Cop In The Classroom by Mennonite Press Inc

P o l i c e / P e r s o n a l e s s ay s

What do you Want

to knoW about

police officers?

earn how kids and cops connect at school. You will enjoy 33 personal stories about one officerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s professional career as a deputy sheriff and school resource officer. Cop in the Classroom gives an insiderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s look at the emotional experiences behind the badge â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and life lessons for us all.

you Will discover: s 7HAT CHARACTER TRAITS ARE IMPORTANT FOR BEING A POLICE OFlCER s 7HAT IT S LIKE TO MAKE ARRESTS AND WORK FATALITY WRECKS

s (OW SAFE OUR SCHOOLS ARE s 4HE ROLE OF A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFlCER 32/ s 7HAT 32/S DO IF THEY SUSPECT CHILD ABUSE AT HOME

s 7HY SHARING LUNCH AND RECESS BUILDS RELATIONSHIPS s 4HE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR YOUTH

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jim Potter has accomplished something I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think anyone in law enforcement would do during my lifetimeâ&#x20AC;Śwrite a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;first classâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; book about police officers from a totally new and extraordinarily insightful perspective. The stories take you through a rollercoaster of emotions, as they are hilarious, heart-breaking and inspiring.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; n eal T rauTman , P h .D., D irecTor , n aTional i nsTiTuTe

e Thics

â&#x20AC;&#x153;This book is a unique insight into the special rapport that can develop between a school resource officer and students who seek adult help on a multitude of levels.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; D r . W ynona W inn , s uPerinTenDenT

s chools , h uTchinson , K ansas

* ) - 0 / 4 4 % 2 , a school resource officer for 20 years, holds an M.A. degree in Education. A former teacher, he is a facilitator in youth development, strengthening families, and economic justice. He is an award-winning writer for his play 5NDER THE 2ADAR 2ACE AT 3CHOOL.

%DUCATORS POLICE OFlCERS

PARENTS AND ADVOCATES OF CHILDREN WILL lND THIS BOOK INFORMATIVE ENTERTAINING AND STIMULATING )T GIVES A VOICE TO CHILDREN

ISBN-13: 978-0-9790697-7-2

sandhenge P U B L I C AT I O N S

$19.95 U.S.

Cover design by George Foster

Cop In The Classroom

COP IN THE CLASSROOM Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told

Sgt. Jim Potter

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Copyright ÂŠ 2007 by Jim Potter All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Cover design by George Foster Printed in the United States of America In the interest of privacy, especially the identity of children in this book, names, and occasionally descriptions of individuals have been altered. The author advises that a few encounters were disguised because the current officers mentioned are expert shots and the former students are now attorneys. ISBN 0-9790697-7-7 ISBN 978-0-9790697-7-2 Library of Congress Control Number 2007900381 Sandhenge Publications P.O. Box 1172 Hutchinson, KS 67504-1172 www.copintheclassroom.com

To Alex, for everything...

Contents

Preface Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I:

14 17

Have You Ever?

1 Questions from Kids —

2 Mental Illness, Poverty and

3 Cowardice or Common Sense —

“Is your gun loaded?”

Domestic Violence — “Have you ever got in a fight on duty?”

“Have you ever been pepper sprayed?”

4 Being Appreciated or Not —

“Have you ever saved someone’s life?”

5 Be Careful What You Wish For —

6 Living Death —

“Have you ever arrested a drunk driver?”

“Did you have to see anybody die before?”

Part II: What About Your Job?

7 Ethical Encounters —

8 National Security —

9 Keep a Sense of Humor —

“Did you know any police officers when you were our age?”

“When did you know you wanted to be a police officer?”

“What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you on duty?”

10 K-9s (Canines) —

“Where’s my toy?”

106

11 Certainty and Uncertainty —

119 “Do you like your job?”

12 Career Path —

127

13 A Perfect Patrol Deputy Day —

140

“What do I have to do to become a police officer?”

“Have you ever dreamed about your job as a police officer?”

