Sex or lunch, what would you do, six days in a row? If you dont find the baby soon, will she freeze to death? It appears to be a single gunshot wound directly under the chin; should we assume suicide or possibly foul play? It appears the grandfather had a heart attack and fell through the glass storm window. Do we remove the body before the young grandkids show up? Its against rules but we cant allow the childrens last memory of grandpa to be crumpled and bleeding. Is that a gun in his hand or is that a cell phone? Its too dark, but the call was a man with a gun! If youre right youre a hero. If youre wrong you go to the morgue.
These decisions are made on a daily basis if you are a Chicago Police Officer. Hopefully youre right. If youre wrong not only do you suffer but your family does as well. No police officer wants to make a split second decision but at times thats all you have.
A propos de l’auteur
Having a grandfather and a father on the Chicago Police Department, Murphy’s choice of becoming a police officer was relatively simple. Between the excitement of having a real profession and the prospect of following in the family tradition, the CPD seemed a natural choice. He donned his recruit uniform in November 1977, at the age of twenty-five.
After seventeen years of patrolman status, Murphy was promoted to sergeant. As a supervisor, he continued his teaching of young men and women, until 2008. Murphy retired at the age of fifty-six after thirty years of police work and assignments. He would like to pass this history on to you.
This book is separated into two parts. The first part consists of memories as a patrolman. The second part references Murphy’s years as a sergeant. I divided the book this way for the ease of reading because patrolman’s work and sergeant’s responsibilities are so completely different. Some memories are hilarious and others will leave a tear in your eye. Some have been embellished for your enjoyment and others have been recreated from accounts learned after work while sharing a cold beer with fellow officers.
Names have been changed and any reference to any real person is accidental and coincidental. These are all part of Murphy’s life-long experiences that he shares with you. Please enjoy these thirty years of vaudeville.