Out of Reach

.
In 1973, at just under 5ft-9in, I was the shortest police officer to ever be assigned to the now infamous Rampart Division. Although 5-8 was the minimum height then, all the Rampart cops were giants because that was the toughest police precinct in the world. Many times I thought I'd never survive the fight while I wished I was 2 feet taller.

In about 1978, after transferring to a slower division, I met Tina. She had just graduated from the academy and was assigned to work with my old partner, Tim. Some of you have met him, although not by that name.

Well, Affirmative Action had been in place for several years by then. And unknown to me, they had reduced the height/weight requirement for hiring. Tina was a very cute and personable person, but I don't think she was five feet tall or even weighed 90 pounds. She was the tinyist police officer I had ever seen. As a side note, I realized that she could not reach the officer's message clip board, and there was a note hanging there for her. So, being the helpful person that I am, I attached a long string leading downward from the note with a sign attached to the end reading, "Pull here to remove." Got chewed out for that one.

Tina forced change to the LAPD. Due to her petite size, she would move the seat in the police car all the way forward in order to reach the pedals. That would cause Tim to ride shotgun with his knees against his chest. Tom asked for help and the LAPD purchased it's first police cruiser with bucket seats. From that day forward, we had bucket seats.

One night Tim and Tina encountered an obnoxious homeless wino in an alley. He was just the typical wino type, usually drunk, but harmless. Tim had dealt with him before many times. But this time, the wino went berserk and attacked Tim, knocking him to the ground. The wino pinned Tim on his back and beat him repeatedly. Tina, tried to pull him off, but couldn't. She called for assistance, then began hitting the wino with her baton, to no avail. The wino ripped Tim's gun from his holster and Tim begged him not to shoot. Tina ended the near tragedy with a single gunshot to the wino's head.

It was the first shooting involving a female police officer in LAPD history. Tina was hailed as a hero for saving Tim's life. Tim didn't quite see it that way and was troubled by the killing for the rest of his career. Tim told me as he teared up while drinking a beer, that although the wino was about to shoot him, there was no reason that the incident progressed to that state. He believed that had Tina had sufficient size and strength, the wino would have never had to die. Tim never returned to working the streets, but Tina went on to achieve new heights in rank with the Department.

As more and more protected classes found their way on the job, more things changed. And I won't say that any of those things were bad. Bucket seats, power steering, and air conditioning were great changed that everyone benefited, although they didn't contribute to the car's safety, or performance during a pursuit, which is what's really important. So were new, separate locker rooms, weight rooms, showers, and toilets for the protected class. But gone were the days of mandating physical fitness and self defence training. Instead, pepper spray, and more powerful guns were issued, as the job got more dangerous. Rodney King resulted not from a bunch of racist cops, but by under trained cops not proficient with their weapons at hand, or their wrestling skills.

What say you? Can we post some blame for the death of that wino, or the beating of Rodney King, on Affirmative Action? Now, don't give up on this subject. There is only one more post related to this series to follow. And don't forget to vote when it's all said and done.
.