14 Lessons Learned —

“Can I try on your handcuffs?”

147

Part III: What About the Children?

15 Hazard Duty —

153

16 Kid Time —

165

17 Discipline or Abuse —

175

“Will you sit beside me at lunch?”

“Are you playing at recess?”

“What if my step-dad hits my brother with a board?”

18 Boxing or Bullying —

184

19 Being Different —

198

“If you had it to do over again would you still hit her?”

“Are you in trouble?”

20 Abstract to Concrete —

203

21 Private Parts —

210

22 Judging Others —

218

23 Form Follows Thought —

223

“Have any of you ever called 911 before?”

“Will Susie be safe at home?”

“You hate everybody in the state of georgia?”

“What do you believe about yourself?”

Part IV: What About the adults?

24 Saying No —

229

25 Greed, Addiction and

232

“Do you ever get pressured at work?”

Enforcement —

“If cigarettes are so dangerous then why are they legal?”

26 Ripples in the Wake —

245

“How many of you know someone who has attempted suicide?”

27 Parents Who Use —

257

28 Support Systems —

262

29 Imagining the Unimaginable —

270

30 Role Model Material —

280

“Will you talk to my son?”

“What proof do you have?”

“Is our school safe?”

“How do you select the best school resource officer?

31 Rules and Rudeness —

287

32 youth Camp —

296

“Does Rosalie understand cause and effect?”

“Do you trust me?”

Conclusion: Emotional Connections —

“Do we make a difference?”

Endnotes About the Author

305

310 317

PREFACE

’ve noticed over the years that children have no shortage of questions. Some of the classrooms I visit as a school resource officer promote the use of question boxes, but at no time or place am I exempt from curious inquiries. I’ve been stopped in the hallway, encouraged by inquisitive kids to sit next to them during lunch, confronted at recess and even questioned during after duty hours when I’ve been spotted shopping at local businesses, i.e., “Where’s your uniform?” Everyone, it seems, especially kids, have questions for me about being a deputy sheriff. No subject is off limits to what our youth want to know. They want to learn if my gun is loaded, if I’ve shot anyone, about car chases, arrests, and if I’ve had to watch anyone die. They want to know when I first started thinking about being an officer, how to become a cop and whether I like my job. Besides wanting to learn about drugs, alcohol and violence, they also want to know, on the lighter side, what’s the funniest thing that’s happened to me on duty. This book is a compilation of some of the common and unique questions that I’ve received in the schools for over twenty years while serving as a sheriff’s deputy. In addition, some of the inquiries I address here using stories are from parents, teachers and myself. Each chapter title is in the question form as it was posed to (or by)

13 me. The answers I share are personal essays inspired from my experiences on the job. From the first question a child ever asked me about my duties as a police officer, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve enjoyed the teaching experience. The queries from young, developing, lively minds stimulate and spark my own curiosity. They teach me that no question is unimportant and that every questioner, usually a child, is always worthy and deserving of my response. I recognize that they are attempting to understand why and how we do what we do.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

give credit and thanks to my parents who always encouraged me to have a love of learning. They also knew the value of a formal education and supported me in that endeavor. My parents grew up during the Great Depression. Both of them and their families understood sacrifice and success. Due to economic conditions, my mother, though the valedictorian in her class, was unable to attend college. My father, who also excelled in high school, usually had more dirt in his pockets than money, but found a way to graduate from junior college. This was prior to World War II becoming a priority for him and our country. After he was demobilized, his efforts shifted. Even though he was working full time, because of the G.I. bill, he was able to become a university graduate. The reason this story of education is so important to me is that my parents recognized its importance to them. Mom had to go to work and Dad had to go to war. Later, as I was growing up, it was understood that one of their goals was to give their children the opportunity, if we wished, to earn a college education. It was something they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want us to miss. What I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know about my dad, as I struggled in high school, was that his father had not supported his academic efforts. In fact, Grandpa thought school was a waste of time

