Category: Cops
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BACKROW BOYS WRITTEN BY JEFF “TANK” HOOVER
Prior to graduating from the police academy, strict protocol began to loosen up, with the instructors relaxing a bit. Even our sergeant toned things down. The relaxed atmosphere encouraged students to ask more pertinent questions about the day-to-day operations of our new careers. Simple things you wouldn’t consider in other jobs are big deals in the police world.
Since it was two days before graduation, we were pretty sure we’d all be sworn in, but there was always a nagging doubt. We were told by our sergeant when reporting to our respective stations, “if you’re smart, you’ll remain standing until everyone is seated. Only then should you grab an empty seat and keep your mouth shut.” He went on to say there’s a hierarchy to the seats, and the worst thing you can do is sit in some old salts seat — unless you like being humiliated.
Old Cop Humor
Old street cops are the most complicated creatures known to man. Years of exposure to the worst scenarios imaginable turn him/her into a cynical, sarcastic, hilarious, demented, sharp-tongued salt who can clear a room or obtain a confession with a simple, well-practiced steely-eyed stare. These guys seemed to live on nothing but coffee and cigarettes back in the day. The last thing you’d want to do is sit in their seat.
You see, roll call rooms are “ready rooms” where officers get ready to hit the streets. Officers are read highlights from reports, getting “caught up” on what happened while they were off since the previous night or the past couple of days. You’d be amazed at what can happen during the 14 hours of off-duty time.
While the sergeant reads roll call, the old salts usually finish the incident with a wisecrack or comment, which is usually hilariously funny, while cutting to the quick of the matter with brutally honest observations. This relaxes the mood, while at the same time, officers start putting their game face on. Every police shift, no matter the department, has back row seats — and they’re reserved for the older officers.
Backrow Boys (BB)
These officers are your first stringers if handling calls were a game. They know how to analyze and separate the chafe from the wheat — setting the tone for what to do next. It’s amazing watching from a beginner’s standpoint. No matter how crazy, violent, and confusing things were, these old pros wade right on in, decipher what the problem is and have both parties satisfied with a simple solution. Slack-jawed rookies would just take it all in, trying to understand what it was they just saw.
Backrow Boys come in all shapes, sizes, sexes and demeanors. Most sergeants love having them around, knowing they make short work of the most complex of calls. It’s not uncommon for the sergeant to ask a Backrow Boy, “Whatta’ think?” These guys are the salt of the earth. They love working the street, and it shows. What’s the best way to punish a Backrow Boy? Make him work the desk. They want the freedom to roam the streets, extinguishing what mayhem there is and finishing it off with a sarcastic joke or statement.
Backrow Boys are a far cry from the discipline taught at the academy. With maverick attitudes, they rule the world while toeing the line. But don’t let them fool you! When it comes to kids, dogs, the elderly, or anyone else with vulnerabilities, these guys/gals are the first to step up and help them out. God forgive you if a Backrow Boy catches someone abusing or taking advantage of these poor souls. They don’t play that game! Period!
They’re usually first on scene and first to leave after everything is resolved. If an arrest needs to be made, the Backrow Boy simply says,” you take it, rook,” with a wink and a nod. He knows whoever takes credit will be weighted down with hours of paperwork, processing, transporting, arraignment, and finally, a trip to the jail if bond isn’t made. What seemed like a generous gift keeps the Backrow Boy on the street where they want to be.
Backrow Boys are not limited to men either. Some of the saltiest and best officers I ever worked with were women. To achieve Backrow Boy status, one simply has a love for working the road, has a well-developed sense of humor, thrives on resolving conflict and loves being a street cop. One is not awarded Backrow Boy status, but rather one evolves into it.
Here’s to the unheralded heroes of the police department where rank has no meaning to them, but respect is earned on the merits of the people handling the brunt of the calls while loving it.
Memphis Blues
As far as the nemesis of the Backrow Boys goes, the five “officers” who beat a citizen to death in Memphis are a perfect example. These five people wearing the badge are not officers but rather criminals in uniform. You see, due to low enrollment, the standards were lowered for hiring, which resulted in thuggery and misfits abusing authority. A true Backrow Boy would be the first to stop this atrocious behavior when witnessed. Cops are held to higher standards, and Backrow Boys make sure it happens.
