There have been those that think the federal government can do a better job of local policing – of course many of these are the same people who think that the federal government is evil – kinda catch 22.

It takes months to hire an officer, testing, background checks, training in the department and then the academy, then close supervision for several years as they learn how to do the job.

It isn’t something that is done overnight and it isn’t something that can be sped up.

And many of those federal law enforcement officers, even those who do a very good job, wouldn’t want to put up with nor would they be qualified to be a local officer.

900,000 to 1,000,000 local law enforcement officers, for a nation of over 325,000,000. 

If only 1% of that population is criminal (and we are well aware it is much more than that) the officers are outnumbered 3.25 to one.

And when you consider there are 100,000 +/- on duty at any given time they are outnumbered 32.5 to one. 

Now multiply those odds by 10 or even 20, percentages closer to reality.

Now ask yourself, how many officers are in the news, caught on video, or have complaints against them for doing the wrong thing?  How many have been proven to be criminally wrong?

By all means if a person thinks the police have it easy, or are stupid and think they know how to do a better job, make an application and become one.

Who knows you may make a good one, or you may realize there is more to it than putting on a uniform and strapping on a gun.

Law Enforcement is an honorable profession.  The vast majority of those that join a department and retire wearing a badge have provided dedicated and skilled service to their community.  Even many who have said it isn’t worth it and left for other professions did their job in making the community safe.

Making it a better place for all involved.

Wouldn’t hurt to thank them!

Copyright November 28, 2017 Art Labrousse

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1 Chronicles 16:8-9  KJV  “Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

⁹ Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.”

This was a psalm written by David, but it is still relevant today.  Only now, instead of making His deeds know to just the Jews, we have the honor of expressing our love, appreciation and thanks to Him, telling everyone of His wondrous works.

We don’t have to be preachers; we don’t have to stand on a soap box, to talk about our Lord.

While it may seem we are being blocked at every turn, there are still ways to tell others about God and the Son He sacrificed to save us.  We just have to be prepared when those times are available.

2 Timothy 4:2 KJV  “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”

He wants us to share our faith with others.  We just need to listen to and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Later, Art (-:

Lots of sun today, lots of wind too in our neck of the woods.  Carla was hoping to finish burning today, but it is just too windy.

Simmered the turkey carcass for almost 24 hours and am now pressure cooking the broth, will be using it in soups, stews and when I cook rice I add it to the water to give it more flavor.

I used to freeze it, but this way it keeps longer and frees up the freezers for other things.

We have a sandwich or two left of the turkey.  We cook for left overs.  Dad never liked them so Mom always cooked just enough for the meal.  Of course Thanksgiving was different, but that was the only time.

We cook enough stuff that those that eat with us can take home leftovers – now that it is just the two of us, we couldn’t possibly eat all that before it spoiled.

We let the kids do the dividing up, and everyone seems happy with their lots.  Me, I am just glad they do that AND the dishes!

---------------------------------

Chapter 20, The Measure of a Man, continued:

Chris pulled up in his car towing a small trailer with the generator in it.  The back of the trailer identified the trailer as belonging to an Explorer post (that was sponsored by the Sheriff’s Office.)

We stopped off at Madras for breakfast and then continued our journey to Portland.  We were on Highway 26, the main highway between Portland and Central Oregon.

We went through Warm Springs, up the hill and onto the flats.  I didn’t know it at the time, but most of the flats were in Wasco County.

As we hit that long straight stretch we came up behind a 1967 Chevrolet with Washington license plates.  They were going just under 55 mph so Chris passed them.

As we drove by I looked into the car, saw the driver and two front seat passengers; the driver was tipping a bottle of beer.  That was a violation; you could not have an open bottle of alcohol in the car.

I told Christ that they were drinking beers.  He continued the pass and pulled in front of them.

Chris looked in his rear view mirror and called the license plate into the Jefferson County dispatch, a female responded. 

A few minutes later we hear a male voice come onto the radio and asked if that was a blue 1967 Chevrolet and asked if it was possible the plate was different than given by Chris.

I looked at Chris and said, it looks like we have more than an open container.

Chris wanted to be sure of the plate, so he slowed down enough for the car to pass us and then read the license plate, he had transposed a number and the plate that was read to us by the dispatcher was the correct one.

He radioed that it was correct.

The dispatcher said, it is a stolen car out of Washington, there are three people who are wanted for escape and there are weapons in the car.

I was ready to pull them over, there were two of us in the car, both experienced officers, I figured we could do it.

Being a city officer, I was used to back up being available almost immediately and didn’t even think about how far it would be out there; even still I should have known better, this would be a felony stop and the more officers there at the time of the stop the less lethal it would be.

He pointed out we were pulling a trailer and if they ran, we couldn’t run after them.  AND, he wanted to see where our back up was.

The dispatcher, was checking for us and said that Warm Springs didn’t have a car out, Wasco County deputy was too far away and OSP’s nearest car was in Gresham – two hours from where we were.

I remembered the comments by the Portland officers that did undercover work for us – back up is far away.  I now finally realized just how true their concerns were, back up was far away; so we just kept following them.

The dispatcher said that OSP had a resident trooper in Government Camp, an hour away.  They would be sending someone from Gresham and wake up the resident trooper to assist us.

There are two intersections that come onto Highway 26, Highway 216 that branches off and goes east towards Maupin; and Highway 35 that branches off and goes north towards Hood River.

Chris said that if they take either we wouldn’t follow them; feeling that it would make them suspicious and it would allow the other agencies to head out and make a stop.