15 and money! I can only imagine the stressful encounters between father and son. By my father making an empowering decision to do something that his family had not done before—attend college—he became a trailblazer, affecting future generations in our family, giving me greater exposure to the academic and abstract world of words. When I attended Lesley College (now a university) my thesis was on school resource officers in Kansas. Even as I was writing that scholarly paper, using qualitative research interviews, I was thinking about Cop in the Classroom. For the university thesis I developed themes from other school resource officers, then examined how they related to a peaceable school culture. For this future book I wanted to examine themes established by my students. Their curiosities and concerns, often in question form, became my focus and eventually the title of many of the personal essays. Writing for me became fluid and fun when I wrote a short story entitled, “Hubcap Houdini.” This fictional account of our actual companion rooster (who woke me up well before dawn everyday), marked my resurgence to writing. After its completion, I was encouraged with specific, positive feedback from friends Jean and Russ, Joelle, Carol and Letty. Then I wrote a play, “Under the Radar: Race at School,” that would have never been awardwinning without the encouragement of my wife, Alex, to enter it in a statewide competition. The Kansas Arts Council formally agreed with her assessment as they publicly acknowledged my creative work, already being used in diversity workshops.

16 The reason I mention former projects and their supporters in acknowledgments here is that this book has been a quiet, below the radar, maturing labor of love for several years. Thus, there are few people to thank! I am grateful to our two cats, Gray and Homes, for assisting Hubcap in awakening me early every morning. While I suspect their motives were selfish, I acknowledge their influence on my writing schedule, comparable to middle of the night newspaper carriers. Besides Alex, the people that made this book possible were unaware of my intentions: administrators at our Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Department for my assignment in the schools, the trust of educators throughout our county, and of course, the children and youth for their continued friendship, questions and stories. These young people, after all my years as a school resource officer, continue to amaze and delight me. Many of them, despite our age difference, are my role models. Alex has been the one person who has endured through my long-term goal of putting these police stories to paper and print. I thank her for her unending encouragement, assistance and love. She is a true partner.

INTRODUCTION “422 to 409.” “409, go ahead.” “If you want to stop by you can take some more photographs for us.” “No thanks, I’ve got other plans. Do you have enough help without me?” “10-4.”

should have been thankful for the offer, instead it only reinforced my unwillingness to be a part of one more grisly scene of death. My shift was over. I had paid my dues. I just didn’t have it in me to look at yet another dead teenager. As I pulled into my driveway, only a mile from the fatal train-car wreck, I hadn’t yet learned the identity of the deceased. Later, from the radio, I heard that the victim was the daughter of our school superintendent. But, even had I known the senior high school student, I might have still turned down the offer to help. My mind was elsewhere. I was remembering a previous case where investigators continued to search a home for a suicide note. Their challenge was in determining if a fifteen-year-old boy, reportedly intoxicated, had died due to a self-inflicted .22 bullet to the head, and if so, attempt to determine if it was accidental or suicide. I knew from experience

18 that despite a thorough investigation, we were sometimes never absolutely sure of the intentions of the deceased. Meanwhile, declining the invitation to examine the wreckage at the railroad crossing did not free me entirely from the stress of police work. My memory bank began to automatically replay other cases I had helped investigate in my previous seven years working patrol. On patrol (â&#x20AC;&#x153;the roadâ&#x20AC;?) I was always tied to the police radio where at any moment one phone call from the public could disrupt ongoing work, a meal or a bathroom break. Dispatchers told us when and where to go. We were assigned to some emergency, nearby or distant, and we were off, red lights flashing, sirens wailing, in a hurry to get somewhere for somebody. Earlier in my career, I had been excited about the adventure of the unknown, but now this process no longer served my needs. Patrol duties had begun to feel like an obligation, not a ball and chain scenario, but a short leash. Like every officer, I carried a handcuff key, but for me to be revitalized and remain in law enforcement, I needed to discover a key that could open up the best opportunity for my professional growth. It required a career plan adjustment that had not yet solidified in my mind. I had started yearning for a scheduled shift that actually ended on schedule, where I would drive straight home, without an extra hour or two of duty because of late assignments and the predictable piles of paperwork. Our work would not wait and being tired was never an excuse, because each of us was a link in the chain of