“Omaha police said in the six weeks since Nebraska’s constitutional carry law took effect they’ve arrested several people for failing to tell police they have a gun on them when they’re contacted,” ABC’s KETV 7 reported Wednesday. “[A]ccording to law enforcement booking information, at least one person has been charged with ‘failure to disclose’ a concealed weapon every day in the last week.”
“It’s a misdemeanor for the first offense, an elevated misdemeanor for the second offense, and a felony for any additional offense,” the report elaborates.
“You have the right to carry the gun on you. But you also need to let law enforcement know, for their protection, everything else, so that that you have the firearm on you,” Capt. Keith Williamson of the Omaha Police Department gang unit asserted. He added that additional charges can be “tacked on with other serious charges” to offenses like gang crimes and that the bill forcing the city “to repeal some ordinances around firearms … made it more difficult trying to track guns in the wrong hands.”
At this point, a reporter tasked with doing more than parroting an officially approved narrative might ask, “How?”
Permitless carry, requiring self-reporting to armed enforcers, hardly conforms with the Framers’ “shall not be infringed” intent and does nothing to authorize the commission of crimes, just as freedom of speech does not give a pass on fraud, libel, threats, and the like. If by “wrong hands,” Williamson means “prohibited persons,” another classification with no comparable Founding Era model, the carry law specifically excludes them.
“The new law will not change who is allowed to purchase firearms in Nebraska,” the Omaha World-Herald explains. “An amendment folded into LB 77 added an extra misdemeanor charge if someone carries a firearm while committing certain ‘dangerous misdemeanors,’ including domestic assault, shoplifting or stalking.”
But true to prohibitionist form, “Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert …
issued an executive order banning firearms on city-owned properties.” While the position is officially nonpartisan, it’s interesting to note that Stothert is one of those “moderate” Republicans who take the fire out of the bellies of gun owners looking for alternatives to gun-grabbing Democrats.
In her case, her husband’s 2021 suicide “from a self-inflicted gunshot wound” merits our sympathy, but not to the extent that using her political power to mandate life-endangering infringements should be tolerated.
Just as Stothert’s gun ban would not have affected her husband’s choices in any way, neither would a requirement that gun owners inform the police that they are armed alter the behavior of the gang members who couldn’t/wouldn’t have applied for permits in any case.
In the case of criminals, requiring them to admit they are illegally carrying would be a violation of the Fifth Amendment, as ruled by the Supreme Court in Haynes v. United States, which properly reasoned requiring a prohibited person to register a firearm would violate his right not to incriminate himself.
Once again, “gun control” only “works” on the “law-abiding.” It’s shameful that most “mainstream media” readers will never know any of this, and that’s the way those who would rule want it. And in this case, Nebraska’s “Turn Yourself In” diktat further endangers citizens’ rights.
To see how, set aside time to watch two videos that I consider essential for gun owners. The first is “Don’t Talk to the Police” by Regent University School of Law professor James Duane, wherein he explains how even seemingly innocent questions can be a trap and seemingly innocuous answers can be incriminating admissions. That one is 40 minutes long, so save that link to watch when time permits and then share it with anyone you think should see it.
The other video is posted below. It “stars” Canton, OH, police officer Daniel Harless demanding mere citizens “Back the Blue” by cowering in fear—or else. He does that by screaming like a psycho and threatening a motorist who had to wait until he could get a word in edgewise to comply with Ohio’s (at the time) law and disclose that he was carrying a permitted pistol.
This is no way to run a free Republic.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
Before the drone footage, they tried to frame this as “old white man drives through a pro-Palestinian protest”
Turns out, a mob blocked off the highway, surrounded his car, chased him, and then tried attacking him.
Here is the full drone footage: pic.twitter.com/75dHls1ZvE
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 23, 2023
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LAPD Restricts Officer Magazine Capacity
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Can I Run Over a Carjacker?
