Page 112 - NIXBOOK

I pulled over a woman for speeding. Her excuse: “I just lost a thirty-six thousand dollar check and I’m freaking the fuck out!”

Likewise, I’ve lost track of how many times I had been off to the side of a road, writing notes or listening to a radio dispatch, and
well-meaning citizens approached me and asked if I needed help? Well God bless you sir, no, I’m okay, and I succesfully reisisted
the urge to snarkily point out that if I needed help, I had a police radio and police partners specifically for that, thank you ma’am.

Car accident: a bad one. I arrive on the scene and I’m transfixed at the sight of the damaged steering wheel. The driver’s hands
and arms and had been locked onto both sides of the wheel at the moment of impact and somehow, someway, the steering
wheel got bent inward on both sides, kind of like a taco. I spent a long time staring at that thing; I had never imagined that a
person’s arms and wrists and hands could transfer enough energy to a steering wheel with enough force to bend it inwards. The
only pictures I took were on my work camera so I regrettably can’t share the shocking visual with you all here.

Car accidents with windshields cracked from unrestrained occupants’ heads? Yep, I’ve seen more than a few of those. Some folks
have to learn the hard way about seatbelts. And windshields.

“What seems to be the problem, officer?” is not the best way to start a conversation when you get pulled over. I heard it many
times, and every time it kind of rankled me.