They continued past both intersections, still heading towards Portland. 

Frankly, that was a long hour; but they didn’t have a clue.

We approached the community of Government Camp and as we did so the resident trooper was coming out of the highway department’s garage area.

The car saw him and instead of continuing towards Portland they took the exit into the business are of the community.  Chris slowed down and motioned to the trooper that the wanted car was right ahead of us.

The trooper pulled in behind the car and turned on his overhead lights.  The car continued a short distance and then turned into a gas station lot, just past the building and lot.  They couldn’t go around it; the building was right up against the mountain.

We pulled into the lot, between the pumps and the building with the car crossways right in front of us.  Both of us got out with guns drawn and stood behind our open doors; Chris had a shotgun and I can remember thinking where in the world did that come from?  The Trooper also had his gun drawn and was behind his door. 

Christ did the commands.  The driver was ordered to drop the keys out of the car and then get out on his side of the car and put his hands on the roof; where the trooper watched him.

He then ordered the front seat passengers out and told them to put their hands on the roof.  The passenger closest to the door immediately complied.

The passenger in the middle, a female, did not, she kept trying to reach into the back seat area – it took several orders before she finally complied.

While Chris covered the two passengers I went around to the driver’s side and covered the Trooper as he searched the driver and put him into hand cuffs.

Just as the Trooper was going around the car to search the passengers I heard a car coming up behind me coming to a screeching halt, I looked at Chris – he wasn’t concerned, so I figure it was the OSP Trooper coming from Gresham – it was, the man was huge, well over 6 feet.

As the Trooper search both the male and then the female passenger I stayed on the driver’s side watching the driver.

The Trooper started searching the female, (in the approved manner) and she yelled at him and told him he couldn’t do that.

I said, yes he can!  The Trooper looked at me and finished the search.

She asked me why they had been stopped, I told her it was because the car was stolen.

She said, no it isn’t we borrowed it from a friend, in a tone that said can you believe that?

I said no it wasn’t you guys stole it.

Who told you so? She asked.

I said, NCIC – meaning the National Crime Information Center that all agencies used to put their warrants on people, stolen vehicle information and other criminal information to be used nationwide by law enforcement agencies.

Her eyes opened wide and she shouted, “The CIA?”

I don’t know what the OSP officers had been told about us, but both of them stopped what they were doing and gave me a quizzical look, like they hadn’t realized we were ‘CIA.’

I said, ‘No, the NCIC, the National Crime Information Center.’

We found a knife in the trunk and I kinda remember, maybe a gun.  The female wasn’t reaching for a weapon, but for her shoes that were on the floor in the back seat – but she almost got herself shot – and would have if one of those shoes came out too fast and could be mistaken for a weapon.

We gave the Troopers our business cards and let them take the suspects into jail and impound the car.

We continued heading to Camp Whithycombe.

Where we arrived without further incident. 

We parked at the equipment garage and then headed to the Commanding Officer’s office.  Chris knew him well and had worked with him through the years.

As it happened this was the last day there for the commanding officer, and his replacement was there in the camp.  He had him come into the office.

He introduced him to Chris.

There are many ways to measure a man, honesty is one of the biggest and what the commander said was one of the greatest tributes to a man I have heard.

The commander told his replacement that he could leave Chris in his office and never worry about anything being taken, not even a pencil.  But, if you negotiate with him you will end up losing everything.

We got the new generator, had lunch then headed back home, by way of Salem.

We went back over the Santiam Pass, rather than Government Pass.  We were a very few short miles from Sisters when we came upon an accident.

A car was off the road and lying on its side, as was the trailer it was towing.  The ambulance was on scene and there wasn’t any problem with traffic, so we continued on without stopping.

We learned later that the driver was an elderly lady that had gone to close to the shoulder and went off the road.  Her husband was killed in the accident and she was in serious condition.

While I road with Chris after that day, none of those patrols had anything unusual happen.

Kinda disappointing.

Copyright November 26, 2017 Art Labrousse

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1 Peter 2:17  KJV  “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.”

We read the second chapter of 1 Peter and see commands like these throughout. 

They are hard to swallow; and even harder, sometimes, to obey. 

I can understand giving honor to all men.  I have run into some that I have had to wrestle, to arrest and to testify against, but I always tried to treat them fairly.

Some responded in respect, others not so much.

But even still how do we honor all men, when what we are often facing, as Christians, is hate and attacks on our beliefs.

Alone, we cannot, it is only allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us that we can strive to obey this verse.

Loving our fellow Christians comes a lot easier, although we may not agree with them and we clash in many areas, they are fellow believers, fellow forgiven children of God.

Still it is sometimes with difficulty.  Alone, we cannot, it is only allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us that we can strive to obey this verse.

Fear God.  This part of the verse is a good reminder to us.  We sometimes forget that God is in charge.  When we talk to Him daily, we can become complacent and forget that He is in charge and to not obey can bring dire consequences.

It is like being the friend of a judge.  We spend time together, eat together, share common interests, but if we commit an offense against the government we have to stand before him and accept the penalty for the offense.

Unlike an earthly Judge who may give friends a break or who may remove himself from the case and we have to go before someone else, or decides to look at circumstances and gives a lighter sentence, God makes the decision.  Period.

The only thing He is going to look at is did we fear him enough to obey and accept His Son’s sacrifice for our salvation.

We need to always be aware of who His is, alone, we cannot, it is only allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us that we can strive to obey this verse.

