A different world

A conversation started between Chancho and I last night at 4am when he was finally released from work. We had plans to get together at 1am, but of course got pushed back til 4am because of an arrest which sparked this conversation....The story behind it goes as follows: A man came stumbling out of a bar clearly drunk and asking for trouble and so Chancho and his fellow partners began their questioning of the man whom became extremely "sketchy" and upon further investigation they found a large and by large I mean a fistful or more of coke in his pocket. Of course they took action and arrested the man. While discussing amongst themselves as to who was to take the arrest they left their attention from the man for just a moment and that is when he decided to book it. The man literally took off running in handcuffs behind his back. I wish I could have witnessed this guy. It couldn't have been that easy running full force without hands. Anyways they caught up to him 2 blocks down the road. Upon reaching him Chancho informed me that this new partner of his became extremely pissed and began choking the man. They of course stopped him before any damage could be done to the perp, but he did end up with a few scratches to the head.
Once hearing this story, I became concerned because of the violence that occurred once they reached the perp. I asked Chancho if this was something that happened often and he said yes. I can't quite understand why police officers find the need to abuse/beat/show aggression, whatever they want to call it, once they catch up to a perp who decides to run. Chancho put it that it tests them, the perp challenges them and they need to be put in place, reminded that they are the law and they can't just disobey them. I also asked if they do this to other perps or just ones who run, his answer was thankfully only to the ones who run. I can't imagine "roughing" anyone up more than they deserve, but then again they think they deserve it because they ran. This man that they arrested was a mexican immigrant, who probably was here illegally and was scarred that immigration would find them once they were arrested. Little do they know that the court doesn't care about immigration if they are arrested for drugs or public intoxication. So they put themselves and others in danger by running. Chancho pointed out that he gets upset because when they run they not only put themselves in danger, but the police officers in the chase and innocent bystanders. Yet, I still have trouble understanding the acceptability behind throwing a few extra punches or kicks in once they've been caught. I guess I should chalk it up to being a civilian.

In other news, I received my phone bill for this month and thank goodness for free verizon to verizon messaging. I text messaged over 2,637 messages last month. And I have a feeling that that was low because I had spent a week with Chancho. Otherwise, we text a hell of a lot more. Sadly that is our only form of communication while he is at work. Oh how I cherish the phone call before he leaves for work. I'm glad that we established that long ago in our relationship. No matter what we're doing or how busy we are, we have to stop and talk to one another before he leaves for work. Even if it is only to say "I love you and stay safe." I will never forget the day that I was busy driving to NJ to go wedding shopping with my sister and he had slept in from a long nights work so he was in a rush to get to work. We missed our phone call. That night he was involved in a shooting. He thankfully was not injured and God was on his side, but to think that we didn't get to say I love you one last time or that I didn't tell him to stay safe still haunts me. The "what-if's" creep up everyday and remind me that I need to have that phone call regardless of what is happening. You can never tell someone that you love them too much, especially in this line of work. Life is too short to not to express yourself.

Listening to: Hero by Enrique Eglesias