Joys of police work
In my 32 years on the Rome Police Department I dare say that I answered all kinds of calls. Some were funny and some were not. I will try to tell you some of the ones that I thought were funny.
One of my cars received a call to East 15th Street. When I arrived I saw the officer standing on the porch, talking to a lady. It seemed that her next-door neighbor had caught her dog and tied him to a tree in her yard. He knocked on the door and when she came to the door, he wee-weed on her dog. He then untied the dog and went back and sat down on his porch. I shook my head and told the lady that I would go over and talk to her neighbor.
The yard had a fence around it and you could not see what was in it until you got though the gate. It was one of the most beautiful yards that I have ever seen. It was full of flowers, some of which were large roses in many colors. I saw the old gentleman sitting in a swing, watching me as I approached.
I looked him over and drew the conclusion that he had to be 70 years old. “Officer,” he said. “Did she tell you the whole story or did she just give you her version?” I told him what she had said and a smile came to his face. “Did she tell you that I said if she let her dog out again and he got in my yard that I would come over and wee wee on hers?” I felt like laughing but managed to keep a straight face.
He got up and came down the steps, saying, “Follow me.” I followed him to a spot where there was two dead rose bushes. “Officer, my wife made this garden. When she passed away, I made a vow to myself to keep her garden as long as I live. The woman has a fence to keep her dog in, but she turns him loose at night and he comes over and uses my garden for a toilet.” I told him I would go back and have a talk with the lady.
As I started to open the gate I noticed a sign in the middle of a huge flower. It said Martha’s Garden. I told the lady that she would have to keep her dog in her fence or the next person to see her would be from the animal shelter. I left from there laughing.
I remember this next call as if it happened yesterday. I was riding with the Whizz when we got a call to South Rome. We were met by a couple that thought it was strange that their neighbor got on his roof every day and sat there for about 30 minutes. They showed us the man sitting on the roof. This was a hot, mucky day and why someone would sit on a roof was beyond me. We walked around to where we could talk to the man. He said, “Come on up, Officer, and I will show you why I am on my roof.”
Now I have this thing about high places so I looked at the Whizz and said, “Be my guest.” The Whizz went up the ladder like it was level ground. He sat down by the man and they started to talk. I noticed the Whizz shaking his head and he was saying, “You can’t do this. Come on down with me.” The man followed Whizz down the ladder.
We walked over to the house next door. I had no idea what the Whizz had seen. A young, pretty girl came to the door. Whizz explained to her that the man next door was sitting on his roof looking into her bathroom window. She turned red in the face and said, “I hope the old bastard gets his eyes full,” and slammed the door in our faces.
We found that every day she went into her bathroom at 2 p.m. and took a bath. At 3 p.m. she left for work. This was going on five days a week. The old man would climb up at 2 o’clock and come down at 3 o’clock. She didn’t seem to mind, so we didn’t either.
Then there was the call that came in to Dispatch saying a lady had a ghost in her house, get there as quick as we could. We were met at the door by a very excited young woman. She said that she heard noises like someone walking and then voices.
Now this was right down my alley. I have always been fascinated by ghosts. We followed her into the house and down a hallway. I eased the door open and reached around it for a light switch. I flipped the switch but the lights did not come on.
I pulled my flashlight from my holder. I shined the light around the room but saw nothing. I holstered my weapon and stepped into the room. Afterwards I laughed, thinking if she truly had a ghost, what good would a weapon be. We looked the room over and moved into the hall. But I turned back when a sound came from the room: It sounded like someone walking barefooted with toenails scratching the floor.
What I heard did sound kind of like voices, but I knew that it was some kind of animal. We learned later that a squirrel had made its bed in her ceiling and had some babies.