Honor the King.  Now, that is a tough order.  We look at how many leaders have treated their subjects, Stalin, Hitler and other dictators killed people by the millions for no good reason.  How can we honor them?

Listening to some people today denigrating the President because of what they believe he is doing – others had the same problem with the last President, and the list can go on, Senators, Representatives, State officials, county and city officials.

How in the world can we possibly be forced to honor people like that, people that we disagree with, passionately? 

Alone, we cannot, it is only allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us that we can strive to obey this verse.

We have to remember, also, that the God’s Word is just that, written by man, but dictated by God.

2 Timothy 3:16  KJV  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

We cannot use the excuse that we disagree with the leaders, and we cannot say, but God, look at how ill-treated we are, you just don’t understand.

The Roman Empire was a violent, oppressive and hostile governing body, the Jewish people suffered badly and the Christians even more, yet, in the middle of all this Peter writes that verse – as inspired by God.

Yes, we can stand against the government when it orders us to do things that are against His Word – but, we must be sure of our grounds.

Acts 4:18-20  KJV  “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹ But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

²⁰ For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

For Americans with the feeling that freedom of speech allows them to criticize anyone and everyone, no matter what, this part of the verse “Honour the king” is the most difficult.

How can we do that?  Alone, we cannot, it is only allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us that we can strive to obey this verse.

Later, Art (-:

Fog and no sun in our neck of the woods, today.  However, the rival games in college football are on today, looking forward to several of them. 

Unfortunately, Oregon vs Oregon State isn’t going to be televised that I can find.

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Chapter 19

Murders

Dealing with death is always difficult, although a part of our job.  In the city most deaths were natural and signed off by the family physician, some were accidents, some were suicides and we fully investigated those deaths. 

We were fortunate; there were very few homicides in The Dalles. 

The first homicide that occurred, after I joined the force, was handled by other officers.  While I had no involvement in the investigation there were some things that I remember well, and helped prepare me for my time as Sheriff, although that would be many years away. 

                     

The victim was a young lady about 19 years old that had disappeared during the middle of the day.   She had left work to go to lunch and never returned.  Her car was missing.  She normally parked in the City Parking lot north of the railroad tracks and a block from downtown. 

She was reported missing right away.  The investigators did their normal work.  They found out that she was due to get married in a few weeks.  She and her fiancé had purchased a home and were in the process of fixing it up so they could move in once married.  She was happy in her job, a stable personality and really looking forward to the marriage.  Part of any such investigation is to suspect the fiancé and family members, but they were quickly ruled out.  There did not appear to be any reason for her disappearance. 

I remember the Saturday a week or so after her disappearance; I was working the desk.  Her father came into the office and asked if we had heard anything yet.  I was at a loss for words I had not been around, I had been working Graveyard and knew absolutely nothing about the case. 

He was distraught; he obviously had not slept well and had been crying.  Fortunately another officer was there and talked to him briefly.  The officer said we still didn’t have anything, but he was sure she would turn up okay.  We all knew they were hollow words, but what else can you say?  The father left the office with his head down, he had started crying again; this was not like his daughter and he knew something had happened to her.  I learned later that he was coming in every day.

It is so very hard on the families when a loved comes up missing like this, and as Police Officers our hearts are tearing for them, but the only thing we can do is try and solve the case.  Hopefully to find them alive, but if not to find them so their family can begin the mourning process.

Then, of course, to find the person that did it and bring him to justice!

Finally her body was found.  It was about two weeks after the abduction.  She was located on the Washington side of the Columbia River several yards from the highway.  The investigators did a good job and soon located the suspect.  It turned out it was a crime of opportunity.

The suspect was a transient who happened to be in the area walking the tracks.  Even though this was the middle of the day and within a block of the main business area, there are not many people around.  The lot was at the back of the businesses and not readily visible. 

He saw her walking to the car, alone, and grabbed her, forcing her into the car and then taking her across the river.  After he had raped her he became scared and was afraid he would be caught, so he killed her.  He hid the body, but did not bury her.  He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

The only homicide I was involved in as a Police Officer (we also handled a series of homicides when I was Sheriff – I am writing another book dedicated to those murders) occurred in early evening on a warm summer Saturday in the City Park. 

We received a call of a stabbing in the park.  Several of us were on duty and responded.  Upon arrival we found the suspect was still there.  The victim was in very bad condition and was rushed to the hospital.  Both men were transients.  Both men had been drinking and were drunk. 

They got into an argument; the victim pulled his hunting knife out and tried to stab the suspect.  They started fighting, the suspect took the knife away and cut across the throat of the victim, or so the story went. 

The victim was taken up to the hospital, but didn’t have a chance.  He was dead on arrival. 

I was sent over to the county to pick up fingerprint spoons.  These “spoons” are curved metal, about the size of eating utensils; they are used to take fingerprints from corpses. 

There are two ways of doing this and both entail cutting the fingerprint card. 

Some people prefer to cut the card into the individual fingerprint squares; others cut them into strips with each strip containing all four squares of the fingers on each hand.  I had never done this before.  I chose the strip method; which worked fine.  The suspect was taken into custody until the investigation was completed. 

From citizens in the park we heard that the two transients had been off in the far corner passing a wine bottle back and forth.  After a while they heard the two getting into an argument that became quickly heated.  They saw the victim pull his knife out and try to stab the suspect, who took the knife away and killed the victim.  After reviewing all the statements, the District Attorney decided not to prosecute; it was a case of self-defense.