19 a professional organization. Serving the public was still vitally important to me. I just needed to be sure to serve myself and my family in the process. “Could I do all three?” was the ultimate question. In the middle of all this uncertainty an unexpected door opened to a newly created position in our department. Because of my duty experience of giving programs in the schools, communicating with the teachers and connecting with the children, I was offered the position as our first school liaison officer. I was excited about the possibilities of my effect on children and I knew that the job would be good for me by putting some distance, some time, between deaths. *** As our department’s first School Resource Officer (SRO), I eagerly explored the unlimited possibilities. Youth development, decisionmaking and resistance skills quickly became areas of focus. Maybe, I reasoned, working with young people about problem-solving would help empower them to make better choices, so that law enforcement wouldn’t have to problem-solve their deaths or crimes, be it at the scene of a motor vehicle accident, drug overdose, suicide or homicide. Visiting the grade schools with the welcoming, curious children, who were sometimes shy but seemingly, rarely frightened, was a breath of fresh air. As much as I had enjoyed patrol, I felt like the new work gave me control and direction back in my life. Instead of rotating shifts, I

20 had standard daytime hours. This regularity in scheduling school visits, the predictability of my day, along with the positive feedback of my contacts, made all the difference in my outlook. The change made me realize I had been under a lot of stress, if not close to burned out, working on the road. Even though I had never fought a war in a distant land, a professional opinion might have diagnosed that I had a case of post traumatic stress syndrome, not uncommon in police work. My return to the helping field of teaching was ideal. I relished every educational encounter with the school children! Becoming an SRO allowed me to become who I already was, a mixture of law enforcement officer and educator. This opportunity to blend beliefs and experiences made me a stronger link in the Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Department as I again, passionately and proudly, served the public. Only this time I was focusing on its youth. It was an assignment that only got better.

1 Questions FROM KIDS “Is your gun loaded?” “You have a gun in school! You’re breaking the law!” I’m challenged by a grade school student—no doubt a future prosecuting attorney.

ometimes adults, uncomfortable seeing me in my deputy sheriff’s uniform, will hold up their hands and say, “I didn’t do it!” But children in the comfort of their classroom will eagerly inquire about what it’s like being a police officer, especially about my equipment. The most common question in grade school on my first visit: “Is your gun loaded?” It’s a good question. Categorically, questions about cops from kids tend to follow a developmental pattern based on their age or grade level. It would be fascinating for me to learn what motivates some of the inquiries. Does the nearly four-foot tall, fiveyear-old kindergarten student ask me, “Why do you have a gun?” because he or she is trying to sort out the concept of good and bad, right or wrong? If police officers are viewed as good and guns as bad then what value do I register in a young child’s mind?

Cop in the Classroom

Is my gun the focus of attention due to a child’s early exposure to gun safety from a memorable parental talk, or is it a result of the ever-present assault of violent images in the media? Is it due to the actual news on television or the more violent Saturday morning cartoons that have already planted this seed of fearful thought about violence? Has the child seen a real gun before or used a play one that morning to pretend to shoot someone? I, too, like a curious child, have so many questions I’d like to have answered. I’m asked if I’ve ever been shot before or if I’ve shot anyone else. Clearly, wearing a gun to school is a big deal! I can see why kids that carry weapons get a lot of attention. I take the focus off my gun as soon as possible, but I use the generated interest as a way to make a point. My goal, always, is to get past the gun questions and answers so that once I’ve responded, I can give some safety advice. In the process, I try to convey that while I carry a gun I consider myself a peace officer. Unlike a lot of conflicts created for action TV and suspenseful movies, most problems can be solved, and should be solved, without violence. We need to realize that solving conflicts is the process of finding a way to cope with dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and the stress of learning to live with anger, fear and disappointment. Ideally, a police officer, like anyone else, needs to be able to help people solve their problems without using a gun. It’s a sad and scary day when anyone takes a gun out to try to hurt someone. But it’s a fact of life and death. Is my gun loaded? I often turn the question back to the children, “What do you think?” Half bet that there are bullets in the weapon. Others

