Monday, September 15, 2008

Police equipment in the 1970's





My days as a DeKalb County Police Officer 1976-1981



The date was August 2, 1976 and at 4:00 in the afternoon I was standing in the roll call room and started my first shift as a rookie cop. I looked around. There were 50-60 officers lined up for inspection. As an aside, there were only 4-5 female officers. These days some departments have 40% female officers. Please see my website for more thoughts on female officers. http://www.protectingsharks.com/


Starting that evening I rode for 8 weeks with a Patrol Training Officer before I entered the 18 week DeKalb Police Academy. I wanted a job that would be different and even exciting at times. Well, like they say, I got the bonus plan. But those stories can be told another day. Mr. Lee Lofland asked me to write about the equipment that we carried in the 1970’s.



Take a close look at the car. It was heavy and fast. There is a blue spoiler on the hood - not for decoration but because the engines ran so hot! The Motorola radio signal bounced off repeater towers in the county and every time the signal hit the tower the radio made a beep-beep-beep sound. After awhile you completely tuned it out. A very few of the cars had a computer terminals. Now almost every car has a terminal and/or laptop computer to communicate with and to write your reports on.






The first two years we did not carry walkie-talkies. When you got away from your car, you were unable to communicate. Many, many nights everyone held their breath until an officer came back on the radio. Today the officers have walkie-talkies, cell phones and some carry recorders on their belts to record what happens on the street.





For the entire time with DeKalb I carried a 6 shot service revolver; a Colt .357 magnum Trooper with six additional cartridges in an ammo holder. Also, I carried a hand cuff case, a ring for my night stick and that was it. My pistol holster only had a small leather strap to secure the pistol. By today standards this was suicide. In 1980 one officer was killed, another shot and severely wounded when a perpetrator grabbed one of their guns and shot them both. That could have been me. I was on vacation that night and that was my patrol beat. Very quickly, I brought a black jack for my back pocket. I wore a back up pistol and carried as much ammo for my service revolver as I could get away with.




My brother-in-law is a Marshall for Fulton County and I looked at his duty belt last week. His service pistol is a Glock model 23 that holds 16 cartridges and he carries two extra magazines for a total of 46 shots! He also carries a Taser (a wonderful way to subdue someone without deadly force), a walkie-talkie, pouch for rubber gloves, handcuff case, an ASP baton, a small but very powerful flashlight and pepper spray. Oh yeah, he wears a bullet proof vest. We were strongly discouraged from wearing them as it would give us a Superman complex and we might act in a stupid or dangerous manner. (?)

DeKalb ran three ten hour shifts. The evening shift and Task Force (graveyard) shift overlapped for 4 hours.


Day Shift 7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Evening 4:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.

Task Force 10:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m.


After 2:00 a.m. there were usually 18-20 cars to cover 270 square miles. It is no exaggeration that some nights your nearest back up was 30-40 miles away. You handled the situation or it handled you.


Which brings me to what else we carried in the cars for officer protection. Every patrol car had an Ithaca 12 gauge shotgun in the trunk. I was given a small box of 5 buckshot rounds. I carried two boxes of shotgun shells next to the shotgun. In the days before civil liability was such an issue a lot of officers bought their own rifles. I saw AR 15’s, Ruger Mini 14’s, Eagle .45 (looks like a Thompson) and a few carried Winchester 30-30 deer rifles. A friend on mine carried an H & K assault rifle in .308. Almost everyone gave him a hard time until we had a barricade situation and he almost single handedly drove the bad guy out of the house with the furious barrage of bullets from his H & K assault rifle.


I was very proud to be DeKalb Police Officer. At the time we had the best equipment and undoubtedly the best training. The FBI reports the late 1970’s was perhaps the most dangerous times for law enforcement officers in American history. Drugs were becoming a major problem, the criminals did not fear the police like in earlier times and the criminals were beginning to carry automatic pistols. That meant sometimes you were grossly outgunned. Even after all the terrible things I witnessed and losing three fellow officers while I was there I am still glad I was a cop. I have close friends who are still there or recently retired. And whenever I see a patrol car with someone pulled over I slow down to make sure everything is OK. I am older, heavier and slower but I know I will out of my car and trying to assist that officer if they need help. It is either in your blood or it never will be.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Sandy Springs Police Department


The other night I visited the Sandy Springs (GA) Police Department. Lt Steve Rose meet with our neighborhood watch group to give us advice. He is a very funny and personable detective.