Through the years we had a number of assaults with deadly and/or dangerous weapons, but these two were the only ones we had in my service to the City.  There have been a couple more in the past 30 years, but for the most part The Dalles is a safe City where citizens can walk about without fear of violence.

One of the things that all cities are now encountering is that there are a number of mentally ill people who are on the streets; many are homeless.  Some can be aggressive and threatening.

When they take their medications they are stable and don’t create problems.  However, when they get off them, then they can be frightening in their actions.  Seldom is anyone actually hurt, but when you are walking with your kids, or even by yourself and are confronted by someone like this it is not a good feeling; you don’t know what may happen.

The one thing that I do not understand is that these people choose not to take their medications knowing how they are when they are off of them.  Yet, their actions, if done by a citizen who did not have mental problems did them they would be arrested and charged with a crime; but the person who chooses not to take his medications is given a pass by taking them in and getting the person on their medications once again and then releasing them.

And so many of them are alcoholics which exacerbates the problems as they drink.

I don’t have an answer, it has been a question that society has had to deal with for several decades and no one seems to have an answer. 

I do feel for these people, they cannot help what is going on inside their brains, but when they deliberately choose to not take their medications then there should be something that can be done that will drive home the point they cannot have it both ways.

Either they take the medication, or suffer the consequences of actions when they are off of them.

That seems simple, I know it is not.  Sometimes the medication needs to be updated, or it becomes ineffective as the body has learned how to deal with it and overcome it. 

The medication causes changes in the person; some of those changes are not comfortable, they feel like zombies moving about without the ability to ‘feel’ things, to feel like a real human being.  They can’t stand it so they stop taking it, and then their symptoms begin once again.

There is so much that is not known.  AND most of these people have loved ones somewhere that have tried to help them, tried to give them a place to stay and live, but it hasn’t worked out for whatever the reason.

Each situation is different; each person is different.  Many are living in a private closet of ‘hell’ and just can’t get out.  Life is not easy for them.

But there are millions of people who suffer from mental illness, they work with doctors and therapists, they take their medications, they function and contribute to our society.

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Colossians 3:17  KJV  “ And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

If we take this verse to heart, if we realize that every action we have, every word we speak is a direct reflection on our life in Christ we would have a much more effective life in Him.

We wouldn’t holler at people who offend us, we wouldn’t use curse words, even the ‘substitution’ ones.

We wouldn’t do things that afterwards, when thinking about it, embarrasses us and more importantly harm our witness for Christ.

Later, Art (-:

Another pretty day in our neck of the woods.  Got another few loads of leaves in the wheelbarrow and put it on the roses.  I lost count of the number of trips after fifty, the elm tree does have a leaf or two with a few coming from neighbors.

We are still getting leaves from Robert for Carla’s garden, from the looks of it we should be able to bury the garden in leaves several inches deep.  Should build up the soil for her!

She is working a lot of hours this and next week, busy down at the store, the number of employee hours that corporate is allowing the store is almost double – and very warranted.

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Chapter 18

Crime Prevention

One of the most frustrating things for a Police Officer is that we usually get called after the fact, so instead of preventing something from happening, we end up investigating what has happened already.

In the late 1970’s Police Departments started developing Crime Prevention Units.

While that is a misnomer, they didn’t prevent crimes, persay, they did help to make people aware of how they could reduce their chances of being a victim of crime.

I can’t remember just when or how I became the Crime Prevention Officer for the City.  Part of it, I think, was that I was spending a lot of my own time in the schools and I knew how much that helped in developing good relationships between officers and students.

I was able to attend a Crime Prevention class at the Academy; while the concept was still in its infancy.

The larger agencies, Portland and Multnomah County specifically were able to obtain grants to fund the unit.

When I first attended the classes I was under the strong opinion, as were most officers, that it was the Police’s responsibility to stop crimes and citizens would be encouraged to call in suspicious circumstances and we would respond.

However, most of the people attending that class were citizens, not police officers.  The people teaching the classes were citizens that were part of their department’s Crime Prevention Units and actually did the lion’s share of educating the public.

By the end of the week I change my mind about how Crime Prevention should be established in a Police Department.

We needed to develop volunteers, train them and let them interact with the public to teach them how to reduce the possibility of their homes being burglarized and how to keep themselves and their family members safer.

I obtained permission from the Chief to visit departments of our size that had successfully created a Volunteer Unit and bring back ideas.

We did establish the unit.  We had a number of dedicated volunteers who spent many hours, they set up neighborhood watches, they taught people how to make their homes less likely to be burglarized among many other things.

The Dalles unit developed a safe home program for children that felt they were in danger.  We checked out those that were volunteering to be that home (we didn’t want predators with signs); that they would be home during school hours, especially before and after school.

The Unit was instrumental in developing a state wide program and many of our ideas were incorporated in the state program as well as our sign with minor modifications.

They became an intricate part of the department.  After I went to the Sheriff’s Office they continued to be a force within the community and even grew in their influence in the community.

We were one of the first, if not the first to develop a park and ride program for the Christmas New Year’s Eve Season. 

One of the Real Estate companies allowed us to use their office and phone bank.

Our volunteers would drive people who had been drinking from the bars to their homes in The Dalles.  Not a lot of people used the service but several did and it made the streets safer.

In the Fall of the first year I was in office the coordinator asked if I would be willing to participate in a locally televised program on the local cable company, sponsored by the Unit, to demonstrate how alcohol affects people’s ability to function.  The idea being that it might encourage people not to drink and drive.

He wanted me there because ‘everyone’ knew I did not drink alcoholic beverages.