Questions From Kids

can’t fathom that I, a police officer, would be breaking a school rule by bringing a gun inside their home away from home. “Yes, it’s loaded, because I’m on duty and if an emergency were to happen I’d want to be able to respond immediately. If someone were trying to seriously hurt or kill you or me I couldn’t call time out. It’s not a game. It’s not make-believe. I’d do everything possible to talk the person into putting their weapon down and to not hurt themselves or others. But at some point, it’s true, I might have to shoot, even kill them because of a dangerous choice they made. I hope I never have to. I became a police officer to help people. But if I ever take a life I want it to be because I saved my own life or the life of someone else in an attempt to make the world a better place.” Beginning in about fourth grade there’s usually one needy student that will ask to see my gun. “Will you pass it around, please?” Then there is laughter with a nervous edge. They know I won’t pass it around. Instead, I ask them “What do you think would happen if I did? What would you do? How long do you think I’d have my job?’” “You’d be fired today!” “I’m here to talk about safety. Would it be a good idea to pass around a loaded gun?” “No!” they shout in unison. “Why not?” I continue. “Someone might accidentally pull the trigger. We could get hurt.” “How do you think I would feel if during my talk on safety someone was hurt because I passed around my gun? How would your friends

Cop in the Classroom

and family feel if you were injured or killed?” In seconds I’ve turned the original question around for them to answer. Then I’ll give them my own, standard, three-part answer. “There are only three reasons I’d take my gun out of this safety holster. “One. In an emergency where someone’s life is at risk. When I say emergency, am I talking about people spilling their milk or running in the hallway? Do I mean that they called me a bad name or that they wouldn’t show me their driver’s license? I would only take out my gun if I were preparing to use it. Otherwise, everyone, including me, is safer with my gun in its holster. “Two. To practice at the firearm’s range, a place that is built to stop the bullets from accidentally hurting others. Would your backyard be a safe place? Where would it be safer? Why do I need to practice?” And I tell them that, like at school, we have training and tests, only our exams are to make sure we are good shots. If we don’t pass the shooting qualification then we can’t carry our gun. If we can’t carry our gun we don’t have our job. Do you want police officers that can make good decisions about when and when not to take their gun out and use it? Do you want officers that can shoot straight? What could happen if an officer wasn’t a good shot? “Three. To clean it, not play with it. I’ve never played with this gun, because it’s not a toy. There are play guns and there are real guns. This is a real gun. If you have a toy gun then you should only be playing with it with your friends, not with strangers. Why should you never point

Questions From Kids

even a toy pistol at someone you don’t know, especially a police officer?” Answers come quickly. “They might not know it’s a toy.” “They might think it’s real!” “We might get shot!” “My gun is a tool I use in my job just as a carpenter uses a hammer or a saw,” I continue. “Even though I’ve never played with my real gun, I’ve enjoyed practicing with it. Like some of you today, I had toy guns when I was growing up.” I wonder if my playing with toy guns and pretending to be a marshal or deputy sheriff influenced me to eventually choose my job as a peace officer? As a child my television role models, the Lone Ranger being a favorite, were always defending the weak against some armed bandit or bully. It’s a blessing that I found a career, which allows me to continue to work towards a goal of community justice. As an adult I still wear a tin badge, but now the badge is real, I have greater influence, and I get paid for my work! My weapon is no longer a toy six-shooter but a semi-automatic with sixteen rounds of ammunition. As an adult I know that the job is not glamorous like television shows, but it can be very stressful, occasionally dangerous, and usually rewarding. Toys I played with in my childhood became the tools of my trade in my future. As proof, I still have a color photograph of myself when I was about six-years old, standing proudly with my toy pistols, cowboy hat, and, yes, a marshal’s badge pinned on my cowboy vest! How did I know I’d be a deputy sheriff someday? I didn’t,