By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
On Sept. 15 at around 10:15 p.m., Olaf Brurberg Andersen IV, was drinking Coors Light inside Pete’s Bar in Neptune Beach, Florida, when a police officer approached him.
The Neptune Beach Police officer told Andersen someone had seen a handgun in his waistband. A Florida statute still on the books prohibits carrying a concealed firearm inside a tavern. The officer escorted the 24-year-old outside the bar, read him the Miranda Warning and began a field interrogation.
According to his arrest report, Andersen told the officer he was “unaware he was not allowed to carry a firearm inside establishments licensed to dispense alcohol.” He was arrested without incident. His Springfield XD and Blackhawk holster were seized and placed into property. “It should be noted the firearm was loaded with a round in the chamber,” the arrest report states.
Andersen was taken to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and charged with violating Florida state statute 790.06(12): Carry concealed weapon or firearm in portion of establishment licensed to dispense alcohol for consumption on premises.
One week earlier, at around 10:47 p.m., Shane Wilson Adcox was drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon in Pete’s Bar. According to his arrest report, he struck up a conversation with another patron about a recent shoulder surgery he underwent and raised his shirt to show the surgery scar.
“Upon raising his shirt, Witness #1 noticed a firearm inside the suspect’s waistband. When the suspect noticed Witness #1 observing the firearm, he pointed to it and stated he was ‘in Blackwater,’ and referred to the firearm as his ‘side piece,’” his arrest report states.
Another Neptune Beach Police officer was summoned. Adcox, a 55-year-old retired Navy veteran, was escorted outside and detained. His arrest report states, “Post Miranda, the suspect stated that he was unaware he was not allowed to carry inside establishments licensed to dispense alcohol.”
Adcox’s 9mm Glock 45 was seized and he was also taken to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office jail. He was charged with violating three Florida state statutes: 790.06(12) Carry concealed weapon or firearm in portion of establishment licensed to dispense alcohol for consumption on premises, 790.10 Improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon and 790.151(3) Possessing a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.
According to police reports Adcox never exhibited his handgun or even removed it from the holster, and at no time did police conduct sobriety testing to determine whether he was under the influence of alcohol.
Charges pending
Andersen pleaded no-contest to the charge and was sentenced to two days in jail but was given credit for the two days he served following his arrest. Andersen did not respond to calls or emails seeking his comments for this story.
Adcox has a court date next month, but an assistant state attorney recently dismissed two of the three charges he faced: 790.10 Improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon and 790.151(3) Possessing a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.
Adcox is still recovering from the weekend he spent in the county jail.
“They threw me into the petri dish, man. I got out late Sunday night with a burning throat, sneezing and fever,” he said. “I tested positive for COVID and Strep. I’m still feverish.”
Prosecutors offered him a deal, in which he would have to take several online courses and pay fines and court costs. His Glock, however, would be forfeit.
“They just suspended my CCW permit,” he said. “There’s no way I’m taking that deal.”
Unconstitutional
Eric Friday is general counsel and chief lobbyist for Florida Carry, Inc., and the state’s preeminent expert in firearms law and Second Amendment rights.
Friday said Florida’s statute that prohibits carrying a concealed firearm inside an establishment licensed to dispense alcohol is unconstitutional based on the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which states that “history and tradition” should determine whether a law regulating firearms is constitutional under the Second Amendment.
“If you understand Bruen, you have to look at the text, history and tradition and then find an analogous statute,” Friday said. “This statute is unconstitutional as to certain places, because you cannot find a founding-era statute that prohibits possession of firearms inside a bar, or one that prohibits possessing intoxicating liquor while possessing a firearm.”
Therefore, Friday said, both Andersen and Adcox should never have been charged.
“Prosecutors should have removed the charge. The public defender should have asked for the charge to be removed. The judge should have been told this by both attorneys, but he too should have known this was not a crime,” he said. “We’ve got checks and balances within the legal system. The problem is when police officers, public defenders, prosecutors and the judge fail to catch these errors, the system has indicted itself at that point.”
Adcox said neither the prosecutor nor his public defender have told him that the charge he still faces may be unconstitutional.
“My public defender said he was ‘looking into some things,’” he said.