He brought in three other people, the State Representative for our area, a local and popular business woman and the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce.

In the interest of prevention I agreed to go through the illustration.  It was not a popular decision with some people in our church; some went to the Pastor with their concerns, he told me that he understood why I did it and tried to explain that to those who were upset.

I am not sure what everyone had, I had vodka and orange juice, I remember the business woman had wine.

The idea was to show that even though the drinks were different when you gave the normal amount of liquid the alcohol content and therefore the effect impacted a people just the same.

Far too many people think drinking beer isn’t the same as drinking a hard drink, however, it can be, depending on the amount consumed.

We were given the measured amounts every few minutes, can’t remember how long between, but it was timed to let us have a few minutes between drinks AND to give us tests to demonstrate our loss of control of normal functions.

After which we took a breathalyzer test to see what the level of alcohol was in our system.

It also showed how a person reacts, socially, when imbibing. 

The heavier a person is, the more alcohol he can take, in comparison with a smaller person.

The business woman became under the influence much faster than the rest of us due to her petite size.  While a gregarious person she became much more so as the evening went on.

The director started getting loud and obnoxious.  I was not happy with him at all.  I can remember one of the officers put his hand on my shoulder and said, it would be okay, don’t get upset – so, it showed the two of us and how alcohol affects us.

The director, a nice guy but tended to be the life of the party anyway, became louder and more obnoxious as the evening went on – I wanted to enforce the rules more, I was taking it seriously and he wasn’t, I think I would be a ‘mean’ drunk.

Each of us had drivers.  I knew that I couldn’t drive, I was impaired.  What surprised me was I never got about .04%, considered very low and well below the .08% where the law presumes the driver is under the influence.

There is a misnomer about what some people say about that .08%.

We often hear the media saying that a driver was above the legal limit by so much – in the case of a citizen driving there is no such thing.  For truck drivers, air plane pilots, minors and probably other professions there is a limit and anyone found above it will be prosecuted for being over the limit.

But for a citizen, they can be arrest for Driving Under the Influence with no alcohol.  The test is if the person is impaired and unable to function correctly.

A person who hasn’t eaten will absorb the alcohol faster and therefore can become impaired quicker than a person who consumes it with a meal. 

Medications can have a significant effect on how the body absorbs the alcohol, and one drink can be enough to make someone under the influence.  It is one of the reasons that many medications warn against taking and consuming alcohol.

Medications alone can make a driver impaired, one of the reasons we are warned not to operate vehicles when first taking a medication so we can see how it is going to impact us.

Then, of course, there are some medications that should never be taken if a person is to drive.  By the way, Marijuana is one of them!

All of these scenarios can become Driving under the influence, the amount of alcohol notwithstanding.

At .04%, I was in no condition to drive.

After the program was aired a couple of times, I received a call from the Co-coordinator.  He said the director wanted the program pulled because he looked so foolish and wanted my opinion.

I reminded him that I had taken flack for doing the program, but I did so because of the importance of what it was showing.  I also said it points out how it affects our personality and interaction with others.

Since I didn’t have cable I do not know if he took it off before it was scheduled or not.

When I first started in law enforcement the amount where a person was considered under the influence was .15%.

While DUII’s were dangerous, society was not like it is today, there really wasn’t the stigma on the impaired driver there is today – one of the better things that has happened.

Through the years the laws became stricter as people realized the toll drunk driving took on society.

But, that was to come in the future.

On my first DUII arrest I tried to not arrest the driver, even though he was clearly drunk – so here’s the story.

I was on Graveyard and this was shortly after midnight.  I was going up onto the hill patrol and the businesses on Kelly Ave. I came up behind a car that was having difficulty remaining in his lane of travel.

I followed him for a short distance and then pulled him over, radioing that I had a possible DUII. 

We always checked to see if they were on medication, were they sick, were they sleep impaired.  He was not, it was pure alcohol.

I got him out of the car and we went to the sidewalk to perform physical tests to see if he was impaired.

I looked into the car and saw his wife, and an older man and woman in the backseat, all three looked scared.

He failed the test, miserably. 

I asked him why he was driving while, from what I could see, others in the car were sober.

He said, “It is my car, no one drives my car but me.”

He told me that he had recently had a baby.  However, at that time he was unemployed and couldn’t afford to go out and celebrate, but tonight, after payday on his new job, he want to take his in-laws and wife out to dinner to celebrate.

I tried to talk him into letting one of the others drive and he was adamant it wasn’t going to happen.

He said he deserved to be arrested that he wouldn’t want a driver out there in his condition with his baby boy on the road.

My backup was John – I just looked at him and then he tried talking the man into letting someone else driver, he just wouldn’t hear it.

I arrested him, put him in my patrol car and told him we would call a taxi for his passengers and tow the car.

He said, “No, let my wife drive the car home.”  I had him repeat that, he did.

I talked to the wife, she hadn’t been drinking – none of them had, only the man.  She had been watching and listening and thanked me for trying to get him to let her drive home.

Even back then a DUII on your record was expensive.  The driver would be suspended, he could be fined a heavy amount, he could be sentenced to jail and his car insurance would go up, considerably. 

I took him to jail and lodged him, I don’t remember what he blew on the breathalyzer, but he was well over that .15%.

The next morning I made a point to be in the court room when he was brought up to court. 

The judge asked him if he plead guilty or not guilty – he pled guilty and told the judge the same thing that he had told me, he didn’t want drivers as drunk as he was to be driving when his baby boy was on the road.