Cop in the Classroom

but at an early age the playing or pretending opened up the possibility in my head. Sometimes I’ll take a quick survey. “How many of you have a real gun in your home?” In our rural area schools I usually see at least half the students respond with raised hands. Then I ask them to explain what rules they are expected to follow when they’re around guns. Whether parents realize it or not, the kids know where the guns in their homes are kept. Most of the homeowner weapons and ammunition are unsecured, protected only by the tenuous verbal warning from an adult to a child. And in urban communities, especially those in high crime areas, many kids, even those without a gun in the home, can get one cheaply and easily. The belief which has been most detrimental to our young people is the concept that for their protection they are safer carrying a loaded gun than if they had no gun at all. This irrational thinking is easy to understand when you consider the millions of media messages they have received in their brief lifetime. One modern version of man’s primitive fight or flight syndrome is to fight with the biggest gun or toughest gang and when fleeing is necessary, do it with the most expensive pair of tennis shoes, fastest car, or most powerful truck. And if you need to steal the truck, that’s okay too. Just take it. To the children I’ll emphasize what every parent, especially those with weapons in the home, has already instructed; “Don’t ever touch a gun without adult supervision.” If I’m talking to a parent I’ll inform them that guns kept in the

Questions From Kids

home for personal safety are much more likely to harm a resident—themselves or children— than an intruder. I’ll also preach the use of gun locks. By the fifth grade I’ll have students telling me about how they earned their hunter safety card and can now go hunting with adults, usually a parent. There’s never enough classroom time, but occasionally I’ll ask these hopeful hunters to share some gun safety tips with the class. Part of me is telling myself to avoid talking about guns. I don’t want the kids to get too curious or the guns to be a status symbol. The other part of me is recognizing that a lot of the children are already past being curious and that I should use them as a resource to teach their peers respect for firearms and the importance of safety. When I’m asked if I’ve ever been shot at, I usually reply, “Not that I know of!” Or if students want to know if I’ve have ever been shot, I tell them, “Yes.” But I follow up, explaining that when I was growing up there was a boy in high school, three or four years older than me that purposely shot me a couple of times with a BB rifle. I guess he got bored killing the song birds sitting innocently enough on the telephone lines in our suburban neighborhood. Thinking back, I wonder if he ever progressed to a real gun with human victims, or was I just a bigger moving target one lazy summer day, when showing off to a friend and his brother became more important to him than common sense? My childhood experience of being shot with a BB rifle is mild compared with many children today. In urban America, a discussion on guns can quickly lead to students showing their

Cop in the Classroom

numerous wounds from gunfire and knife fights. The scars and actual accounts of friends and family members being shot and killed can make a police officer sit up and take notice. Imagine spending an entire childhood growing up in a war-torn neighborhood or country where guns and gunfire are part of the environment and atrocities are routinely committed on adults and children. For some, this describes a foreign country. For others itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s called home.

P o l i c e / P e r s o n a l e s s ay s

What do you Want

to knoW about

police officers?

you Will discover: s 7HAT CHARACTER TRAITS ARE IMPORTANT FOR BEING A POLICE OFlCER s 7HAT IT S LIKE TO MAKE ARRESTS AND WORK FATALITY WRECKS

s (OW SAFE OUR SCHOOLS ARE s 4HE ROLE OF A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFlCER 32/ s 7HAT 32/S DO IF THEY SUSPECT CHILD ABUSE AT HOME

s 7HY SHARING LUNCH AND RECESS BUILDS RELATIONSHIPS s 4HE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR YOUTH

e Thics

s chools , h uTchinson , K ansas

%DUCATORS POLICE OFlCERS

PARENTS AND ADVOCATES OF CHILDREN WILL lND THIS BOOK INFORMATIVE ENTERTAINING AND STIMULATING )T GIVES A VOICE TO CHILDREN

ISBN-13: 978-0-9790697-7-2

sandhenge P U B L I C AT I O N S

$19.95 U.S.

Cover design by George Foster