Walking around the building I had some quick impressions.

1. The equipment for officers today is (no surprise here) light years ahead of what we used in the 1970's. Computers on every desk, laptops in every car, better lights and security hardware for the cars and Glock pistols. Good for the Chief - he is trying to give the officers the very best.

2. There was a bulletin board with leather belts, bandannas and photos of tattoos. It hit me. Gangs - in very suburban Atlanta. Without exaggeration, I think we need to eradicate the gangs. The same way we need to guard against terrorists.

I hope my books become successful. I promise to lobby hard for better salaries and better benefits for the first responders. They are our front line.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Price of gasoline and police patrols

Several police agencies have publicly stated that they will begin to have officers curtail their mileage to conserve gas. My only thought - neighborhood patrols prevent burglaries. And traffic enforcement is paramount for safer streets. I never was a big believer in writing traffic tickets. I let a lot of drivers off with a warning and now I KNOW I was wrong. Unruly or fast drivers will only follow laws if you hit them and hit them hard in the wallet. Sometimes I dream that my city create a reserve force and we only work traffic. I know two things - aggressive drivers would stop their nonsense and my hand would hurt from all tickets that I would write.
Anybody disagree?

Monday, June 9, 2008

DeKalb Airshow


Over the weekend I went to Peachtree DeKalb Airport for an airshow. DeKalb County Police and Fire were there with a lot of equipment. I was AMAZED at the size of the police helicopter as opposed to the one I rode in when I was in the Academy. Things have changed a little.
Also, I spoke to a doghandler officer, Mary who was very friendly. After telling her I was on the force in the 70's she told me that the female officer that was in my class is still on the force! We started 32 years ago. Good for her.
I will send a message to her and send a copy of my book. God bless her and the others that patrol the streets to keep us safe.
John Fedack

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Memorial Day

I read a very nice article written by Archbishop Wilton Gregory (Atlanta Archdiocese) where he talked his gratitude to the fallen service members. His article said what you would expect, that we should always remember the brave men and women who were killed protecting America.
But, then he said we should look at 'first responders' and be grateful to them for the service. He is right. When there is problem you call a police officer. When you get hurt in an accident it is the fire fighters and EMS who come to help you.
I am sure my opinion is biased but from my police days I KNOW for a fact that if these brave men and women were not there pandemonium and anarchy would rule. Look at Katrina.
John Fedack
June 4, 2008

Monday, June 2, 2008

Walking a beat versus riding in a police cruiser







I read over the weekend that the Atlanta Police Department is assigning new recruits to foot patrol. If they are paired with an experienced officer I think this a great idea.
The new police will get to know the citizens faster and make a great impression on the neighborhood. I walked as a University Police officer in downtown Atlanta for a couple of years. You learn to pay attention and always know what is going around you. I enjoyed walking a beat.
But, when I became a DeKalb County officer I was always in a car. It is a suburban county and you needed a car to go each call. The good news was DeKalb always had the fastest cars, the most powerful service weapons (Colt .357 magnum revolvers) and the best training. I was very proud to be a DeKalb officer. I think it is still the same - DeKalb is among the best agencies in the US.
The image above is the model I drove from 1976-1980.
John Fedack







Friday, May 30, 2008

Liz Chandler Project

Friday May 30, 2008
I was very sad to learn a deputy sheriff in south GA was killed in the line of duty this week. I have contacted the 'COPS' organization. This is a wonderful group of people who help families of slain officers get help immediately after the death of the officer. Think about it - a husband or wife is killed suddenly. The family loses a breadwinner, needs money for the funeral, ongoing expenses and certainly for the children going forward.
'COPS' helps with money immediately, helps plan the funeral and helps the survivor apply for state and federal grant money.
I have committed to donate a portion of every single dollar that Liz Chandler, LLC makes and become actively involved with 'COPS'.
Please help if you can - http://www.nationalcops.org/

Thank you,

John Fedack