The judge looked at me, I shrugged and told him we had talked to him before arresting him. He sentenced him to jail, but suspended the sentence, he did fine him, I am not sure how much and suspended his license.

Today these situations are handled much differently, and people know that to drive after drinking is not a good idea; if they are caught it is almost 100% guaranteed the driver will go to jail and the consequences are far more serious today than ‘way’ back then; over 50 years ago.

Copyright November 24, 2017 Art Labrousse

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Colossians 2:56-7  KJV  “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

⁷ Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

When we take this verse, seriously, we are reminded that every hour of every day we should be walking in Him.

There is no excuse, there are no breaks, it is expected of us every day of our life in Him.

Whether we are new in Christ or have been with Him for over 50 years the only thing different, is the longer we live with Him in our hearts, the more effective we are in our lives.

Yet, we all have struggles.  We all have times that we let Him down.  But we aren’t failures, we are still His children.

1 John 2:1  KJV  “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”

He will build us back up and we will once again find our path and walk in Him.

Later, Art (-:

What a great day, and the sun shined in our neck of the woods, too.  Enjoyed the day!

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Chapter 17

Catch up!

As I send these out I occasionally get a response from a brother officer.  I was sent the following by one of my favorite co-workers.

“20+ years have passed and you can still write faster than I can read. lol  I am enjoying the reading of your memories because many of them are the same as mine with a twist, same circumstances, different perpetrators and victims.

My biggest concern was the children at those incidents, especially if one of the parents was going to go to jail.   I can seldom remember a domestic that didn’t have some poor little kids in the back ground and scared to death.  Why oh why didn’t those type of people wait until they grew up themselves before having kids to suffer (many for the rest of their life) in one form or another.   I spent a lot of time trying to convince those kids to stay strong and eventually everything would work itself out.  Not much of a chance but we had to try and do what we could..

I covered John on a domestic one night and saw a perfect example of how an officer should deal with kids in that situation.  He got the kids out of sight (not sound unfortunately) of the parents but they continued to yell obscenities at each other.  John then stepped to where the kids and the parents could see him but not each other.  In a forceful voice (didn’t yell) he “asked” the parents if they would please be quiet for a few minutes.   He told them their fight had seriously scared their children and he would appreciate a few minutes of quiet so he could talk to them and make them feel better.  It worked like a charm on all parties involved and things went smoothly after that.  Evidently the dad had said he would go to jail when the wife called the police and that really scared the 6 year old.  He had the impression if dad went to jail he would never see him again.  The frosting on the cake was when John took dad to jail and as they went out the door the 6 year old told dad to be good and they would let him out of jail in the morning.

I was so pleased with John’s performance that I put an “at a boy” in his file.

One of my frustrations was that we never received Academy level training until recent years. It had to evolve but I still think of all of the lessons I had to learn the hard way and how much more effective I could have been as a police officer if I had that training sooner in my career.  Oh well we did the best we could with what we had.  It was sure a lot better than what our predecessors had.”

The State is doing much better about training officers for the real world.  The reason, of course is a 16 week academy instead of the 5 week academy the two of us, and many other officers, attended.  They have more time.

A lot of our ‘training’ was experience, both good and bad.  We learned on the job. 

I was fortunate in that I had some good training officers, worked for a pretty good department and we were serious about doing the best job we could.

A good example, for me anyway, was a day we received a call of a young man holding a gun to his head and saying he was going to commit suicide. 

We couldn’t rush the house; it could very well set it off.  We tried talking to him on the phone, but we weren’t getting anywhere.  Fortunately, there was no one else in the house, so he was endangering anyone else.

I go the bright idea of calling The Center for Living and asking to have a counselor come to our location and try to talk to the young man. 

I was refused, the reason being is that they didn’t go into scenes like this that were explosive, they always dealt with the people in the office after things had settled down.

I was upset with them, but it really wasn’t their fault either.  There just wasn’t any training for any of us to deal with this; and their policies were not to go into dangerous situations.

I don’t remember how we did it, but we eventually got the young man out of the house and placed him in the hospital as a danger to himself or others so he could get help.

I look back on situations like this and realize how fortunate we were and how fortunate the citizens were that our officers had good common sense and really did want to help people.

We may not have had as much training as we needed, but our heart really was in the right place.  Not that we were perfect, but we did our best and tried to learn after every incident and share that with our fellow officers.

Those of you that know me can probably sympathize with the comment, “you can still write faster than I can read.”

When I worked for the City my fellow officers called them Labrousseagrams.

After I was elected I wrote to a number of Sheriff’s requesting information on their jail policies.  I became known as that Sheriff that writes a lot of letters.

Our secretary was one of the most efficient people I have ever met.  She managed her time very well.

It was a good thing too; often we were short on clerical staff that manned the front desk during the day.  The secretary and the clerk responsible for the Civil Service of papers split day shift.

Both ladies had enough of their plate without being on the radio for four hours, but they did it.  However, the clerk who did the civil papers could do a lot of her work at the front desk; the secretary could not because it was confidential.

One day, towards the end of the month, when she had to do payroll and a million other things and had just spent half her day on the front desk, I could tell she was more harried that usual.

Now, I knew there wasn’t much I could do for her, but I asked anyway – her response, “quit writing so “expletive deleted” many memos.”  (Since she never cussed, that emphasized it more.) 

I really appreciated this lady.  She kept me on track on many issues, I really did listen to her on everything else, so I paid attention this time also.

We had just received a computer in our office.  It was hooked up to the mainframe, but, we hadn’t been taught how to use it, yet.

