Duck-Farm

Sometimes you just “know”, you know? I just knew I was going to get the Crime Prevention/Environmental Design sergeant’s job, and I was right. That’s what I get for trying to be a rennaisance cop, I guess. Environmental Design Sergeant.

In a hyper macho environment like a police department, there are plenty of really fit, really bold, really brave people. So in order to set myself apart from the crowd, I have tried to maintain a high level of fitness, boldness, and courageousness, while still patiently thinking things through, remaining tactful in difficult situations, and then appropriately applying knowledge to make good decisions.

A couple years ago, I got a Bronze Medal of Valor for fighting a crazy guy with two knives. At the same award ceremony, I got a Distinguished Service Award for converting the the Sacramento Police Department’s volumes of policy manuals, numerous volumes, into a searchable PDF system.

Fighting the guy with knives was something everyone at the ceremony understood. “How come you didn’t just shoot him,” they asked. It would have been easier. Converting the manual system to PDF’s was like magic to those same people. “How did you ever do that,” they asked?

So now I am rewarded with a seriously cushy desk job, a flexible schedule, and a GREAT boss (more on that later). I will be in a position to learn unique things about how the city will grow in the future and what it will take to police it.

I was hoping for the more tactical Criminal Intelligence Position. It would have been less comfortable, more stressful… more like a job that requires you to keep your finger on the trigger. Oh well. I guess I have created my niche as a nerd… Environmental Design Sergeant. I’ll write opinions about how buildings in Sacramento should be designed to deter crime.

I am going to be seriously tempted to write things like this:

“The proposed facade is unacceptable. Evenly spaced Doric columns are recommended to provide multiple positions of cover for intersecting fields of fire. An open trench, at least 10 meters wide and 3 meters deep, around the entire foundation is required to prevent the approach of vehicle borne IEDs.”

My mission is clear.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 at 5:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.