all m y young.”
I ’ ll get a chance to see for m yself when I m eet with Manny and the other recruits.
It is an enormous task, turning a civilian into a c o m petent p o lice o ff icer. Common wisdom says it takes five years to beco m e a good street cop – a hybrid hu m an who is part priest, judge, counselor, rescu e r and enforcer. R ookies h a ve just sixteen weeks to m e morize a mountain of codes, laws and poli c ies. Sixteen weeks to perfect using the tools of the trade – cars, r a dios, m aps, guns, tasers, pepper spray and handcuffs. Sixteen weeks to m a ster officer s afety, command presence, defensive tactics, co m m unication skills, report writing and inv e stigation. Not to m e ntion the intangibles like judg m ent and intuition.
The first t w o rookies I see seem to be m anaging well, nothing but co m pli m ents for the quality of the training they are recei v ing. Despite all the stress of being novices, they are having the ti m e of their lives. T h eir world is full of novelty and they are intoxicated by their own power. Neither of them has ever been assigned to Eddie R i m bauer.
Manny is ten m i nutes early for our appoint m ent. I m otion for him to take a seat. He waits for m e to sit down before he does. He and Eddie are a thoughtless m atch, one so big and boisterous, the other compact, quiet, so m ber and quite handso m e.
“How are things going for you ? ”
“Good. I’m learning a lot.”
“I hear you’re doing well. Officer R i mbauer gave you a good report at the FTO m eeting.”
He looks relieved.
“You have very different personalities and styles, don’t you ? ”
He s m iles for the first ti m e. “ W ay different.”
“Is that a help or a hindrance ? ”
“Both, I guess. All the F TOs have differ e nt styles. I learn from everybody. It just takes a little ti m e to get u sed to a new FTO.”
“How does Officer Rimbauer co m pare to the other FTOs?”
“He’s way more experienced.” He hesitates a mo m e nt. “And tougher.”
“Too tough?”
“No.”
“Do you know Ben Go m ez ? ”
“Sure. Nice guy. W e study together so m et i m es, that kind of thing.”
“How’s he doing? I was supposed to m eet with him today, like I’m m eeting with all the recruits, but he’s sick.”
Manny shrugs his shoulders. There are s m all seeds of sweat on his upper lip. This is not the direction he expected o u r interview to take. “Okay, I guess.”
“Officer Rimbauer has an unusual sense of humor. I ’ ve heard him call Ben ‘Mr. Safeway’. Does he tease you, too, or kid around in public?”
He pauses. “No, M’a m . Not a problem, M ’ a m .”
His face is u nreada b le. He’s a fast l e arner, has h i s professional de m eanor down pat. Shrouding his innermost thoughts and fee l ings with an impenetrable m ask is an essential tool of police work. W ho wants to s ee a cop tre m ble with fear? What child molester would confess to so m eone who obviou s ly finds him repulsive? Stupid of m e to think that Manny or any other rookie would reveal so m eth i ng about his training officer, especially so m ething bad, and especially to m e.
“I’ve been asking all the questions, Manny. Do you have any questions f or m e ? ”
“Just one,” he says, turning to a fra m ed black and white photograph of Sig m und Freud that Mark had given m e when I finished grad school.
“The guy in the picture? Is that your husband ? ”
Chapter Ei g ht
I call Ben at ho m e and get his answering m ac h ine. I wait for two hours, but he never c alls m e back, despite April ’ s cheery el e ctro n ic ass ur ance th a t th e y will do so as soon as possible because they are really, rea l ly sorry to have m issed m y c all and hope I’m having a really aweso m e day.
Baxter stops m e in the hall. He’s heard a bout Ben calling in sick and interprets it the sa m e way I do. He gives m e a pep talk. W e tried our best, these things happen, no one’s to b l
I ’ ll get a chance to see for m yself when I m eet with Manny and the other recruits.
It is an enormous task, turning a civilian into a c o m petent p o lice o ff icer. Common wisdom says it takes five years to beco m e a good street cop – a hybrid hu m an who is part priest, judge, counselor, rescu e r and enforcer. R ookies h a ve just sixteen weeks to m e morize a mountain of codes, laws and poli c ies. Sixteen weeks to perfect using the tools of the trade – cars, r a dios, m aps, guns, tasers, pepper spray and handcuffs. Sixteen weeks to m a ster officer s afety, command presence, defensive tactics, co m m unication skills, report writing and inv e stigation. Not to m e ntion the intangibles like judg m ent and intuition.
The first t w o rookies I see seem to be m anaging well, nothing but co m pli m ents for the quality of the training they are recei v ing. Despite all the stress of being novices, they are having the ti m e of their lives. T h eir world is full of novelty and they are intoxicated by their own power. Neither of them has ever been assigned to Eddie R i m bauer.
Manny is ten m i nutes early for our appoint m ent. I m otion for him to take a seat. He waits for m e to sit down before he does. He and Eddie are a thoughtless m atch, one so big and boisterous, the other compact, quiet, so m ber and quite handso m e.
“How are things going for you ? ”
“Good. I’m learning a lot.”
“I hear you’re doing well. Officer R i mbauer gave you a good report at the FTO m eeting.”
He looks relieved.
“You have very different personalities and styles, don’t you ? ”
He s m iles for the first ti m e. “ W ay different.”
“Is that a help or a hindrance ? ”
“Both, I guess. All the F TOs have differ e nt styles. I learn from everybody. It just takes a little ti m e to get u sed to a new FTO.”
“How does Officer Rimbauer co m pare to the other FTOs?”
“He’s way more experienced.” He hesitates a mo m e nt. “And tougher.”
“Too tough?”
“No.”
“Do you know Ben Go m ez ? ”
“Sure. Nice guy. W e study together so m et i m es, that kind of thing.”
“How’s he doing? I was supposed to m eet with him today, like I’m m eeting with all the recruits, but he’s sick.”
Manny shrugs his shoulders. There are s m all seeds of sweat on his upper lip. This is not the direction he expected o u r interview to take. “Okay, I guess.”
“Officer Rimbauer has an unusual sense of humor. I ’ ve heard him call Ben ‘Mr. Safeway’. Does he tease you, too, or kid around in public?”
He pauses. “No, M’a m . Not a problem, M ’ a m .”
His face is u nreada b le. He’s a fast l e arner, has h i s professional de m eanor down pat. Shrouding his innermost thoughts and fee l ings with an impenetrable m ask is an essential tool of police work. W ho wants to s ee a cop tre m ble with fear? What child molester would confess to so m eone who obviou s ly finds him repulsive? Stupid of m e to think that Manny or any other rookie would reveal so m eth i ng about his training officer, especially so m ething bad, and especially to m e.
“I’ve been asking all the questions, Manny. Do you have any questions f or m e ? ”
“Just one,” he says, turning to a fra m ed black and white photograph of Sig m und Freud that Mark had given m e when I finished grad school.
“The guy in the picture? Is that your husband ? ”
Chapter Ei g ht
I call Ben at ho m e and get his answering m ac h ine. I wait for two hours, but he never c alls m e back, despite April ’ s cheery el e ctro n ic ass ur ance th a t th e y will do so as soon as possible because they are really, rea l ly sorry to have m issed m y c all and hope I’m having a really aweso m e day.
Baxter stops m e in the hall. He’s heard a bout Ben calling in sick and interprets it the sa m e way I do. He gives m e a pep talk. W e tried our best, these things happen, no one’s to b l
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