They did have a word processing program on it, so I learned how to use it, and from that point on I wrote my own letters and memos. 

Her replacement thanked her profusely!

One of the things that I didn’t include on my chapter regarding the City Manager was when he retired.

He had given outstanding service, many many extra hours; he had been innovated and did a good job of getting the most out of the money that formed the City’s budget.

I covered my appreciation of his work and leadership concerning the County wide 9-1-1 center, in my book Elected Through Terror he made it a lot easier for it to come into being by convincing the Council they needed to listen to and work closely with all of the emergency agency within the county – even if they were volunteers and could not contribute financially to the program.

When they began their search for a new manager, the council decided they needed to increase the City Manager’s salary by almost 50%.

I thought that was a slap in the face of the man who had led this city for a couple of decades.  If they had that kind of money they could have paid him more to show their appreciation.

The manager that replaced him, as far as I was concerned, couldn’t tie the man’s shoes, let alone do the job.  He didn’t last long – only a couple three hours as I recall; can’t remember why he left, but from where I was standing he never really clicked with the citizens.

The Councilman that was on the negotiating committee also helped me in many ways.  When I was in the City I had little contact with him.

He was a local businessman with a delivery company.  He had been on the City Council for a number of years and carried a lot of weight with the other members, as the passing of that contract shows. 

I respected him and knew he did what he felt was best for the City; I never saw any self-serving orders coming out of the Council for him – that wasn’t necessarily true of others.

The City Councilmen were 100% volunteers.  They were not paid for the many hours they served the City.

A year or so before I became Sheriff he was appointed to the Wasco County Board of Commissioners and then later elected to the board.  

The Commissioners are given a stipend, but it doesn’t begin to cover the hours they spend in serving the county.

In that capacity I worked with him on several projects had learned to admire and respect him even more.  He had good ideas and good advice.

As I write this I am winding down from spending Thanksgiving with a couple of my children and a son-in-law and having talked to the others by phone.

I am reminded of many holidays where I did not sit down to a normal dinner or gathering.  I was working.

I was fortunate, usually, to be able to spend Thanksgiving with the family.  For several years I would take a few days off both sides of this holiday and spend it with Carla’s family in Redmond.

I had covered enough accidents and the emotional aftermath during holidays that I never went anywhere on the day, or the one before or after. 

Especially Christmas.

When I became the shift supervisor I would let an officer have one of the two off, but not both UNLESS no one else wanted it.

Both are very family related holidays and I never considered it fair to allow someone to have both off, while someone else had to stay and work both.

The City was very good, though.  When we worked days, we divided the shift up according to how many were working.

Those of us with children got to go home for a couple of hours so they could be there when their kids opened presents.  We had portable radios and were subject to call out, but it didn’t happen all that often.

Those would then go back out and patrol while another went home and was with the family for a couple or three hours.

That way we always had a patrol out, backup ready to respond, but we could also enjoy the day a little bit.

Unfortunately we couldn’t do that for the rest of the group, the dispatchers had to stay on the radio until their shift was over.

Ours, of course, is not the only profession that has learned to adjust holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions.  Hospital staff and fire fighters, to name a couple, also remain at their station while their family tries to enjoy the day without them.

Copyright November 23, 2017 Art Labrousse

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Psalm 100:4-5  KJV  “ Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

⁵ For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

I am thankful for my family and friends; for a wife that has put up with me for well over 50 years; for the country in which I call home; but most of all for the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on my behalf and the acceptance of that sacrifice by God.

Later, Art (-:

Almost ready for the family coming in tomorrow.  Turkey is brining, the salads are cooling down and just a few more things to do before we turn on the ovens and cook.

Carla put in a very long day today, but she is of that Lynds’ stock that don’t slow down. 

Have a good Thanksgiving!!

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Chapter 16

City Manager

The City of The Dalles has a City Council that appoints the City Manager.

The City Manager has a lot of power within the City.  He is literally the person that either directly hires personnel – usually department heads – or approves all other appointments.

The head of each department runs the department and makes decisions for and on the department.  However, the final authority is the City Manager and he could over rule their decisions if he wanted.

It is my understanding that the Charter for the city specifically states that Council is not to interfere with the day to day operations, nor has any real authority over any of the employees.  If they are unhappy with employees they tell the City Manager, if they don’t like his decision then they can find another City Manager.

Politics being what they are, there are some ways around that, but it must be done with care, careers can be damaged if someone makes a wrong step.

The City Manager I worked with was innovative and had firm control over the city employees.  Some of his decisions did not make many of our officers happy and his name was often spit out like a bad taste.  It was my understanding that many in the fire department were also unhappy.

The City Manager was the spokesperson for the City.  That is a decision that is jointly decided by the City and the manager, not all cities do that, and even our City has done both the Mayor as the spokesperson and the Manager being the spokesperson.

However, it is important that they all be on the same page so normally it is one or the other, not both.

I have always been management oriented.  While I was active in any Union I was part of, it was not because I was a Union person, it was because if someone was going to have a say over my working condition I wanted to have my input.

But, while I didn’t always agree with the City Manager’s decision I understood that he had a number of things on his table and from watching him I knew he was doing what he thought was the best he could for the City.

That was his job.

Earlier in this tabloid I mentioned that we had a 9-1-1 Center in the mid-1970’s.  I thought it was because the state was beginning to tax phones for the system for each government agency and they were using that money to offset the costs.

However, I since was informed that the state statutes and taxes didn’t actually become reality until 1981. 

