>>>>>>We used to call them "wannabees", now we call them "gonnabees". Gangs recruit kids in elementary school, and many will get payed for riding their bicycles around to watch for the po po. Others are used to ship drugs from one place to another. My experience has shown that gangs permeate the inner city, and it is a family affair. Grand momma may not be dealing the drugs, but many times, she is driving a nice car and staying in a nicer house, because of the open air pharmaceutical sales that her grandson is doing.
>>>>>
>>>>>Hey, at least they're getting some fresh air and aren't stuck in some stuffy classroom. I'll bet their math is pretty good too. Jeez, I thought the U.S. valued entrepreneurship. ;)
>>>>
>>>>True, and when cops like me show up, they get a LOT of air - running!<g>
>>>
>>>I don't remember, John, when were you last a street cop?
>>
>>About 2005. Why do you ask? Oh, you are implying that I am too old!<g> Somehow, I think I could still do the job, but we usually leave all that to the youngsters. Even so, I said cops "like me", which is to imply cops that work.
>
>Why did I ask? Because I thought it was a while ago that you started doing programming for the sheriff's department, retired from the force, and now started your new gig with them. Sometimes your messages make it sound like you're out there every day trading bullets with the bad guys. Not that the bad guys have changed much, I'm sure.
>
>I know all about being old -- just ask my daughters! LOL


Haha, I guess some clarification is in order. I was a commissioned officer the whole time I was with the SCSO, and I was also a programmer. The last month I worked as a Field Commander in our Fugitive Squad, I nearly got kilt three times. My sgt and I were working in an apt complex that just happened to be a crip stronghold, when we happened upon 4 juvies with blue bandanas pulled up on their faces. When they saw us, they pulled them down, and tried to act like they were playing. We had two of them come to the car, and my sgt got out and was putting them against the car, when I heard him screaming GUN, GUN, GUN. I instinctively pulled mine and stuck it in the kids gut. He dropped a .9mm S&W and my sgt slammed them both to the ground. I got the shotgun and made the other three crawl out of their car. We found another automatic pistol outside the back door of the car.

Then, I was waiting on the boyz at a service station, so we could run warrants in another gang infested apt complex, when dude and dudette came strolling by. I ran a warrant check on dude, and he had a couple. I stepped out of the car and told him he was coming with me. He disagreed, and put his hand in his back pocket. I pulled my .40 and told him, I had a different opinion. He grabbed my pistol, which meant, it was my turn to make a move. I spun him around, kicked his legs out from under him, and the ground rose up and smote him in the back of the head. I was putting the cuffs on him, when the boyz finally showed up.

Then I got word that some gangbangers had put the word out they were going to kill a po po in the Peppertree apts. (we call it the pepatrator apts), so I took my guys down there that night.We wound up getting into a foot chase with a gangster, who left his .45 auto and the stolen car, behind. I thought I was going to pass out from laughing though, when he tripped on the steps, and head butted the brick wall. Dude had a hard head, or else lots of warrants, because he jumped right back up and totally outran all the boyz. I guess he was a motivated runner.

So, as you see, I was in the thick of it most of my time at the SCSO. I love developing apps, but it's even more fun to write stuff like my WASP program, where you go out and use the tool, to see what works and what the guyz think. I won't be out putting cuffs on anyone anymore, but I imagine I'll be back in the streets this fall working with the guys to make sure the stuff I'm writing is working for them. I've been working on a tool that one precinct has been using, and their burglaries are down by 40%. I present a webpage where the user enters an address, and I create a pin on a google map, then let them select the subquery categories, and a radius for the search. They can choose to search for people on parole, gangsters, people out on bond for burglary, sex offenders, etc. (I'll soon be adding warrants and people who have been arrested and have utilities). Once they run the query, it produces a map, with tables below that list the results. Many of those html tables have hyperlinks into our system that will return a rap sheet summary on the individual, including: mugshot, previous arrest locations, all previous addresses,TN Driver's license info,known associates, warrants, previous charges and dispositions, gang associations, parolee/probationer status, local utility information, etc. Most of this is done with some html,javascript, Web Connection, MS SQL, Tandem Non-Stop SQL, and good ol VFP.

It's been fun developing, and it will continue to grow. I hope I've filled in the blanks, so you can know, I wasn't just a nerd with the SCSO. Oh, and yes, I did retire from the SCSO. I now work for the Memphis Police Department. I went from county to city.