The City Manager was a head of the game.  He found out that our phone company had the ability to do a 9-1-1 system (not all phone companies had that capability at that time.)

So, he began the process of converting an antiquated system to a more efficient system for the public to get emergency services quicker.  It also made it a lot safer for the Police Officers on patrol.

Now, instead of a Matron having to fit radio traffic in with everything else they were responsible for, the dispatcher could concentrate on the officer in the field and be ready at all times to both answer the radio and assist him with research, checking for warrants and if necessary getting him back up.

It took a while to get it to work, but work it did.

Unfortunately, when I took over the Sheriff’s Office they still had the Clerk doing everything including radio traffic.

That was no one’s fault; some of the county phone company’s did not, yet, have 9-1-1 capability.

It wasn’t until the late 1980’s that we joined with the City in a 9-1-1 Center; it really was a safety issue for the deputies.

The City Manager, both the position and the spokesperson for the City, took a lot of heat from city employees and certain people within the general public.

In the early seventies Public Employees were given permission to negotiate working conditions, wages, benefits and other issues with the management of the entity that they worked for.

Emergency workers, police and fire, were not allowed to strike.  If we couldn’t come to an agreement then we went to arbitration.  I had no difficulty with that requirement, it was reasonable; the public shouldn’t be without protection because we can’t come to an agreement.

The police officers decided to separate ourselves from the rest of the city employees.  City of The Dalles Police Officers formed an association. 

There were a number of attorneys out there that wanted to represent us.  I cannot remember the name of the person we hired, but he fit our department style very well, he wasn’t overbearing and wasn’t out for blood.  He just wanted to get us a good contract.

Originally the Sergeants were members of the Association, but the City challenged that, saying they were part of management.  The City won.

I was a PFC and I was one of two (maybe three not sure now) that was selected by our members to represent them on the negotiation team.

We met with our attorney who had a standard contract and then we personalized it for our department.

We submitted it to the City.  On the City’s side of the table were the City Attorney, a Councilman, the Mayor and the City Manager.

There was a lot of give and take.

In our research we learned that in comparable cities on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, we had the lowest pay; and considerably below some of them.

So that became a key issue for us. 

The other thing we wanted was a two year contract, with stair stepped pay raises; one raise in July the other in January. 

The City had negotiated a contract with the Fire Department and it was for just one year.  So, the council insisted ours would only be a one year contract.

They also stated that there would be no stair stepping.

Most of the issues were agreed upon, except for pay and the multi-year contract. 

I came up with a formula that would meet what the City wanted to give us in salary for the first year and then, I think, the same amount for the second year.

While the end of the year we would have a higher pay rate, it wouldn’t cost the City any more than they wanted to give that first year – however, it would give us a bit more money to base the second year raise.

I laid it on the table.

The City Manager was the lead on the City’s side of the table.  He reiterated that the Council was firm; they only wanted a one year contract and no stair stepping.

We talked about it a bit, when the Councilman looked at me and said, if we agree to this, will the rest of the officers vote for the contract?

Immediately the City Manager called for a caucus.  We had agreed that if either side wanted to step out and discuss an issue that they would call for a caucus and negotiations would stop until they came back in.

There was a long time before they came back into the room.

The Councilman looked at me and asked the same question.

I told him I couldn’t guarantee, but I was pretty sure they would.

They did.

The Councilman then got it passed by the Council.  It was one of the few times that they didn’t back the City Manager’s decision.

It was a fair compromise and I was glad that all agreed.

Through the years I had an opportunity to see the job the City Manager did.  Again, while I didn’t always agree with his decisions, I thought he did a good job.

Still, he was a lightning rod for anyone that disliked the policies of the City, whether it was employees or citizens there were some that were very vocal about their disagreement.

The City Council made a decision, during a particularly tense time, to ask citizens to write evaluations on the man and send it in to them.

Frankly, my first thoughts were they were throwing him under the bus, instead of supporting him they were encouraging criticism.

After a few years, I think that might not have been such a bad idea, here is why:

The one thing that I thought he was weak in was employee relations.  However, he had hired an Assistant and one of her duties, was employee relations. 

I was very concerned that the Council would be getting deluged by people who disliked him.  There appeared to be some kind of a push that was organized by someone.

So, what I did was take one of our evaluation forms, changed it a bit and wrote an evaluation on the man.

I pointed out what I thought was his good points and the fact I thought his weakness was employee relations, but pointed out that he had hired an assistant and gave her the responsibility of employee relations.

To me that showed that he knew it was something he was weak in and that he hired someone to take care of that deficit.

I submitted my evaluation to the Council.  When the time limit was up there was exactly two evaluations, mine and another – I can’t remember if it was positive or not.

Over time, I have come to the conclusion that maybe the Council had a good idea at that.

One of the things that does bother me is that people will complain and point fingers, but when it comes to standing up and saying what you think, and how you think it can be done differently, most people don’t do it.

They would rather complain than do anything that might put them under a microscope.  They can dish it out, but can’t take it.

While I realize that social media has changed that a bit; it is still a complainer’s way of venting off steam, without really having to put themselves out there.

But, I won’t get on my soap box as to how I feel about the use of those medias in spreading false information.

Copyright November 22, 2017 Art Labrousse

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1 Corinthians 15:56-58  KJV  “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every Christian, no matter our circumstances, have God to thank for our salvation through Christ.

While everything else is nice, and sometimes needy, the most important thing we have to be thankful for is Christ’s death on our behalf.

Later, Art (-: